Zatista The premier source for original art online

We’re all familiar with the routes in our lives—the streets we drive along on our way to work, the trails we trace as we move from one home to another, or the maps we gaze at as we plan our vacations. Art reveals itself in these patterns, as shown in this clean, graphic representation of New Orleans created by Zatista artist Fred Doyle:

New Orleans, LA, by Fred Doyle — Digital on Canvas, 24.0 ” x 36.0 ”

Some artwork based on maps uses novel media. This map by Aaron Koblin shows the contours of the United States through commercial airline traffic:

Aaron Koblin’s “Flight Patterns” shows a real-time image of the aircraft flight paths over the United States. Courtesy of the Victoria & Albert museum

Or this artwork by Simon Elvins, which used blind embossing to depict the quietest parts of  London, using data from a British government agency that maps noise levels in order to adhere to European Union noise regulations:

SILENT LONDON by Simon Elvins Blind embossed etching - 735x500mm - Edition of 10

Others show places reimagined in very personal ways:

SIMON EVANS Home Country, 2008-9 Paper weaving 58 5/8 X 42 1/8 inches courtesy of James Cohan Gallery

Or produce accurate renditions of actual places in novel ways. Here, a rolling stamp of Santa Monica that produces a map of the city on the sand:

Santa Monica Art Tool by Carl Cheng-photo courtesy of jdlasica via Flickr

You can see more examples in The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography by Katharine Harmon (Princeton Architectural Press; 2009)

Courtesy of the Princeton Architectural Press

While researching tiny art for my previous post, I came across some examples of art that were not small in size themselves. Instead, the artwork portrayed tiny subjects—or subjects that at least appeared tiny.

NPR’s “The Picture Show” featured some extremely beautiful microscopic images assembled by scientists at the University of Wisconsin for an exhibit called “Tiny: Art From Microscopes at UW-Madison.” Who knew fruit fly embryos and mouse lungs could be so gorgeous?

A series of images from the blog Pink Tentacle shows paintings of tiny insects made with the aid of a microscope by the Japanese artist Kenbikyō Mushi No Zu during the mid-nineteenth century. Below is one example of the paintings from the scroll.

from Kenbikyō Mushi No Zu's (”Illustrations of Microscopic Insects”), published in 1860

Tilt-shift photography, on the other hand, portrays full-scale images in a way that makes them appear to be miniature godzilla sets. While digital cameras create this effect via software, film cameras produce it with a special lens. Unlike a standard lens which have a fixed focal plane, a tilt-shift lens has a focal plane that can shift and concentrate the focus onto one point. The image below is a full-scale image of an airport.

Vincent Laforet for Smashing magazine

The tilt-shift effect on video is even more disorienting. The people in them look like tiny claymation sculptures moved in increments from frame to frame. They’re not! Keith Loutit’s video, Beached, is an awesome example that’s really worth watching. Enjoy!

Smaller works of art draw the viewer in. There’s no standing back to see the whole image. Details emerge. You’ll want to step closer to get a better look.

"Public Good" by David Opdyke 12" x 12" x 6"

Some smaller pieces of art were never meant to hang on a wall. In fact, many have been created for the eyes of a loved one only. This velvet-lined self-portrait is pocket-sized. It was painted on ivory in 1828 by Sarah Goodridge, for her the man in her life—the famous American statesman Daniel Webster.

Beauty Revealed, Sarah Goodridge, Watercolor on ivory, 2 5/8" x 3 1/8"

Daniel Webster, looking cranky despite the pretty picture in his pocket. Stock Montage/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Other less intimate but equally diminutive pieces work quite nicely on a bookshelf. This one—a 4″-square landscape from New Zealand—graces mine:

4"-square landscape painting by New Zealand artist Lianne Adams-Tull on bookshelf

Some smaller pieces of art really need to be seen on the wall to get their full effect. Look at this close-cropped portrait of Robert De Niro on Zatista’s virtual room to see the great impact even the most diminutive portrait can have:

Heat 2, by Michael Davis, Acrylic, 9.8 ” x 7.9 ”

(Coincidentally, De Niro’s father, Robert De Niro, Sr. was a famous abstract expressionist painter.)

If you like the idea of famous people in small packages, there’s a show of Polaroids shot by Andy Warhol from the 70′s and 80′s of legendary athletes (Pelé, Dorothy Hamill, and Muhammad Ali, to name a few) at Danziger Projects in New York City through December 12.

What tiny works of art appeal to you?

It’s easy to think of images of death as macabre and morbid, as looking on the dark side of life. But in art, images of death have often had a more vivifying role—to remind us that we are in the midst of life’s fleeting brightness, and not to let it pass by. If you’ve been to Prague, you’ve most likely seen the famous fifteenth-century clock with a skeleton perched by its side, flipping an hourglass every hour to remind us that time is running out:

Granted, in Medieval Europe the idea was that you were to think of your impending judgment in the afterlife. But thankfully, this is art. It’s beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this beholder chooses to see the depiction of death in art as very life affirming—to remind me that life will end, and to make something of it while it lasts.

This painting follows the Dutch still-life style called vanitas, which would often include skulls as symbols of impermanence:

But often the still life would include subtler symbolism. This one employs a bouquet of flowers with a few stems beginning to wilt and wither:

Of course, Europeans aren’t the only ones to depict death beautifully. Here’s a Japanese nineteenth century wood block print that just might be my favorite:

And of course there are the many contributions of modern-day popular culture. Here are some from the punk and heavy-metal music scenes:

The list wouldn’t be complete without Eddie, Iron Maiden’s poster boy, drawn by the illustrator Derick Riggs:

Do you have any favorite images to help remind you that the clock is ticking?

The sad truth is, pigeons may have an easier time discerning “good” art than us human beings do. And I’d say one reason is they’re not hampered by what Kurt Vonnegut Jr. called “those great big brains.” A pigeon doesn’t look at a painting and worry about what it says about them. Instead, they see it as either a bad piece of art or a good piece of art. Take the avian approach, and you’ll never second-guess your taste in art again.

Here’s a young man taking a very unpigeon-like approach to art appreciation:

He’s not looking at the Mona Lisa, perhaps the most famous painting in the world. Instead, he’s having his picture taken in front of it. Clearly he knows he should appreciate it. It’s important to him that his friends and family see him next to that woman and her mysterious smile. It shows he has Good Taste—that he can embrace the subtle genius of Leonardo da Vinci. But does he really? Or is it just that he knows he’s supposed to like it?

If you’re thinking of throwing some art up on the wall, forget about what you’re supposed to like. Don’t think about what it says about you. Instead, channel your inner pigeon. If your frontal lobe takes over and starts chattering about how impressed the neighbors will be, well forget it. Instead, does the image make your mind sing? Do you fall into a mini trance? Then you’re on the right path. Here are a few examples of pieces of art that work for me:

Liza2 by Francois Chartier

Nobscusset Light by Shawn Nelson

What art works for you? Not sure? Well, channel your inner bird brain and you’ll start to find out.