I can’t remember where I first came across this artist but it was way before I had somewhere to post about it. I came across his work again and remembered how fabulous it is. I think I love it so much because it is a cross of some of my favorite types of expression, street art, minimalism and site specific installation. They work together so well, it’s amazing. Check out his portfolio for the full spectrum of his work.
(some more photos here)
The Lastmaker was Goat Island’s last performance ever. It had a few really really great moments but (once again) there were members of the audience falling asleep. Ordinarily that is the last thing I would use as a marker of how good something is, but I was ready to doze off, myself. There have been plenty performances that with their methodical slowness have tried to lull me to sleep but I still loved them, sadly, this was not one of these performances.
Maybe the goats are tired, or sometimes the stars just don’t align. Even though this is your final performance and you would like to go out with a bang, things weren’t meant to be? I could tell they are seasoned performers, they deconstruct what a performance is, they are studied and methodical in their actions but the whole thing did not come together. They failed to construct the Haga Sophia for me, even if, they managed to put together a model of it.
Highlights: a short snippet of (the lengthy) intricate dance; an odd repeated phrase (in a foreign language?); repeating a moment in it’s mirror image; an “old” man hunched over speaking in a horse voice; constructing something so that you litertally place the support underneath yourself while you are (sort of) levitating above it [the kind of thing that only happens in cartoons and dreams].
As an artist I’d choose the thing that’s beautiful more than the one that’s true.
— Laurie Anderson
(sometimes beauty is the only kind of truth that matters)
This is an amazing piece of conceptual art, that fully takes advantage of our digital world for it’s execution. I guess technically it’s the exhibition that is conceptual but in my mind that is the art.
Actually, there is no exhibition. There is only a flyer and a url. The exhibition materializes “near you” when requested. How star trek-y of them!
(via referencelibrary)
I attended the Future of Web Design Conference yesterday. Overall I really enjoyed it. There were a lot of great and interesting speakers and the Roseland Ballroom in NYC was a picturesque setting (even if parts of it smelled like vomit, it is a concert venue after all).
Bridging the developer/designer divide was a theme that developed across presentations. When these two sides have trouble communicating and working together it becomes a waste of resources and many good ideas can get lost. It became clear that It is a pervasive problem in web development environments large and small. Even though, many of the speakers offered concrete solutions and stressed the importance of working together, it seems like miscommunication is almost inherent in this process because of the totally different types of thinking each side brings to the table.
I thought Paul Boag’s presentation was the most useful and informative. He really brought the point across of how to fix the client/designer relationship that is also fraught with strife. His presentation was titled Educating the client to say yes, but reallly, he educated us, the designers. I also though Derek Powazek did a great job of presenting the jpys and pitfalls of crowdsourcing a topic that I find fascinating and have studied before.
My only critique would be that I really didn’t come away with any notion of what the future might bring. What is the future of web design? However, I did learn a lot, even if I was familiar with a bit of the material. I really wished I could have attended some of the workshops. They would have been more hands on and you would actually get to meet some of these gurus and visionaries.
and Charcoal Grill!
I was waiting to post about this until I saw it in person. I finally went to the village on Sunday, sought it out especially. Unfortunately, this is what I saw:
too late! oh well. This is was the site of a Banksy site-specific installation. I’m big fan of their work and I’m sad I missed it. I will just have to be content watching this video (apparently photos do not do it justice, hence my need to see it in person):
well, I’m sure it was good! (video via woostercollective)
be sure to check out the official website:
http://thevillagepetstoreandcharcoalgrill.com
I still have some learning to do when it comes to typography on the web. I came across this very informative and in depth slideshow (notes for a presnetation) by Jeff Croft.
Don’t necessarily agree with everything (like keeping bullet points in the gutter) but obviously this guy knows what he is talking about. (via subtraction )
