Precision machining at its best, painstaking measurement and shaping, long hours, unique vision – José Manuel Hermo Barreiro, known as Patelo, a retired Spanish navel mechanic creates functioning small motors that are both mechanical marvels and hypnotically beautiful moving sculptures. They are also not for sale, as his Facebook page …
100 years ago in Weimar, Germany Walter Gropius founded the visionary and highly influential design program known as the Bauhaus. Integrating art and craft – a return to craftsmanship – the curriculum began with a foundation course for all students before they moved on to specialized workshops in cabinetry, pottery, metal working, weaving, and other crafts. Only after those …
Up and down with John Kormeling – one-page article in Mark #46 (Oct/Nov 2013, page 32) about architect John Kormeling’s bridge in the Dutch city of Tilburg. It’s designed with a small building that serves as counterweight. Kormeling designed the building as both bridge master’s house and …
The Colours at Martini Hospital in Groningen – architect Arnold Burger of SEED architects and interior designer Bart Vos worked with color artist Peter Struycken to develop a palette of 47 colors for this new hospital in the Netherlands. The organization of the hospital was deliberately …
Cap Cloud over the Sierra Nevadas – today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is by Guido Montanes, one of the many professional photographers whose work is posted on APOD. You’ll find a brief explanation of this unusual cloud phenomenon in the photo’s caption. If you’re interested in astronomy, …
Toynbee tiles – If you’re in the mood for a real-life mystery that involves imagination, single-mindedness over spans of time, great ingenuity, a fair amount of what many might describe as wackiness and that remains, despite knowing who the person behind the tiles is, at its heart still an enigma, …
The Art of the Bookmark – UK graphic artist Simon C Page offers some great bookmarks in a variety of patterns and colors. Saw it on COLOURlovers. Mirage Bookmark – Swiss makers of fine bookmarks; their site has a exhibition of bookmarks from around the world. Also …
BibliOdyssey – one of my favorite places to take a break; here’s the tag line: Books~~Illustrations~~Science~~History~~Visual Materia Obscura~~Eclectic Bookart. Each post features images based on a theme, or from a specific book or manuscript. The images are wonderful and plentiful and unexpected. Most sources are from early printed books or manuscripts …
The Great Nature of Chiura Obata – load time might be a bit long, but if you have the time and inclination to recharge your perceptual and spiritual batteries take a look at Obata’s 1927 paintings of the High Sierra in Yosemite. As the enter page suggests, turn your volume …
A Year of Light and Space – anyone who’s interested in James Turrell’s work with light, space, and perception will have ample opportunity to see it in person this year. Exhibits of his installations will open in Los Angeles (LACMA), Houston (Museum of Fine Arts), and New York (Guggenheim Museum – …
Sculptural pipes play secret lullabies to entertain hospital patients – the kids at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital are in for a treat, an “audio-playground for the young patients.” The Lullaby Project (check out the drawings and the backstory) was developed by architects at Studio Weave and sound artist Jessica Curry. Sculpture? Sound …
The Sistine Chapel is much in the news these days. Even though you can’t get in to see it because of the papal election process taking place right now inside the Chapel, there are ways to explore the space and its famous frescoes virtually. Try, for instance, this 360 degree image of …
This is another shout-out for the website Designers & Books. Every Tuesday on their blog they post a list from a selected designer of books that have played a significant role in that designer’s thinking (see my previous post about this aspect of the site). It gets better. Take …
[You don’t need to] understand music – take a break, watch this beautiful short (2:12 min) animation from German design studio finally on enjoying music no matter how complex it is.
LED-Embedded Rocks Used to Illuminate ‘Digital Campfire’ – Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde’s light installation, called Crystal, consists of 700 rocks on a mat. Each rock … is made out of a unique salt which grows in perfect geometric shapes around two LEDs. These are wirelessly charged via a power …
Here’s a start on collections of ‘the best’ of 2012. Check back for more, suggest your favorites – this a live list. PSFK’s Top 20 of 2012 – with source of image Best of the best of 2012 science and tech articles – from the BBC; thanks to Oleg Kravtsov …
CFP: Sound and Creative Processes, 1/1/13 – call for posts on the connection between sound and creativity from the people at Sounding Out!, a blog exploring “the role of sound and listening in our contemporary culture…” Submission deadline is Jan 1. Here are the guiding questions: How do artists listen? How …
‘Tis the season when you might appreciate a break from end-of-year and holiday preparations. Take 5+ minutes to watch the Som Sabadell flashmob and you’ll be smiling. What makes this particular flashmob so wonderful (aside from Beethoven’s Ode to Joy) is the way whoever filmed it has captured the mood …