The Clock- by Christian Marclay

Christian Marclay. Video still from The Clock. 2010. Single-channel video with sound, 24 hours. © Christian Marclay. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Amazing! I just saw a small part of this exhibition while I was in NYC at the MOMA last December, so glad I had the chance. The space where the movie is showed is filled with sofa's, people walking in and out. I was there around noon..fragments of 100 years of cinema put together often with the watch or clock in scene, the film clips chronicle the hours/ minutes of a 24 hour period. Don't bother looking at your watch for the time just watch the screen!




http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1333

Coco on safari now on kindle!

Introducing ……. Coco! Coco is a city dog who lives in an apartment nineteen floors up. She loves pasta, clothes with matching hats, and walks in the park, especially on windy days. How does a glamorous city dog end up all alone in the African bush? Download Coco on Safari onto your Kindle (and Kindle reader app on your iPad) to find out.  You will not believe who comes to Coco’s rescue. Go with Coco and her unlikely new friend on an exciting quest as they search for Coco’s family. Stand up and cheer as the story skids to a thrilling end. There’s never a dull moment in the company of our hero, Coco. What are you waiting for? The adventure begins now!

www.adventuresofcoco.com

Disturbing family portraits

Two strange Thanksgiving pictures ... Why do we always like to stage kids, dogs and cats ... Check out the rest of this website. Everyone probably ownes (owned) a couple of these awkward (family) pictures. Most of the time these picture are awkward because they are dated and you look old fashioned, although the way people are staged can be hilarious too. Some of them are so weird that you wonder who came up with the idea. Most of them are just plain humorous. Have a good laugh! Would you dare to post your awkward picture from the 80's? there are different categories!

awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Unhappy Hipsters

He mused on the latin roots of the word “decision” as he desperately tried to choose which sofa to cut from his life.

(Original reader photo submitted by ZoeBrand)

Check out this website to see more funny captions to photos that have appeared in Dwell magazine.

unhappyhipsters.com

Tasty Halloween

I was googling in search for the most terrible food and was confronted with images of the "most terrible cakes ever seen"...  Indeed, this is just a small selection of the ten outrages cakes I have ever seen. Hopefully they taste better than what they look like ... although they took my sweet tooth right away.  Maybe they are better off just looking at it.

Square Watermelons

When I first saw this image I thought it was fake ... until I googled it and found more information. These cube-shaped watermelons are actually grown in Japan.  They are planted in glass square boxes. The reasons for these un-fruity forms: better fit for transport, the fridge and cutting the fruits is easier as they won't roll around ... what form is next?

Submit a Design

If you love t-shirts with prints this is the place to go!
Design your own print and you might be chosen to have your t-shirt sold on this website. Also check out the kids section! Fun stuff!

threadless.com

Loss of privacy

This film took ten years to make and culled from 5000 hours of footage.  It reveals the effect the (social) web is having on our society, seen through the eyes of the greatest internet pioneer you have probably never heard of, Josh Harris.  I found project "Quiet: We Live in Public" the most intriguing.  In this project over 100 artists lived together in cubicles underground for 30 days. Everything is filmed by cameras following every move, their lives streamed life on the web.  This all happened before Big Brother became a hit or social networking was even known.

We Live in Public

One piece of paper

Independent Lens: Between the Folds A fascinating PBS documentary about the science and art of origami. Just a single sheet of paper, and without the use of glue, tape or staples, artists, mathematicians and scientists fold paper in a way that is unimaginable and mind boggling.  These origami works remind me of sculptures, you almost forget that they are made of paper, and folded at least a hundred times.

Clip it on branches

before and after.... colorful tree

I purchased these branches from Ikea years ago, starting out by just showing them plain and pure.
For the Holidays we decided not to go for a Christmas tree.  Instead I put lights on the branches which worked out really well.
Soon after that I decided to use the "tree" to collect cards I received.  Items like thank you cards, birthday, birth and wedding announcements, etc ... It was fun to see the "tree" growing ... Now the kids bring home so many craft projects the branches are filled with colorful, diverse and play full forms.  I hang the objects with small cloth pins.  I can picture photo's in the "tree" too, maybe that will be the next project.

Plastic bag on the move

A video by Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons, filmed in the style of a documentary, confronting us with the stark reality of California's plastic bag pollution situation ... a worldwide reality if you ask me ... where ever we are ... hold on to your plastic bag! or better don't except them at all.

Animated drawing

William Kentridge is a South African artist best known for his animated films. These are constructed by filming a single drawing, making erasures and changes, and filming it again. The drawings are later displayed along with the film as finished pieces of art.

I like how this process makes the drawing come alive and unique.

also from PBS the series.. ART 21 ssn: 5 Compassion, see the artist at work in his studio.

Something else ... check out these playful limited edition espresso cups he designed for Illy, the silver mirrored cups reflect on the saucers creating an anamorphic effect.

Spencer Tunick

An American artist who makes site specific installations with naked people in public spaces all over the world and then takes amazing pictures of them.  I love how the bodies become abstraction and a pattern.

