3191, b&w,150

Now that I am back home in Toronto, I have been out a lot more often, and, thus, have a lot less time to explore the World Wide Web. Hopefully I will be able to find time to myself and do what I love most soon—finding other great stuff to inspire me and sharing it with the world. Here are three things that have been sitting on my browser for the last three days:

1) 3191 A Year of Evenings is a visual blog by Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes. Living 3191 miles apart, these two women have only met once in their lives and communicate with each other through photography. Almost every evening, they take a photograph every Monday to Friday and combine them to make beautiful diptychs on their website. A year ago, they took photographs every morning and have since turned those into a book which I just purchased yesterday at Indigo. What a beautiful concept, one I would love to try with a distant someone!


2) Found on the streets of Moscow by The Satorialist is a lady dressed in black and white. Her perfectly matched assembly reminded me of my love for form-fitting leather jackets, black boots, cowl-neck sweaters, and of course, tulle dresses. She makes looking good look so easy! (Source)


3) Last but not least, Christiaan Postma entitled Clock. Consider this a follow up to a post I made two weeks ago where I featured a project by Nadine Grenie. She had formed a French message with the hands of 500 clocks. And now, a different, and perhaps even more fascinating, project of a clock that spells the time out for you.

The starting point with this project was a personal study about form & time. I put together more than 150 individual clockworks and made them work together to become one clock. I show the progress of time by letting the numbers be written in words by the clockworks. Reading clockwise, the time being is visible through a word and readable by the completeness of the word, 12 words from “one” to “twelve”. The size of the clock is 1,4 by 1,4 meter.

There is also an animated sample on her website that you must see!

lover of

I am a lover of photographs. Visuals move me. Visuals that move are not as appealing to me as ones that require my concentration, my own interpretation of each of their preceding and following. I adore still life, found objects and scenery. I love distance (and hate it when it takes part in my romantic relationship) but absolutely crave intimacy. Everyone has their own perspective of art, whether it is what art means to them or what they make into art. Photographs frame one's view, capture one's environment or give birth to one's vision.

1) A photograph I cannot seem to let go of...
(Found in the LiveJournal community the_polaroids by user thelittlestbear)


2) The Cat Cam by Michael Benjamin...

Cooper has been taking his own pictures for over a year now! Once a week he wears this light weight digital camera fastened to his collar, which snaps a new photo every 2 minutes. Thanks for your help assembling the camera, Pierson!

3) Roland Bello's photography that hits me with nostalgia... (Source)

colours that pop

Sometimes you just gotta relax, take a second and remember that it's okay to have fun. If you need a reminder, take a visit to the new Las Vegas bounce house designed by the duo from FriendsWithYou. Find your inner child in this playground filled with giant inflated balls and spread with colour. With characters like Shoebaca and Bumble Grump, how can you not have a good time? My favourite is Penelope the sleeping elephant. Each character has their own video on the fun and interactive website. They have many other fun projects too. Very kawaii!
(Source)



Vinheta Ó Paí, ó is a mesmerizing 50-second video in which every frame is a painting. I believe this is a opening of a Brazilian TV show. Unfortunately, I cannot read or understand any Portugese (I believe?), so this is as much information as I can give you!

Vinheta Ó Paí, ó from BRABO on Vimeo.

julien vallée

I have only briefly scanned through Julien Vallée's website this morning and my head is already spinning from the multitude of colours and the depth of the elements. I'm in too much of a hurry to share these two videos I watched before I went to bed. Julien hails from Montréal and is a motion and design graphic artist. His work is colourful, sharp (some literally), vibrant, and will jump out at you through your screen. His three-dimensional work has an unexpected effect on the interaction between elements in his art and even interaction between human and graphics. Take a few minutes to watch these videos because they will blow your mind.


Globo Logos from Julien Vallée on Vimeo.


