new work by Mr. Donwood...
...who is stunning and never fails to inspire me, to remind me that I need to be more productive, etc. etc. I had the luck of meeting him and chatting for a bit last january (probably said lots of incoherent gibberish, ack), he's pretty hilarious in a... slightly weird way. something that, to me, is really special about his work is that somehow it manages to convey a very very clear atmosphere, almost emotion. I get this pretty rarely from visual art (not including photography). this topic has been swimming around my brain a lot recently... about how visual art is great for expressing emotion, but hard to use to convey it. sure, you can convey a message, but it's absolutely not the same thing. music and motion graphics are so much more direct. music especially seriously dominates most people's and cultures' emotional lives it seems. yeah, there are images which strike us, but to me it seems that kind of impact is rare. but nearly every piece of music manages to do it. read a book by Oliver Sacks (Musicophilia) where he talks about this strange power of music... it's a shame that it's difficult to really affect someone's emotional life with a painting... most visual art is now used for filling white empty wallspace. having realised this I'm really starting to get more and more interested in motion graphics and in particular lighting (best example of how lighting creates emotion is probably here), as well as how they all relate to each other. there is more to say but I'll leave it for another day.
been mucking about with the 100 collage challenge project... I do not like the fact that I need to be some/most of the way through any project before I realise I've got a better idea, or a better way of doing it, or that I'm bored, or that it's boring - and all this after supposedly thinking I had something I'd enjoy till the end. every time! every. time. and sometimes again and again. not that I'm complaining, the second/third/tenth attempt always feels better, but it means I find it hard to finish anything. thank god for deadlines, I serpaws.
so tomorrow it's off to Oxfam. will it work?
...who is stunning and never fails to inspire me, to remind me that I need to be more productive, etc. etc. I had the luck of meeting him and chatting for a bit last january (probably said lots of incoherent gibberish, ack), he's pretty hilarious in a... slightly weird way. something that, to me, is really special about his work is that somehow it manages to convey a very very clear atmosphere, almost emotion. I get this pretty rarely from visual art (not including photography). this topic has been swimming around my brain a lot recently... about how visual art is great for expressing emotion, but hard to use to convey it. sure, you can convey a message, but it's absolutely not the same thing. music and motion graphics are so much more direct. music especially seriously dominates most people's and cultures' emotional lives it seems. yeah, there are images which strike us, but to me it seems that kind of impact is rare. but nearly every piece of music manages to do it. read a book by Oliver Sacks (Musicophilia) where he talks about this strange power of music... it's a shame that it's difficult to really affect someone's emotional life with a painting... most visual art is now used for filling white empty wallspace. having realised this I'm really starting to get more and more interested in motion graphics and in particular lighting (best example of how lighting creates emotion is probably here), as well as how they all relate to each other. there is more to say but I'll leave it for another day.
been mucking about with the 100 collage challenge project... I do not like the fact that I need to be some/most of the way through any project before I realise I've got a better idea, or a better way of doing it, or that I'm bored, or that it's boring - and all this after supposedly thinking I had something I'd enjoy till the end. every time! every. time. and sometimes again and again. not that I'm complaining, the second/third/tenth attempt always feels better, but it means I find it hard to finish anything. thank god for deadlines, I serpaws.
so tomorrow it's off to Oxfam. will it work?
How to be an eco-designer, or, a better title by Nat Hunter (of the brilliant Airside) - How to be a 21st century designer. part of the Green festival happening @ UAL throughout november. (great publicity, guys. I found out about it completely by accident.)
2 hour lecture in Davies Street today... very informative. diversity amongst speakers kind of each representing a different aspect of industrial creativity. very refreshing. Guy Robinson's (of Sprout) presentation was probably most poignant - he had a section of current emissions facts and the general whatnot. it's been a while since I updated myself on the figures, and he shared a lot of useful links, those of which I wrote down I shall pass on. the URLs are self-evident in terms of content.
www.redesigndesign.org
www.carbonfootprintofnations.com
www.transitiontowns.org
www.biothinking.com
"WASTE IS A DESIGN FLAW"
decided to try out a new way of... er... sketchbook? just starting to put it together...
so behold! the... aptly named.... sketchwall?
well basically instead of putting it into a closed book I'll put it up on the wall (not really sure what 'it' is though). novel ground here for me... the paper's there so our landlady doesn't rip my head off - blue tac, as I've learned from experience, tends to leave awful greasy marks on white painted walls that DON'T EVER COME OFF.
you see, I can close a book, chuck it behind the couch till another day. the consequence of which is forgetting about it, and then doing the project at 4am the day it's due. but I cannot, no matter how hard I try, close a wall. and I see it very regularly as it's in my studio/media/work room (where the laptop is...). fortunately my bedroom is next door so I don't have to try and fall asleep to this overbearing reminder of 'more work less lazy'.
so fascistic wall stays in 'office'. comfortable pillows, blankets and refreshing imagery stays in bedroom.
let's see what happens.
so behold! the... aptly named.... sketchwall?
well basically instead of putting it into a closed book I'll put it up on the wall (not really sure what 'it' is though). novel ground here for me... the paper's there so our landlady doesn't rip my head off - blue tac, as I've learned from experience, tends to leave awful greasy marks on white painted walls that DON'T EVER COME OFF.
