A premature snowstorm left the East Coast blanketed in white frost this past weekend, only two days before candy-seeking trick-or-treaters were poised to visit their neighbors carrying pumpkin-shaped baskets. The first snowfall of the year may foretell a harsh and lengthy winter but, while the plump flakes floated in the sky on Saturday, many of us marveled at the magical view with the type of wide-eyed fascination you'd expect from a child who, after years of experiencing snow only via domed crystal globes, finally felt some real flakes falling on his nose.
In their latest endeavor, Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese of Ligorano/Reese have redefined the meaning of the snow globe, a symbol of Christmas joy and childlike wonderment, by manipulating the images within these transparent spheres. In their heavily conceptual The History of Art Snow Globes collection, Ligorano and Reese celebrate the most groundbreaking art periods in history, using the snow globe as a medium through which to celebrate a specific aesthetic associated with one of these movements. Instead of a depiction of Santa Claus at the North Pole, each snow globe houses the name of an art movement. The placement and color of these laser-cut acrylic letters, along with the font style used, work to convey the main aesthetic principles of that art period.
The collection consists of twenty snow globes, each measuring 7 1/2" in height and 6" in diameter, signed and dated, and retailing for $400 a pop at ArtwareEditions.com. The twenty movements mentioned in the collection are: Abstract Expressionism, Bauhaus, Conceptual Art, Cubism, Dada, De Stijl, Expressionism,
Fauvism, Fluxus, Futurism, Minimalism, New Media, Op Art, Performance Art, Photo Realism, Pop Art, Superflat, Surrealism, Video Art, and YBA.
The Cubism Snow Globe pictured above, for example, features square, 3-dimensional, black-and-white letters arranged in an abstract manner as opposed to running along one straight line. Likewise, the Surrealism Snow Globe features light aqua letters suspended along the center of the globe, the font size increasing as one's gaze moves from left to right, so that the final result feels dreamlike and fantastical. The Video Art Snow Globe even features letters inside a plasma-like blue screen.
By manipulating font styles and dimensions, Ligorano/Reese capture the DNA of each art movement and, by communicating their visions via snow globes, they make each object feel all the more precious and, in so doing, amplify the magnificence of the art period it encapsulates.
Check out more of these snow globes after the jump!
