Belfast Peace Walls
Antonio Olmos photographs the walls built across Northern Ireland’s capital city as a means of defusing sectarian tension. There are 99 of them, dividing nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from loyalist Protestant ones. Some of the walls date from the early years of the Troubles, but an estimated one-third have gone up since the IRA ceasefire in 1994. Now, ‘peace gates’ are being opened in some walls in an attempt to foster greater links between communities.
The biggest peace wall in Belfast runs along Cupar Way. It divides the east Belfast loyalist area of Shankill Road from the Catholic Springfield/Falls Roads area of west Belfast. Continue reading »
Inside Ciccolella, Italy’s Leading Producer of Cut Flowers
The free movement of goods in Europe has allowed a flower producer to bloom in an area of Italy with 15% unemployment. Photograph: Mario Laporta/Controluce
Ciccolella has about 100 hectares of greenhouses at its production sites in Italy. Continue reading »
Seeing spots: Yayoi Kusama Exhibition at Tate Modern
The polka dot-obsessed octogenerian artist Yayoi Kusama’s work has gone from free love and foraging in the 50s and 60s to infinity rooms filled with mirrors and twinkling lights in this decade. Her life has seen body parties in Andy Warhol’s Factory and friendships with Georgia O’Keeffe, Donald Judd and Joseph Cornell – and this retrospective takes it all in. At Tate Modern, London from 9 February to 5 June 2012. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian.
The octogenarian artist photographed in front of Yellow Trees (1994). This is the first time Kusama has left Japan in 12 years. Continue reading »
How to Make a Doner Kebab
1. You’ll need 500g of lamb breast, an onion, some salt, garlic, cumin and coriander for this first phase. Yes, that is a 1lb tin of spinach purée in the background. Bear with me and it will all make sense. Continue reading »
The Sony World Photography Awards 2012: Student Focus Shortlist
The Danish School of Media & Journalism: this image is entitled Escaping the Heat
Photograph: Nikolai Linares/Sony World Photography Awards 2012 Continue reading »
Designs of the Year
The Design Museum’s new exhibition shows us the past year in 89 designs, from a virtual supermarket to a super-lightweight wheelchair.
Tesco Virtual Store in Seomyeon subway in Seoul, South Korea, designed by Home plus.
These touchscreen supermarket shelves offer online shopping on an underground platform. Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: Walk Alone
A man walks along a snow-covered railway track in Shimla, India’s northern state of Himachal Pradesh. (AFP)
Tower of Books
A three-story sculpture “tower of books” representing over 15,000 titles that have been written about Abraham Lincoln, are part of an exhibit at the Ford’s Theater Center for Education and Leadership in Washington. (AP)
World’s Largest Textile Created from Golden Spider Silk Dazzles
A four-metre-long woven textile made from the silk of more than a million female Golden Orb spiders collected from the highlands of Madagascar is on display at the Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum in London. The hand-woven brocaded textile, which is on display at the museum till June 5, 2012, is naturally golden in colour and took over four years to create.
It will be shown together with a new golden cape, currently being woven and embroidered in Madagascar, which will go on public display for the very first time at the V&A. The clothes have reportedly been made by Englishman Simon Peers, who lives in Madagascar, and American Nicholas Godley, and are the only large textiles in the world to have been made from spider silk.
Yellow woven spider silk cape. Continue reading »
How to Draw… Wolves
Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? Not children’s book author Nadia Shireen! She shows you how to turn one in to a great little drawing. Continue reading »
Wild Things: Victoria’s Secret Angels without Make-up
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Miranda Kerr, Candice Swanepoel – and most of the world’s most famous models, in fact – were photographed without a scrap of make-up by casting director Douglas Perrett early in their careers, and now he’s made a book about it. “Wild Things” documents all of his favourites: from the Victoria’s Secret Angels to the world’s most in-demand catwalk models – from Joan Smalls, to Lindsey Wixson, to Abbey Lee Kershaw. Continue reading »
Vittra Telefonplan School in Stockholm
In connection with the establishment of a new Vittra school in Stockholm, Telefonplan, Rosan Bosch has created the school’s interior with spatial divisions and significant custom design. The interior takes it point of departure in Vittra’s pedagogical principles and serves as a pedagogical tool for development in the everyday of the school. Instead of classical divisions with chairs and tables, a giant iceberg for example serves as cinema, platform and room for relaxation, and sets the frame for many different types of learning. Continue reading »
Tokyo Bloggers Gallery
Adrian Storey/Uchujin: “The city that invented the term ‘karoshi’ (death from over work) and a culture of alcohol abuse takes it’s toll on another salaryman” Continue reading »
The Obliteration Room by Yayoi Kusama
The Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama transformed a completely white room, including furniture, into a spectacle featuring her signature dots, helped by children who visited the exhibition over two weeks and placed brightly coloured stickers throughout the installation at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. The interactive children’s project is part of Kusama’s Look Now, See Forever exhibition. Kusama will also have a major exhibition at London’s Tate Modern from 9 February. Step inside her dotty world here…
It started with a white room … The Obliteration Room prior to being covered in stickers. Continue reading »
Lise Sarfati: She
Images from She, an exhibition by the California-based French photographer that features a series of mysterious photographs of two sets of sisters.
Gina #24 Oakland, CA 2007
‘Set in a rundown area of Oakland, California, She features two middle-aged women, Christine and Gina, in its small cast. They are sisters, as are the younger Sloane and Sasha, Christine’s daughters. In the exhibition’s press release, Sarfati writes “I like doubles, like mothers and daughters, or sisters or reflections. This represents my research into women’s identities … I am interested in fixing that instability”‘ Continue reading »
The Tan Hill Inn: The Highest Pub in the British Isles
At the top of the Yorkshire Dales, 1,732 feet above sea-level and 11 miles from the nearest town, this most isolated 17th Century pub is one of the few in the land that has seen business thrive of late. Observer photographer Gary Calton was dispatched along with reporter Tracy McVeigh, to find out why.
The Tan Hill Inn at the very top of the Yorkshire Dales. Continue reading »
SEED
WINNER Best Animated Short Slamdance 2010!
An egg and an apple build competing broadcast towers that vie for the attention of a transistor radio. With its complex characterization and narrative of animal evolution, competition and reproduction, SEED is a beautiful and sinister stop-motion story about the struggle to survive.
Directed & Animated by Ben Richardson & Daniel Bird
Produced by Josh Hetzler
Story by Daniel Bird
Cinematography by Ben Richardson
Swimming 2011
http://vimeo.com/34297736
Filmed by Richard Sällqvist during a day in August 2011 at an old abandoned limestone quarry on Öland, Sweden.
Portrait Drawings by Marc Morcos
Cute pencil portrait drawings, created by Marc Morcos, Canada based artist. Continue reading »
Peugeot — The Making of Just Add Fuel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG8BqibItIM
Peugeot take you behind the scenes of the making of their latest TV ad, crafted entirely from paper. There are dozens of paper cuts, hundreds of Peugeot models and an infinite amount of patience.
Peugeot didn’t take the easy option and animate in CGI. They looked for something different, something more authentic and crafted to reflect Peugeot’s philosophy for designing their vehicles. With that in mind, Peugeot asked London designer Kyle Bean and director Joseph Mann to make this Peugeot commercial entirely from paper.
Frenchstickers: Fresh Stickers for Mac
Take a look at Frenchstickers – awesome designed minimalist black & white stickers for your Mac. Continue reading »
