DIY: cardboard furniture, the Wiggle Chair, and other pieces

In the early 70's artist-architect-entrepreneur Frank Gehry gave the world the "Wiggle Chair," pictured below.  Possibly the first piece of cardboard furniture, it's also a fine piece of art.  For more information on the history of cardboard as furniture, take a look at "Cardboard furniture. Are you kidding?" by Kerry Derwent-Robb.

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Frank Gehry, "Wiggle Chair" (1972), Sailko

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If you would like to try your hand at making some cardboard objects/furniture, you can find a bunch of ideas (no projects) at Inhabitat.  The sample below is for sale at Vicara Exploratory Design:

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Fabio Afonso, "Cartonado de Mesa," Vicara

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You can find some good information, templates, and ideas for cardboard projects at the Leo Kempf site. Here's an illustration of one of his projects:

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Leo Kempf, "Speech-Bubble Discussion Coffee Table"

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Foldschool also has some projects; they're well documented with a manual and patterns you can download.

If you just want to read more about cardboard furniture, try Gizmodo and Chairigami.

-- Marge

Out sick today

Being sick with the flu today, I'm just checking in, but couldn't resist a reference to the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic and this picture of the flu ward at Walter Reed Hospital in a screened-in porch.

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Spanish Flu Ward at Walter Reed, Wikipedia

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-- Marge

Cartoons: Obamacare

I know, I know, it's all you hear about lately.  But the cartoonists are having a field day -- here are 6 of 141 political cartoons on Obamacare, found at the US News website.

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Tom Stiglich, USNews

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Drew Sheneman, USNews

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Drew Sheneman on Obamacare, USNews

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Michael Ramirez, USNews

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Drew Sheneman on Obamacare and small business, USNews

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Walt Handelsman on fixing Obamacare, USNews

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I just tried HealthCare.gov, the site for signing for Obamacare, and it worked just fine (loading the front page, that is). 

-- Marge

DIY: Spirited Halloween decorations

Here's a small, but tasty, collection of sites with ideas for Halloween trappings.

The Halloween Howl-to at DIY Network has pumpkin-carving templates, fright-night projects, and more.  The Green Gelatin Shots With Spiders pictured below were found there.

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Manvi Drona, "Green Gelatin Shots With Spiders," DIY Network

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If your taste runs to the darker side of life, try the collection offered in mental_floss' DIY Halloween Decorations.  (Some are not so dark, just different.)  Two of the projects found there are below:

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Windell Oskay, "Cylon Jack-O-Lantern," Evil Mad Scientist

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Derek Greenwood, "Head in a Jar," Madhauscreative

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Sara W. posted the "Giant Spider in Spiderweb" shown below with full instructions on her blog Mom Endeavors. I like that it uses inexpensive parts you can find in a hardware store.

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Sara W., "Giant Spider in Spiderweb," Mom Endeavors

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'Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.
                   ~William Shakespeare

--Marge

Twitter: soundless sound, meaning evolving

Tomas Castelazo, "Birds on the wire," Wikimedia

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Linguists are finding untold treasure in the twitterings of Twitter.

According to an article (subscription needed) in TIME magazine, "What Twitter Says to Linguists:"

For researchers studying the use of language in today's networked world, social media is an invaluable tool.

...Gone are the days when a language researcher had to interview subjects in a lab or go door to door in the hope of gaining a few insights about a limited sample of people. Academics in the U.S. and Europe are using the seven-year-old microblogging platform to put millions of examples under the microscope in an instant. "It's unprecedented," says Ben Zimmer, the executive producer at Vocabulary.com "the sheer amount of text you can look at at one time and the number of people you can analyze at once." Hidden in tweets are insights about how we portray our identity in a few short sentences. There are clues to long-standing mysteries, like how slang spreads. And there is a new form of communication to study. If language is the archive of history, as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, social media should get its own shelf.

If you're fascinated by language and how it evolves, take a look Ben Zimmer's (producer of the Visual Thesaurus and Vocabulary.com) Language Log, which documents and discusses Twitter's lingual developments and news about the phenomenon.  For a primer on Twitter usage, there's Lauren Hockenson's article, "The complete guide to Twitter’s language and acronyms."

