Art

The lesson clients need to learn
I so need this as an A1 poster for me at work. It should also come with a pointing implement so I can tap the sign whenever I’m asked to to deliver all 3.
These could so be used in fortune cookies for designers.

Designer Sara Cihat creates really cool looking rehabilitated dishware out of finds from second-hand stores which are then cleaned up, re-screened, and glazed to new heights of hipster glory — via design*sponge

When you enter the theatrical world created by Dov Weinstein, you have to be ready to accept a few things:

● That a jewellery box can be a house
● That a glass of water can be a brook
● That an inch-high plastic ninja can play Hamlet

Shakespeare probably didn’t have a toy in mind for the title role when he penned his vengeful tale. But that was before a frustrated, 20-something actor decided it was time someone performed classical theatre with a cast that can fit in a suitcase.

Tiny Ninja Theatre — now an international touring company — is presenting its latest production at Performance Space 122 (PS122) in Manhattan this month. Hamlet is the third major Shakespeare work the plastic cast has taken on, having already conquered Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet since its debut in 2000. A simple principle guides the troupe: There are no small parts, only small actors.

“They don’t complain, they’re very hard workers, deadpans Mr Weinstein on opening night, 28 October, after shedding the dark shirt and overalls he wears over street clothes for the performance. Sometimes you can push them too hard. But they’ll leave you in the lurch, too…. If I forget a line, they’re not going to cue me, you know? — via BoingBoing

Don’t really know what I’d do with them, but I’d love a two foot tall stack of stackable ceramic mugs designed by Tim Biskup.
He’s selling them on eBay — via BoingBoing

No idea where the photos come from originally, but they were found on the Portuguese language blog of a Brazilian student.
An Asian guy is making gorgeously intricate bugs and dragons and birds and other critters from bendy drinking straws — via BoingBoing

For those wanting their 2005 forecast fix here it is: 2005 Consumer Color Directions
Hmm… more neutrals and deep blue to replace black. Nice to see purple gets 2 noteable mentions in the form of thistle bloom and soulful grape.
So just whose predictions are these and how do they come about them? Check out the forecasting processing

Edvard Munch’s paintings have been targeted again by thieves after an armed gang yesterday stole one of several known versions of The Scream along with Madonna from the Munch Museum in Oslo

Piers noticed that someone has lined the floor of a phonebox outside a supermarket with a rather nice lawn — via BoingBoing

I have no idea who did it. It looks really awesome, and feels nicer than bare concrete as well. Probably only going to last a couple of days, but I really like this kind of anonymous, socially-focused art. It has a very honest quality to it. It’s in Mount Lawley, Perth, Australia, at the Supa Valu near the corner of Beaufort and Walcott, if anyone wants to have a look.

Check it out I’ve just created my own living colour cell over at Colorcell.
It’s an interesting site where you can create colour palettes called cells containing 4 colours. People vote for their favourite cells and you can view stats like the most popular cell for the day etc. Cells are ranked and are either alive and well in the living space, or dead in the cemetery. Of course there are only 100 spaces in the living space so it’s a fight for survival.
That’s the basic jist of the site. There’s more to it and it’s not unlike one of those digital pet things but not annoying.
Let’s see how long it takes for my cell to die. With any luck it’ll live on in the hall of fame.

Telstra ‘Paint a Payphone’ Art Competition
Telstra are running a competition, the winner will get their artwork displayed on selected Telstra payphones across Australia, and at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Prizes are very encouraging, with an iBook pack for 17s and under, and 10,000 bucks for 18s and older.
I wonder if this is one of those things that crap graffiti taggers* shun because it’s legitimate? I can see it now, the sensitive graffiti artist in the crap tagger posse enters comp with a gorgeous design, wins and gets thrown out of said posse for doing something other than write a bad alias illegibly.
* I am aware that graffiti art is not all people essentially lifting their leg and marking their territory. This stuff, I think, is crap. There is plenty of fantastic graffiti out there, including tags that are meticulously executed, with more attention to typography than a lot of designed stuff.

Taking a leaf outta the Cafe Press book, ComiXpress steps it up with offering to print and sell your indie comics online. You’ve even got an option to have a ComiXpress ad printed in your book, meaning you get a discount and your soon to be numerous fans remember where to buy your masterfully sick creations. But you’ll also need mini-posters and flyers to ram down prospective fans’ throats, and yes, the ComiXpress guys can and will do it.
I would like to introduce these guys to the transparent gif, their logo is really quite nice ‘n sexy, but the opaque ghosting rectangle thing is letting ’em down.

A rather unusual crop formation has appeared in a Wiltshire field. The Hello Kitty crop circle was created by Circlemakers and New York artists surface2air to celebrate her 30th birthday and is approximately 60m in diameter. The photo is by Steve Alexander, whose web site includes a lot of impressive aerial photos of crop formations.
You can bet the wingnuts from Crop Circle Radius will be insisting that it’s all the work of aliens — via Pagan Prattle

Work has been trying to get everyone to get their holidays down by the end of June. Hey, I’m down with forced time off, no prob. Well no prob for me any way.
So far every set of dates I put through, (I need to take a week), gets knocked back, Sorry, Redtape Corp work is suppose to start any day now, and so is Super Confused’s work. Redtape Corp’s work is yet to manifest in my inbox, and Super Confused work is just starting up, albiet VERY slowly.
So I’ve locked in next week.
I’m looking forward to my activites next week, I’ll be floating around the art rooms at the Julian Ashton Art School in The Rocks, brushing up on my drawing and painting. I rang up to enroll this morning and got a delightfully airy receptionist. After giving her my credit card details, I asked her if she could email me a list of the art supplies. She laughed and replied, Oh, we don’t even have a computer, just bring what you feel comfortable with. We’ll see you next week.
How cool is that? Being a web/graphic designer, THIS is exactly what I needed.
Needless to say, my geekier work colleagues found the idea of a week without computers quite scary.

One Plus One Equals Three has a quite an interesting page of what is design quotes for you to stroke your chin at

Here is my quick sketch of my awol tea strainer from my previous entry, The Office Kitchen Vortex, as requested by Phil.

Idea Protection is one of the must have bookmarked links for legal info on protecting your precious money making and / or creative ideas.