Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
naked abandon
Miru Kim. Images from her Naked City Spleen series
See her website and her TED talk for yourself. Breathtaking.
bits for Rosanna
Here's an update of what I've been up to:
Learning Rhinoceros
Rubber duck tutorial
Tower of Samara, thanks to Gabe
Baptistery in Florence
Figuring out how I will cast/make molds
Starch 3d printer in the shop isn't operational (surprise!) so I tried the casting wax process on these babies (though not ideally shaped to be molds) to roughly see how the paraffin will react to the starch as a mold material.
The Vs mark the sides I smeared with vaseline, hoping the wax would more easily slip away with a little lube.
As you can see it didn't really make a difference. This might be due to the odd internal voids in the make-do forms... the wax ended up interlocking in a way that it probably won't in my objects. Still, I thought I'd be able to kind of break off pieces here and there but the wax was too tightly bound to the mold. There was one small thin sheet of wax (from sloppy pouring) that slid off a very greased surface so that was a bit promising.
Most molded candle-making requires the use of a mold release agent to separate candle from mold- usually a silicone-based spray, though vegetable oil spray can be used as well. With this in mind I tried again, this time in a more regularly shaped mold- paper coffee cups- and with olive oil as another lube option.
They were left overnight at room temperature. None of them came out at first. The little bore holes on top are from me trying to push them out with a pen. I put them in the freezer for around 5 minutes and then tried again. All of them slid out well enough with a bit of pressure. The olive oil had the nicest surface finish, though not by too much.
I'm still unsure of how to go about doing this project. I like the paraffin enough as a material- its soft white colour (was hoping it would be more translucent/clear but whatever), odourlessness (will take scent without interference), easy workability (low melting point and not too toxic as far as I know)... and it's relatively cheap. I just hope I can make a decent mold for it.
Learning Rhinoceros
Rubber duck tutorial
Tower of Samara, thanks to Gabe
Baptistery in Florence
Figuring out how I will cast/make molds
Starch 3d printer in the shop isn't operational (surprise!) so I tried the casting wax process on these babies (though not ideally shaped to be molds) to roughly see how the paraffin will react to the starch as a mold material.
The Vs mark the sides I smeared with vaseline, hoping the wax would more easily slip away with a little lube.
As you can see it didn't really make a difference. This might be due to the odd internal voids in the make-do forms... the wax ended up interlocking in a way that it probably won't in my objects. Still, I thought I'd be able to kind of break off pieces here and there but the wax was too tightly bound to the mold. There was one small thin sheet of wax (from sloppy pouring) that slid off a very greased surface so that was a bit promising.
Most molded candle-making requires the use of a mold release agent to separate candle from mold- usually a silicone-based spray, though vegetable oil spray can be used as well. With this in mind I tried again, this time in a more regularly shaped mold- paper coffee cups- and with olive oil as another lube option.
They were left overnight at room temperature. None of them came out at first. The little bore holes on top are from me trying to push them out with a pen. I put them in the freezer for around 5 minutes and then tried again. All of them slid out well enough with a bit of pressure. The olive oil had the nicest surface finish, though not by too much.
I'm still unsure of how to go about doing this project. I like the paraffin enough as a material- its soft white colour (was hoping it would be more translucent/clear but whatever), odourlessness (will take scent without interference), easy workability (low melting point and not too toxic as far as I know)... and it's relatively cheap. I just hope I can make a decent mold for it.
Monday, August 31, 2009
smell new york
thanks to E.Jae for this link: new york smell map
this one i remember:
THE PAY PHONE SCENT
mostly urine
this one i remember:
THE PAY PHONE SCENT
mostly urine
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
star shaped perfume architecture
HUMIECKI & GRAEF
You can visit this German luxury perfume label's website at www.humieckiandgraef.com
They describe their company as "memory mirrored in fragrance.... an emotional home base in a virtualized, globalized world."
Their "five uncommon fragrances evoke the atmosphere of lingering memory. Inspired by life's ardent narratives, the five distinctive moods are subtly yet intensely rendered."
The concept: "Cubism in a bottle. Individual fragrance concepts inspired by atypical, emotionally evocative motifs such as madness, melancholy, and fury, translated into select scent... For H&G, [perfumer Christophe] Laudamiel replaced the conventional pyramid shaped fragrance 'architecture' with a star shaped model. An innovation that enabled him to express emotional complexity and clearly distinguish different fragrance notes, allowing the scent to develop harmoniously and sustain itself on the skin."
