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!

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)

strange, important things

Oops, it's been five days. Here we are. There are 16 days until Christmas and I'm starting to feel the spirit despite the rainy weather. The snow is melting and the sky is dull but it feels great. I haven't been to the mall in ages so it'll be interesting to visit one and see all the holiday decorations and emphasized displays as a result of overflowing stock rooms!

Here are some things that caught my eye lately:

She has so many other fantastic sculptures and projects on display on her website. I really enjoy the Yes Collection and Barbarians as well. Her use of chains and heavy, concentrated objects vs. empty space is very strategic.
the most important things are not things by Ester Partegas - (Source)



A personal music video with scrapbook drawings by Violenn Simon. A project created for ENSAAMA School of Visual Communication, Paris 2008. Music by The Doors.
People Are Strange (Scrapbook Drawings) - (Source)

People are strange from Denis Fongue on Vimeo.