Designer Jelte van Abbema was a winner at the Dutch Design Awards and the accompanying €10,000 Rado Prize in part due to his piece “Symbiosis,” a font created with e.coli bacteria. One could say this could be a nasty computer virus!
Van Abbema created the font by stamping bacteria into paper, and then placing the paper in a jury-rigged incubator, which provided the right humdity and warmth for the organisms. As they multiplied and died, the resulting fonts changed color and shape. As van Abbema says, bacteria “transforms the image to something new,” creating something that is literally alive, changing every minute without ever being tended.
I looked up “deadpan” in the dictionary recently found this video of Christopher Walken reciting the lyrics of Lady Gaga’s hit anthem “Poker Face” in the manner that only he (and countless imitators) can. Even Kanye wouldn’t dispute the man’s genius.
William Shatner is once again poking fun at another fame-seeking Alaskan. If you remember, several months back, the veteran actor and musician lampooned Sarah Palin by reading her tweets to a beat poetry rhythm. He’s turned his attention towards Levi Johnston, onetime Palin family member. Something tells me this is the least of Levi’s worries. Reports have leaked that his upcoming possibly full-frontal photo shoot for Playgirl has hit a little bump: he’s worried about his penis size. If you cannot stomach the pictures fear not: since I am a card carrying homosexual dedicated to journalistic integrity I will take one for the SUNfiltered team and report back my findings. Until then, enjoy Mr. Shatner above.
As the post-Halloween haze lifts, lets take a moment to reflect back on some of the more imaginative, creative, and/or topical costumes from around the country that reverberated around the Internet and blogosphere this week. My favorite this year fell on the surreal artsy side of things. Artist Eric Testroete built a “papercraft self-portrait,” which reminds me of those easter egg modes in video games that turns all the characters heads into “big heads.” More after the jump.
The other night, not unlike Monday nights a-many in the past, I found myself glued to the television, sucked in by a vortex commonly known as Intervention, the television series. Have you watched it? It’s a show about addiction. Beware, you’re liable to become addicted. (And I don’t feel very good about my problem, either, and I think I need help. Where’s my TV show for that?) Watching, I couldn’t help but think about a fewcolleagues I know in the NY documentary community who’ve begun to direct Intervention. Is this, could this be, is it anything near … documentary?
Well, documentary is a slippery term, as you know, already. Many filmmakers prefer “non fiction film.” Or just plain and simple, “movies.” The Intervention folk wouldn’t dare – they call their thing … a television series. A reality television series.
There is not a single piece in UK artist James Hopkins’ portfolio of often amusing sculptures that I did not like. It was really tough to highlight a single one because they all seemed so blogworthy, but theInternet, especially the design community seems to love anything skull related, so check out this piece titled “Shelf Life.”
Barack Obama’s campaign, which led to his election last year, was groundbreaking for many of the obvious reasons. One element that is sometimes overlooked is the visual imagery crafted by the campaign. Obama created a movement among many designers and artists inspired by his message of hope. His Design Director, Scott Thomas, harvested that power and theme. Everything, from the Obama logo to his website to his consistent typeface, reinforced the candidate’s message.
Designing Obama, a new book, will showcase both official and unofficial designs and images from across the country. It also promises to examine how design was used in campaign. The video above has me excited for the release.
No, my headline and this entry isn’t a euphemism for those tastefully shaped furniture advertised in the back of lifestyle magazines to aid limber couplings. These actual benches and end tables spotted on a German blog (translation help anyone?) are created from recycled pommel horses typically used in men’s gymnastics. The distressed brown leather quality of these adds a warm flourish to a bar or bachelor pad.
Artissima 16 is going to be huge. Held in Turin, the event may not be “as glamorous as Frieze or as edgy as Art Forum Berlin, but nevertheless, Artissima scores points in the ‘emerging artists’ categories.” It’s important to note that Artissima is not an expensive event, nor is it packed full of big names to lure people in ( and then maybe stumble upon some new talent along the way). It really is about young, up-and-coming artists, and an international network of curators is set up every year to find the best of the unknown from all over the world.
There were two things that forced me to subscribe for years now to Vanity Fair: Dominick Dunne’s column and the Proust Questionnaire. Now that Dunne has died the first thing I do is flip to the last page of Graydon Carter’s magazine to see who answered those questions. I am never let down.
To celebrate a book documenting these questionnaires, Vanity Fair has created an online version for us common folks. And thanks to the wonders of technology we can see how we match up against some the bold-faced names who have answered over the years.
While I was expecting to score closer to Joan Collins, I ended up with a 98.8% match to Joan Didion. Hugh Hefner was the second closest. This makes total sense if you know me.
Image from Cattelan’s collaboration with Pierpaolo Ferrari for W’s Art Issue
