Black Maths: February 2010

Tilt Shift Time Lapse of New York

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Tata Vislevskaya

Some really stunning photography from Tata Vislevskaya taken with an old Soviet camera. Take a look.

Renovated Farmhouse in the Netherlands

This renovated farmhouse is located in Weesp, a small city not far from Amsterdam. I think you will agree it's the best looking farm house this side of the cosmos.

Jan Maarten Voskuil

I think his paintings are stunning. The play of light is really interesting and well worth a look.

"In a very unique setting over Earth's colorful horizon, the silhouette of the space shuttle Endeavour is featured in this photo by an Expedition 22 crew member on board the International Space Station, as the shuttle approached for its docking on Feb. 9 during the STS-130 mission."

Check out the NASA website for more great images.

Happycentro

Here is a nice set of posters by Italian design studio Happycentro. They say-

"The studio began in 1998 in Verona, the romantic city of Romeo and Juliet. In recent years we have worked with both large and small clients, for local agencies and major international companies. Our approach to design is always the same: designing a logo, an advertising page, a wall or directing a commercial offers the same opportunity to deal with a problem. With time we have become quite good at solving problems."

They have a great range of work. Head over there and take a look.

Squared Up

This is a clever idea from Square.

Liquids

This would have been a nice submission for the Site module don't you think?

David Maisel Aerial Photography

I've been recently made aware of the aerial photography of David Maisel. Simply put, his images are breathtaking. His website reads-

"David Maisel’s large-scaled, otherworldly photographs chronicle the complex relationships between natural systems and human intervention, piecing together the fractured logic that informs them both.

Maisel’s aerial images of environmentally impacted sites explore the aesthetics and politics of open pit mines, clear-cut forests, and zones of water reclamation, framing the issues of contemporary landscape with equal measures of documentation and metaphor. As Leah Ollman states in the Los Angeles Times, “Maisel’s work over the past two decades has argued for an expanded definition of beauty, one that bypasses glamor to encompass the damaged, the transmuted, the decomposed.”

Take a look at his website and you will quickly see why this photographer has the sterling reputation he has.

Hiroyuki Hamada Sculptures

These are really interesting. I can't fathom the material used in these sculptures, metal perhaps? Anyway, these are really nice. Designed by Hiroyuki Hamada.

Fiona Raby on design

This is a nice quote from designer Fiona Raby that questions design in terms of discovery. It goes in line with a notion Richard Dawkins once said about atheistic beliefs - "It's not what we know about the world around us, it's what we don't know." A constant quest for knowledge and understanding driven by design, science, technology and art.

Objectified

I recently had the pleasure of watching Objectified, a film by director Gary Hustwit documenting the conception, design and life of everyday products. The film features a whole host of influential thinkers and designers in the field commenting on what things make them tick in the world of made things. Hustwit is famed for his previous film release, Helvetica. This second installment has the tell tale style of Hustwit and really opens up the world of product design in a clear, easy to understand way. Objectified is about designers re-examining products we have come to accept, and re-thinking the way we interact with them. The film had its world premier at the SxSW Film Festival in Texas back in March 2009 and is currently being shown all over the world at film festivals and special events. One of the main driving forces in the documentary is the cast of designers discussing their passion. Smart Design’s Dan Formosa, BMW’s Chris Bangle, and the French design brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec all offer their animated opinions on the world of product design. I’d really recommend watching Objectified. It’s a great film for anyone interested in design, lifestyle and culture. Furthermore the website has some great quotes taken from the film along with more information about the featured designers.

Dieter Rams on design

I recently watched the film Objectified by Gary Hustwit. It's a fantastic film with some great design philosophy running throughout. One, or many examples should I say, came from legendary designer Dieter Rams. His quotes have been put up on Vitsoe and are well worth a read.

James Clar & Associates

This is really interesting. James Clar & Associates have produced an installation using lighting tubes. They say-

Minimal piece about relationship dynamics. Nine fluorescent tubes have the ballasts and the bulbs separated to create two different words. On the ceiling the nine ballasts form the word "You". Wires hang down from the ballasts, supporting and also sending electricity to the nine bulbs, which are suspended in mid-air and form the word "Me".

Take a look at their website.

Portraiture

There is some stunning portraiture on Behance. A mixture of figurative and contemporary illustration methods. Real nice.

Tele-Photo

For some time now I've loved taking photographs of television screens. It gives a great effect that software packages just can't capture. I think of it the same as the letterpress- it is the imperfections that make the outcome interesting. Letterpress finds it's appeal in ink squash and patchy printing, much the same way as colour banding and distorted pixels appeals here. I've taken loads. I'll stick them up on Flickr soon and post a link.

Google Maps - Cardiff Bay

My housemate, Daniel, pointed out something in Google Earth. It appears that there where two men sitting in the water fountain in Cardiff Bay when Google mapped Cardiff. What are these two men doing? Better still if you are one of these men, please enlighten Daniel and I as to what you were up to at that moment- we are both very intrigued. From what we can see, a couple of crates of beer involved, which may explain it...

Wayne Levin

Some stunning images from the great photographer Wayne Levin. What a fantastic sight to see- a whale and a human swimming together.

Joe Wright

I love the photographs of Joe Wright. He is London-born, but New York-based. If there was ever a photography portfolio that is up my street, it is this.

Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos Photosynth and AR Maps

This is phenomenal. A breathtaking demonstration of Microsoft's Photosynth and augmented reality. This TED presentation, delivered by Blaise Aguera y Arcas will stun you. This is huge.

BAGC Degree Show Identity

We recently got the ball rolling on the identity for our degree show. The chosen concept was a fine one indeed, with each student being given a set number of shapes in which to create an icon. Here is mine. Hopefully it falls within the parameters of what is allowed. I feel it reflects what I have come to incorporate in my work - user interactivity. The designer affects the user, the user affects the design.

Black Maths