And speaking of language, how about Pixar's "For the Birds:"

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-- Marge

Friday cartoons: hard feelings

Well, the U.S. government is back in business, but the editorial cartoonists whose work is shown below don't really seem that happy about it.  Ted Cruz especially is taking a beating.  All of today's cartoons were found at THE WEEK.

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Chan Lowe, "The Trade Off," TheWeek

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Drew Sheneman, "Let's Be Friends," TheWeek

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Jack Ohman, "So This Is Success," TheWeek

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David Fitzsimmons, "Scrap the System," TheWeek

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Mike Luckovich, "Join the Club," TheWeek

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T-t-that's all for today, Folks.

-- Marge

DIY: Halloween masks and face casts

How about something truly original for your Halloween costume this year.  A mask that's hand-made by you, for example. As an added bonus, some of the pieces shown below can be used for wall art.

Instructables has a collection of "40 DIY Halloween Masks." Here's a "Scary Mask" by scoochmaroo.

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scoochmaroo, "Scary Mask," Instructables

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For something more modern how about Low Poly Mask at MakerBot's Thingiverse by kongorilla.

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kongorilla, "Low Poly Mask," Thingiverse

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More in the girly realm is this Fabulous DIY – Make Your Own Masquerade Mask from Scratch, at DIY & Crafts.

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DIY & Crafts

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This minimal mask, called an "Ice Queen mask," is demonstrated by Klaire de Lys:

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Klaire and a number of other mask makers suggest using a face casting for the basis of a mask.  This video shows you how to make one.

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If you have questions about materials, try the Smooth-On site. There are other companies online that offer these materials, but the Smooth-on site is well-organized and has good information.  There's a page on Life-casting materials and much more.  Take a look at the materials for Special Effects and Propmaking page.

Keep in mind that, if you and your friend try a face casting but it doesn't go well, you can always laugh about it in the years to come.

-- Marge

Art: gallery under the waves

Lately I keep coming across images of Jason deCaires Taylor's work.  According to Wikipedia, Jason is "an English sculptor specializing in the creation of contemporary underwater sculptures which over time develop into artificial coral reefs.  His site features a slideshow of his work.

The combination of underwater light and limitless receding distance in the background give his pieces an ethereal, almost surreal, quality.  And there is a sense of isolation in some.

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Jason deCaires Taylor, "Vicissitudes"

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Over time the sculptures take on an identity all their own.  For example,

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How a sculpture changes with time, Jason deCaires Taylor

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This video from Jason's YouTube channel details his works, 

...starting with the oldest pieces through to the most recent in 2012. The filming spans three countries; Grenada, Bahamas and Mexico and is shot entirely using a 7D and Sigma Lenses. Works include: Vicissitudes, Inertia, Holy Man, The Phoenix, The Musician, The last Supper, The Listener, Collector.

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To quote from the Wikipedia article linked above --

In an interview with Diver Magazine he commented that "Buoyancy and weightlessness enable a detached physical experience that’s perceptual and personal. As time passes and the works change, they reshape and redefine the underwater landscape in unpredictable ways."

A school of fish swimming among the figures captures the eye.

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Jason deCaires Taylor, "Silent Evolution," designboom

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A line from Dylan Thomas' Fern Hill comes to mind:

Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.

Time held me green and dying Though I sang in my chains like the sea. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15378#sthash.wtauYhTp.dpuf

-- Marge

A cleansing breath or swapping one type of lunacy for another

Time to tune out the circus of lunacy that is Wa$hington and regroup.  How about some whacky, wonderful humor from Cracked ("America's only humor site")?  Don't answer -- it's already done.

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If you just can't get enough, here's "17 Bizarre Ways Pop Culture Is Translated Overseas," a slideshow compiled from readers' contributions.

-- Marge

DIY: Matting a picture

The other day I was preparing a colored sketch for the gallery and I realized there are a lot of things to know about matting artwork.  First of all it doesn't really need a frame; in fact I've been boycotting frames for years -- they're too expensive and the buyer of the artwork will probably want to add a frame to her/his taste anyway.  Speaking of taste, here's a nicely matted, and framed, piece. (A contrasting color somewhere might liven it up, though.) 

