In the past I’ve showcased Scorpion Dagger’s Renaissance era GIFs. This takes the classical art mash-up one step further with hilarious results. B4 XVI (Before Sixteen) explores the often overlooked visual and cultural similarities between hip hop poseurs and medieval aristocrats. Hey it’s all got to be referenced from somewhere, right? One from the deepContinue reading “Renaissance Art/Rapper Mashup”
Tag Archives: design
Nordic and Japanese Design Fusion: Fuglen in Asakusa, Tokyo
On a recent trip to Japan I noticed that the Japanese love to pay homage to different cultures, their foods and aesthetics. This is really great and impressive because they have such a rich culture of their own. And yet they love to get excited about Italian pizza, French cakes, Australian wine, Scandi metal, AmericanContinue reading “Nordic and Japanese Design Fusion: Fuglen in Asakusa, Tokyo”
Shadow Boxes: Beautiful Christmas Gift Ideas from Etsy Part 1
Shadow boxes are glass-front display cases that contain salvaged and created beautiful objects placed artfully at various heights to generate a depth of field. Some shadow boxes include mood lighting for added dramatic effect and can be used as a night light or as a piece of art in the lounge room. Others are contain nostalgicContinue reading “Shadow Boxes: Beautiful Christmas Gift Ideas from Etsy Part 1”
Enchanting floating ships by Italian Architect Luigi Prina
Italian architect Luigi Prina has been interested in aircraft modelling since a very young age. However, it was only after he met Venetian painter and boat builder Eugenio Tomiolo that he started to create flying ship models from ultra-thin paper and balsa wood inspired after Roman, Greek and Viking designs. His collection (or fleet) ofContinue reading “Enchanting floating ships by Italian Architect Luigi Prina”
All About Amazing Op Art
Op Art descended out of geometric art of the 50’s and the Bauhaus movement in Germany, which I have previously written about in the Origins of Flat Design. The 60’s was a period of discovery in science, psychology and new technology. This type of art reflects the experimental mood of that era. The pieces normallyContinue reading “All About Amazing Op Art”
Forgotten Pop Art Pioneer Dorothy Grebenak’s Rugs Are Awesome
Dorothy Grebenak was born in Nebraska in 1913 and was a self-taught rug maker who originally made rugs stocked in a Brooklyn museum. Although these weren’t rugs in the folk style, they are designed to be displayed on walls as art. These rugs were depictions of humble and everyday objects, which brought them into theContinue reading “Forgotten Pop Art Pioneer Dorothy Grebenak’s Rugs Are Awesome”
Travel: Exploring Ancient Kidwelly Castle in Wales
About ten years ago I visited Carmarthenshire, Wales and discovered the ruins of Kidwelly Castle with a friend and fellow couch-surfer. It was a delightful and fascinating day, full of overcast grey weather, souvenirs, bara brith, Welsh rarebit and early medieval history. Perched close to the wind-swept seaside and encircled by beautiful lapwings, ducks andContinue reading “Travel: Exploring Ancient Kidwelly Castle in Wales”
The Strandbeest and its glittering seaside evolution
Theo Jansen’s strandbeests are composed of spindly plastic organs that take elephantine strides. They have guts that store energy and are powered by wind. They are sensitive mechanical beasts that can even detect water. Each of Jansen’s ingenious strandbeests are miracles in motion. They may very well be the next stages of natural selection. JansenContinue reading “The Strandbeest and its glittering seaside evolution”
Eerie and Glorious Fake Cities Left Empty in China
“Entire townships and villages appear to have been airlifted from their historical and geographical foundations in England, France, Greece, the United States, and Canada and spot-welded to the margins of Chinese cities,” according to Bianca Bosker, author of Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China. Tianducheng: A Fake Parisian Wonder Originally conceived as an homageContinue reading “Eerie and Glorious Fake Cities Left Empty in China”
Tiny building sites: It’s a small world after all
Readers of this blog will understand and share my obsession with small-scale buildings, tiny books, paper towns and jewelry boxes and boudoir ornaments for mermaids. These quirky art forms are uncannily beautiful in their falseness. They also make Mini Materials now offers lovers of miniature the unprecedented opportunity to build their own life-like models ofContinue reading “Tiny building sites: It’s a small world after all”
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