Friday, February 1, 2008

the fourth late friday night eclectic buffet

holy moley, it’s friday night again and time for the fourth late friday night eclectic buffet posting. this one’s a goody lemme tell you!

first of all you’ve got to see this guy’s wooden clocks. no i’m not talking about the cheesy cuckoo clock that your gramma has, or even the big old grandfather clock at your mum and dad’s place. nope. these are bare -to-the-world-minimalist-see-the- inner-workings kind of clocks and amazingly enough, they are made almost entirely of wood! in fact, the only non-wooden parts of the clock are a few screws, some nylon washers, the string, and the metal shot contained inside the weight shell.

wooden gear clocks is a family business run by jeff and marcie schierenbeck in eau claire, wi. jeff designs all their clocks. my favourite is definitely “the ascent”.

the ascent:

it’s symmetry and simplicity is very appealing. jeff figures it would take about a day to assemble. the cost? well, i can have one of these clocks delivered to my door ready for me to assemble for about one hundred and sixty five american dollars! no kidding!
i’m thinking that it might make a good summer project for me.

moving from one artist to another, i’d like to share some of the work of photographer kevin cooley with you. kevin lives and works in new york city where he has had several shows of his fine photographic work.

blurring the line between documentary photography and art, kevin captures places, moments, and states of being overlaid by the passage of time. he has a keen sense of light and especially the way in which it sharpens objects such that the viewer is compelled to reappraise what they might otherwise pass over as commonplace. here are three of his images i especially like. the first one entitled “gas explosion” makes me think of children’s toy sets that verge on ultrarealism but retain enough of the toy about them that it is still possible to create a narrative out of the parts.

gas explosion:

planes landing is part of a larger series in which cooley freezes a space while the light trails of overhead jets leave their tracery overhead.

longyearbyen svalbard is one of a series of images taken for a magazine feature on the northernmost town on the planet.

after that ferwosty image i need to look at something green and suggestive of warmer times! take a look at this lovely idea. elt, the manufacturer of living wall systems. have come up with something that looks familiar - because plants growing on walls is within many people’s experience. usually what you see though is ivy. great big ivy plants growing willy nilly wherever they want. what elt has done is to throw other plants, flowers, and then also frames into the mix, making the finished piece look more like art, cultured, deliberate and in many instances very beautiful.

what’s really neat is that you can do this indoors as well as outdoors!! you wanna see? then take a good long look at their photo gallery of big installations and when you’re done come back here.

pretty nice huh?

so take a look at what they’ve developed for the home. essentially what you’re getting is a small irrigation system and plant holder, but look what happens when you add in plants.



these guys also do green roofs.

to wrap up the very late evening, the work of jacques fresco - probably better for a more contemplative time of day but this man has seen the future, heck he’s probably visiting from the future. his ideas are to my way of thinking the bridge between where we stand now and where we should be standing.

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