LW Art Challenge V - Results
LW Art Challenge V - Results
Experience the visuals and sounds from this month's challenge all in one place.
Hey friends,
It’s time to show the results of the latest challenge!
You’ve likely seen many of these works on X under #LWArtChallenge but there are at least a couple you definitely have not seen/heard until now.
I’ve given my personal commentary on each, citing the artists’ insights from posts and private discussions when applicable. I’ve also given a breakdown of my audiovisual piece at the end.
An aspect I find fascinating in these ‘Results’ posts are the common gestures made by many of the artists. You’ll notice that the influence of one particular line from the challenge prompt is instantly recognizable in many of these pieces. However, each one goes a lot further than this one aspect. I invite you to take your time and dive in to each one and, if you’re able, collect your favorite ones. Links are posted below each piece.
For a refresher on this month’s challenge prompt, here’s the original post:
Without further ado, let’s dive in👇
Rangga Purnama Aji
‘Blessed Perpetual Stairs of Pursue’
This is definitely one of my top favorite pieces of Rangga’s so far. It is clean and cohesive in design and palette. The movement of the step pattern is mesmerizing. I can almost hear a clicking sound as it slows and speeds up. The frame is very effective in giving the work a completed feel, while the animation remains free from adhering to a border.
Rangga’s description:
”A manifested spirit over the perpetual illusion of the unstoppable routine. Exist within the spread of dimensional pulps fabric. The beginning and end merged as one, interrupted by the bugs of doubt. While the sudden turn of disintegration happened, the blessed realization made it whole as one. Thus, the cycle must continue until the blessed anomaly arrives and becomes a new milestone.”
This description is a very rich and poetic interpretation of the challenge prompt. Though I may not understand fully, I take it to be about breaking the illusion of routine and becoming enlightened to the fact that new paths can be taken, or maybe that we easy get trapped in a cycle and the realization of it enters us into a new realm. Whatever the exact thought, I appreciate the depth and the connection with the patterns in the piece.
Silvia Anan
[untitled]
Silvia took a gorgeous earthy route with the palette in her piece and I’m loving the deep reds in the bottom. The form instantly captures the ‘endless staircase’ portion of the prompt.
After some discussions, she revealed the more subtle interpretations of the other two lines of the prompt. ‘June bugs dead on the porch’ is represented as dark red dots in the bottom right and the paper chains come from a white chain pattern that started in the middle of the process, which were then abstracted in the final form. I love how the white bits instantly communicated the paper chain idea when I first saw the piece.
Silvia has approached each challenge in this very focused style. It’s not her only style of art making and I appreciate that she doesn’t box herself in. At the same time, I’ve really been loving the consistency and unique composition of each one.
Lin Xir Wengi
‘Menumpuk Tanpa Henti – Kapan Berhenti?’
Lin’s piece instantly struck me as mesmerizing and cozy. The textures are chaotic, yet soft. The colors are complimentary in a way that provides high contrast and energy while also being subdued.
Her approach focuses primarily on the ‘endless staircase’ portion of the prompt and relates it to a common approach she takes in the physical construction of some of her works. What a cool way to personally relate to the creative prompt.
Lin’s description:
“The title was Indonesian, in English means ‘Endless Stacking – When Will It Stop?’. The title is utterly related to the action when the piece is made. This work was triggered by my friend who called one of my practices or techniques in collage with the phrase ‘infinity collage’ because sometimes I made collage material through collaging itself. I combined certain papers from different textures, colors, or shapes to create a patterned collage material.
The ‘infinity collage’ phrase encourages me to execute, what if I stack two kinds of paper continuously without stopping? How will the results appear? When will I decide to stop? What considerations do I make when I decide to stop? What solutions will I do when unexpected things arise?”
w74.eth (Wojak)
‘Third Season’
In speaking to Wojak about his interpretation of the prompt, he takes the last line ‘June bugs dead on the porch’ as having to do with autumn, which can be seen mainly in the color palette and arguably in the shapes and textures. Continuing with the theme of seasons, the first line ‘An endless staircase’ is approached from the perspective of the cycle of seasons.
This piece is part of the artist’s current studies on J. M. W. Turner. You see the resemblance straight away in the light composition and texture. The departure into original territory is also very clear. Considering these are fully digital adds another layer of interest.
Check out his collection that will soon be released.
DBB
[untitled]
Alternate version:
DBB came in hot with two visual interpretations of the prompt and an original rap. Any time I see a video with lyrics or a song, I perk up in excitement because I know the lyrics are going to be super clever and interesting.
DBB hits all of the prompt lines in these works. In the first one, the staircase is quickly recognizable. He goes a level deeper into the ‘endless staircase’ idea by integrating a subtle infinity symbol that ties all of the elements together in the piece. The June bug comes into view at the base of the stairs, at the bottom portion of the infinity symbol.
In the second piece, the staircase is more clear, yet abstracted to allude to infinity, seemingly tying the two together. In this one, the paper chains are made more clear in the background.
The videos are a shortened version of the full lyrics, which are shown here. Of course, I love the little ‘lone wick’ nod at the end.
The beat was created by Dansonn Beats.
Brilliant work as usual from a very thoughtful artist.
bitebybit
‘BBB-A3’
I’m happy to see another new artist participate in the challenge. bitebybit’s work focuses on creative uses of both old software and hardware. He goes way back with this piece in which he only had two seconds to run 1988 Fanta Vision on floppy disk. The sound and image represent bugs and their signaling of the change of seasons. This is definitely a first for the challenge and I’d love to see more of this method of art making here.
Ryan Staley
‘reality is only as far as you can see’
Ryan’s piece is loud and bold. It captures the essence of the prompt in his hard hitting style. The juxtaposition of child-like paper chains against thick black marks and splatters is some heavy symbolism. The piece has a central focus, drawing my attention to the top, then downward, and makes me linger in the noise of the posts. The endless staircase at the center is brilliant. After engaging with the center line, my eye travels around the smaller details to find out more. The splatters in the bottom half appear to represent the dead June bugs, but likely symbolic of something deeper. I appreciate all the small messages sprinkled throughout that force you to zoom in and get more intimate with the piece. A lot being communicated here.
LoneWick
‘Numbscroll’
My piece is written for piano and hot, unfiltered electric guitar. I also made the accompanying artwork.
I’d like the listener/viewer to see this from the angle of scrolling (endless staircase) and its role in deactivating the critical functions of the brain. We are the June bugs, full of energy and consciousness, but hopelessly attracted to the glowing light, and as it traps us in our gaze we become numb, continuing to scroll without actually reading or engaging meaningfully with any of it. We scroll for a sense of connection but it’s a false sense of connection, weak and thin like paper chains.
The light turns on, signified by an opening major chord.
The piano plays on the literal stepwise movement of scrolling. The scale structure of the whole piece supports this feel by using a symmetrical set of tones made mostly of semitones, or half-steps.
The guitar acts like the user/scroller partially connecting, trying to find something they can’t define. Cries for help. Crying on the inside.
In the last third of the piece, the piano and guitar slightly transcend the separation, coming together to present the overarching tragicness of the story.
The plug is pulled from the guitar. A deactivated mind. As good as dead.
Thank you
I want to thank you for taking the time to experience the wide range of art created for this challenge. It has proved time and time again to be a lot of fun for the artists, including myself.
If you are able, please consider supporting these artists by collecting their work and sharing them. They spend a lot of time and effort to make beautiful and provocative pieces for us to enjoy, to help us see things in a new light, to find a sense of connection, and at the very least, provide an escape from daily life.
If you enjoyed this and would like to see more art and music stuff, subscribe for free.
-LW❤️🔥