architectural nostalgia

i love models

i have been looking at architecture (not dancing about it or anything)

and was filled with nostalgia at seeing these models by bent architects (not sure why, it's not like i've ever made architectural models ... oh, but my sister did, and my dad did too. tender feelings for deeply missed daddy)

rce

force space

force space

models, and sketches too -

palpable and/or colourful ways of enticing the client, the audience, the reader

here is a book made by nest architects, 10 reasons to build a shed to persuade some clients to their way of thinking

and another blog about what they're reading

i love that objects are photographed against a cutting board background

makes me nostalgic all over again

waste of time, waste of space

long hard look in the mirror-time for those of us who are good at wasting it!
i saw a piece in the age online - The time we waste
the piece gets you in first off, with the immortal opening,
Artist Julian Schnabel is undoubtedly one of the bigger wankers to stride the earth, as evinced by his famous quote in which he claimed: "I'm the closest thing to Picasso that you'll see in this f---ing life."
there is also an image of a rather wonderful sculpture called, waste of time, which would look like an andy goldsworthy but for being made out of old pc monitors.
the reason for mentioning schnabel is his comment, "I believe we won't be judged on whether our actions are good or bad but on how much time we've wasted" ...
ouch.
later there's another quote from phillip adams which makes me want to punch him,
"When people say how do you do so many things? I often answer them, without meaning to be cruel, 'How do you do so little?'"

the thing is, some people are "busy" people, some people (me!) aren't
but it's true i feel happier more content when i'm achieving things, when my brain synapses are snapping

this week i glimpsed the cover of a buddhist mag, tricycle. it said, doing nothing can make you wise
it captured my imagination, and the magazine came home with me.
of course, the article is more complicated (in a simple buddhist way) than "doing nothing" but it's an interesting idea - relinquishing ambitions that cloud the thinking,
Do Nothing - A guided meditation by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
there has never been a more important time in the world than now than to "do nothing" - but this is more about idiot-busyness - checking your phone for messages instead of calmly waiting for the tram, for instance.
ringing someone to tell them you'll be there in 2 minutes, as you walk down the street towards them, for instance.
(i quipped to myself yesterday, they're all living in their own private iphone.)

i am not quite a passenger, but if i was i'd want to be listening to iggy while i rode around,

my inner grotesque

owl by kevin tran, interview (finders keepers)
from the interview,
Explain your work and what areas you love to explore?
My work is pretty straight forward really. There’s a giraffe, a couple of owls, a whale and a guy wrestling a bear. For me, it’s not so much what the subject matter ends up as but rather how I stumbled on that particular composition and the textures, shapes and colours that give it character and personality. I like to experiment with different mediums, that’s why I didn’t limit myself to the pencil drawings I started back at uni. I muck around with gauche, watercolour, oils, crayons, ink, charcoal and collage- basically anything that makes a mark.
What is your creative process and how do you find inspiration?
My creative process isn’t very methodical or strict. When I draw, it is quite an introverted experience – I’ll start with a line and just let it go. I try not to think about what it will end up as, but rather focus on completing detail areas of patterns or texture and branch off them. My worst images are the ones I plan or over-think because they feel forced. I enjoy not knowing what it will end up as because there is no pressure. When I’m not sure where to take it next, I’ll turn the page upside-down and work from that.

waiting for god-o*

today i was strolling past a biker, and my eye was drawn to the satchel slung across her back ...deus ex machina.
that is such a good name for biker gear
as good as the ulysses club, old bikees

Deus SR400 Manx


*if god was australian he'd probably be known as godd0. or maybe godsey

house rules

recently, i was in a cafe that roasts as well as makes coffee

it was a nice place, delicious coffee and someone had written some house rules on the chalkboard wall,

1. there will always be orange cake

this was a nice thought!

... a bit further down

we will not serve skinny cappucino and cake with cream

at first i thought this was railing against the skinny milk phenomenon

but then i thought, no, this is raging against being contradictory.
well f*ck me!

what's all this fuss about consistency? who says we need to make sense?

i'm with walt, i also say:

Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)

which way the wind is blowing

there's not many things i like about the australian newspaper, but i do like their huge colour weather page with satellite images and phases of the moon






the online version doesn't do it justice
being from melbourne it's important to think about the weather, or at least talk about it a good deal.
a few things made me think about the weather today.
1. it's my first day back at work so i am in a highrise office instead of a ground floor house & garden, or indeed 50m in-ground pool
2. a friend sent me this piece of internet wonder, david lynch's daily weather report
and
3. i am reading the hawkline monster by richard brautigan i had never come across his work before so diligently went to the wikipedia entry. it told me about his difficult life, that murakami is a fan, and ended on this rather beautiful and bittersweet thought,
Brautigan once wrote, "All of us have a place in history. Mine is clouds."

mine is clouds seems such an eloquent phrase, i googled it and found a rather wonderful blog
beautiful images, a good place to travel

accidental travel is a good way to start the year

herb and dorothy

how many people can claim this?
In the 1960s, Herb and Dorothy Vogel (postal worker and librarian respectively) began amassing one of the 20th century's most formidable minimalist and conceptual art collections.

an article appeared in today's newspaper about this "obsessive couple who built an art collection in one-bedroom flat"
they're showing the documentary, herb and dorothy, at acmi from 7-10 january 7pm











i like their collection criteria,
*it had to be affordable, and
*it had to fit in the lift at their apartment building.

one year (2008 i think) i decided to start buying art - i bought a ship painting from a local painter, and a very small minnie pwerle

this year i might try and keep it simple and just try and see as much film and art as possible
lots of good and inspiring stuff out there.