Their fragrances really do sound lovely and interesting. I want to list the elements of each of their five scents first, without revealing the name and description of each... wouldn't it be fun to try to match the elements to their artfully composed descriptions? (wait, is it the other way around?)
The elements:
A: lovage, sensual musk, barley extract, frankincense, myrrh, Roman chamomile, absinth
B: birch tar, Guatemalan cardamom, soft leather, ginger, grapefruit, vetivert, Egyptian mimosa
C: soft amber, musky soft violet, soft petal, soft fir resin
D: cinnamon bark, frozen orange note, green pineapple, immortelle absolute, Vietnamese cilantro, green violet, peach kernal, ozonic red berries freshness
E: green banana, fresh mandarin peel, fresh lemon, Italian fresh mint leaves, rhubarb juice, bamboo sape accord
The five fragrances:
Skarb, "a fragrance about melancholy. Inspiration: The deep Slavic soul
Evocation: The bittersweet swell of sorrow and mysticism; at once rough and tender, deep elegance."
Askew, "a fragrance about fury. Inspiration: The demolition of the classical men's fragrance.
Evocation: An abundance of fire and explosion, energy and virility."
Geste, "a fragrance about intensity. Inspiration: A mature woman in love with a young man
Evocation: The softness of a young beau's skin with the purity of a crisp white shirt, the sweetness of freshly baked bread, and the mystery maturity brings to love."
Multiple Rouge, "a fragrance about folly and fun. Inspiration: Devil-may-care madness.
Evocation: A singular fruity note, a sort of futuristic wild strawberry. It is the moment when you forget the world around you, throwing caution to the wind, taking a dancing club with you."
Eau Radieuse, "a fragrance about desire. Inspiration: A futuristic remake of an Eau de Cologne.
Evocation: Celestial spheres. Light. Total clarity. You yearn for ease and are transported to a wondrous place on an unknown planet."
To find out which elements evoke which experience/memory, check out the website.... just kidding, (I didn't transcribe all of this for nothing) - the lists correspond directly with one another. Still, you should check out the website to see their um, evocative images... An androgynous young man with a single tear on his cheek, the torso of a nude muscular bearded man as he sits on the edge of a sofa, gripping a ceramic vase.... it's worth a cruise by.
You can visit this German luxury perfume label's website at www.humieckiandgraef.com
They describe their company as "memory mirrored in fragrance.... an emotional home base in a virtualized, globalized world."
Their "five uncommon fragrances evoke the atmosphere of lingering memory. Inspired by life's ardent narratives, the five distinctive moods are subtly yet intensely rendered."
The concept: "Cubism in a bottle. Individual fragrance concepts inspired by atypical, emotionally evocative motifs such as madness, melancholy, and fury, translated into select scent... For H&G, [perfumer Christophe] Laudamiel replaced the conventional pyramid shaped fragrance 'architecture' with a star shaped model. An innovation that enabled him to express emotional complexity and clearly distinguish different fragrance notes, allowing the scent to develop harmoniously and sustain itself on the skin."
Their fragrances really do sound lovely and interesting. I want to list the elements of each of their five scents first, without revealing the name and description of each... wouldn't it be fun to try to match the elements to their artfully composed descriptions? (wait, is it the other way around?)
The elements:
A: lovage, sensual musk, barley extract, frankincense, myrrh, Roman chamomile, absinth
B: birch tar, Guatemalan cardamom, soft leather, ginger, grapefruit, vetivert, Egyptian mimosa
C: soft amber, musky soft violet, soft petal, soft fir resin
D: cinnamon bark, frozen orange note, green pineapple, immortelle absolute, Vietnamese cilantro, green violet, peach kernal, ozonic red berries freshness
E: green banana, fresh mandarin peel, fresh lemon, Italian fresh mint leaves, rhubarb juice, bamboo sape accord
The five fragrances:
Skarb, "a fragrance about melancholy. Inspiration: The deep Slavic soul
Evocation: The bittersweet swell of sorrow and mysticism; at once rough and tender, deep elegance."
Askew, "a fragrance about fury. Inspiration: The demolition of the classical men's fragrance.
Evocation: An abundance of fire and explosion, energy and virility."
Geste, "a fragrance about intensity. Inspiration: A mature woman in love with a young man
Evocation: The softness of a young beau's skin with the purity of a crisp white shirt, the sweetness of freshly baked bread, and the mystery maturity brings to love."