MTV-One from Julien Vallée on Vimeo.

trickery

Congratulations to me! I'm finally done my first term of my fourth year! It feels absolutely fantastic to be home. I got some marks back today from a final exam on my Walt Disney course as well as a critical analysis essay for Comfort Television on Lipstick Jungle. I did very well and I'm so satisfied with myself! Above all, I won a free CD from CHUM, which I have to pick up sometime. Their station is unfortunately in the middle of nowhere. And with all these good news comes the bad news that my car wouldn't start today, leaving me worried, stressed and cold, already running late for my cousin's birthday dinner, which I ultimately missed. What inconvenient timing for a breakdown! Thank goodness for the rescue by my friend's father!

Anyway, my favourite YouTube video for the day. Titled "Western Spaghetti," this is a video very well done by the stop-motion artist PES. I have always been fascinated with this type of trick film and admire those who accomplish a smooth and seamless video. I'm in the middle of watching his other stop-motion films and my jaw is on the floor. Enjoy! (Warning: KaBoom! has great effects but involves clowns. Scary, flashing clowns. Watch at your own discretion.)


And just because I thought this Mr. Clean ad was amusing and very clever. Part of DesignYouTrust's "Deceiving Billboard Ads - Part IV":

greenland, iceland, toronto

I only just discovered A Cup of Jo very recently, a blog by Joanna Goddard, a magazine writer based in New York. Seriously, a brilliant woman with words in the Big Apple, has she the dream life or what? Within the week of reading her blog, I'm head over heels in love. In a recent post, I encountered some beautiful photography that I could not wait to share.

First is the work of Joel Tettamanti. He is a Swiss man with a breathtaking perspective and the good fortunes of traveling around the world with his camera. The photographs from Greenland are what caught my attention. His works from France are also unreal. Wouldn't I love to travel, not to mention have his skills! (Source)




And then there are these photographs from Iceland (has no ice) from Glamour.com where Joanna is a blogger. She wrote about Bob O'Connor's dreamy photographs of Iceland. Absolutely astounding to say the least. My boyfriend's always wanted to go to Reykjavik. I think I'm siding with him on this one; must start saving!




And last but not least, not found on Joanna's blog but through my visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)'s website. If you aren't Torontonian, you are probably unaware that the AGO recently re-opened with a large transformation designed by the world renown Frank Gehry. Go ahead and Flickr search some photos because you will be shocked at its magnificence. Upon reading the AGO home page, I learned that Edward Burtynsky's photographs of the AGO's transformation is currently on view at the art gallery. His work has always focused on capturing the landscapes of the world in both the nature and manufactured terms. A lot of his work involve our interaction with natural resources such as oil, mines, factories, and much more. His photographs will really open your mind in how we as humans affect the world. So, if you live in the GTA or will be visiting Toronto, try and take a peek at his AGO collection. I would say it is a must-see. And the great thing is, it's free! (Source)

cloud nine

I have one short of ten tabs on my browser that I need to be rid of. They have been sitting here, some for days, because I can't seem to group them with other similar-topic items. So here they are, one to nine of goodies.

1. Clever creative bench advertisements! These have been around for a long time. I've seen some but not others. If I were to guess, I would say you have already laid your eyes on the Istanbul book bench. But the rest are quite unique, such as the Kit Kat bench! The Denver Water one made me laugh. There are more on other blogs, so feel free to go on a hunt! (Source)


2. Riitta Ikonen (I love her name, by the way) has an very strange but brilliant way of implementing her own costumes and inserting them into "natural" places. She would dress up as an earthworm in the forest or a leaf in a tree. She's also been a herring, seaweed, snowflake and icebergs. I will leave it up to you to check them out—just be careful of the roadkill page, please. I was not blessed with the same warning. Skip that and jump to the Bonus page for some fantastical non-bloody joy.



