Art + Architecture + Design
Archive for February, 2007
O’Hare UFO Sightings; The Coverup Continues
Feb 18th
"On Jan. 2, the Chicago Tribune did something extraordinary for a major newspaper: It ran a UFO story on its front page. The newspaper reported that in the late afternoon of Nov. 7, 2006, a gray, egg-shaped object was observed hovering over Gate C17 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
The object was unusually low (below the 1,900-foot overcast ), remained visible for several minutes, and was observed by several mechanics and various United Airlines ground personnel. The object eventually disappeared straight up through the overcast by reportedly "punching a hole" through the clouds.
Observer descriptions of the object are remarkably consistent. It had no wings or lights. Its surface appeared metallic but with a soft luster that shone "like a pearl." Several witnesses reported a haze around the bottom of the object akin to heat waves off a hot road. One witness in an airport parking lot said that the object appeared to be spinning counter-clockwise. She also said that a small crowd of fellow observers were pointing up at the object and that several were taking pictures with digital cameras.
The Federal Aviation Administration first told the Chicago Tribune that it had no knowledge of the alleged incident but then quickly reversed its position after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request.
The agency now claims incredulously that the November sighting was some (unspecified) weather-related phenomenon. Sure.
Even more troubling, United Airlines continues to deny the incident entirely despite the fact that several of its employees maintain that they filed written reports on the sighting with their company, including drawings. United Airlines employees further state that they were instructed by their employer explicitly not to talk about the incident."
Link: TCPalm: Opinion Columnists.
Via: Professor Hex.
thanks wit
Intelligence, Capability and Joy: The Wisdom of Venkataswamy
Feb 16th
Over at Regina Hackett’s blog there has been a thread about just these topics…
Intelligence and capability are not enough. There must be the joy of doing something beautiful.
thanks Metacool
Modern Letters Bad Boy goes for Tenure: Martin Amis to Teach!
Feb 16th
If you have not already heard:
"I may be acerbic in how I write but I’m not how I live. And I would find it very difficult to say cruel things to people in such a vulnerable position. I imagine I’ll be surprisingly sweet and gentle with them. One of the things I’ve learned about fiction – you really do lay yourself open in a way that no other so-called creative artist does. Most other art you’re just exhibiting a particular talent, even poetry up to a point, but by writing fiction you expose not only your talent but your whole being, your social, sexual and psychological being and you’re never more vulnerable than when you do that, and I’m well aware of that fact and will take it into account."
Tiny, Prefab, Second Homes; Eco-friendly Vacation Property on a Budget
Feb 16th
Bethany Lyttle has a wonderful article in today’s NYT on small, pre-fab second homes. Really a story about affordable second homes, Lyttle attributes the growing popularity of these structures to a growing group of eco-consious buyers who want to leave a smaller footprint on their vacation property. She even provides a list of manufacturers, catalog style, if you want to go buy one this afternoon and be living it it by the weekend. Lyttle says:
MATTHEW ADAMS, 30, a San Francisco lawyer, shares this approach. On Feb. 2, he watched as the four walls of his $24,000, very modern 120-square-foot house went up on a very small portion of his 160 acres near Red Bluff, Calif. From the beginning, Mr. Adams said, he had an ecological agenda and intended to serve as a steward of the former ranch property. “I was committed to finding a tiny house that would have no lasting impact on the land,” he said. “But truthfully, I wanted something with design value, too.”
Modern Cabana offered both. The structure rides on concrete piers, so there’s no need to pour a foundation. To minimize waste, the builder, Nick Damner, works exclusively with eight-foot units of plywood, glass and wallboard. Recycled denim is used as insulation.
“It feels acutely more sheltering to be in a tiny house rather than a big one,” Mr. Adams said of the glass-and-wood structure, which sits like a jewel box on the land. “Looking out at the vastness of the environment heightens your sense of containment.”
From a set of design options, Mr. Adams selected operable windows on four sides and sliding glass doors. “You won’t find any quilts or knickknacks here,” Mr. Adams said. There’s no kitchen or bathroom, either. He plans to put in a well, he says, then order a second cabana to use as a bath house. Cooking will continue to be outdoors.