Multiple Rouge, "a fragrance about folly and fun. Inspiration: Devil-may-care madness.
Evocation: A singular fruity note, a sort of futuristic wild strawberry. It is the moment when you forget the world around you, throwing caution to the wind, taking a dancing club with you."
Eau Radieuse, "a fragrance about desire. Inspiration: A futuristic remake of an Eau de Cologne.
Evocation: Celestial spheres. Light. Total clarity. You yearn for ease and are transported to a wondrous place on an unknown planet."
To find out which elements evoke which experience/memory, check out the website.... just kidding, (I didn't transcribe all of this for nothing) - the lists correspond directly with one another. Still, you should check out the website to see their um, evocative images... An androgynous young man with a single tear on his cheek, the torso of a nude muscular bearded man as he sits on the edge of a sofa, gripping a ceramic vase.... it's worth a cruise by.
Monday, August 17, 2009
plants, animals, shells of animals
Friday, July 31, 2009
charts and daily goals
Benjamin Franklin, genius.
This excerpted from Maira Kalman's And the Pursuit of Happiness blog. You should check it out, it's pretty awesome.
This excerpted from Maira Kalman's And the Pursuit of Happiness blog. You should check it out, it's pretty awesome.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
nausea and seduction
JILIN CITY, China — Tian Lihua was just beginning her morning shift when she felt a wave of nausea, then numbness in her limbs and finally dizziness that gave way to unconsciousness. In the days that followed, more than 1,200 fellow employees at the textile mill where Ms. Tian works would be felled by these and other symptoms, including convulsions, breathing difficulties, vomiting and temporary paralysis.
“When I finally came to, I could hear the doctors talking but I couldn’t open my eyes,” she said weakly from a hospital bed last month. “They said I had a reaction to unknown substances.” -from this article by Andrew Jacobs for the NY Times
ON a recent evening, an unusual experiment took place at a lounge in downtown Manhattan. Nine blindfolded women were asked to determine, by smell alone, whether any among a group of nine men was worth pursuing.
Three men had just showered using a body wash with synthesized pheromones, three had used a body wash without pheromones, and the rest had worked up a sweat and not washed at all. They then rubbed their arms on scent strips, and handed them to the women to sniff. -from this article by Camille Sweeney for the NY Times
And in more architectural news, White Roofs Catch On as Energy Cost Cutters.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
found text
-all images from the internet, of course-
Coming across the Bruce Nauman-esque pieces prompted me to look him up. It's nice to know that "since 1979, Nauman has lived on a ranch near Galisteo, New Mexico, where, in addition to continuing his studio practice, he breeds horses." (this from a short bio here at the Dia Beacon website- a few years ago I went there and was amazed by its building and collection, which included a lot of Nauman's work.)
This one below, One Hundred Live and Die, from 1984, can be found at the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum in Kagawa, Japan.
Also, I started reading Eccentric Spaces, by Robert Harbison, today- more on that later. I like it so far.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
regarding your thesis
(Thanks Sarah)
For Vien
three acts regarding your thesis:
1. Copying: recreate an existing collection (the scent exhibition? the smelling salts collection?) [perhaps remove the actual object...a sent-less scent exhibition where you ask your participants to imagine the experience of smelling a certain thing...a smelling salts collection where the bottles are purchased from ikea?] the idea is to exercise your curatorial instincts without concern for the content.
2. Composing: take your blog-posts to the next level...make your own website or e-book or book or magazine with minimal text contribution from yourself...working with your existing material but taking more control over the format and presentation. (maybe include marketing or distributing the composition...)
3. Writing: curate an installation or exhibit for which you play docent. repeatedly explaining the significance of your collection could help you work out your text
s
For Vien
three acts regarding your thesis:
1. Copying: recreate an existing collection (the scent exhibition? the smelling salts collection?) [perhaps remove the actual object...a sent-less scent exhibition where you ask your participants to imagine the experience of smelling a certain thing...a smelling salts collection where the bottles are purchased from ikea?] the idea is to exercise your curatorial instincts without concern for the content.
2. Composing: take your blog-posts to the next level...make your own website or e-book or book or magazine with minimal text contribution from yourself...working with your existing material but taking more control over the format and presentation. (maybe include marketing or distributing the composition...)
3. Writing: curate an installation or exhibit for which you play docent. repeatedly explaining the significance of your collection could help you work out your text
s
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