With the aid of multiple microscopes, filmmaker and photographer Jan van IJken (previously) unveils the otherwise imperceptible maneuvers and bodily transformations of plankton. He focuses on a diverse array of underwater organisms, which all fall under the same taxonomy because of their inability to swim against the tides and are crucial to life on Earth, providing half of all oxygen through photosynthesis. Set against black backdrops, the marine drifters appear otherworldly in shape and color, and the filmmaker documents water flea eggs visible through translucent membranes, the spiked fringe of cyanobacteria, and the minuscule movements of various creatures as they wriggle across the screen. More

Austin-based gallery Sebastian Foster just announced its Fall Print Set, the first collection of its kind in almost a decade. The new release features 19 works by well-established illustrators, printmakers, artists, and painters from across the U.S. and Europe, many of whom have worked with the gallery for years. Encompassing an eclectic array of mediums and themes, the collection showcases works from artists previously featured on Colossal, including the quirky, cartoonish characters of Sabine Timm, Diana Sudyka’s fanciful storybook scenes, and Grant Haffner’s vibrant, flat landscapes bisected by his signature utility poles. More

Using her practice as a way to reflect on and heal family trauma, Naomieh Jovin works intimately with her family album, intervening in the archive and adding new perspectives with her own photographs.

Through serene, idyllic landscapes, Tomás Sánchez visualizes his long-harbored fascination with meditation. The practice, the Cuban painter says, is “where I find many of the answers to questions that transcend from the personal to the universal. Meditation is not always a fleeting time. Meditation is not a punctual exercise; it is a constant practice.” Rather than conceptualize the exercise as a temporary state, Sánchez views mediation as a lens to interpret the world, a recurring theme that has foregrounded much of his work during the last few decades. More

As a visual metaphor for the intensity and urgency of the ongoing climate crisis, urban artist SpY erected a luminous orb that towers nearly 25 meters above Madrid’s Plaza de Colón. The large-scale work, titled “Tierra,” features a cage of construction scaffolding that encloses the massive sphere, creating a contrast between the two geometric shapes and casting a brilliant red glow on the surrounding area. Set against the backdrop of the bustling Spanish city, the installation “asks us to reflect on the way in which our home makes up a whole of which we form part and in which everything is connected as if it were a living creature,” the artist says. More

In December 2016, Harper’s Magazine published a list of more than 20 objects that had been “mistaken for guns during shootings of civilians by police in the United States since 2001.” Artist Cara Levine found herself stunned then grief-stricken by the items, prompting her to launch the multi-faceted This Is Not a Gun project, which she discusses in the latest interview supported by Colossal Members. I needed to slow down and understand what I was looking at because I don’t want to live in a world where someone can be killed eating a sandwich. More

Fewer Americans plan to drive somewhere for Thanksgiving this year than last year at the height of COVID-19 shutdowns and closures, according to price-tracking website GasBuddy.com. Only 32% of Americans plan to hit the road for turkey gorging this year compared to 35% last year, when virus caseloads were nearly ...

Outrage among European Union officials who say Belarus is deliberately trying to flood Middle Eastern migrants into Poland and Lithuania reached new heights Monday, with the EU announcing it will sanction airlines that arranged special deals to fly the migrants into Belarus in recent months. The announcement comes after European ...

 Colorful shapeshifting animations dance across the screen in an experimental music video for a newly released single by Estonian musician and composer Janek Murd. Created by the design studio Tolm, a collection of floating orbs, speckled discs, and a mishmash of flexible rings follow the melody of “AVA,” a mellow tune dominated by a trumpet and xylophone. The lively, abstract shapes are transposed to primarily correspond to the brass track, with spheres bursting into the air with a crescendo and bubbles growing in dense clusters as a run builds in intensity. More

After garnering 13,368 entries across 47 countries, the first annual Natural Landscape Photography Awards released a striking collection of rugged topographies and serene wildernesses. The inaugural contest eschews digital manipulations in favor of highlighting realistic beauty around the world, and winning entries capture a brilliant lightning strike atop Matterhorn in the Alps, the moon peaking through branches at Joshua Tree National Park, and a melting iceberg on the black sand beaches of Fellsfjara in Iceland. More

From a mix of wool fibers and yarn made from plastic waste, Scottish artist Jo Hamilton crochets large-scale portraits and architectural landscapes delineated with dangling threads. Her knotted pieces push the boundaries of art and craft traditions, bringing the two together in subversive portrayals of powerful women and metropolises marred by production. Unraveling at the edges, the textured works reflect on interlocking issues like unchecked capitalism, social disparities, and the increasingly urgent climate crisis. More

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Monday ratcheted up pressure on Belarus by agreeing to slap sanctions on airlines accused of helping President Alexander Lukashenko to wage a “hybrid attack” against the bloc using migrants, as tensions mounted on the Polish border. Up to 4,000 migrants are ...

