Telling The Time

I defer to the original text found here by artist Louie Rigano:

About-Time is a clock that challenges our power of perception and intuition. Featuring a constantly changing composition, through both color and form, it invites us to view the idea of time from a fresh perspective. Three translucent circles, each one's size equivalent to the corresponding hand of traditional clocks, pivot atop a larger white circle. The location of the circles' outer most points refer to the time. Traditional clocks, utilizing written numbers, rely on reading the information. This clock relies solely on visual information in the form of varying colors and shapes. Time is manifested into a new and purely visual language.

Tart and Tingling In All The Right Places

Just found this 'Soda' print at I Need Nice Things which purports to make 'contemporary art collectable [and] affordable'.  I love it and want it for the now naked walls of the spare room as it begins it's new career as a kid's room.  Only problem is I need to pick two others from the site so that I can hang them all together in a delectable little trio.  This one's going to require the opinion/collaboration of my co-pilot.

Man Vs Wild As Seen From Above

Alex MacLean takes beautiful photos whilst hanging out the window of small aeroplanes... as he pilots them!!  The results are breathtaking and, better yet... are available to view on his site.

My first experience of photographs like this was at an open air exhibition of 'The World From Above' on the lawns of the Eiffel Tower in about 2002 (oh yes... I've travelled, don't you know), and I was particularly fascinated with the images of the irrigation circles that marked Texas farmland.  Alex MacLean provides me with the same wonder but at the same time seems to have a different approach to composition which takes the images beyond documentary/landscape shots into the world of abstract... and shit.

Knitted Ephemera

They're not the most useful things on earth, but if street signs can get a knitted makeover, why can't strollers get a little more personal?  Buggy Socks as seen on Swiss Miss.

Eep... I think my bump is going to my head!  I promise I won't make a habit of this cootchee cootchee coo stuff... but I cannot make the same promise about knitted uselessness.

It's a Jug, It's a Cup...

Moringa by Jodja... a beautiful way to keep oneself hydrated.

Not much more to say on that right now because I am tired and have balloon feet.

Interested in Pinterest

E-Stairs via Notcot

Just a post by way of apology for not a lot of blog action lately, but I've discovered Pinterest which is SUCH an easy way to 'bookmark' things I like... and you can find it/me here.  I'll be back to my ol' blogging self shortly (I hope), but take a squizz at the lovely things I like and other people like over at Pinterest.

I'm Going To Need More Lego

Realistically, I'm a few years off a new kitchen... and perhaps that means with some eBay dedication I just might be able to collect enough lego to create a kitchen bench like this.  Or a splashback!  How awesome would a lego splashback be?

Found on my new favourite blog: http://www.davison.com/... here

Having A Yarn

Might need to get my personal knitting fairy to make me something like these bangles from Elinor Voytal... or I could just buy them here.  But jaysus... they certainly are pricey at 85 quid per bangle.

Via Trend Hunter (I think)

Match....Books?

I sometimes pretend to myself that I can understand German.  I cannot say the same for French.

I THINK these are matchbox-sized books created by artists.  I don't think there are any real matches involved.  I think they are nice.  I think a French-speaker would know more.

Via Notcot, but here is the 'Site Officiel' of the Matchboox.

High On A (Cork) Hill Was a Lonely Goatherd

I wish memos to myself were as grand and noble as 'Save the Forest'.  Then again, if you find yourself forgetting your once held resolve for conservation, methinks environmentalism is not for you.

This Mountain Bulletin Board came via Holy Cool via Design 3000 (bookmarked, added to favourites) and I like it.

Wind Tunnel

There's something bewitching about this video from Dyson.  However, i'm pretty sure that the ownership of one of these fans really is the very definition of 'disposable income'.

Enigma Wrapped In a Mystery Interlocking With A Book

THIS is why hardcover books aren't redundant.  Sure, they make my arm ache to hold 'em up at night, but would a paperback make such a striking sculpture?  There's something a little big 'everlasting gobstopper' about this fella (that's one for Willy Wonka fans).

