Artist Damon Belanger has been transforming ordinary objects with his shadow paintings, that come to life, and bring amusement and hilarity to their normal shade. Carefully mapped out with chalk, Belanger plans the shadow’s form, and then fills in with grey hued pigment that mimics the cast of that object’s shade. A post office box springs to life with a mouth full of teeth. A park bench turns into a sinewy, stretching cat. The work is seemingly simple, but it takes an artist’s mind, and also the dedication to make public art like this happen. Look for his work springing up in the Bay Area, especially the town of Redwood City. Via DesignBoom:
the overall theme is transformation and surprise,’ belanger says. ‘we don’t pay much attention to shadows until something interesting happens, like you notice a shadow cast by a tree that looks like an animal or something unusual. it’s kind of like looking for shapes in clouds. that’s the way I approached these pieces: given what is there casting the shadow, what else could that thing be or project, given its size and shape? what if it transformed and came alive?’