Hong Kong’s Bamboo Scaffolding
Feb 16th
We’ve posted pics of this type of scaffolding before, but when we found out it was made of BAMBOO! we had to post again. Thanks to "A Daily Dose of Architecture" for the tip:
Bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong by loan Sameli.
"Bamboo scaffolding around skyscrapers in construction in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong."
Olympic Sculpture Park; Calder Eagle Gives Birth!
Feb 16th
"In another sign of the movable feast that is the sculpture park, twee Seattle art types have been leaving gifts of homage at the park. These include a nest of "eaglets" left near the base of the giant Calder Eagle, first reported over at the blog Belltown Bent.
via Slog
photo from
http://belltown.typepad.com/belltown_bent/2007/02/paternity_to_be.html
Google Master Plan
Feb 15th
Great info-graphics on this little YouTube movie. It sets out Google’s "master plan" which is, apparently, nothing less than global enslavement. Don’t miss it!
Art Shanty Projects, Minneapolis
Feb 15th
[Image: Courtesy of the Art Shanty Projects, via Metropolis].
"For the past four winters," the (Metropolis) article goes, "a kind of sci-fi skid row has sprung up on the temporarily frozen surface of Medicine Lake, in the western suburbs of Minneapolis."
The structures have all been put there by the Art Shanty Projects, an "annual folk-architecture experiment" that now "features nearly two dozen cabins – each a unique variation on the traditional Minnesotan ice-fishing shed."
Organized and run by Peter Haakon Thompson and David Pitman, this instant city on ice – part community festival, part architectural happening – includes a long list of participating artists and their often wildly different little buildings.
[Image: Courtesy of the Art Shanty Projects, via Metropolis].
There are teahouses and karaoke rooms, a pinhole camera shanty and a place to knit scarves; there’s a functioning post office, a shack for misfit toys, and even a science shanty "themed around limnology – the study of lakes."
But one of my favorites this year is actually the shanty in which you can "engage the community in a conversation about… cactus."
Last winter, the shanties included a structure made of ice shells by the folks behind Materials & Applications; there was an artificial drumlin; and there was a "work of art" produced by local high school students – who also supplied this memorable description of the event itself: the Art Shanty Projects is a "five-week exhibition of architecture, performances, science, art, zombies, spear-fishing, videos, robots, pinhole cameras, sculpture, knitting, readings and karaoke."
There was even a glass-blowing shanty and a peepshow on ice.
However, if you’re hoping to see the shanties in action, be aware that they’ll be dismantled on February 17th – three days from now. So hurry.
Otherwise, check out the Art Shanty Projects webpage for more info; and pick up a copy of Metropolis if you stumble upon one.
via BLDGBLOG,
Paris is the Anti-Berlin
Feb 15th
Great article in Sign and Sight about the expat scenes in Paris and Berlin, or rather, Paris vs. Berlin.
"France is in the process of creating an anti-Berlin. Or rather, Paris and Versailles are creating this, for a hint of hipness rarely survives the trip out to the suburbs. The world’s writers and artists are drawn to Berlin where the old Baudelaire maxim still holds that beauty today is bizarre (in other words ugly) or interesting and dirty. Music, fashion and film are drawn to Paris, to pursue their work in freedom and impeccable style in front of perfect facades."
For the Francophiles in the house, this seems like the time to make your move…
via signandsight
Land Art for the Virtual World
Feb 15th
It just keeps getting more and more convoluted:
Hello, World! is a work of land art in the real world (here be exact) designed for the virtual world of the software Google Earth:
A Semacode measuring 160 x 160 meters was mown into a wheat field near the town of Ilmenau in the Land Thuringia (Germany). The code consists of 18 x 18 bright and dark squares producing decoded the phrase “Hello, world!”. The project was realized in May 2006 and photographs were taken of it during a picture flight in the following month.
For full photographic documentation of the work see the Flickr stream here. Note for examples of work connecting virtual and real in differing ways see the work of Aram Bartholl, particularly Plazemark and Map. [blogged by Garrett on Networked Research]
Your Comments