Via Notcot and the Triangulation Blog, sculpture by Gareth Spor.

Verdict: Book Art or Book Butchery?

Butterfly Painting Sans Butterfly

I want to do this.  Clearly on a much smaller scale and with many fewer litres of paint... but I want to do it.

Found on [BB-Blog]

Cushions for Town Mouse

I've just entered a competition on Bloesom to win this beautiful book by Christine Schmidt on printing techniques and ideas... but I've added it to my Amazon wishlist too, just in case my wit and charm don't persuade the judge/s of my worthiness to win. 

While I hate being accused of 'nesting', I AM starting to think about how to make the spare room a little less 'spare' and a little more kid, and I love the idea of a little urban diorama created from cushions for my little town mouse.

Verdict: Ctrl P or Ctrl X?

Coffee 'Table'

'Nuff said. 

Found here... photos from some lucky blogger's home, I think.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

This is just a lovely website that celebrates typography in a whole new way.  And it's not selling anything.

A Pictorial Summary A Career

Ten years ago I was obsessed with the 8-Bit images of musical groups called Minipops, now apparently available as an iphone app - go on... take a look... and I'll see you back here in twenty minutes. 

These art prints by Derek Eads (via holycool.net) are somewhat reminiscent and I like 'em.

Verdict: Lost in Translation or Meatballs? (huh?)

Ice Ice Baby

I've been through every single ice cube shape offered by IKEA and have found a major flaw in living with silicone ice trays: you have to be pretty coordinated not to wear their liquid contents as you manoeuvre from sink to freezer.  

Ice Lotus is a functional improvement, giving a bit of structure and a handy ice storage container all in one.  And I like it.

Verdict: Frosty reception or warm reception?

Panting For Pantone

I love green and I love that I own a vintage pantone fan deck for colour perving whenever the mood takes me.

What I don't love is that the genii behind iPhone cases seem to have only started flexing their creative muscles since the iPhone 4 came out, leaving us iPhone 3 owners to suffer in our obsolesence.  Find them at Case Scenario

Verdict: Panting or Pants Down?

You Say Mutato, I Say Mutato

This.  Is.  Wonderful.

A year or so ago I was introduced to the idea of arranging household items by colour by some anonymous contributor to the blogosphere, and unable to execute it in my bookshelves (due to a combination of multicoloured book spines and a determined, if rigid adherence to sorting first by genre, second by author) I applied the technique to a t-shirt collection.  The itch was scratched... somewhat.  As I work my way through the rest of this angst-ridden day (a nephew is imminent), I may turn my eye for colour to the products in the kitchen cupboards... because i've already cleaned the windows, dusted the venetians and cleared the cobwebs from the corners.

A print is available of this work by Uli Westphal, and I am going to have to SERIOUSLY think about snapping one up.  Thanks Swiss Miss for the post.

Reminiscent of Rubik

My favourite of all the Rubiks' was the snake.  Apart from a brief period in about 1990 where I had mastery over the 'rings', it was the only puzzle I could consistently solve without the removal of stickers (look it's a stick... now it's a ball... now it's a stick again... tah dah!).

I've been on the hunt for a good-lookin' set of shelves, and these certainly fit the bill... however function is of equal importance and as I am not looking for a place to display origami, stick like pot plans and vintage cameras, I think sadly the search continues.

Verdict: Shelve It or Hang It?

Vegan Fun

From the days when wasting 'perfectly good food' was encouraged.

It is hot hot hot outside so I am spending today in a dark, cool room scouring the interwebs for what interests me... and a blog about vintage kids books is the first cab off the rank.  The above illustration comes from a book called 'McCalls Golden Do-It Book' and there are more activities pictured here.

No verdict sought this time... for this is just something that tickles me.

Shhh... They're Made of Wood

These wooden framed sunglasses are either the most pretentious thing I've ever seen or the most awesome.  Judging by the retro TAB cola styling of the photo gallery on the Shwood site, it's probably the former.

Verdict: High-waisted jean short eyewear equivalent or cargo pant?

