Land of Happy Sleepy

Monster Island print now in the Etsy shop

Magda — Sat, 19 May 2012 15:03:44 +0000

Monster Island, 11" x 26.5", archival ink on acid free paper, 2012

The Monster Island poster, version 2012, is now in the Etsy shop. Only $20!

Monster Island detail, archival ink on acid free paper, 2012.

Perpetual Ocean animation

Marc — Sat, 19 May 2012 00:22:12 +0000

Still from Perpetual Ocean animation showing the string of whorls around the southern coast of Africa.

NASA‘s Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio has a beautiful animation of global ocean currents available in HD.

The visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through December 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience.

The 320 x 180 pixel version is embedded below, and the studio has much higher resolution animations and large TIFF images for download.

You Never Call Anymore

Magda — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:21:43 +0000

You Never Call Anymore religious icon installation in disused phone booth in Toronto. Photo by Jessie Arseneau

Art coolness from Torontoist: Vandalist Fridays.

Once a week, Vandalist features some of the most interesting street art and graffiti from around Toronto. Find something great? Email vandalist@torontoist.com.

Here’s one other post from a few weeks back that I really liked:

Public Zen by DCM, a sand garden installation located at Queen and Roncesvalles, Toronto. Photo by Jessica Drummond

See all the Vandalist posts on Torontoist.

Fibre Artist Interviews on World of Threads Festival website

Magda — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:09:32 +0000

Detail: dikdik / ghost dikdik by Emily Jan, 2010, dimentions variable, materials: hog gut, reed, zip ties, resin, wax, wool, branches, found glass, found metal, technique: casting, felting

For 60 weeks, the World of Threads Festival website has been posting interviews with local, national, and international fibre artist. The interviews are organized by Gareth Bate, one of the festival curators, and Dawne Rudman, festival director. Their efforts have now accumulated into a comprehensive archive of fibre artists from around the world. Works in textile and conceptually related materials has been posted weekly and is also available as a newsletter.

Click any image to be taken to that artist’s interview page.

dikdik / ghost dikdik by Emily Jan, 2010, dimentions variable, materials: hog gut, reed, zip ties, resin, wax, wool, branches, found glass, found metal, technique: casting, felting

Detail of Piece by Piece by Judith Tinkl. The piece is an installation of three different triangular shapes created for the loft space at the Visual Arts Centre in Bowmanville Ontario. The masonite shapes, painted in 49 colours are a riff on pentagonal non-periodic tilings discovered by Roger Penrose. The installation was 42 feet long and between 3 and 6 feet wide.

WorldWide Carpets #3 "Highway" by David Hanauer, 140 x 190 cm, photograph printed on carpet material

WorldWide Carpets #2 "Sun City" by David Hanauer, 140 x 190 cm, photograph printed on carpet material

Albedo by Anastasia Azure, 2008. Copper, brass and plastic filaments. Double-cloth on 4 harness floor loom. Acid dyed nylon. 31" x 31" x 17"

Optical Lace Repeat by Lizz Aston, 2011, 27.5cm h x 29 cm w x 5 cm d, Paper, free-motion embroidery, Thread, konnayaku starch, burn-out. Photograph: Lizz Aston

Exhibition Announcement: Polytopia at 401 Richmond

Magda — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:43:41 +0000

The Polytopia project will be installed in a latest iteration in the Red Room at 401 Richmond in November.

World of Threads Festival 2012
9 to 25 November 2012

Red Room at 401 Richmond Galleries
401 Richmond Street West, Toronto, Canada

More information will accrue on the exhibition project page.

The project will be installed on the east wall of the Red Room, 401 Richmond Galleries, Toronto.

The World of Threads Festival is an international showcase of contemporary fibre art. We are a not-for-profit initiative with charitable status organized by dedicated volunteers. We exhibit innovative fibre based art from around the world and highlight the strength of our local talent.

More information on the World of Threads website.

Braveland by Happy Sleepy part of exhibition of window galleries in Toronto

Magda — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:20:03 +0000

Happy Sleepy will soon have a new show! We are busy working on Braveland, an installation for the Fine & Dandy window gallery in June.

