Larry Bell (born 1939) is an American contemporary artist and sculptor . He is best known for his glass boxes and large-scaled illusionistic sculptures. He is a grant recipient from, among others, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation , and his artworks are found in the collections of many major cultural institutions. He lives and works in Taos, New Mexico , and maintains a studio in Venice, California .
50-454: Langham Place is a commercial complex and shopping centre in Mong Kok , Kowloon , Hong Kong . The official opening was on 25 January 2005. The complex occupies two blocks defined by Argyle Street , Portland Street , Shantung Street and Reclamation Street . Shanghai Street separates the two portions of the complex, which are connected via two overhead walkways. A hotel is on one side of
100-529: A vacuum chamber , and involves vaporizing metal alloys that then settle on the glass surface. The concentration of the coating on the glass determines the variation in its reflective properties, and Bell uses this gradation to enhance the transparent and reflective properties of the glass. A modern example of this technique using inconel is 'Cube #9 (Amber) (2005)' in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Bell's artworks are represented at
150-525: A 59-storey office tower, a 15-level shopping centre with two basement levels, a 665-room hotel and a car park with 250 parking spaces. The complex is connected to the Mong Kok station of the MTR via an underground passage (Exit C3). The HK$ 10 billion project began as a 50:50 joint development between Great Eagle and the Urban Renewal Authority (URA). The plan to redevelop part of
200-466: A lot of negative media attention for many acid attacks on Sai Yeung Choi Street from December 2008 through January 2010. The area was the site of protracted demonstrations during the 2014 Hong Kong protests , including the gau wu campaign, and was also the site of the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest . Mong Kok preserves its traditional characteristics with an array of markets , small shops, and food stalls that have disappeared from other areas during
250-427: A result of the pro-democracy protests. 22°19′21″N 114°10′14″E / 22.32250°N 114.17056°E / 22.32250; 114.17056 Larry Bell (artist) Bell's art addresses the relationship between the art object and its environment through the sculptural and reflective properties of his work. Bell is often associated with Light and Space , a group of mostly West Coast artists whose work
300-406: A series of shadow boxes or “ghost boxes”, three-dimensional cases whose surfaces often featured shapes reminiscent of those in the preceding paintings. Of this transition, critic Peter Frank has observed: The earliest boxes contained within them, coated onto the glass or even defining their parameters, the angled contours and beveled edges with which the paintings had inferred three-dimensionality;
350-707: A variety of materials including formica, brass, and wood. Three of these works were included in the seminal 1966 exhibit, " Primary Structures " at the Jewish Museum in New York. "Hewn from remaindered bits of glass salvaged at the Burbank frame shop where he worked while studying at Chouinard, Bell's sculptures set the artist apart from his contemporaries. After the Sidney Janis Gallery sold one of his early cubes to Buffalo's Albright-Knox Art Gallery,
400-689: Is configured over 15 levels, with 5,600 m (60,000 sq ft) of space per level from the second basement level to fourth level; and 3,700 m (40,000 sq ft) of space per level from level 5 upwards. There is a food court on level 4 and a cinema run by CINEMA CITY on level 8 and an "indoor alfresco dining" area on the top floor. The mall was designed by the Los Angeles-based firm Jerde Partnership and opened for business in November 2004. Happy Man – The 2,700-kilogram sculpture commissioned from American designer Larry Bell , at
450-621: Is one of five surviving persons whose photos are depicted on that cover. In 1969, Bell received a Guggenheim Fellowship for fine arts. His inclusion in the Tate Gallery's "Three Artists from Los Angeles" exhibition in London in 1970 (alongside Irwin and Doug Wheeler,) further cemented Bell's stature as one of the era's preeminent practitioners—on the West Coast and beyond. Two large bodies of work on paper, Bell's "vapor drawings" and