3. Ah, photographs by Alexandra Carr. She is all sorts of fantastic and I adore all of her works! I especially love the "in the evening" set, crave the haircut of the girl in "paul," and don't get me started on the "white rabbit" series! Cecilia is a pure beauty and the nostalgia in "vivre sa vie!" OH MY. I couldn't really bear to show you only one sample, so two will do... Uh, let's move on before I change my mind. (Source)



4. The satire of Pepe Smit's work absolutely kills me. (And the fact that she shoots in D300, AH!) Her photographs are filled with semiotics that are hilarious and cynical and beg for you to take a longer look and read the message behind the imagery. As Margriet Kruijver writes about Pepe, "With pleasure Smit explores the clichés and [taboos] of our society. Clichés as the innocence of children, feminine beauty, motherhood and art itself are all being tackled." Her work is so clever and will have you questioning the arbitrariness of our lives. (Source)


5. Matthew Genitempo is another brilliant photographer I discovered this week. I just added him to Flickr and cannot wait to see more of the stuff I adore. The following are from his Big Winds set (shot in 120) and are just two of the 200+ photographs he has. He shoots in film (35mm AND medium format!) and Polaroids. You gotta see for yourself. (Source)



6. Words cannot describe the beauty of Mua. This hanging design is made of steel and wrapped in wicker. They say it "was designed with lovers in mind. The organic shape invokes the idea of two people intertwined, embracing each other." I wasn't sure, but they reassured me that at a certain perspective, Mua will look like a big heart. I have always dreamt of hammocks when I was young, but this is my new dream. (Source)


7. This Fill-in-the-Blank [If you...] note card is hilarious. I was so close to purchasing it until I realized it only comes with one. I can just think of all the lovely or naughty things that would fit those blanks. (And as I am writing this, I realize that I am sure my boyfriend will read this [hi, boyfriend] and write me tomorrow to comment on it.) Supermarket also has lots of other great stuff that would be well for the holidays as gifts. Check it out! (Source)


8. What do you think of guitar strings bracelets? WearYourMusic.org has them for sale anywhere from $9.99 to $500.00! What is with the ridiculous price, you ask? Well, they have collected celebrity guitar strings from some of your favourite artists! I actually learn about this from the Try JM Blog. Yes, John Mayer's strings definitely go for $200.00. Among others on the site are Ani Difranco, Keith Richards, and Eric Clapton, and Carlos Santana, just to name a few. They look cool, and some of them are engraved and customizable with diamonds or other gems and such. I think I'll just stick with my Tiffany! (Source)


9. Finally, a melting man in Buenos Aires. WTF? I know. To bring awareness to climate change and global warming, a man in Argentina situated himself in Plaza Francia and created the effect of him melting all over the pavement. I still don't understand how he did it, but I am told there are probably multiple layers in the grounding. I hope so... Strange but effective! (Source)


PHEW. That is ALL! Thanks for catching up with me. It's time for me to work on my readings now and study away for my exam in three days. Best of luck on your finals should you have any!

free nylon & dresses

I don't even know how my wonderful boyfriend discovered this, but it's a dress that I would absolutely love to wear. Then again, I don't doubt that I would absolutely destroy it in seconds. Or, like my boyfriend fears, I would get paper cuts all over my body and probably dye it red. This is a dress made by Jolis Paons, completely made out of phone book pages! (Source)

For my Creative Processes class I designed and made this paper dress purely out of phonebook paper! I pleated, stuck, sewed, and glued everything by hand.

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And lots of thanks to DreamEcho, I have learnt that Nylon and Urban Outfitters have decided to bring Canadians and Americans another one year of Nylon magazine subscription! For free! How fabulous is this? Sign up soon—while supplies last! (Source)

My boyfriend has advised me that it's all gone. Sorry, loves! If I find goodies, I'll try and remember to share!