Braveland presents a pair of giant medals made of brightly painted cardboard and textiles and emblazoned with the phrases “Forza” and “Bon Courage”. Set in a fantastical, geometric landscape, the medals celebrate the viewer’s many daily acts of courage.

Fine & Dandy
2017 Dundas St West, Toronto, Canada
1 to 30 June 2012 | open 24 hours, 7 days

Opening Reception: Thursday, 31 May 2012
Gallery 1313
1313 Queen Street West | 7 pm

For more installation details: Braveland exhibition page.

WNDW, part of Carousel Exhibition Series

Curated by Marc Laliberte.

The Carousel Exhibition Series presents occasional gallery shows that bring together groups of artists who have, through their practice and aesthetic, strongly connected to the community developing around CAROUSEL magazine.

By flipping the concept of the art gallery inside-out, window galleries expose people of all ages, backgrounds and histories to a diverse selection of work utilizing a wide range of media. They allow the public to experience contemporary, experimental art comfortably and conveniently. The preconceptions of art gallery etiquette and protocol become non-issues at street level. There’s no threshold to cross. There’s no dress code in effect. The intimidation and boundaries of a traditional gallery disappear. Only the art remains.

- excerpted from “The Gallery is Always Open” by Jason Paradiso, CAROUSEL 29

WNDW is a multi-site project that links a cross-section of Toronto’s independent street-level window galleries for the first time, exploring how vacant windows in downtown cores are being transformed into unquestionably accessible, 24-hour walk-by galleries.

Participating Artists

Each artist appears in CAROUSEL 29
Robert Dayton
Larry Eisenstein
Happy Sleepy (aka Marc Ngui and Magda Wojtyra)
Eunice Luk
Magda Trzaski

For more exhibition details: WNDW website

Glass Gem Corn

Magda — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:06:03 +0000

Glass Gem Corn photo from the Seeds Trust http://secure.seedstrust.com/

The story of glass gem corn:

Seedsman Greg Schoen got the seed from Carl Barnes, a part-Cherokee man, now in his 80′s, in Oklahoma. He was Greg’s “corn-teacher”. Greg was in the process of moving last year and wanted someone else to store and protect some of his seeds. He left samples of several corn varieties, including glass gem. I grew out a small handful this past summer just to see. The rest, as they say is history. I got so excited, I posted a picture on Facebook. We have never seen anything like this.

Read more about heirloom seeds at Seeds Trust.

As seen on BoingBoing.

The Reef Photos

Magda — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:55:28 +0000

Photos are now up on a new dedicated Reef project page.

The viewer above shows a full selection of images of the Reef as installed at upArt 2011. Use the button on the bottom right of the viewer above to see the images in full screen. The images are from the Reef photo set on Flickr and can also be viewed there.

The Reef Animated Gifs

Magda — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:08:21 +0000

Animated gifs of painted paper “fauna” elements against a textile sculpture background from the Reef project that was installed at upART 2011. There are a couple of Happy Sleepies in there, too.

The left side of the Reef.

Happy Sleepy 2010 and Geom 1 spin in front of The Purple Section.

One of the Plane Fish, Geoms, and several Pink Eyes and Dark Matters do their thing.

Plane Fish, looking right.

What it looked like when the balcony door opened and a gust of air came through...

One of the Black matter quadrangles. These mysterious Reef elements have a thick coat of blackest matte gouache and eyes made of real pearls from Cambodia.

Polytopia Photos

Magda — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:27:04 +0000

The best and most recent photos to date of the Polytopia textile art as it was installed as the “coral” component in the Reef installation at upART 2011.

Polytopia; post manufacturing industry textiles including canvass, upholstery, vinyl, nylon, foiled nylon wall covering, ripstop and waterproof fabrics, thread, staples; pyramid components 6 x 6 inches at the base x 7 inches tall, above installation at upART 2011 overall size 9 x 12 feet wide; 2011.

You can view all the images as a Flash slideshow, below, which also has additional images from the complete Polytopia photos set on Flickr. Highly recommended in full screen mode!