This summer, I’m trying something a little different. Every week, I’ll share one artwork by one artist that has stayed with me. Sometimes it made me laugh or feel something indescribable. Sometimes it challenged what I believed. Sometimes I simply couldn’t stop thinking about it.
These aren’t necessarily the “greatest” works of art. They’re the ones that sparked wonder for me.
I hope these stories help you discover a few artworks that stay with you, too.
The lifespan of a typical Berndnaut Smilde sculpture is 10 seconds — just long enough to be photographed. And his sculptures are as unusual as they are ethereal. Smilde makes perfect miniature clouds in a diverse array of indoor locations, from coal mines to cathedrals.
"I cannot really control the cloud - it's different every time. So, I create hundreds and hundreds [of images] and select just one to be the [final] work," Smilde said.
Story
I love things that catch me off guard because they feel out of place. When I first saw the work of Berndnaut Smilde, I was mesmerized. The physics of creating an actual cloud indoors was wild enough on its own and then he chose beautiful, unexpected venues and took gorgeous photographs to document them. When I was recently in Norway, I came practically face to face with a cloud. It was so surreal and reminded me immediately of Smilde's work.
Low Cloud in Balestrand, Norway, Shannon Steven
How He Does It:
Standard Fog Machine: Smilde uses a fog machine operated by remote control that dispenses a specialized liquid (typically a mixture of water and propylene glycol) which bursts into the room as highly textured "smoke" particles.
Water Spritzers: Before firing the machine, he manually sprays the room with basic water bottles, similar to household plant misters. This creates a dense, localized wall of water vapor in mid-air.
The Physics: When the smoke machine fires, the tiny glycol particles collide with the pre-sprayed water vapor. The water condenses onto the smoke particles, making them heavier. That extra weight pulls the cloud downward and holds its hyper-realistic, condensed shape for about 10 seconds — before it collapses.
Before Smilde can begin, he must take many precautions. He disables fire alarms, eliminates drafts by turning off all AC, and ventilation systems, and adjusts the temperature and humidity to make sure the space is cold and damp.
“There was this seascape painting at my grandparents’ house that fascinated me as a child. It was a picture of rough waters with a few boats and a stormy sky. Because of the painted difference in light, I couldn’t make out if the storm was coming or fading. I was intrigued by the possibilities embedded in those clouds. Perhaps that was the seed?” Berndnaut Smilde
Say
The making of a cloud is loud and chaotic, a fog machine firing, water being sprayed, yet the final photograph reflects an almost surreal calm. Have you ever had to shift quickly from frantic to serene?
Smilde considers himself a sculptor, yet he often hires photographers to capture the images of his clouds. So where does the art actually live? Is it in the making, the moment, or the photograph?
Smilde's clouds exist for only 10 seconds. What's something beautiful in your life that was fleeting but unforgettable?
He works in spaces not meant for clouds like cathedrals, coal mines, abandoned buildings. What unexpected place has surprised you with its beauty?
Do
Find an everyday object that feels out of place somewhere in your home or neighborhood and photograph it. Notice how context changes the way we see things.
Try creating your own "mist" — breathe out on a cold morning, boil water near a window, or use a plant mister in a shaft of sunlight. Capture the light moving through it.
Look up and photograph real clouds. I was scrolling through my camera roll recently and realized I might have nearly as many cloud photos as flower photos. Keep your attention skyward and enjoy the cloud show!
A few from my roll...
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Dream Team
Thanks to all who stopped by this last weekend at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis for our kick off of the revamped Wonder Wander App! We have added new features like events and crowdsourcing! Check it out. Most of the art in the app is concentrated in the US so far but the world is wide and we have added art in cities from as far south as Kawakawa, New Zealand and as far north as Tromsø, Norway. If you know of art collections that should be added, reply to this email and I will reach out to them.
My kids and husband are all in helping with app development and marketing!
About the Artist: Berndnaut Smilde
Berndnaut Smilde was born in 1978 in Groningen, the Netherlands. He studied at the Minerva Academy of Art and Design before completing a residency at the prestigious Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam — one of the most competitive art residencies in the world. He now lives and works in Amsterdam.
Smilde works across installation, photography, and video, and is best known for his Nimbus series, in which he conjures temporary clouds inside architectural spaces. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, and his cloud photographs have earned him international recognition — including a spot on Time magazine's list of the 10 Best Inventions of 2012. At its heart, his practice explores ideas of impermanence, the impossible, and the tension between what we see and what we believe.
Alice Mizrachi, Faces of Our Community, 2022 A first-generation migrant daughter, Alice Mizrachi grew up in Queens, New York. Her artwork, Faces of Our Community, is intended to unite the many cultures that make up her borough. To create this mural, the artist photographed residents and led collage-making workshops at Queens Community House. The resulting images are a mash-up of community members made by community members. A celebration of color and personality, the collages portray a diverse...
A Bird Named Goldilocks See Tucked inside a tree stump at a playground in Clove Lakes Park on Staten Island, New York, sits one of the most quietly magical public artworks you'll ever encounter (if you're paying attention). A Bird Named Goldilocks is a miniature bronze sculpture by Staten Island artist Anne Marie McDonnell, installed in 1995. At first glance, it looks like an ordinary stump. Look closer, and a tiny world reveals itself: a small bird has wandered into a scene straight out of a...
I Drivhuset (In the Greenhouse), Susanne Ussing, 1980 Susanne Ussing, I Drivhuset, Ordrupgaard Samlingen, 1980. Image Courtesy Carsten Hoff. The late Danish artist Susanne Ussing was fascinated by the female experience, a theme she explored extensively through a wide variety of media, from large-scale installations and interactive exhibitions to photography and ceramics. This stirring sculpture was created for the garden of the Ordrupgaard Museum in Copenhagen. It features a vast female...
