Grouping Prints

(Source: tamsinjohnson)

I am happy to be back to my blog (August totally disappearing due to laptop

collapse) with a new HDD up and running!

Here is a great example for hanging multiple prints/paintings. which is always a challenge.

This can very inspirational if  you are a collector of special pieces of framed art, but are in

a quandary as to how to display them tastefully.   Your collection will not look exactly like

this, but it will definitely show your own personality!  I, myself, am faced with this problem,

being one of those with an art ‘stash’ which I have recently perused!  Happy Hanging!

Shoden-sanso

 

Shoden-sanso (by sakura_chihaya+)

Kyoto, Japan

Longing to find this feeling of calm…

 

 

Octopus

Isoda Koryusai

Source: taosozugalactor

蛸壺やはかなき夢を夏の月
takotsubo ya hakanaki yume o natsu no tsuki

an octopus pot —
inside, a short-lived dream
under the summer moon

Matsuo Basho

 

“An octopus that has entered the pot is content with the small world of its own and enjoys a night’s dream, never suspecting that it might be pulled up in the morning. A man born into this world is like that, too, as he lives a life as brief as a dewdrop. Such a view is presented in this poem. In view of the site, there may be historical allusions, too.”  –Koseki

“Isn’t it impossible to imagine that Basho had completely entered the mind of an octopus inside the pot? He became an octopus, so to speak.”  -Watsuji

And still another interpretation:

“In the Japanese poetic tradition, those who complain of the shortness of the summer night are, above all, lovers who have to part in the morning. Basho drew upon that traditional mood of romantic love and applied it to the life of an octopus dreaming a short dream in a pot, thereby turning it into humor.”  -Yamamoto

The aforementioned haiku and commentary were
translated by Professor Emeritus Makoto Ueda.

 Note about the print:  Isoda Koryūsai (礒田湖龍斎 1735-1790^?) was a Japanese printmaker and painter active from approximately 1764 to 1788.  (via Wikipedia)

Water Branch House

WATER BRANCH HOUSE

Exhibition title: MOMA Home Delivery Fabricating the Modern Dwelling
Venue: The Museum Of Modern Art, New York / 11 West 53 Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, NY, USA
2008.07.20 – 2008.10.20
Installation
1.2 m2

KENGO KUMA AND ASSOCIATES

Water block is a piece of plastic tank. By piling them up, you can build anything from furniture to a house. It is very light and easy to carry around. Water or other types of liquid can be stored inside. It is in the shape that each cube of 100×100mm is connected staggeringly so they can be turned into a variety of shapes. Furthermore, it can form a strong structure by joining its concave and convex firmly.

The weight of Water Block can be adjusted by the volume of liquid that you pour inside, and it also can be used as a safe to keep the water for emergency. By connecting the pieces, liquid can flow into the next block and run around within the tanks. By doing so, Water block can function not only as a structure but also as many other roles:
– Thermal insulation
– Network wiring
– Filtering by concave and convex, water purification system with precipitation tank
– Absorbing shock with its soft material
– Lighting equipment
– Storing rainwater
– Greening of wall and floor
– Change its role by the thing you put inside (such as mud, sand, concrete, opaque liquid, etc.)
– Hydroelectric generation

Moreover, Water block is a trial case of using PET, the Hydro/Biodegradable polyester that can eventually go back to the ground. If it is successful, a new sustainable recycling system will be realized that takes the route from a container, to construction material, and to soil.

And I would like to refer you to check out more on neo-modernism by reading

HOME DELIVERY: FABRICATING THE MODERN DWELLING , a MOMA article

that includes a great video of modern dwelling through the years.  Kengo Kuma and

Associates also designed a Starbuck’s in Japan that is out of this world.

Claes Oldenburg

Claes Oldenburg, Notebook Page: Stock Exchange Entrance in the Form of a Girdle, 1967

The Complete Designer

Steve Jobs describes working with the great Paul Rand. I am amazed how articulate and aware Steve was about people and design.

VIA gregmelander