Don’t expect your food to look after itself

Clever campaign by DDB Sydney for the OSO Food Wrap. The personification of foodstuffs as innocent, naïve and in need of protection is charming, funny and to the point. These are ads that make people smile - and that's never a bad thing.

Agency: DDB Sydney, Australia
Executive Creative Director: Matt Eastwood
Art Director: Jakub Szymanski
Copywriter: Alex Stainton
Designers: Jay Young & Erwin Santoso
Photographer: Mat Baker
Retoucher: Dennis Monk

Salt, Peppa and Spinderella

Following on from my two posts about city dweller 'Robbie' and his unique videos of Boston and New York, I was immediately reminded of Birmingham-based band Johnny Foreigner and the video for their recent single, 'Salt, Peppa and Spinderella'. As one of my favourite new bands (MySpace linked above - check them out) it's great to see them finally gaining the recognition they deserve - even if this video was removed from MTV and other channels due to worries over epilepsy. The video itself looks to have been shot in much the same as the two I previously mentioned, through the shooting of thousands of photographs which are then played through rapidly in order to achieve a stuttering but ultimately engaging visual effect. As for the song - it's a summer anthem! Makes me think of going out in the city and having a laugh, sleeping on random peoples' floors after house parties and generally enjoying life.

SOM's Cathedral of Christ the Light

Cathedrals have forever represented some of humanity's most awe-inspiring architectural wonders. And Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's recently completed construction, the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, California, looks set to continue this trend. The structure makes beautiful use of glass, fly ash concrete, and wood, but I'm most impressed by its incredible use of natural light - which was in fact the main focus for the design: Craig W. Hartman, head architect, proposed that light would be the key 'to create a contemporary design that was still evocative of the Church’s two millennium-old traditions'. The structure, only recently completed after a 3 year build, replaces the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales, which was irreparably damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. SOM is well known for its work on many other large projects such as offices, airports, islands, museums, and skyscraper, and its website provides an interesting read.

3,000 photos, 3 weeks, 1 video (New York)

Following on from my post earlier this week, I found another video from 'Robbie' of Boston, this time featuring 3,000 photos of New York and spanning a longer time period of 3 weeks.



The song is 'Shape Of My Heart' by Noah and The Whale.

The Rolling Bridge, London

Created by Thomas Heatherwick, The Rolling Bridge, located on the Paddington Basin in London, measures twelve metres long and opens every Friday at noon. At first sight it struck me as nothing more than a glorified drawbridge, probably more concerned with form than function. Thinking about it, though, it does carry out the obvious function of bridging one point to another whilst providing a method of allowing passing boats through the canal. And every time it opens and closes we are given a reconstructed definition of the function of a bridge - in real-time. Relating the structure to the natural world, it reminds me of the defensive motion of an isopod. I also find it amusing how, from what we can see in the video, someone (albeit a very slow moving someone) could potentially get trapped inside the bridge in its closed position. And the vision of someone launching themselves off the bridge in its half-deployed state also makes me smile.

3,038 photos, 3 days, 1 video (Boston)

A Boston man going only by the name of Robbie painstakingly took 3,038 pictures on his Canon 5D SLR, documenting 3 days of his life, including train rides and visits to school and work. He then converted the photos into a short film by playing them rapidly in the order they were taken. The result is one of the most unique videos I've seen in some time. The accelerated, jerky effect caused by the use of static photos is reminiscent of the early black and white motion pictures of the late 19th century.

The song is 'Dry Lips' by Lightspeed Champion.

'Fall'

Buffalo, New York. It's obviously been Photoshopped a fair bit (see the oversaturated road signs on the left), but the colours are beautiful nonetheless. It sums up just about everything I love about autumn. Originally posted by the author here - his other photos are equally as good so take a look.

Reaction: The Mona Lisa Curse

Further to my post on Monday, and having watched the programme earlier tonight, The Mona Lisa Curse was, as expected, a thoughtful and insightful critique of the impact of celebrity culture and commercialisation on contemporary art ranging from Warhol to - more recently, and of particular relevance considering this recent auction - Hirst. Veteran art critic Robert Hughes puts forth a coherent and engrossing argument in which he states that 'art as a commodity' has painted over 'art as art'. In this portrayal of modern decadence it is claimed that the 'cheque book is fast becoming the guide to artistic merit', with the consequence that art is fast becoming something to be owned rather than appreciated. Indeed, Hughes highlights the transformation of the Mona Lisa 'from artwork into celebrity icon' as the stand-out symbol of said degradation.

'Fear of fairy tales'

Joanna Weiss, who covers television and pop culture for the Globe, Boston, makes an interesting critique of the modern-day fairy tale.