DALLAS — A woman has been arrested after punching a Southwest Airlines employee in the head during boarding for a flight out of a Dallas airport, police said. Arielle Jean Jackson, 32, was arrested Saturday afternoon at Love Field, Dallas, police said. Police said Jackson has been charged with aggravated ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary who holds the purse strings to much of President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure package, was holding forth with reporters on its impact - the promise of more electric cars, intercity train routes, bigger airports - when a pointed question came. How ...

HAMPTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A man who traveled to space with William Shatner last month was killed along with another person when the small plane they were in crashed in a wooded area of northern New Jersey, according to state police. The one-time space tourist Glen M. de Vries, ...

Marija Tiurina is known for her chaotic, fictionalized worlds that offer a brief escape from reality, so it’s fitting that London-based artist (previously) turned one of her larger watercolor renderings into a daunting 1,500-piece puzzle. Brimming with surreal splendor, the vibrant illustration envisions a holiday resort for families and their imaginary friends. Adults, kids, and a seemingly endless array of fantastical characters pack into the vacation venue to relax poolside, play video games, fish, and ice skate around a rink. More

South African artist Strijdom van der Merwe’s deceptive “Staircase to Heaven” sculpture is designed to make you wonder. When viewed straight on, the towering optical illusion appears to ascend into the sky at an incline, although the 4.5-meter-tall work actually lies on a flat plane. Van der Merwe partnered with Taiwanese artist Chou Sheng-hsien to create the trippy sculpture for the Nanhui Art Project in Taiwan, which commissioned 14 public works to be installed throughout Taitung County. More

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. says that it's inviting the global community to visit now that the government has ended the ban on travelers from 33 countries. In reality, however, it will still be difficult — if not impossible — for much of the globe to enter the country ...

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – A little girl who lost a special teddy bear she'd had since being adopted from an Ethiopian orphanage thought it was gone forever when she forgot it along a trail in Glacier National Park last year. Her parents and family friends still held onto a glimmer ...

 Braving the molten lava and fiery ash spewed by Geldingadalur’s Fagradalsfjall volcano, the team at Iceland Aerials sent a GoPro into the midst of the event mid-eruption. The spectacular footage, which captured the 6,000-year occurrence earlier this year, flies closer to the scorching scene than humanly possible, following the gush of magma as it cascades down the landscape and wading through the smoky haze that hovers over the area. Iceland Aerials shares a few videos from the dramatic site on YouTube, and you might enjoy this short film and these photos documenting the eruption, as well. More

Chinese artist Li Songsong (previously) obscures portraits and wider landscapes with thick dabs of oil paint. His textured, impasto works are based on found photographs or imagined scenes, and each conveys a narrative tied to ordinary moments or a broader shared history. Varying the extent of distortion in every piece, Songsong tells Colossal that interrogating personal identity is at the center of his practice. The “cultural and historical aspects are related to China, and the language and expressions are my own,” he explains. More

Photographer Eric Kogan is adept at spotting quirky coincidences on New York City’s streets. He captures bizarre and extraordinary scenarios in which pigeons mirror an X painted on a wall in the backdrop, a drippy vent creates a green cascade toward a weed sprouting from the brick, and a cluster of bright red balloons snag on a stoplight. With a background in painting and a day job in the event industry, Kogan often would snap shots of trash bins and perfectly aligned clouds during his commute, but with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began focusing primarily on his photography practice. More

From hunks of driftwood and tins with chipped paint, Kirsty Elson (previously) assembles minimal sculptures of animals, homes, and methods of transportation. The Cornwall-based artist highlights the raw simplicity of her found objects and lets the materials drive the works, manipulating cragged planks or bent hooks just slightly to achieve their intended forms. Presenting her sculptures as full scenes or single creatures, Elson transforms boxes displaying vintage logos into a fleet of trucks, an oil can into a friendly cat, and rusty nails into sailboat masts. More

Exploring trauma and addiction through intricate paper cuttings, pasted murals, and mythical stop-motion animations is at the heart of Caledonia Curry’s practice, and the Connecticut-born artist, who works as Swoon (previously), extends that approach in a mobile sculpture that peers into the intimacy of family life. Produced last year in collaboration with PBS American Portrait, “The House Our Family Built” transforms a 14-foot box truck into a roving domestic scene comprised of a cab cloaked in patterned wallpaper and a trailer split open to reveal a house-like environment. More

In “Artificial Organisms,” Russian director Maxim Zhestkov (previously) enlivens machine intelligence to create palpitating marine organisms that radiate with vibrant bands of light. The hulking, life-like specimens, which are comprised of countless individual spheres, are presented floating in undulating masses or enveloping a stark white structure in groups evocative of a coral reef. Each piece fuses the artificial and organic, producing “a bizarre world of mesmerizing digital creatures,” Zhestkov says. More