you see, I can close a book, chuck it behind the couch till another day. the consequence of which is forgetting about it, and then doing the project at 4am the day it's due. but I cannot, no matter how hard I try, close a wall. and I see it very regularly as it's in my studio/media/work room (where the laptop is...). fortunately my bedroom is next door so I don't have to try and fall asleep to this overbearing reminder of 'more work less lazy'.
so fascistic wall stays in 'office'. comfortable pillows, blankets and refreshing imagery stays in bedroom.
let's see what happens.
pressure group / become greener / recently retired professionals
seems simple enough, turns out it's not that easy trying to target that age group, as its age is pretty much scattered between 45 and death. and I'm sure most elder members of society are somewhat sensitive when it comes to mentioning the latter. research has shown me that in the UK few seem interested in things outside of a) gardening, b) reading sunday papers, c) walking in the outdoors, d) watching daytime TV and perhaps e) ranting about 'kids these days'.
looked into a lot of environmental pressure groups... nothing much new there, as I'm an avid follower of groups like Friends of the Earth anyway... But its interesting to put into context? decided to start by putting together my own client, an environmental pressure group - Grassroots - just for the fun of it. logos. urg... the joy of seemingly pointless subtleties...
seems simple enough, turns out it's not that easy trying to target that age group, as its age is pretty much scattered between 45 and death. and I'm sure most elder members of society are somewhat sensitive when it comes to mentioning the latter. research has shown me that in the UK few seem interested in things outside of a) gardening, b) reading sunday papers, c) walking in the outdoors, d) watching daytime TV and perhaps e) ranting about 'kids these days'.
looked into a lot of environmental pressure groups... nothing much new there, as I'm an avid follower of groups like Friends of the Earth anyway... But its interesting to put into context? decided to start by putting together my own client, an environmental pressure group - Grassroots - just for the fun of it. logos. urg... the joy of seemingly pointless subtleties...
whatever, for now I'll keep this thing on blogger after all. tried to put together a .php-based blog but that crashed and burned miserably as well and at least this layout works for now.
life-size blue whale
absolutely beautiful... been watching the Life series on BBC, highly highly recommended. I'll never get tired of nature documentaries (or documentaries in general). stunning cinematography in them these days what with the HD settings and high frame rates.
Just nowadays it makes me kind of both happy but really devastated seeing such beautiful creatures because most of them are being eradicated, biodiversity is falling and habitat loss is killing off a lot of creatures we haven't even discovered yet.
I had a brief discussion with a friend the other day about how Western culture, because of 2000 years of Christian upbringing and consequent focus on human nature, has completely eradicated a genuine appreciation for things outside of the human lifecycle and human interaction it seems. A lot of other widely-distributed cultures, like most Eastern, African, and Native American religion, and indeed paganism in europe before Christianity began to dominate, puts the relationship between man and nature pretty much in the centre. what kind of world would we live in had Christianity not been so dominant (and dare I say totally repressive for nearly 1900 years)? would we have learned to truly appreciate the value of our surroundings? food for thought..
life-size blue whale
absolutely beautiful... been watching the Life series on BBC, highly highly recommended. I'll never get tired of nature documentaries (or documentaries in general). stunning cinematography in them these days what with the HD settings and high frame rates.
Just nowadays it makes me kind of both happy but really devastated seeing such beautiful creatures because most of them are being eradicated, biodiversity is falling and habitat loss is killing off a lot of creatures we haven't even discovered yet.
I had a brief discussion with a friend the other day about how Western culture, because of 2000 years of Christian upbringing and consequent focus on human nature, has completely eradicated a genuine appreciation for things outside of the human lifecycle and human interaction it seems. A lot of other widely-distributed cultures, like most Eastern, African, and Native American religion, and indeed paganism in europe before Christianity began to dominate, puts the relationship between man and nature pretty much in the centre. what kind of world would we live in had Christianity not been so dominant (and dare I say totally repressive for nearly 1900 years)? would we have learned to truly appreciate the value of our surroundings? food for thought..
50 Creative WWF Campaigns That Make You Think Twice
was browsing through some old-ish bookmarks today.
finally obtained a proper internet connection at home, after two months of being an e-hobo...
Chris Jordan's new series: 'Midway - Message From the Gyre'
chris jordan's stuff has always been pretty powerful, mostly dealing with our negative environmental impact and the amount of stuff we thoughtlessly consume. plastic, no matter how useful, has become one of the biggest problems, precicely because it sticks around for so long especially as litter. birds and marine mammals are frequently found with stomachs full of plastic bags and bottle tops... it's beyond tragic.
if you haven't yet, please check out his work. it'll really make you think...
Take Your Top Off is something I picked up in college the other day... I don't think they've fully launched everything yet but their little flyer gives enough insight into the problem, and what you can do to stop ocean life choking on plastic.
Chris Jordan's new series: 'Midway - Message From the Gyre'
chris jordan's stuff has always been pretty powerful, mostly dealing with our negative environmental impact and the amount of stuff we thoughtlessly consume. plastic, no matter how useful, has become one of the biggest problems, precicely because it sticks around for so long especially as litter. birds and marine mammals are frequently found with stomachs full of plastic bags and bottle tops... it's beyond tragic.
if you haven't yet, please check out his work. it'll really make you think...
Take Your Top Off is something I picked up in college the other day... I don't think they've fully launched everything yet but their little flyer gives enough insight into the problem, and what you can do to stop ocean life choking on plastic.
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