One of my New Year’s resolutions was to use stripes in more interesting ways throughout my work. As inspiration, I’ve been looking at artist Daniel Buren (a.k.a. “the stripe guy”). I love the fearless, infinite quality and stunning impact of his stripe-infused installations.
Hailing from Boulogne-Billancourt, France, Daniel Buren is known for his site-specific art, and his signature use of the vertical stripe to challenge how we experience particular spaces. He completed his first major public work in 1986: Les Deux Plateaux at the Palais Royal Court in Paris. The sculptural piece spanned 10,0,00 square feet and consisted of 260 black and white striped stumps. Although somewhat controversial, the installation is fascinating in the way that it fuses contemporary art with historical architecture.
I’m obsessed with this recent beach installation in Den Haan, Belgium, comprised of 100 flagpoles fitted with striped wind socks…
…and the way his vibrant Color and its Reflections (1996) subverts the sober geometry of this Tokyo square.
His 2009 Rainbow in the Sky installation over a pedestrian square in Pasadena plays brilliantly off the breezy optimism of the Sunshine State:
One of Buren’s more widely known pieces here in the U.S. is Eye of the Storm at the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan. The installation doubles as a skylight for the museum and draws visitors in to interact with this large open space.
Buren’s work steels my resolve to harness the graphic, timeless nature of stripes in thrilling, unexpected ways. Check out my Pinterest board for more striped inspiration!