500-474: Is primarily concerned with perceptual experience stemming from the viewer's interaction with their work. This group also includes, among others, artists James Turrell , John McCracken , Peter Alexander , Robert Irwin and Craig Kauffman . On the occasion of the Tate Gallery's exhibit Three Artists from Los Angeles: Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Doug Wheeler , Michael Compton wrote the following to describe
550-539: Is seen heightens our awareness of the process of seeing...However, the three artists in this show... operate in various ways near the lowest thresholds of visual discrimination. The effect of this is again to cause one to make a considerable effort to discern and so to become conscious of the process of seeing. Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1939 and grew up in Los Angeles, California. From 1957 to 1959, he studied at
SECTION 10
#1732780611908600-531: Is the dome. The tower's dome illuminates at night and changes colour slowly in a light show on weekends and holidays. The entire tower is covered in light-reflecting blue glass which is separated at two intervals by grey glass. Due to the high price of land and the higher yield on retail property in Hong Kong, the Langham Place Mall departs from the common Western model of the flat shopping mall. It
650-412: Is the second "vertical mall" in Hong Kong. The exterior of the mall is characterised by a multi-faceted façade of yellow fissured Brazilian granite stretching from street level to the roof. Another distinctive feature is the 9-storey glass atrium which lets in natural lighting and allows passersby to look through the middle of the building. The Mall's 56,000 m (600,000 sq ft) of retail space
700-537: The Chouinard Art Institute (now part of CalArts) in Los Angeles , with the intention of becoming a Disney animator. He was a student of artists Robert Irwin , Richards Ruben , Robert Chuey , and Emerson Woelffer , and it was at Chouinard where Bell explored abstract painting. He followed friends like Billy Al Bengston , Robert Irwin , Ken Price , and Craig Kauffman to the beach. "He
750-520: The 2013 film Young and Dangerous: Reloaded are also set in Mong Kok. The literal Chinese title of the 1988 film As Tears Go By by Wong Kar-wai is "Mong Kok Carmen". Part of Robert Ludlum 's 1986 novel The Bourne Supremacy was set in Mong Kok. The area is known locally for a youth subculture, the Mong Kok culture . Mong Kok was one of the main sites of the 2014 Hong Kong protests . Banks, jewellery stores and clothing stores were closed as
800-425: The 45-metre (148 ft) long escalator that carries passengers from the fourth to eighth floor failed. With 120 people on board, it reversed direction and sent people careering downward at high speed for about 15 seconds before slowing. A human pile-up formed at the bottom of the escalator and at least 17 people were injured. A subsequent Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) investigation found that
850-748: The Langham Place Hotel was rebranded as the Cordis, Hong Kong. The building was used as the main background for 2 TVB drama series Under the Canopy of Love (2006) and Queen of the Office (2010). For the filming of episode 72 of Running Man , the Langham Place's shopping mall was originally going to be used as a location for a Running Man challenge. However, after learning of the proposed filming site at Langham Place, many fans gathered at
900-611: The Langham Place Office Tower for HK$ 12.5 billion. The consideration valued the retail portion at HK$ 12,519 per square foot and the office portion at about HK$ 6,815. Great Eagle retains ownership of the hotel. The office tower is a 255.1 m (837 ft) skyscraper and was the tallest office building on the Kowloon peninsula when it launched. Construction of the office tower, which contains 7,200 m (78,000 sq ft) of space, began in 1999 under
950-599: The Lifts and Escalators Ordinance. The company was fined HK$ 320,000 by the court. EMSD announced it would continue disciplinary action against the contractor. The Langham Place Hotel is located at 555, Shanghai Street. Managed by the Langham Hotels International , it is the only five star hotel located in Mong Kok and has a swimming pool on its roof. Its 42 floors houses 280 deluxe, 284 executive, and 101 Langham Hotel Club guest rooms. On 26 August 2015,
1000-483: The Mong Kok landscape was driven by the URA. To make way for Langham Place, the old "Bird Street" (雀仔街) at Hong Lok Street, home to many grassroots birdsellers, was demolished. The joint venture had spent some HK$ 4.4 billion to acquire the 12,000 m (129,167 sq ft) site since approximately 1989. Before the completion of the project, Great Eagle purchased the URA's stake, increasing its ownership to 100%. It
