Elizabeth March 4th, 2008
I have posts that need writing, emails that need answering, and a floor that needs a good vacuum. Unfortunately, I’m having one of those weeks where other stuff has taken over. Hopefully things will be back to normal in a few days!
In the meantime, check out the latest altered Garfield strips to hit my inbox. They’re almost as good as Garfield Minus Garfield!
Elizabeth February 29th, 2008
I am loving this comic so much right now. I’ve been sitting here hitting ‘random’ for 20 mins, and it’s nothing but gold.
Elizabeth February 26th, 2008
I’ve always loved the song I Think It’s Going To Rain Today by Randy Newman; it’s usually one of the first songs I play when I sit down at the piano for a self-indulgent “session”. I’m pretty sure I heard Bette Midler perform it first on Beaches, and I love both versions equally for different reasons.
So when I came across this video tonight on An Unsuspecting Notebook, there’s no way I could keep it to myself! It’s simple and beautiful, and puts a new spin on a song I’ve loved for 20 years.
Enjoy.
Elizabeth February 25th, 2008
Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?
Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb.
I know Tim can’t stand Garfield - I wonder if he’ll like it better this way? Either way, this is so going on my rss reader!
Thanks to Patrick for the link.
Elizabeth February 23rd, 2008
I don’t have time to write much tonight, but it’s been a few days without a post and I wanted to share a few great links with you guys.
Art by yumiyumi
Crystal Perch
I’ve sort of fallen in love with Aline (Yumi) Yamada, a Brazilian artist and illustrator who now lives in Columbus Ohio. I’m drawn to anything that features retro and/or stylized birds and trees, but I also love her cute girl illustrations. Check out her Etsy shop and get hooked like me!
National Geographic Atlas Puzzles
I was sort of hoping that the discovery of these interactive jigsaw puzzles would help me in my goal to learn the US state capitals, and all the world capitals. Unfortunately they’re a little too small to show that much detail, but still incredibly addictive and very satisfying to complete.
You can change the default settings to give you more (smaller) pieces, and also to rotate them randomly on the board. In my opinion, this makes it way more fun.
And lastly…
Win a free bathroom! (But there’s a catch…)
Rotorooter is giving away a free bathroom, decked out with the latest technology. It’s great news, as long as you like your bathrooms so pink that it reminds you of Strawberry Shortcake vomit.
The bathroom, which is so pink that even Barbie thinks it’s a bit much, includes a Nintendo Wii, a Sony Vaio laptop, a flat screen TV that functions as both a monitor and a heated towel rack (totally swank), an iPod, a fridge (also pink), a salon-style hairdryer, a pedi kit, and subscriptions to your favorite magazines.
(via Wired)
Can I be the first to say that coffee shouldn’t be brewed next to the place that it’s, um, disposed of?
Elizabeth February 15th, 2008
A massive thankyou to MetroDad for sharing this fantastic short film! I hope everyone can spare 4 minutes to watch it.
Whether you see Valentine’s Day as a chance to shower a loved one in gifts or a good excuse to order an extra-dry gin martini, you’re probably going to think about love at some point today. So watching Chris Vincze’s graceful and very clever short film EVOL is a great way to treat yourself to a lighthearted take on the subject du jour.
To shoot EVOL, Vincze had his two leads, a mopey man and a sweetly bookish woman in the middle of busy London, perform all of their actions backward. Then he reversed the film in postproduction — showing us a couple who find each other because they’re out of sync with everyone else. The technique fits the film’s story perfectly: It’s magical, unashamedly corny, a little disorienting, and constantly surprising. Which, in our experience, is pretty much like falling in love.
via VSL
Tim and I celebrated Valentines Day on an inner-city rooftop, watching a great movie and freezing our butts off. More about that later today.
Meanwhile, check out the pretty roses from Tim ♥
Elizabeth January 30th, 2008
Don’t you just wish you could reach through your monitor sometimes, and do something about all the shitty-looking websites out there? I understand that not everybody is a designer, but how hard is it to pick a readable font?
Thanks to design-police.org for this 5-page printable “Visual Enforcement Kit”, and to Katie Chatfield for bringing them to my attention.
(Bonus points for pointing out which rules I’m breaking on this blog!)
Elizabeth January 29th, 2008
Shortly after our fun morning cruising down the Yarra, Tim and I said goodbye to Sally and headed for home. We had planned to catch a tram from Flinders Street Station, but the new All Of Us exhibition at Federation Square caught my eye and I decided to wander over there for a look.
Click here to open a larger version in a new window.
Photographer Michel Lawrence is the photographer behind the All Of Us project, and sought to photograph at least one person from each country that now calls Australia home. Each of the candidates were born overseas, and chose to start a new life in Australia.
His installation at Federation Square consists of 220 photographs 1.2m x 1.2m high (some appear to be double height), and will be on display for the next 2 months. A large format book is also available.
The Age has an interesting article about the photographer and one of his subjects.
