i-eclectica.org

Here is an interesting way of becoming environmentally conscious and reducing your eco-footprint. For 365 days, every time Tim Gaudreau threw something away he photographed it. Gaudreau, who recycles and considers himself ecologically conscious, limited what he bought and didn’t participate in any of the traditional consumer holidays. Everything photographed was his average, daily consumption. And most of it was food packaging. As the project revealed his consumer habits, it changed his behavior. “The daily coffee cup adds up,” he says.

[source: Orion Magazine]

“This image was part of Barnbrook’s ‘Tomorrow’s Truth’ exhibition at the Seoul Arts Centre in 2004. The Mickey Mouse hybrid is Kim Jong-il, son of Kim il-Sung who assumed dictatorial control over North Korea in 1948. Barnbrook, on the symbolic link between Disneyland and North Korea explains, “Both are ‘contained realities’. Everything is thought out, controlled- your reality is changed when you’re inside both. Er… they also both cost a fortune to get into.”

Wallpaper published an interview with humanist and political graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook, whose work is currently is retrospectively shown in London (Design Museum). Since 1990, Barnbrook Design has produced a wide range of innovative graphic work, under the direction of Central St Martins graduate, Jonathan Barnbrook. The studio is notable for its belief in the ability of graphic design to facilitate social change. From print design to corporate identity, magazine work to typeface, industrial design to CD covers, Barnbrook’s output is prolific and always deeply thought-provoking.

As well as collaborations with Damien Hirst and David Bowie, Barnbrook is a regular contributor to the Canadian anti-corporate magazine, ‘Adbusters’, and has shown self-initiated, often daring, political exhibitions in Tokyo and Seoul.

“Barnbrook admits that the mass media is so tightly controlled, one often has to resort to less ‘legal’ methods to get one’s message across. “When George W. Bush came to visit London on November 18th 2003, we went out and flyposted his purported route to stay with the Queen in the hope he would see the real views of the citizens of ‘his strongest ally’.”"

The images shown here are part of a slide show accompanying the above mentioned interview, allowing a look behind the scenes of the exhibition. The comments here are taken from Wallpaper’s site and give some background information on Jonathan Barnbrook’s political understanding his work is based on.

“This wall features Barnbrook’s self-initiated, political work; from the first Gulf War, through Bush and Blair’s alliance to the second Gulf War, encompassing many familiar faces and symbols from the ‘axis of evil’.”

“Barnbrook says of the collaboration, “I liked David Bowie before I tarted working with him but I was not an obsessive. I hope that meant I had enough distance to see whether what I was doing was good enough or appropriate for him, his target audience and his music. There was a stipulation that the front cover should have his picture on it, so it was more a matter of trying to express the idea of ‘Heathen’ in the layout of the typography. the final version is on the right page with variations on the left.”"

“These pages of the booklet show the combination of vandalised paintings, photographed by Markus Klinko and Indrani. The concept for vandalised artwork stemmed from Barnbrook’s discovery in an academic journal of a Rembrandt that had been desecrated. “It struck me as both shocking and beautiful- a complete violation of what society deems to be of cultural value. Tom me it perfectly exemplified what a Heathen could be and I wanted to use it for the album,” explains Barnbrook. The museum wouldn’t grant copyright for fear of copycat attacks, so he borrowed the concept and faked the vandalism.”

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Now playing: Einstürzende Neubauten - Sabrina; Einstürzende Neubauten - Beauty; Wumpscut - Ain’t That Hungry Yet; VNV Nation - Cargon; VNV Nation - Epicentre; VNV Nation - Carry You; Einstürzende Neubauten - Die Befindlichkeit des Landes - via FoxyTunes

On my travels through art and design, I came across the most beautiful art of ‘Madhubani painting’ (also referred to as ‘Mithila Art’, as it flourishes in the Mithila region of Bihar in India). Madhubani is characterized by line drawings filled in by bright colours and contrasts or patterns. This style of painting has been traditionally done by the women of the region, though today men are also involved to meet the rising demand for tribal motifs and the use of bright earthy colours.

These paintings are made with mineral pigments prepared by the artists. The work is done on freshly plastered or a mud wall. For commercial purposes, the work is now also being done on paper, cloth, canvas, etc. Cotton wrapped around a bamboo stick forms the brush. Black colour is obtained by mixing soot with cow dung; yellow from turmeric or pollen or lime and the milk of banyan leaves; blue from indigo; red from the kusam flower juice or red sandalwood; green from the leaves of the wood apple tree; white from rice powder; orange from palasha flowers. The colours are applied flat with no shading and no empty space is left.

Figures from nature & mythology are adapted to suit their style. The themes & designs widely painted are of Hindu deities such as Krishna, Rama, Siva, Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Sun and Moon, Tulasi plant, court scenes, wedding scenes, social happenings etc. Floral, animal and bird motifs, geometrical designs are used to fill up all the gaps. The skill is handed down the generations, and hence the traditional designs and patterns are widely maintained.

In order to create a source of non-agricultural income, the All India Handicrafts Board and the Government of India have been encouraging the women artists to produce their traditional paintings on handmade paper for commercial sale. Madhubani painting has become a primary source of income for scores of families. The continuing market in this art throughout the world is a tribute to the resourcefulness of the women of Mithila who have successfully transferred their techniques of bhitti chitra or wall painting to the medium of paper.

[via IndianNGOs; images via An Indian Summer]

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It’s music from an old album from one of my favourite groups: Thom Yorke’s ‘Karma Police’ from Radiohead’s 1997 spectacular ‘OK Computer’ album, and I just came across the video which brilliantly portrays the emotionally intense message of the song. One of the great classics!

[from Allmusic: Haunting, mystifying, and exquisite, “Karma Police” was the third single from Radiohead’s 1997 masterwork OK Computer. Dense yet subtle layers of sound bolstered the acoustic guitar/piano-centered foundation of the song, culminating in a lush, swooning climax. The structure is somewhat unorthodox, since there doesn’t seem to be a true chorus section; the main verse alternates with a short, subdued break during which Thom Yorke repeats the line “this is what you get,” and after two cycles, the song builds to a completely different ending section. The melodies in the main body are a little more angular, but the finish is plaintive and soaring, without overpowering the delicate melancholy of all that preceded it. Yorke’s vocals are given a little extra echo here, and the bass begins to flex underneath as the orchestration builds; a heavily overdubbed sliding figure dominates instrumentally, providing Yorke with a dramatic counterpart. The lyrics are paranoid and inscrutable — during the verses, people are “arrested” by karma police for cryptic reasons, and a man protests that he’s given all he can, in between the “this is what you get…if you mess with us” section. The ending doesn’t make clear whether its only lyrics — “for a minute there, I lost myself” — are an expression of relief or hopelessness, but really, the emotion comes from the pure sound, not from any logical, concretely presented meanings. And that emotional intensity is evident throughout “Karma Police,” making it one of the cornerstones of one of the greatest albums of the ’90s.]

No idea where this is - I just found the panoramic view quite stirring. My guess is, it’s somewhere in Japan, given the photo contains the hidden entry to Inquiringmind Magazine (where the picture looks even more impressive; I unfortunately had to reduce its size) …

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