1050-584: The Pace Gallery in New York offered him a solo show, along with representation, as did Ileana Sonnabend, then based in Paris," according to Michael Slenske. Bell's surfaces work both as mirrors and windows, sometimes simultaneously. In viewing the cubes, their suspension at torso height on clear pedestals designed by Bell allows the viewer to look up through them from underneath, as well as perceiving them from all four sides and from above. Bell's sculptures have
SECTION 20
#17327806119081100-463: The advantages of this process and medium: Masking the paper with thin PET film strips to expose areas related to the shape of the page plane enabled me to generate images spontaneously. This work gave me a conscious glimpse of the inherent power of spontaneity and improvisation. The work happened intuitively...In a short amount of time I created a number of interesting pieces. I liked this way of working. It
1150-457: The area as early as the western Han dynasty (206 BC to AD 8 ) to Jin Dynasty (266–420) . The area used to be a Hakka settlement, with about 200 villagers according to Bao'an records in 1819. The heart of the present-day Mong Kok is along Argyle Street near Sai Yeung Choi Street whilst the proper Mong Kok used to be to the north, near the present-day Mong Kok East station . Mong Kok
1200-506: The area: Mong Kok was the setting for the 2004 hit film One Night in Mongkok directed by Derek Yee . The movie portrays Mong Kok, one of the most densely populated places on Earth, as a hotbed of illicit activity. Similarly, the district was also the setting of the 1996 film Mongkok Story (旺角風雲) directed by Wilson Yip , which depicts a young man who becomes involved in a triad gang. The 2009 film To Live and Die in Mongkok and
1250-405: The box format is that it has no dictated top, sides, or bottom—they are interchangeable—and I would like to get some of the same quality into these new works. Obviously, I have to forego a top or bottom. Bell appeared on the cover (in a photo cutout by his friend Dennis Hopper ) of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , the iconic 1967 Beatles ’ album. He appears in the third row. To date, he
1300-457: The concept further. The project eventually led to Bell's creation of a concept narrative for the figures based on a fictionalized mythology of the early (pre- Babylonian ) civilization of Sumer . Bell developed three-dimensional models from a wide variety of materials, and Lewis eventually commissioned two of the figures to be fabricated from bronze , a material developed in Sumer. This body of work
1350-493: The design of Wong & Ouyang and the Jerde Partnership and was completed in 2004. The tower has 59 office floors above ground and 5 underground floors which are used as a car park. Each of the floors above ground has a floor plate of approximately 1,600 m (17,200 sq ft). The office tower is one of the ten tallest office buildings in Hong Kong when measured up to the highest architectural point, which
1400-444: The development while the commercial elements are located on the other side. The complex was the result of an urban renewal project under Land Development Corporation, later known as Urban Renewal Authority (URA). Several city blocks, including the old "Bird Street" marketplace, were demolished to make way for the commercial complex. Langham Place Tower has a gross floor area of 17,000 m (180,000 sq ft), and comprises
1450-399: The effect of Bell's artwork: At various times and particularly in the 1960s some artists have worked near what could be called the upper limits of perceptions, that is, where the eye is on the point of being overwhelmed by a superabundance of stimulation and is in danger of losing its power to control it... These artists sometimes produce the effect that the threat to our power to resolve what
1500-497: The effect of reading as self-contained objects while simultaneously drawing in their surroundings and proactively changing their environment. For these reasons, the sculptures’ effects depend heavily on their lighting and setting. Bell has explored the opportunities afforded by thin film deposition along other avenues. He began creating large, freestanding glass walls that can be arranged in an infinite number of configurations. These larger installations feature panes that extend from
