Arts Design

10 NEW BEAUTIFUL SPARK-FILLED ART WORKS

by Hid Saib. Photo from Solidarity Project Neon series.

We’ve curated a gallery showing of incredible new art created with sparks of one kind or another.

1. HID SAIB

Portuguese photographer Hid Saib’s subjects look like they got caught in showers of sparks. Saib places small dabs of neon paint on his models’ faces then lights them up and shoots. The resulting photographs are breathtaking. They a reminiscent of aerial views of cities at night.

2. NICK PACIONE

There is probably no spark more epic than those of fireworks, those tremendous flares and spirals lighting up the night sky with every color of the rainbow.

Nick Pacione wanted to capture the Independence Day fireworks over his hometown of Dallas, Texas, but opted for a less conventional approach.

He used a macro lens, with a special rack focusing technique that changes during the camera’s exposure, transforming the explosions into chutes and balloons that sometimes barely seem like fireworks at all!

3. DAVID JOHNSON

David Johnson has used different techniques to achieve his long exposure firework shots. Each shot is roughly a second or two of exposure, starting with an unfocused camera.

As soon as Johnson hears the explosion of the firework he refocuses to a point of light where the erupting sparkles begin, causing the effect seen above, as the lights expand. They look like sea creatures that have swallowed fireworks.

You can see several more photos here.

4. ROB SHAW

Photographer Rob Shaw, of BackFromLeave Photography, created a dazzling collection of spark-filled photographs, many of which could almost be mistaken for a Pollack canvas.

His techniques can differ from photo to photo, but one of the more innovative methods he employed was to spin the camera on the lens’ axis while zooming -- No easy feat!

Shaw is “an equal opportunity image hunter who never passes up an opportunity to make life more vibrant and gorgeous.”

Check out more of Shaw’s shots of the Yokohama Fireworks Festival.

5. OLAF BREUNING

Flying sparks are beautiful no matter the source, but rarely do we see them turned into art installations. Olaf Breuning, a Swiss artist known for crossing disciplines whenever it suits his expression, did just that. The resulting artwork is astounding to see.

In this particular work, the various pieces have been lit on fire and allowed to release sparks and smoke. The work is exciting and kinetic. It is a site-specific smoke installation at Station to Station in New York.

6. JOS STIGLINGH

Jos Stiglingh has captured some amazing footage. Using a Go Pro Hero 3 Silver and a DJI Phantom 2 drone, he was able to fly a camera through a fireworks display, creating the amazing video seen here.

This Fillmore, CA fireworks display is also slowed down in the video above, to reveal a calmer look at fireworks’ sparkling beauty.

7. DAVID ROBINSON

Every creative work begins with a spark. I call it a Spark Soup, and devoted a chapter to it in New Ideas About New Ideas, my book about innovation and creativity. We’ve collected some incredible new spark art works.

David Robinson, a London-based artist, is working in an ongoing series of ‘fungi luminograms.’ These are photographs, of a sort, which don’t require a camera, but rather, use objects and light to manipulate photo-sensitive paper.

Robinson creates scenes, like those above, composing fireworks-shapes and other shapes that he hand-cuts from mushrooms, laying them out to form a vignette on the paper. Quirky and fun, these sparks are a delight to look through.

Why mushrooms? Robinson owns a mushroom-based street food business, sporeboys.

Robinson’s work is featured in his book, The Mushroom Picker.

8. DAVID SENA

David Sena “paints,” like no other. Rather than traditional media like ink or paint, Sena makes his art with fireworks.

Cool Hunting captured this awesome video of his work, beautiful both in the process and as a final result. He uses smoke and residue, as well as burns from the fireworks themselves, to shape and mark paper into his fantastic designs.

9. IMOGEN HEAP

In 2011 Imogen Heap started gathering “sound seeds,” from her fans to create the first song of her new highly anticipated album, “Sparks.” Now, three years later, this Grammy and Ivor Novello award winning recording artist will be releasing the album August 19th, 2014.

The album is worth buying in 3D. It is sold as a stunning art-filled super-deluxe package, designed and developed over the past three years by Imogen and her creative team with CSV (the company behind Radiohead’s special packaging).

Check out the interactive album cover featuring the footprints of fans worldwide. It was just featured on The Creators Project, a partnership between Intel and VICE.

The special package also includes 12 individual data discs, 14 HD music videos, plus videos documenting the making of each song and the entire album, a double 10” vinyl album, a special deck of playing cards that unlock exclusive web content and a 120 page coffee-table-style book telling the story of “Sparks” along with the special ticket of blended items that allow access to sound-checks on the next tour.

10. WE SEE FIREWORKS

“We See Fireworks,” a large-scale installation art piece, by Helen Cole, is made up of a continuously evolving flow of hundreds of voices and constellations of candles.

We See Fireworks is a sister piece to the smaller installation, Collecting Fireworks. Cole is Artistic Director of In Between Time, one of the leading international production companies for contemporary performance and live art in the UK.

“We See Fireworks is as simple as it is brilliant, exemplifying the opening possibilities of a new form: no stage, no performers, but a deeply meaningful experience.”

-- Real Time, Australia

Read more about Beautiful Sparks, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including How to Capture Beautiful Sparks, New Images of Primordial Sparks, and Flavor Sparks Bursting in Air.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Sparks in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 07.06.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!