Art on the wall is one thing, but installations engage us with texture, light, color and sound, surrounding us and begging for interaction. They challenge conventions of the art world as well as the context of art itself, as these uncanny and unique projects illustrate in vivid three-dimensional form.
Weathered concrete sides suddenly give way to crisp, clean, multi-colored LEGO blocks stretched across thin air, looking more like something from Minecraft (or Photoshop) than reality.
An electricity pylon transforms into a glowing, moving robot in a massive urban intervention by Argentinean art collective DOMA.
Over a thousand copper-coated aluminum raindrops move in undulating computer-programmed patterns in an installation at the Changi Airport in Singapore.
10,000 garments cover a building in London like shingles to highlight clothing waste in a campaign by UK retailer Marks & Spencer.
With some of her works it is hard to tell where the two-dimensional art ends and 3D objects begin, blending as they do into one semi-continuous surface.
Is this shantytown in New Orleans the most musical neighborhood in the world? Every tiny shack here is a functional musical instrument.
French artist The Wa installs roller blinds on public ads in the city of Toulouse, giving passersby a little more control over the urban environment.
Ingredients: 500 liters of brightly-colored, eco-friendly, wash-away water-based paint, one elevated location with video camera and 2000 cars of unwitting participants.
The Trashcam Project turns dumpsters around the city of Hamburg into pinhole cameras that capture beautiful urban scenes with a hole and some photo paper.
Those red pins marking the city center on Google Maps become 20-foot-tall, real-life urban installations in the 'Maps' series by Aram Bartholl.
Daily Email
subscribe for one email per day containing all new articles
Mailing List
subscribe to periodic WebUrbanist updates and special features