1550-409: The floor or that reach above eye level. In 1968 Bell made the following comments on the perceptual and environmental aspects of this body of work, and on the leap from the cubes to the larger configurations: The space declared by these new sculptures becomes the work. ...When the pieces get to the kind of scale I am employing then the scale of the material begins to overwhelm the spectator. This creates
Langham Place (Hong Kong) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1600-429: The front entrance of the arcade. Xpresscalators – The longest escalators within a shopping mall in the territory. A pair of them is located on the 4th floor leading up to the 8th floor, where another pair leads to the 12th floor. Together they allow shoppers to travel 76 m (249 ft) up to the top of the mall quickly and conveniently, thus reducing the "horizontal drift" of shoppers. The Spiral – A section of
1650-456: The illusion of volume was thus conflated with actual volume. From the shadow box pieces, Bell moved on to begin what is perhaps his most recognizable body of work, namely cube sculptures that rest on transparent pedestals. Bell first started constructing these pieces in the early ‘60s. The earliest examples frequently featured "the systematic use of modular internal divisions (ellipses, parallelograms, checker and hexagonal arrangements)", and used
1700-506: The main drive chain had broken, while the safety device designed to monitor the integrity of the drive chain had also failed. It said that these failures had led to the inactivation of the auxiliary brake that would have otherwise stopped the escalator. On 9 March 2018, the Otis Elevator Company (HK) Limited, the contractor responsible for maintaining the escalator, pleaded guilty to several charges of contravening provisions of
1750-434: The mall, leading to an overcrowding and made it impossible to shoot an episode. Exit C3 of the adjacent Mong Kok station connects directly to the basement levels of the Langham Place shopping centre. Exit E1 of the station is located at ground level next to the complex. Mong Kok Mong Kok (also spelled Mongkok , often abbreviated as MK ) is an area in Kowloon , Hong Kong . The Prince Edward subarea occupies
1800-483: The more recent "mirage works", are also the products of Bell's use of thin film deposition technology. The vapor drawings are created by using PET film to mask paper sheets, which are then coated. ELIN 71 , from 1982, in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art is an example of these vapor drawings. "ELIN", which stands for "ellipse insert", is one of several series of Bell's vapor drawings. Bell describes
1850-558: The northern part of Mong Kok. Mong Kok is one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong. The area is characterised by a mixture of old and new multi-story buildings, with shops and restaurants at street level, and commercial or residential units above. Major industries in Mong Kok are retail, restaurants (including fast food) and entertainment. It has been described and portrayed in films as an area in which triads run bars, nightclubs, and massage parlours . With its extremely high population density of 130,000/km (340,000/sq mi), Mong Kok
1900-525: The past several decades of economic developments and urban transformation. As such, a few of these streets in Mong Kok have acquired nicknames reflecting their own characteristics. Some interesting sites are: Some popular shopping plazas located in this dense area include: Other streets in the area include: The Mong Kok area has many food-booths selling traditional snacks such as fish balls , fried beancurd (tofu) and various dim sum . These fingerfoods are very popular in Hong Kong, especially for folks on
1950-520: The past when it was a coastal region. Its present Chinese name, " 旺角 " ( Jyutping : wong gok ; IPA: [wɔːŋ˨ kɔːk˧] ), means "prosperous corner" or "crowded corner"; however, the English name did not change. For a period, the area was also called Argyle, and this name was used for the MTR station when it opened in 1979. The office building Mong Kok Centre [ zh ] , which
2000-569: The run. In addition, there are restaurants serving different kinds of cuisine, ranging from Japanese to Thai and Italian . Built heritage in Mong Kok includes: Educational institutions in Mong Kok include: Mong Kok is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 32. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and Tong Mei Road Government Primary School ( 塘尾道官立小學 ). The main thoroughfares are: Three rail lines serve
