Art

I’m a part-time fine arts student at Meadowbank TAFE, also known as the Sydney Gallery School. I’ve just found out that the gallery that is used for student exhibitions is being shut down by the College Director. Main reason being that there will no longer be someone constantly at the gallery, and that person is being moved. While there is normally a teacher or 2 around, it was the Clerical Officer that was permanentley stationed there, who not only did the day stuff and FIne Arts course enquiries, but also Fitting and Machining and Welding enquiries. The Clerical Officer, and all other clerical staff, are being moved to another block on campus in a centralised location.

Here are the reasons for moving all clerical staff to one location:

• Upskill C/O’s.
• Free up accommodation in sections.
• Provide better flexibility/equity and systems support to teaching sections.
• Meet an increasing demand for clerical support
• Operate within defined budgets

Some how I suspect it’s got a hell of a lot more to do with the last item than any of the miserable other excuses, sorry but I don’t see how it helps to upskill people, provide better flexibility and support or meet increasing demand for clerical support. The Sydney Gallery School has offered to rotate clerical staff in the gallery to help with upskilling, and are more than willing to look at other comprises but of course the College Director won’t have a bar of it.

I think one of the funniest suggestions came from College Management, they said that the gallery could be hired out to students or outside interests, however this would mean that the gallery would need to turn over $80 000 to employ a Gallery Director. Fucking wankers!

This is just ridiculous! Ok Mr/Ms Fucking College Director, now what do you call the school?

Protests can be sent to the Minister of Education and some others I’m sure.

Here’s my entry for Illustration Friday, the topic is float this week. I admit it’s pretty morbid, but at least it’s a pretty fish.
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The theme for Illustration Friday this week was roots. I figured this was the quickest thing I could do.
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The lovely Feòrag has pointed me in the direction of Eccentric Genius, a talented Canadian who crafts unusual contrivances for home and office. Wonderful things like mini trebuchets and guillotines and the delicious Victoriana of the Hypnodisk:

In the 1800’s, the European scientific community caught up with the rest of the world and noticed hypnosis. Entrepreneurial medical supply houses were quick to offer an optimistically comprehensive array of Scientifically Designed Aids to the Induction of Mesmerism, of which the Hypnotic Spiral is perhaps the most enduring.

Popular with evil criminal masterminds, the whirling hypnodisk was an always effective means of dealing with uncooperative adventurers, or perky junior reporters. Now you can have the same amazing powers in the privacy of your own home or office! The rotating spiral irresistably entrances the viewer, quickly reducing them to mindlessly obedient slaves under YOUR hypnotic control.

Make the mailroom guy quack like a duck! Turn your boss into a lap dancer! Brainwash wealthy relatives!

TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

Or not.

You know you want one, so while you’re there, look deep into the Hypnodisk and get me one too

Kong has added a very cool piece of artwork to his gallery.
Go, check out The KLam Xperiment

Moscow artist Aristarkh Chernyshev‘s TeleBlaster is pure retro 60’s futuristic design.
Aside from looking like a pretty lump of exploded red plastic, it also allows the user to tweak the signal processing. Users can load different effects algorithms from a flash-card or from the manufacturer web site.

TeleBlaster allows mixing users’ videofeed with a TV broadcast, and therefore gives unlimited possibilities for creativity: television becomes, literally, a Lego set from which users/watcher creates his/her own worlds.

Besides that, with TeleBlaster you can generate video effects synchronous to sound. This option turns it into a specialized multimedia entertainment centre.

You can pick one up from Electroboutique for US$1,499. I shudder to think what the packaging is like

Now that Firefox has become more popular, we’re starting to see some fully themed skins, with non-native buttons, scrollbars etc. Since it’s hard to pick them from the crowd at Moz upate, here are my favourites (the links point to the Win32 versions, but you’re smart enough to find them for your OS du jour, ja?).

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Using design as a medium for exploring everyday rituals from drinking tea to watching television, the British designer Onkar Singh Kular has developed a series of conceptual products since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2002.
He created a set of mugs in each of 128 Pantone shades of brown so that each family member or co-worker can choose the mug corresponding to their favourite colour of tea. Whenever a relative or colleague makes tea for them, they will be able to tell from the colour of the mug exactly how strong it should be and how much milk to add — via BoingBoing

I’m always a sucker for shiny things and Bent Fabrication‘s shiny metal art objects make me very happy.
If you must inflict drooling, shitting, hideous little yard apes on the world, at least you can distract people from the horrible creatures with a shiny, metal, cartoon plane-like pram — via BoingBoing

Just a quick link, I’m working half days as I am doing some life drawing classes in the mornings this week. I waltz into work at 2pm and there’s a tonne of work sitting in my email. Sigh!
I like Adam Polselli’s 2005 Color Forecast. I love the purple palette, we can only hope that designers choose purple this year.

Anybody who’s ever worn glasses and knows what a bridge piercing is, has probably contemplated combining the two at some point in time. The difference with James and Oliver is that they got their fingers out and did it. For a prototype, the end result is quite a nifty and practical item — via Warren Ellis