It was hard to choose just one image to show you.  If you want to take part in his installations, you can, sign up on his website.

www.spencertunick.com

Hoarding Art

This is the story about Herb and Dorothy Vogel who over the years became one of the most important collectors of minimalist and conceptual art. See how they visit artists in their studios, live their common daily life in their tiny New York apartment surrounded by art, cats and turtles.  A great documentary by filmmaker Megumi Sasaki.

Herb & Dorothy Vogel

Beyond imagination

Not sure how I found out about this website, but it is definitely entertaining.

You can spend hours on it. For example look through abandoned towns, zoo's and ghost cities, or how about a theme castle, jail or art hotels with the smallest rooms or the scariest place you could live ... uncanny doghouses, unique aquarium designs in a telephone booth.  Also, don't miss the 7 Wonder Series, eye candy!

weburbanist.com

Honest t-shirts

Imagine this ... t-shirts made from scraps of cotton, plastic and glass bottles ... it is reality ... the recycling process, the facts and the products that come out of it!

playbackclothing.com

Recycled Containers

www.containercity.com

Shipping containers are no longer for just moving cargo around the world.  They are Lego for adults and used for designing homes, offices and fantastic architectural structures.  This is serious container architecture with a green touch.  The shipping containers find a new home.  Google "container home / house" and see the results under images.  Over 4,000  images will appear and gives you an idea to what is out there.

Checkout clinics in containers.  Here the containers have a "second life" as they are still being shipped all over the world but also provide clinical space to support healthcare for women and children.

www.containers2clinics.org

Tree with a view

Tree houses ... They always make me think of playhouses for kids and challenging projects for parents.  Imagine to build it in that perfect backyard tree ... until I found out about these books with unbelievable tree houses that are no child's play.  Some even come with water and electricity.

I can see this being a new way of green living for the future.  Communities and neighborhoods with only tree houses leaving the ground for play and moving about ... For now it sounds more like science fiction.

New Treehouses of the World

Treehouse Living: 50 Innovative Designs

500PHOTOGRAPHERS

Photographs: David Stewart

If you are interested in photography check out the blog by Pieter Wisse.  Works of five photographers are posted each week for 100 weeks featuring a total of 500 photographers.  This creates a diverse and interesting database.  I was particularity drawn to Photographer #066: David Stewart.  Humorous and sad ... frozen moments that seem to last forever.

Which one catches your eye?

500photographers.blogspot.com

Cook book makes a difference in Malawi

kitchen before

kitchen after

I have a friend who raises funds for the school meal program of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).  She visits Malawi on a regular basis and sent me these before and after pictures.

She launched the success formula Master Chefs for Home Chefs three years ago.  This is a cookbook that raises money for the School Meals programme of the WFP from the proceeds of the book sales. Through this program, WFP enables children to attend school where they will get at least one nutritious meal every day. 

It's a unique cookbook with fifty-two recipes - one for each week of the year - by famous master chefs.   With the sale of one cookbook, a child will get 40 nutritious meals at school.  More than 80,000 copies of the third edition have been sold in the Netherlands and Belgium.  Thanks to this result the World Food Programme can distribute more than three million school meals. 

All of this would not have been possible without the selfless effort of more than 52 international and local master chefs, as well as book designers, bookshops, communications, marketing and PR agencies and all others who helped to create, publish, promote and sell this book free of charge.

After three successful editions, a fourth of course cannot fail to appear. Master Chefs for Home Chefs 4 will include recipes from some of the world's most prestigious restaurants and chefs.  The cookbook will be published in several languages.  This year her aim is to sell the book in Austria, Italia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the United States.  Her goal is to sell enough copies of edition 4 to purchase at least ten million school meals. 

www.masterchefsforhomechefs.com

Art from vending machines

Check out how these retired cigarette machines are turned in to art machines...for only $5 the machine pops out a piece of work same size as a cigarette box. This could be a new addiction!

www.artomat.org

Workspaces get second chance

Photograph:  Jason Madara

I found this article about workspace make overs in the latest Wired Magazine (July 2010).  The garage, office, kitchen and media room got some transformations.

Nothing is drastically changed, nothing is demolished, everything is basically kept as it is, recycled, but organized...

by adding new accessories the room looks updated.

Seeing the picture of the room in color instead of black and white (the before state) is an update on its own.

Interestingly, the kitchen looks very similar to mine and the Blanco Meridian Chrome Kitchen faucet 157-140-cr is truly a great product. It has that nice industrial / restaurant style appearance.

Wired Makeovers: Upgrade Your Workspaces

Upholstery project

before and after.... apple green

Our at least 30 year old chaise lounge which we have been dragging along on our moves .....finally got a make over...we had been covering up the torn fabric with blankets. After some research I decided to use sunbrella fabric, an outdoor fabric used for patio furniture. Because this sofa has its place in the playroom, it needs to handle a lot of sitting, jumping, and snacks.