Min

As the new year kicks into gear and I settle into my new home in Bushwick, I am gathering together all of my spirit and inspiration to propel me forward into new creative adventures this year.  Here I would like to share pictures from Min, a show I saw back in the fall, created by Seanna Sharpe, circus girl extraordinaire.  I particularly loved this multifaceted climbing apparatus shown below. 

Jungle Gym Circus Inspiration

A few years ago, I helped design and build this:

(You can read more about it here.)  That has led me to develop a fascination with the circus, acrobats, and their equipment they climb on, as a great way to learn about architecture, and how the forms of things inform certain choreographies.

So now I find myself working on the design of another climbing structure, this one much bigger, and for now top secret.  But I can tell you that I have found a great source of inspiration in the most obvious but overlooked place - the playground.

This particular playground, recommended to me by a friend, has all of its jungle gyms build from basic industrial materials, and I think its great. 

If you're interested in learning more about playground design, I recommend the blog Playscapes.

Paranorman in the Windows!

As you know from previous posts, I hate going to the movies.  (read more about that here) But I do really like the Loews Movie Theater near Lincoln Center, because they always have some interesting artifact in the window from the making of the latest movie showing there.  In this case, a few months ago, they had the dolls that were used in the  making of the stop motion animation ParaNorman movie.  To give you a sense of scale, each one of those characters is about as tall as my forearm, if not smaller.  The detail is amazing, and it is invigorating to know that this intricate art of stop motion animation is still alive and well.  I was happy to have this little window (pun not intended) into the world of the making of one.  

A Day at the Moma

The Moma can always be counted on as a source of knowledge and inspiration for me and all of the struggling designers trying to make it in the big city.

Archigram, Plug-In City

Laurids Ortner, City 47

Morphosis

Toyo Ito, Sendai Mediatheque 

Sea Shelter, click photo below for more info:

 Sketches I Loved

New Views, Just for You

Blogger's about to get crazy!  Click here for more info


www.aarboretum.blogspot.com/view/flipcard
www.aarboretum.blogspot.com/view/mosaic
www.aarboretum.blogspot.com/view/sidebar
www.aarboretum.blogspot.com/view/snapshot
www.aarboretum.blogspot.com/view/timeslide

review: PAPER THICK WALLS

A piano, a violin, a man, a woman, the color blue: mix it all up and you get the up and coming Chicago based band Paper Thick Walls.

Find more artists like Paper Thick Walls at Myspace Music

There's a diversity in the songs, yet unified by their own unique style.   But the song where their true originality and beauty shines through is in Infinite, where there is an almost clashing mixture of verse and chorus sounds that is unexpected and great, and then at the end it floats off on a tangent of ghost like voices.  Its the fact that it catches you off guard that makes it my second favorite.

But my absolute favorite song on the album is Masters At The Sea which makes me feel like what I would imagine it would be like to be out at sea, surrounded by the vast, unending, powerful, terrifying ocean, the big wall of sound like a wave.  When you hear the sad, urgent call of the guitar, violin, and piano, you know you are about to hear a tale of adventure, sadness, and beauty.

Click here and here for more info and to listen to more songs by Paper Thick Walls!!

Columbus Circle Self Portrait

  

I look pretty angry in this photo, but I think its just because the sun was in my eyes. 

Snarkitecture: Box/Box

Just another reason why I looooove Brooklyn based architecture design studio, Snarkitecture, is this tiny 90 sq. ft. apartment, home to Daniel Arsham (a partner in the company) which is covered with 25,000 ping pong balls.  Read more about it here. 

I love the texture...

Photos via Snarkitcture. 



Snarkitecture is a collaboration between an artist and architect, and their work is an interdisciplinary mixture of art, design, architecture, performance, lighting, and installation.  You can read my previous posts about Snarkitecture here.

Happy Halloween From Edith Telulah and Hummus

200 Posts; 200 Impressions

I just realized that my last post was the 200th post, so in honor of this very small special occasion, you can watch this video.  Do you think its funny?

Happy Birthday aarboretum!

She's one year old now. Awww