Portrait Made from Dice

A time lapse film by Stephen Dirkes for core77 of Frederick McSwain’s, “DIE” installation at Gallery R Pure “Broken Off Broken Off” group show in memorium to Tobias Wong for NY Design Week 2011. Music by Twi the Humble Feather.

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This amazing modern art idea is dedicated to artist and designer Tobias Wong who passed away last year, at the age of 35, after living 13,138 days. His friend Frederick McSwain built this commemorative portrait using exactly 13,138 dice to emphasize on life and its hazards. “The idea of a dice itself was appropriate—the randomness of life. It felt like [a medium] he would use. Because [Tobias] was a very street-level force, I thought it was appropriate [to install] the portrait on the floor. Its not something I wanted to suspend on the wall; I wanted it to be right there on the floor where you almost interact with it. The idea of every decision you make and everything you’ve done in your life, defines who you are. All of those days symbolically makes up the image of Tobi.”- Frederick stated. The dice were simply laid out on the floor without using any kind of adhesive. Have a look at the time lapse video below for a better understanding of how this incredible portrait was achieved

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