PIRANESI

Not much of a blog if there is no new post.Well patient followers, I saw the Piranesi exhibition currently on in Venice. Rumour had it that his work was imposssible to build  but Faktum Arte prove otherwise.

out and about

Have not posted for a while - apologies.

So many things have happened - for one the great J.G.Ballard has died. For those who know nothing about him check out The Guardian. I doubt whether he would have been too surprised by the recent 'scandals' taking place at the Palace of Westminster. The thing is we have discovered is that what MP's claim for, hardly excites the imagination, though the Tories win on more interesting items. The upkeep of a Moat made me wonder when the last one was built for a private home and where you would put the postbox.

Finally - the scaffolding has gone from the house, which is great relief.There is still alot of work to be done both inside and out.The garden has become slightly wild and in the process of taming it I have suffered from some cuts and bruises. That plants can be aggressive comes as no surprise for the garden can seem a kind of hell full of midges and poisonous saps. 

A French company Sinnoveg has taken this concept further.To qoute 

"Sinnoveg has developed a concept to securitize, with discretion, any property. The hedge is especially conceived to be at the same time decorative and impenetrable by whomever, even by animals.
The garden and the house become a place to live in, in peace and serenity." 

As the say, one man's castle is another man's home.

Health and Safety

Often thought of as killjoys the Health and Safety Executive is now 35 years old. No doubt some of it has been sensible advice. They have a rather fun page called myths of the month which they would like to dispel.Take a look here.

The Hagos

Jonathan Hagos u16 2007-08 now has a web site.

to all those wielding an image making machine

Today,Monday 16th February 2009 is the date for Section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 comes into force. 

"The relationship between photographers and police could worsen next
month when new laws are introduced that allow for the arrest - and
imprisonment - of anyone who takes pictures of officers 'likely to be
useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism'."

from the British Journal of Photography (BJP) wrote last month:

To read the full BJP article CLICK HERE

By photographers they mean anybody weilding a machine that can take images.

Even the police think it's barmy and uneforceable leading potentially to the arrest of tourists simply taking photos of the changing of the guard.When asked the police could not name a single incident that warranted this law. We should all be aware this is not really going to improve our,the general publics welfare but is in many ways the erosion of civil liberties.A visit to the Stasi Museuem in Berlin would be a timely reminder of the futility and harm these laws can bring to us.

thanks to Nils Jorgensen for bringing this to my attention

Cardboard

Photographs of Thomas Demand.

Theo Jansen

I found this rather delightful video that shows Theo Jansen's work. 

holograms

May be of interest to somebody.Strikes me that nobody really knows how to use this technology but I've been wrong before.

homophily

Learnt a new word this weekend in the Guardian Weekend :) 

It is a word that describes the human tendency to seek out and find others most similar to ourselves.The article is quite amusing and questions the notion of sticking to what you know.One of the reasons I like the radio and television live broadcast is the potential for the random encounter, other spaces that come to mind are fleamarkets and carboot sales.I find the collaborative filtering as used on Amazon can be as irritating as predictive texting.

The article also made me check out the unsuggester .

check this radio show out too.

heaviest snowfall for 18 years

January blues

It's official this January has been the coldest since 1996.

An unexamined life is not worth living.

I've just heard the sad news that Jan Kaplicky died last night in Prague, news made more poignant by the fact that it was an hour after the birth of his daughter. He was a family friend and will be missed . A personality who was strongly opinionated and passionate, begrudging, and generous at the same time. Respect.

"Take your pleasures seriously." - Charles Eames

Hello,went to the Tate for the last day of the Bacon exhibition.It was packed but worth it and naturally there was the regret that I didn't make the effort earlier. Some things just need to be seen in the flesh and painting and architecture demand that effort is made. I rather like Bacon's studio which was a tip or as Ollie would say,'a fine mess'. Room 6 was particularly interesting as it exhibited material found in his studio after his death. We all want to know the how and why but like any good act, it must seem effortless even if it was laboured. 

The skin and flesh of building fabric.

From 1600 on the 08.12.08 a series of speakers will be speaking on the subject.

01.Prof.Robert Kronenburg, Liverpool University

02.Mark Williams, Arup Facade engineers

03.Jan Wurm, Arup Facade Engineers

This will be the last in the series hosted by Simon Herron and will take place in the Anatomy J Z Young Lecture Theatre,UCL.

Thanksgiving

William Burroughs recites ,12 years ago,  filmed by Gus van Sant.

Mumbai/Bombay

The Times newspaper will as from today be officially calling Bombay, Mumbai from now on. Not being a Times reader, I had not noticed this anomaly.

What has happened in Mumbai is absolutely abhorrent to me and not something I really understand.In addition the acts may have been perpetrated by University students ,something I find alarming. 

On the BBC news site, Pappu Mishra, an eye witness said,

"Their audaciousness was breath-taking." 

I have stayed at the Taj in a room overlooking the Gates, eaten several times at the Cafe Leopold,been to the railway station and even though,it was quite a while ago the memory of those places and India still linger.

To take a qoute from The Times Newspaper today 28.11.08, an understatement,

"By 5am, Peter Keep, a British entrepeneur, had counted at least 40 dead bodies at the St George Hospital. "It's not an experience that will leave me soon," he said."

Spare a few minutes thought for all victims of needless barborous crimes and ask, did it need to be this way.

cuppa tea

They say it's best not to read critical reviews of oneself but I was amused.

"Crazy, wacky, kitch with a critical edge etc etc."

from Safari to Viewpod

I came across this by chance.

Light Fantastic

BBC 4 have had a documentary series called Light Fantastic that might well be worth a look at. Some footage is to be seen on YouTube.

10,000 hours of dedication needed.

Hardwork, dedication + luck = success

According to Malcolm Gladwell that apart from talent you need to spend at least 10,000 hours to be good at something. Which translates into 4 hours/day for 10 years. 

Funnily, George Steiner mentions a similar figure of practice neccessary.

Einstein said it more succinctly - 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. 

so anything new?well MG has a similar hairstyle to E