entries Tagged as [art]

‘Shitty piece  . . .  It is very bad history’

‘It was Benjamin Franklin’s favorite typeface, and the first printings of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were set in Caslon.’

I am a history junkie.

And I loved the scene in HBO’s John Adams miniseries when Adams disputed the accuracy of the above painting (video, below). And how Ben Franklin’s approach to French diplomacy was more  . . .  ardent, than formal.

(I also loved how the miniseries used titled camera angles – like the United States was founded by villains from the old Batman tee vee series)

William Caslon’s fonts were the typefaces of the American Revolution.

Here’s some great reads on early American documents – as handy PDFs.

And here’s a link to John Adams on DVD.

Lady Gaga with The Bolshoi Ballet

A trailer (above) for a performance you’ll never see – because it’s already passed.

Some info here. And the trailer was released four months after the event.

So.

Just enjoy.

Die Mannequin

Video for Die Mannequin’s Miss Americvnt. From the album Fino+Bleed.

CYMK Alphabet: Process color via thread

‘CMYK Alphabet is a typographic experiment  . . .  Each letter is hand embroidered using a combination of two overlapping CMYK colours.’

Evelin Kasikov recreates a process color rosette using thread. Details here.

Red and blue: The London Underground ‘bullseye’

One of the first modern icons of the 20th century, The London Underground’s ‘bullseye’ passed the 100 year mark recently – and to celebrate, 100 artists were brought in to interpret the symbol and its legacy. [Read more →]

Constructivism: Never Odd or Even

Constructivism was an artistic and architectural movement that originated in Russia from 1919 onward which rejected the idea of ‘art for art’s’ sake in favour of art as a practice directed towards social purposes  . . .  this video is part of the ‘Palette’ project and pays homage to Constructivism.’

Bill Hooper’s Never Odd or Even, video by Mark Garvey.

That’s the study of maps

‘We hairy. We mope. We doodle for spare change.’

Four of seven covers for Belgium-based Weekend Knack. By Khuan Cavemen Co.

Photostream here.

Found via MonsieurBandit

California Imagination

A bunch of years back – amidst a bunch of projects – the type for this PSA came off my of laserprinter and was hand trimmed by then student Xing Xiong.

Making of video here.

Dilill

The work of Dilill. Creative blog here, Twitter here.

‘There is No Why’

The work of Alida Rosie Sayer, now on exhibition in London.

Articles here and here. Blog here.

‘Shadow Typography’

The work of Seree Kang. More work here.

John Lennon

Look closely, he’s in there.

Found via The World’s Best Ever

Gift to White House: Ben Eine’s graffiti typography


Ben Eine: Twenty First Century City, spray paint and black gloss on canvas

‘Ben Eine (real name Ben Flynn) is a street artist in London who has recently gained a whole lot of recognition in the states. British Prime Minister David Cameron presented his work to President Barack Obama for his first official visit to the U.S.’ -Global Grind

Article here. Check out Eine’s official site here.

Found via Chank Diesel

Creativity decline

‘For the first time, research shows that American creativity is declining. What went wrong – and how we can fix it.’

Great article in Newsweek. Read it here.

I have my own take, which has to do with how difficult it actually is to be creative. How society does its best to discourage and strip creativity from us so we can be good worker bees. Sit down, shut up and do your job.

what is creativity
As the article mentions: ‘To be creative requires divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas) and then convergent thinking (combining those ideas into the best result).’

Today, divergent thinking is often discouraged – but if it does take place, it can be so divergent, it can’t be implemented as a convergent – or coherent – plan.

And at the college level, I’m at ground zero teaching this stuff.

Sometimes it creates wonders, sometimes it only goes halfway. Other times, it’s so frightening to attempt something new  . . .  creativity finds itself at a standstill. The work veers back into mediocrity. Because that’s safe.

Pictured above: The incredible work of Graham Roumieu, visit his portfolio site here. Twas more creative than the trite crayon flag that came with the Newsweek article. Found via swissmiss. Article found via Adam Helweh.

Colorful bugs

Pick a flavor.

Creative process

Click for larger image/jump.

Found via Sandoer Berg