Aside from the fact that this exhibition is a brilliant way to graphically represent our multicultural population, I don’t think Federation Square has looked more attractive in the time I’ve lived here. If you’re in Melbourne, it really is worth seeing.
Elizabeth January 9th, 2008
I think Heather summed it up best when she said:
You have to wonder, does someone just wake up one morning and go, you know what would be fun? Strapping some clothespins to my face! Because if I have to pick up a pen to write the letter K one more time, I’m just gonna fall right over.
See the rest of the images here. Can anyone tell me what the artist is trying to say with this?
Elizabeth December 6th, 2007
Two libraries in Kansas City and Cardiff have transformed their exteriors to look like bookshelves. Such a simple idea, but so effective.
See more photos of this at Deputy Dog, and enjoy the anti Dan Brown comments that follow the article.
Elizabeth November 3rd, 2007
Beautiful altered books are among my most favourite things. There’s something special about a completed work of art contained between two covers, one piece of art derived from another. I’m sure it’s all tied into my paper journal addiction, and my general respect for books. I don’t like to see a book destroyed unless it’s for a truly good purpose.
Brian Dettmer is somebody destroying books for a good purpose.
Winston, 2007
Altered book
8-1/2 x 7-1/2 x 2 inches
Brian Dettmer’s carved books are intricate creations, which seek both to seduce the eye and provoke the mind. Through the cut open cover of a book the viewer sees layers of specifically selected text and illustration carved from the pages of the book. Through the gaps in an architectural drawing or perhaps the chambers of the human heart, one can see a word peeking through, perhaps a clue to the larger meanings of the piece. These pieces seek to bridge the gap between a medium’s form and its message. Dettmer manages to use the contrasting layers of image and text to explore the conveyance of information, as well as being able to get the viewer to examine what that can mean.
via Packer Gallery
New International Dictionary 1947/2003
Gray’s Anatomy, 2002
Brian Dettmer has been busy. For his second solo show at Aron Packer Gallery, Dettmer has transformed discarded maps, atlases, books, encyclopedia sets, and even cassette tapes into super obsessive and compelling artwork. For the Altered States series, he has taken regional maps and cut the land away leaving only major interstates and highways, which he then layers on top of each other between pieces of glass. The effect is a 3-D road map that is visually stunning from the effect of crisp cuts, layering, and shadow play.
M.I.A., another intricate map work, eliminates any hint of text from a map of the Middle East. With the current events in the region this extraction of content can be read many ways. The extraction manifests an easier, more minimal landscape becoming more universal and less specific-but it’s also a metaphor for the ignorance of our current political situation
Also phenomenal is a set of encyclopedias that stands vertically. Pages have been carved one book at a time from top to bottom, leaving only the hard covers, leaving the shape of a contained figure that is ambiguous and universal while at the same time inhuman or otherworldly.
Dettmer’s work creates new relationships and meanings that emerge from the alteration of text and image, through sculptural subtraction and forces the viewer to respond with their own loaded feelings and views.
via Packer Gallery
I would love to post a bunch of images of his work, because each of them is so unique, but this post would quickly become enormous. Instead, I suggest that you head to Centripetal Notion and check out the great article that Justin Ruckman has written about him there. There’s even a message from the artist within the comments.
With thanks to:
Brian Dettmer on Wikipedia
Centripetal Notion
Packer Gallery
OK, a few more wouldn’t hurt. Besides, it’s a good way to test how the “more” tag behaves in my RSS feed. Click the link below to view a few more images.
Elizabeth August 6th, 2007
Some backstory: Nedroid is a talented comic artist, who was recently challenged to draw 200 bad comics. While I would argue that these comics are so bad that they are good again, you should check them out and judge for yourself.
Here are some of my favourites.
Go visit nedroid.com and see the rest.
Elizabeth August 6th, 2007
I discovered The Hello Experiment while browsing tonight, and was happy to find that the video has been uploaded to Youtube so that I can embed it here.
I have no idea who these people are or why they chose this particular idea, but it’s cool. And who doesn’t love a bit of Lionel Richie when we’re home alone, with the windows closed so that the neighbours can’t hear us singing along? Hello?
Would now be a good time to mention my “retro pop” iTunes playlist? What if I left out the part about Total Eclipse of the Heart?
Elizabeth July 7th, 2007
Elizabeth June 20th, 2007
you said Is
there anything which
is dead or alive more beautiful
than my body,to have in your fingers
(trembling ever so little)?
Looking into
your eyes Nothing,i said,except the
air of spring smelling of never and forever.
….and through the lattice which moved as
if a hand is touched by a
hand(which
moved as though
fingers touch a girl’s
breast,
lightly)
Do you believe in always,the wind
said to the rain
I am too busy with
my flowers to believe,the rain answered
| Completed: 16/101 | |||||||||
Keep track as I complete my 101 Things in 1001 Days challenge (commencing Jan 1st, 2008).
