Branded Babies, Real and Silicone, by Dietrich Wegner.

above image composite by laura sweet

Australian born artist Dietrich Wagner's Cumulous Brand is a series of sculptures and photos in which babies (real and silicone models) are covered in multicolored tattoos in a meditation on how our identities evolve and how we declare them.

Sculptures:
Cumulous Brand
silicone & foam, 14 x 12 x 7 in


Cumulous Brand, Sebastian As Grandma Susan
silicone, human hair, glass eyes & foam, 17 x 15 x 10 in



Cumulous Brand, Bill
silicone & urethane, 12" x 8" x 8"



Clay modeling or the above sculptures was created by Julia Ambrose of Toolmark Studio and Barbara Wegner

In the following photos, the initial child photography is by Mark Fainstein and the 'tattoos' are digitally applied by Dietrich Wegner.

Digitally Altered Photos (inket prints):
Cumulous Brand, Sabine & Sebastian,
inkjet print 30" x 45" & 40" x 60"


Cumulous Brand, Sabine Sitting Up
inkjet print, 30" x 45" & 40" x 60"


Cumulous Brand, Sebastian as Grandma Sue
inkjet print, 30" x 45" & 40" x 60"


Cumulous Brand, Sebastian as Auntie Gretchen
inkjet print, 30" x 45" & 40" x 60"


Cumulous Brand, Claudia, Beatrice & Sebastian
inkjet print, 30" x 37" & 40" x 50"


Cumulous Brand, Beatrice
inkjet print, 30" x 45" & 40" x 60"


Cumulous Brand, Sebastian in the Park
inkjet print, 25" x 17" & 44" x 30"

all images courtesy of Dietrich Wegner
Deitrich Wegner has other interesting art projects as well, see them all here.

A big shout out to Inhabitots for bringing this unusual work to my attention

This is not the first tattooed baby art project I've blogged about. Be sure to check out the Drill Baby by Jason Clay Lewis:

Pride of Soldiers, A Scabetti Sculpture in A Highly Secure Military Location.

'Pride of Soldiers', this unique three meter diameter sculptural light commissioned for the Land Forces Command Head Quarters in Utrecht, has rarely been seen before due to its highly secure location.


above: The Kromhout Barracks houses the Royal Dutch Land Forces Command Head Quarters.

The newly erected Kromhout Barracks (which are really beautifully designed) stand on the outskirts of Utrecht and were designed by leading Dutch practice Meyer en Van Schooten Architects.

Dominic and Frances Bromley's unique commission, Pride of Soldiers, will only ever be seen by strict invitation. These photographs (by Frances Bromley, Jannes Linders and Stefan Van Weelden) are now the only access many will have to this remarkable work of art, as it is sited in one of the most secure places in the Netherlands; the Royal Dutch Land Forces Command Head Quarters.


above: Pride of Soldiers in the Kromhout Barracks, Netherlands by Dominic and Frances Bromley.

Installed in the Netherland's new Kromhout Barracks outside of Utrecht, this beautiful bone china sculpted light serves as a monument to the Armed Forces. The unique piece, comprised of many stylized soldiers hanging vertically to form a sphere, was crafted by Dominic and Frances Bromley of Scabetti.



The ceramic forms are slip cast fine bone china, cast by hand in the Potteries of Stoke-on-Trent:






The piece stands an impressive three meters in diameter hovering over a large table within the barrack's conference room.




Progressing around the room there's an extra dimension that reveals itself; each soldier stands in perfect formation and comes together to create the Lion of the Armed Forces emblem, with the central light at its heart.




Designing a piece so dramatic and specific to the location was a brave move for the accomplished duo and combined their unique technical and artistic approach. Pride of Soldiers must surely stand as the Bromley's most significant work to date.



View this and more installations by Scabetti on their website.
To purchase a sculpture or discuss a commission, contact the studio directly.

Books Carved Into Intricate Japonesque Landscapes by Artist Guy Laramee.

Another novel idea. Artist Guy Laramee is a composer, an author, a painter, a film director, an anthropologist and yes, a book-carver. The Canadian multidisciplinary artist has a series of old leather bound books out of which he carves beautiful mountainous and eroded landscapes. Below are many of his pieces.



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Artist's Statement:
"The erosion of cultures – and of “culture” as a whole - is the theme that runs through the last 25 years of my artistic practice. Cultures arise, become obsolete, and are replaced by new ones. With the vanishing of cultures, some people are displaced and destroyed. We are currently told that the paper book is bound to die. The library, as a place, is finished. One might say: so what? Do we really believe that “new technologies” will change anything concerning our existential dilemma, our human condition? And even if we could change the content of all the books on earth, would this change anything in relation to the domination of analytical knowledge over intuitive knowledge? What is it in ourselves that insists on grabbing, on casting the flow of experience into concepts ?

When I was younger, I was very upset with the ideologies of progress. I wanted to destroy them by showing that we are still primitives. I had the profound intuition that as a species, we had not evolved that much. Now I see that our belief in progress stems from our fascination with the content of consciousness. Despite appearances, our current obsession for changing the forms in which we access culture is but a manifestation of this fascination.

My work, in 3D as well as in painting, originates from the very idea that ultimate knowledge could very well be an erosion instead of an accumulation. The title of one of my pieces is “ All Ideas Look Alike”. Contemporary art seems to have forgotten that there is an exterior to the intellect. I want to examine thinking, not only “What” we think, but “That” we think.

So I carve landscapes out of books and I paint Romantic landscapes. Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains. They erode a bit more and they become hills. Then they flatten and become fields where apparently nothing is happening. Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply IS. Fogs and clouds erase everything we know, everything we think we are.

After 30 years of practice, the only thing I still wish my art to do is this: To project us into this thick Cloud of Unknowing."

thanks to Colossal for bringing this to my attention
images courtesy of the artist
additional images courtesy of Kastor Magazine and Artnet