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If you haven't heard of The Sartorialist, well, listen up. Scott Schuman has spent 15 years in the fashion industry and founded this wonderful blog to showcase fashion across the globe. This blog has been publicized in magazines and newspapers worldwide. The outfits he find on the streets of some of the most influential cities in the world are raw, inspirational, glamourous, and worn by everyday people! Forget fashion models. We should be looking to our neighbours for fashion advice! There are always fabulous outfits, but this one really spoke to me. The pieces really come together despite the mismatched colours. It's something I would totally wear, and, oh, the accessories! (Source)

pixels, food & wood

Found on Flickr by the trusty folks at DesignYouTrust is Diego "Karramarro" Sanz's pixel works. These actually made my jaw drop. What a reminder that we no longer live in a 3-D world. We are completely surrounded by pixels and they are our reality (whether they are in our computer or GameBoy monitor or printed out life-size! (Source)



I don't know who Anna is, but she is a crafty girl. She must also be a big Wall-E fan, because she produced two amazing pieces: in a bento box and out of wood! The Wall-E bento looks absolutely delicious. She even created little meat boxes to resemble the garbage cubes Wall-E makes! The wooden version is just nothing but astounding. It is immaculate and so detailed. Too detailed! I would love to make one of these for my little sister. The wooden figure is a little out of my league; I think the bento box will do! (Source)

colourless boxes

To any one who has been speculating about my Christmas wishlist, look no further. This is a must-have for me and anyone who wishes to spice up their bedroom, study, living area, or any other room in your apartment/loft/house. Reinier de Jong has created the five-part Expandable REK Bookcase. Tuck it in as a decor or pull it open for it to be functional. Unfortunately, this doesn't come cheap; it can be yours at a shiny € 5.500,00. I also love the cabinet and wall storage he designed—these can be found on his website. (Source)



Something about pure black and whiteness interests me. Esther Stocker's 2008 installations is something out of the ordinary, especially if you were to be present there, surrounded by nothing but unpredictable lines jumping out at you. These two installations also reminded me of Michael Phelan's minimalist art, also of the two-tone nature. I adore it all. (Source)

iceland & sweden

My boyfriend has been raving to be about Blue Lagoon for a while now, but despite seeing some marvelous pictures of it, the beauty was never etched into my mind as these pictures by Peter Baker have. He isn't just any American on vacation in Iceland with a decent SLR; Baker is the founder of a design company named Elevated Works and each of his captivating photographs will no doubt have a hold on you. He also has a Flickr in addition to his site for you to feast your eyes on. Enjoy! (Source)




Whoever you are, Sannah Kvist, I think I'm in love with you. I am a complete sucker for using negative space to emphasize a single object. It sounds easy to achieve a beautiful composition by way of nothingness, but it's difficult to make the photograph—in addition to being aesthetically pleasing—interesting. These take my breath away. I actually have to breathe as I'm scrolling so I can take advantage of the two seconds before my eyes yearn to move onto the next photo. See for yourself. These are my favourites from the singles on her website. There are series and commissioned works too. Too much for me to handle. Source

colours & circles

Forget squares and triangles and rectangles and octagons, circles are my favourite shapes. And here are tons of circles in all sizes and colours. I don't even know how to begin with Mac Funamizu's creation, his new project titled "Tired of Numbers." These would be extremely handy on the work desk or in the bedroom. Basically, these two devices measure the humidity and temperature in your environment. With the humidity measuring device, the amount of blue is the percentage of humidity, with a tab every 25% to help you read it. With the thermometer, count the big circles for tens and small circles for ones if you're at double digits. And Mr. Funamizu says, "Red circles become blue when the temperature becomes negative." How brilliant?! I want one of these bad boys. They're stylish and practical (if functional! (Source)



Daniel Eatock has done something brilliant. Out of markers and pens that artists use everyday to creating illustrations, he has turn our tools into art itself. After his Pantone Pen Print in 2006, he has created the Prismacolor Pen Print and the Felt-Tip Print. With the entire set of pens, he put them in tubes and touched the pens to paper for the colour to soak through a large stack, sheets of paper. The furthest paper from the pens in the stack are still tainted with the paint. There are some interesting effects. Daniel's prints are individually numbered and for sale on his website. Source