In March 2005 Charles Karadimos was commissioned to design what will be one of the largest kaleidoscopes in the world in China. Traveling to the site in Qingdao, home for part of the 2008 Summer Olympics, he met with Larry Ziebarth, the main architect, the local architects, and the managers of the project, in order to best evaluate the project. A week of intense model building and discussions led up to an incredible start to the planned construction. As seen in the picture of the model, a 21 meter tall kaleidoscope will be housed in the 48 meter central tower. Work has now begun on the main complex, “Art Topia”, with an opening date set sometime in 2009.
Art-Topia is located along 1.3 kilometers of shoreline bordered by Qingdao’s largest swimming beach to the northeast and the new sculpture museum within the site’s southwest boundary. The development of this prime land is proposed as an “Art” themed leisure, recreation and entertainment park for the city of Qingdao. The theme for this concept is further enhanced by the site’s close proximity to the new Fine Art and Cultural Art Museum.
On the site of an old fishing village, a vibrant center for daytime and evening events including restaurants, entertainment, retail shopping, art galleries, working art studios, live performances, and overnight accommodations will be developed.
“Art-Topia Park” celebrates human creativity in the visual and performing arts. This is not in the form of a museum, rather it is an interactive entertainment complex which is always evolving based on the participation of its resident artists and club members and visiting guests. The theme is timeless and the subject matter is continually changing.
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"Odyssey" is a limited edition of 5. Three are black with fused dichroic embellishments and two are white with hand painted color added to provide a subtle accent to the body.
11" tall x 12" wide x 16" long
A tapered two-mirror system creates a perfect 10-point image.
The object case is almost all dichroic. What else would be expected? Not only does the cell contain fused, lampworked, handcut, and heat-treated dichroic glass, but the cell itself is specially treated dichroic glass.
"Dichro ll" stands 10 inches tall........ Limited Edition of 12
The exterior of this new kaleidoscope is completely slumped, from the raised and embossed decorative details on the top side, to the fully slumped feet on the underside. A tapered two-mirror system produces large and very engaging 16-point images. The object cell contains all glass that is either cut, lampworked, fused, fire-polished or any combination of those techniques, with the selection focusing on intricate randomness and an appealing color balance. The 9” long body displays horizontally.
“Sweeeet 16” is a limited edition of 16.
(4) sky blue, (4) red, (4) black, (4) white
The exterior color indicates a “personality” for the interior imagery.
In the immortal words of Jackie Gleason .... “How sweeeet it is?”
Does anybody remember Jackie Gleason?