2050-508: The sense of a partial environment. So to extend the format may prove to be interesting. Then the observer could walk around and into the unit and at the same time, see through it. Obviously, it will then do totally different things to the observer and the spatial experience will be very dimensional, especially given the ephemeral nature of the material. At the moment my work tends to be frontal and two-sided. This doesn't really worry me, but I would like them to work from all four sides. The beauty of
Langham Place (Hong Kong) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2100-513: The shopping mall from the 9th to 12th floor of the building, which corkscrews around the upper set of Xpresscalators. Digital Sky – An architectural feature on level 13 where computerised images are projected onto the ceiling of the mall. The lighting was originally designed and programmed by Jason Saunders of Photonic-Motion in Melbourne Australia, in sequence with video on a Wholehog 2 PC running midi time code. On 25 March 2017,
2150-501: Was an area of cultivated lands, bounded to the south by Argyle Street, to the west by Coronation Road (a section of present-day Nathan Road ), and to the east by hills. To the southeast of Mong Kok is Ho Man Tin and to the west Tai Kok Tsui . On 10 August 2008, the Cornwall Court fire broke out. More than 200 firefighters were involved in the rescue operation. Four people died, including two firefighters. Mong Kok received
2200-503: Was described as the busiest district in the world by the Guinness World Records . Until 1930, the area was called Mong Kok Tsui ( 芒角嘴 ). The current English name is a transliteration of its older Chinese name 望角 ( Jyutping : mong gok ; IPA: [mɔːŋ˨ kɔːk˧] ), or 芒角 ( Jyutping : mong gok ; IPA: [mɔːŋ˨˩ kɔːk˧] ), which is named for its plentiful supply of ferns in
2250-490: Was different from tediously coping with the weight and risk of glass. In my mind, I was investigating improbable visuals using improbable means. The mirage pieces, on the other hand, are collages constructed out of pieces of coated materials that are then arranged and laminated. As Bell says, "I colored sheets of various paper materials, strips of PET film, and laminate film. Then I fused them to canvases and stretched them. Tapestries of woven light differentials resulted." Bell
2300-696: Was named after the area, is known in English as Argyle Centre. Mong Kok is part of Yau Tsim Mong District . It was part of the Mong Kok District before the district was merged in 1994. The area belongs to the Kowloon West geographical constituency of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong . Displays at the Chinese University of Hong Kong include antique potteries indicating that there might have been settlements in
2350-760: Was the first and youngest person to crash the art scene of that era", says Edward Ruscha . He found representation at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, together with Edward Ruscha, Ed Moses , Billy Al Bengston. Bell's earliest pieces are paintings in the Abstract Expressionist tradition. He began incorporating fragments and shards of clear and mirrored glass into his compositions. At the same time, he began in his painting to produce angular geometric compositions that alluded to or represented three-dimensional forms. These works frequently depicted rectilinear forms with truncated corners. Next there came
2400-482: Was the recipient of the 1990 New Mexico Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. In the early 1990s, Bell was using a computerized sketch program to create images of stick figures. He showed these drawings to architect Frank Gehry while the two were collaborating on proposals for a home commissioned by arts patron and insurance executive Peter B. Lewis . Gehry's enthusiasm for the sketches encouraged Bell to develop
2450-478: Was the single largest project undertaken by Great Eagle, which had geared up significantly to finance the project. An estimated HK$ 300 million land premium was paid by Great Eagle to the Government. In 2005, wishing to reduce debt levels, Great Eagle sold 4 individual floors of the Langham Place Office Tower. In June 2008, Champion REIT acquired the Langham Place Mall and Great Eagle's remaining portion of
2500-524: Was the subject of a 1995 exhibit at the Harwood Museum in Taos, New Mexico. Bell continues his work with the cube to this day; more recent ones are made only of glass and have beveled edges, as opposed to plates that sit within a metal frame. The glass is typically covered with a film that has been treated using a technique called thin film deposition of metallic particles. This process takes place in
#907092