She argues that 'The glossy, sanitized new versions of fairy tales leave out what matters: the scary parts'. Disney is a business, though, and if that means it feels the need to define fairy tales for its target audience then that is what it will do. If parents want their children to learn life lessons from classic fairy tales, they should tell their kids themselves. A film shouldn't be expected to do a parent's job. And isn't part of the reason behind the dumbing down of the 'scary parts' of such films due to parents complaining about them in the first place anyway? Having said that, childrens' films are also there to stimulate the imagination and in that respect I take on board Weiss's views.

Banksy in New Orleans

Just before the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, celebrated street artist Banksy visited New Orleans and left his mark. All quotes are from Banksy and are taken from his website.

'I came to New Orleans to do battle with the Grey Ghost, a notorious vigilante who's been systematically painting over any graffiti he can find with the same shade of grey paint since 1997. Consequently he's done more damage to the culture of the city than any section five hurricane could ever hope to achieve.'

























'Three years after Katrina I wanted to highlight the state of the clean-up operation. Only later did it dawn on me that if you choose to do this by drawing all over their stuff, you're actually only slowing down that clean-up operation.'

One of the most striking pieces depicts a pair of soldiers looting a house. I interpret this as an attempt to convey the view that, as the street-level representatives of the will of the state, Banksy believes the government bears a large amount of responsibility for the events that transpired following Hurricane Katrina - which included widespread looting. Or, perhaps he is saying that during a true disaster, even the most responsible and respected of people can and will regress toward crime, presenting really quite a bleak and hopeless outlook. I have also come across several claims that National Guard troops were caught looting - which suggests the meaning behind this piece could be more direct. Either way, it's typically anti-establishment and unmistakably Banksy.











'I looked out the window of the taxi on the drive into New Orleans and remarked 'There's still so much devastation - I can't believe they haven't cleaned this mess up' - to which the driver stared at me and said 'this part of the city wasn't affected by the hurricane - it's always looked like this.''











I've always admired Bansky and have recently been taking a keener interest in both his and the work of other graffiti artists. Anyone looking to broaden their horizons on the subject should take a look at 12ozPROPHET.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Having recently fallen asleep whilst attempting a late-night viewing of the film adaptation of this influential and undoubtedly timeless novel, I decided to give it a read for the very first time. Written in 1949, the book conveys author George Orwell's grim vision of the world in 1984: a society denied of free will, privacy or truth, crippled under the rule of a brutally totalitarian regime.

I had not previously realised just how far-reaching and culturally influential '1984' really was. Indeed, the year 1984 may have passed, but the themes discussed in this timeless novel are as relevant as ever. Below I have posted a video of Apple's classic advert from 1984, which announced the launch of the Macintosh, alongside a spin-off dealing with the recent democratic election battle between Clinton and Obama in the US.





Cheesy political videos aside, the book is also responsible for a slew of references across a plethora of media - including radio, television, popular music, film, video games and comics, not to mention a wide range of other books. Though not directly design related this book has been a real eye-opener and has proved a true source of inspiration for me.

Pedestrian street art

Peter Gibson (aka Roadsworth) began painting the streets of Montreal in the autumn of 2001. He was motivated by a desire for more bike paths in the city and a questioning of 'car culture' in general.

In the fall of 2004, Roadsworth was arrested for his nocturnal activities and charged with 53 counts of mischief. Despite the threat of heavy fines and a criminal record he received a relatively lenient sentence which he attributes in part to the public support he received subsequent to his arrest.

Since that time, Roadsworth has received various commissions for his work and continues to be active in both visual art and music. An obvious comparison would be to the work of pseudo-anonymous British graffiti artist, Banksy.

To watch: The Mona Lisa Curse

In the first film in Channel 4's Art and Money season, art critic Robert Hughes examines the influence of Da Vinci's painting and explores the changes in museums, production and consumption of art over the last 50 years. He talks to world famous artists and influential museum directors to assess how the rise of the collector has affected the value of art works.
Category: General Arts/Culture
Director: Mandy Chang
Executive Producer: Nick Kent
Channel 4 6:30pm-8:00pm (1 hour 30 minutes) Sun 21 Sep

Radiohead's Scrapbook

Googling to see if anyone else had something to say about this bizarre but nevertheless intruiging online scrapbook, a forum poster describes it as a 'post-modern socialist negative view of modern psuedo-capitalist society embodied through anti-art and wordplay.' Psychotic and anti-establishment, the nonsensical and random navigation, abstract quotes and doodles create a confusing but mysterious sense of adventure. See it here.

Someone has a lot of time on their hands...

The images below show work by Mario Mariotti (1936-1997), an Italian artist from Florence, famous for his amazing hand paintings. I'm especially impressed by the two football players.














































































Having looked further into the art, I found some quite amazing animal paintings here.