Drawing with fire: laser cutting

Angie
This romantically named exhibition is currently on display at Northumbria University, and is curated by Tom Sowden of the Centre for Fine Print Research in Bristol (a fabulous place I once interned at). It's part of the International Print Biennale which has been quietly going on in the north of England since September. It finishes this month so get your skates on if you want to catch it. 

The image here is of Angie Butler's Family Vespidae and is copyright Tom Sowden.

Filed under  //   artists book   beautiful books   laser cut  
Posted November 4, 2011 by manicule 
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Raumzeichnung ('Drawings in Space') exhibition by Monika Grzymala

An astonishing sticky web of black tape forms Monika Gryzymala's installation at the Sumarria Lunn gallery in London at the moment. Her three dimensional 'drawings' are like a violent outpouring of ink, frozen for a moment and skewed sideways. 

The exhibition runs 12 Oct - 4 Nov and more information is available here. Images copyright the gallery/the artist.

Filed under  //   abstract  
Posted October 20, 2011 by manicule 
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Inspiring artists: Creatmosphere

Thoughtful illumination experts Creatmosphere have been working in the UK and internationally for the last decade or so, creating mesmerising installations in the medium of light. 

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In Calgary, Canada they created 'River of Light' where 500 glowing spheres were allowed to float freely downstream (image by Allan Y).

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In Geneva, Switzerland was 'Breathing Trees', later recreated in London and Germany, where trees were carefully lit to resemble lungs inhaling and exhaling as the light faded and flared; not only looking beautiful and ethereal but also drawing attention to environmental issues of pollution and climate change (image by yellobagman).

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The dilapidated Brighton West Pier was etched over in futuristic, acid green lasers in 2008 (image by the artists).

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Their latest stunning effort, 'Light Waves', is on the Ipswich waterfront and begins in the windows of a theatre before passing to abandoned neighbouring warehouses. The act of walking under a canopy outside the theatre will trigger a change in the light patterns, and interactive sequences allow passers-by to play with the colour and dance with their own multicoloured shadows. (This image by James Newton.)

Their work helps to reinvigorate derelict areas, accentuate the built environment and inject beauty and fun. More information can be found here. 

Filed under  //   inspiring artist   light painting   lights  
Posted October 4, 2011 by manicule 
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Photography holidays

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The Guardian's got a great feature at the moment on a range of holidays where you can receive photography instruction while you explore and they all look so tempting: New Orleans, Cambodia, Tuscany, Andalucia, New Zealand.... ooooooh. Take a look here. 

Image is Siem Reap, Cambodia by PNike.

Filed under  //   photography  
Posted September 26, 2011 by manicule 
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Cool products to spend your cash on

Pennies burning a hole in your pocket eh? How about spending a few of them on one (or four) of these kick ass minimal CMYK teeshirts from W+K Studio?

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Looking for some alternative jewellery? Here are some camera lens bracelets from Photojojo. 

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Love your camera so much you'd like to eat it up? Well now you can. Beautiful analogue cameras rendered in cookie form from Manjar are available here.

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Need a sleek new business card holder? How about this one made from Japanese oak or walnut? 

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I think most of the shops are in the States unfortunately, but I just couldn't resist sharing. Found on CMYBacon.

Filed under  //   graphic design   jewellery   photography  
Posted September 7, 2011 by manicule 
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100 years of neon

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Really interesting article in the Guardian here about the fact that neon signs have been around for a century. Other interesting resources: an annotated Google map providing you with a walking tour of NYC's interesting neon is here, the Project Neon tumblr blog is here and a 400-strong image gallery on Flickr is here. Luvly.

Fab photo by Cuttlefish - wish I'd seen this when I visited Hell's Kitchen!

Filed under  //   ephemera   lights   neon   street art  
Posted August 31, 2011 by manicule 
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Liquid typography by Ruslan Khasanov

Frothing, evanescent typography created by Ruslan Khasanov. From design blog CoDesign:

"He was experimenting with ink on wet paper, but was cleaning a brush in the sink one evening and discovered these beautiful results when he painted the letterforms directly onto the porcelain. 'The letter came to life - black fine lines instantly flowed, overgrown with gray patterns like coral and then disappeared - like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly and then dying.'

Eager to capture the magic, Khasanov grabbed a camera and began shooting with one hand while drawing the letterforms on the sink with the other. "I got better results when the ink letters washed away under stream of water," he says. His only materials were the half-cleaned brush, water and a bit of soapy lather. But like any type designer, Khasanov wasn't totally content to let nature take its course: he ended up shooting 600 letterforms over four days to get his final typeface exactly right."

More examples of Ruslan's work here, plus a set of animated gifs that actually work.

Posted August 30, 2011 by manicule 
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Inspiring artist: NeSpoon

I love this idea. Stenciled abstract patterns by Polish artist NeSpoon. More of her work here, images are copyright the artist.

Filed under  //   abstract   ephemera   inspiring artist   street art  
Posted August 30, 2011 by manicule 
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Inspiring artist: Inside Man

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There's a user on Flickr called Inside Man who takes really wonderful photographs. I've curated a gallery of some of my favourites here. He seems to live a quiet life, observing the beauty around him and capturing it in a way I can't (not with my current camera anyway). His images break my heart.  

This image is Tea in Red and is copyright the photographer.

Filed under  //   flickr   photography   tea  
Posted August 25, 2011 by manicule 
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