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Bottom-weighted matte, Tuxedo Frame Gallery

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Using archival materials is important for the preservation of your artwork.  You don't want it to be yellowed, faded and warped in 20 years.  Even photos need to be sprayed with UV-resistant fixative. For paper, tape, supports, fixative and glue, look for the term acid-free. When handling the matte, be sure you hands are free of oils and anything that might stick to or stain it.  The video below suggests wearing cotton gloves, although I never have.  Erasing guidelines with a clean, soft eraser is OK.

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Cutting the mat is a lot easier with a matte cutter (Amazon has a large selection), although I've always used an Xacto knife with admittedly less than professional results. You can scrape the knife along the cut to even it out.  Al Pilato in the video below certainly knows what he's doing.

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Setting the measurements for the cuts has always been a challenge for me.  It's important to adjust the measurement for a horizontal presentation vs. a vertical one.  Having been taught to weight the matte at the bottom, I'm partial to that method.

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Example of different matte approaches, Matboard & More

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The Blick Art Materials video below on how to measure and cut a matte mentions weighting the matte in passing.

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Here's a nicely framed and matted photo I found at ara133photography, a blog about photography and decorating ideas.  Note how the center of the image balances against the open space of the matte.

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"Sea Flower," ara133photography

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In closing, keep in mind that this is your work and be proud of doing it all yourself. Perfection isn't the objective, integrity is.

-- Marge

Art: Running, jumping and staying steady

The world around us is constantly in motion, yet images of static subjects -- subjects posing or caught in a still -- prevail.  Placing your subject in an off-balance position can suggest motion.  But without getting into animation, how can you really depict motion?  Gifs of photos, in my view, are animation.   The site Artsology gives some examples of artists who have attempted to indicate motion.  Do you think they succeeded?

Returning to the idea of placing your subject in an off-balance position, it seems to me the position should be valid for the subject.  With that in mind, I turn to YouTube for examples of motion.  Take a look at this playlist for examples, some are also shown here.

One of the best examples I found is a cheetah running.  There is a video by National Geographic on this topic that shows what technology was used and how it was set up.  Since it's almost 20 minutes long, here's a shorter version, posted by geniemist:

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For a horse running, prancing, and just being spectacularly horse, take a look at this:

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In addition to cheetahs National Geographic offers a film about frogs jumping:

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And last, but not least, how about the thing with the chicken's head being steady, while the body moves (if you'll note, it's true of the cheetah above, too):

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Be sure to check out the channel Smarter Every Day -- lots of good stuff.

-- Marge

Cartoons: the shutdown, 2013

On the topic of the government shutdown, America's editorial cartoonists are in top form (of course I select the toons that reinforce my views on the situation).  Without any further comment, here the eloquent beauties are -- all from U.S.News online.

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Drew Sheneman, USNews

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DanWasserman, USNews

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David Horsey, USNews

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Jack Ohman, USNews

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Paul Combs, USNews

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Tom Stiglich, USNews

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Next up: the debt ceiling...

-- Marge

DIY: just do it yourself, America

Will it take a revolution to fix Washington?  According to this article in American Thinker, titled "Time for a New American Revolution?," revolution is an American right.  It begins,

The United States of America was born in revolution. The Declaration of Independence asserted that people have a right of revolution. According to The Declaration, "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [such as "life," "liberty," "the pursuit of happiness," and "the consent of the governed"], it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Now seems the perfect time to start a revolution -- while the government is out of commission, sort of. Unfortunately the military is still being paid (it looks like Obama was prepaing for the shutdown), so there will be a fight.  State militias are still in operation, too.

We certainly have the gunpower for a revolution, do we have the will? Organization is pretty important, too. Where is Che when you need him?
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Che Guevara, Wikipedia

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Is the NSA still listening? According to Forbes, nope:

Given that the government shutdown makes an exception for “national security,” some employees of the National Security Agency may have been surprised Tuesday to get a letter telling them their jobs don’t fall under that category.

Seems right and left government hands are out-of-synch.  Perfect.

OK, where do we start? Here's a how-to from wikiHow.  First step is know your goal:

Know your Goal. You are about to dedicate your life to this goal. Decide well and make your decision from the heart. A good question to ask yourself is, “What about the political system in which I live do I think is wrong? And what kind of system do I want to create for the people of my country?” Remember, the goal you chose is the Heart of your revolution.

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How to Start a Revolution, wikiHow

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One short-sighted idea is as good as another, eh?

--Marge