Waste Not Want Not

One day I would like to have a dining table and chairs made in the image of these Offcut Stools by Ben Edwards from Edwards Moore Architects.  I would really like that dining set to be in a funky warehouse with towering walls adorned with unique commissioned artworks ... but I guess I could live with just the dining set.

I can see myself beginning a little collection of offcut wood in a corner of the backyard, not unlike my little collection of discarded plastic paraphernalia that I hope to one day turn into something cool.

Verdict:  Cut it off or Count Me In?

Thank Heavens for Herringbone

I like this wallet and I like that it seems to be called a Trouser Wallet... I guess because it is made out of trousers or material that you might usually see in the shape of trouser.

Not much more to say about that.

Toaster Coaster

Coasters... perhaps another addition to the coat hook/bookend/wall clock list of redundant things?  I've owned a few sets in my time yet still have no qualms about putting my water glass straight onto a table.

But these ones are funny... not the least for the fun you could have with members of the ageing population... right up until the point that they smear devilled ham all over your funky cork coaster and ruin the fun for everyone.

Verdict: Coast or Toast?

Tetris Made Tangible

It's never too early to give a child the gift of obsessive tetris hallucinations - you know, those delusions circa 1991 when you just wanted one of the L-shaped pieces to slot into that air gap between two tall buildings in the city skyline?  No?  Just me?

Anyway, blocks are timeless... Tetris is somewhat timeless (not pre-nineties, but that doesn't count), and here they are... together at last.  Good Wood blocks, as seen on Notcot.

Verdict: Tetris or Mario?

Walk This Way

Look at the little people!  Look at them.  All exuberant and happy... as if on their way home from a fair... full of fairy floss and other stick food. 

If I had a trendy minimalist warehouse office space in Surry Hills, I would definitely want these little guys around to keep me company.  Walk This Way wall graphic via Supermarket... and all I have to say to that is 'Supermarket, where have you been all my life?'.

Verdict: Walk this way or talk this way?

Good Design, Flat Out

Desile Folding Chair thanks to Better Living Through Design... but being from a family of ample rumps, I suspect this one is for the slim-hipped and skinny jeaned alone.

Verdict: Flat or Flexed?

A Slice Of History

There are a lot of wall clocks doing the rounds of design stores these days.  With almost every home appliance offering an accurate digital representation of the time all day, every day, I've wondered whether wall clocks are another thing like bookends and coathooks that are nice and all, but functionally obsolete.  But this one captures my imagination... because a big antique grandfather clock is too much for most homes, but the essence is still kind of cool and quaint.  And this clock slice preserves that essence but eliminates the clunk... yes?

Verdict: mice run up the clock, or the mice run down?

Out With the New, In With the Old

I just want to take the opportunity to publicly worship George Nelson Bubble Lamps, having privately done so for quite some time.

Some years ago, our collective hearts skipped when we saw one of these in an overpriced retro furniture store in Annandale (not for sale, I might note) and the pursuit began.  Sure, I could get it for a reasonable price with free shipping to anywhere in the US... but getting it to 'us' was a labour of love... and exorbitant postage.  But once my love's heart has skipped, there is no unskipping it, and with thanks to a heavily pregnant and patient friend stationed helpfully in Boston, the lamp was shipped and took up residence pride-of-place in our entrance hallway and not a day goes by where I don't look up and think every cent was worth it... even though it does make me feel a bit like one of those twats you see on Grand Designs who spends way over their budget for some minor designy detail from an artisan based in some remote region of Scandinavia.

Why a US$269 lamp should be sold here for AUS$650+, I will never understand.

Little Boxes on the Hillside

They ARE made out of 'ticky tacky' and they DO look just the same, but they're created from recycled 'houses' (whatever that means) and in a more useful shape than traditional post-it notes (when it comes to flagging pages in books anyway).    Created by Japanese architects Jun Inokuma and Yuri Naruse, these would make a delightful addition to one's stationery cupboard ... and came my way via Swiss Miss... Core 77... Spoon & Tamago etc.

Verdict: Little boxes of goodness or little boxes of badness?