Not often have I come across twin brothers making amazing, mesmerizing artwork. The last brothers I think I looked at were the incredible Steven & William Ladd. But Ryan & Trevor Oakes are using unique, everyday materials from cardboard to matchsticks to pipe cleaners to make some weird and wonderful pieces.
Yes, those are matches. I find it incredibly neat the way this is constructed (likely more complicated than it looks to get it so even), and the fact that it’s a wooden bowl that – if moved to quickly – would pretty quickly ignite. I love vessels and the potential destruction of this one makes me feel kind of unsettled as a viewer.
Also matches, incredible, patient construction – love them all.
Here you can see a bit more about how the construction actually comes together – it looks almost as simple as regular glue holding these together thinly. The glue seems to only go about halfway down the matchstick though so I image they don’t feel super duper stable.
The above is woven pipecleaners – often thought of as a child’s toy. Ryan and Trevor, from what I found online, grew up in Colorado and together attended the Cooper Union School of Art – currently living in NYC.
Tags: 3D, everyday items, installation, matchsticks, sculpture, vessels