In 1977 he started hand tinting black and white prints, many portraits of painterly dream worlds inhabited by nudes/semi nude figures, and his signature style began to evolve; reminiscent of nineteenth century artists such as Balthud and Faucon. Saudeck has been Honored as a’Chevalier des Arts et Lettres’. The French director, Jerome de Missolz, also made a short film about him: “Jan Saudek – Photograph tchéque”. Some of the works of Jan Saudek have entered popular culture in the West, being used as covers for groups: Anorexia Nervosa (New Obscurantis Order), Soul Asylum (Grave Dancers Union), Daniel Lanois (For the Beauty of Wynona), and Beautiful South (Welcome to the Beautiful South).
Writing in Washington Life, Karin Tanabe describes the remarkable writing office designed by Travis Price architects for Wade Davis, National Geographic’s “Explorer in Residence.” It’s one of the most beautiful rooms I’ve ever seen, the apotheosis of writing-caves.
“Travis did a studio on M Street in Georgetown for me,” Davis says, noting that in his current home, zoning prohibited a detached building. While many need light-filled rooms for inspiration, he wanted to avoid large windows opening onto a residential neighborhood and sought a cave-like atmosphere to disappear into his work. Subtle light was brought in by other means when the architect built a dome above his client’s desk (which Price describes as similar to the rotunda of the oracle’s temple at Delphi) and filled it with the books he uses the most. Davis whimsically calls the space his “Navajo kiva of knowledge.”
I think I’d go back to writing poetry again if I had one of these.
AntiqueTypewriters.com has a great section on the Crandall New Model, “one of the most beautiful typewriters ever made.”
It has a wonderful curved and ornate Victorian design and is lavishly decorated with hand painted roses, accented with inlaid mother-of-pearl!
Lucien S. Crandall was born in Broome County New York in 1844. He would become one of the great early typewriter pioneers during the 1860s and 1870s. He patented perhaps ten typewriters with six or so being manufactured. All of his designs are very intriguing and brilliantly imagined machines. The Crandall - New Model was his third typewriter to be manufactured but the first to have some success in sales.
The Crandall was the first typewriter to print from a single element or “type-sleeve”, well before IBM’s ‘Golf ball’ of 1961. The Crandall’s type-sleeve is a cylinder, about the size of your finger (see photo below), which rotates and rises up one or two positions before striking the roller, achieving 84 characters with only 28 keys. The type-sleeve is easy to remove, allowing for change of font style and character size.
Ting London makes bespoke flooring out of recycled leather belts, laying them down like floorboards. When/if you get sick of them, they’ll take them back and recycle them. I’m not sure how they’d wear or what they’d be like to clean, but they look awesome.
Each belt is hand selected to ensure a high grade of leather and then the belts are stripped of their metals, hand cleaned with chemical free substances and prepared for use. The vintage belts for each tile are carefully designed in-house as the colour and patterning on the belts is sensitive to each tile. This means no two tiles will ever be the same.
During Miami Art last week I discovered the fascinating sculptures of Enrique Gomez de Molina. Using the parts of once-living animals, de Molina hopes to bring awareness to the danger faced by a multitude of species: nuclear and chemical waste, over development and deforestation, to name a few. Genetic engineering and human intervention also accounts for the conceptualization of these surreal pieces. Enrique de Molina puts into question the possibilities artificial evolution that the future holds.
Critter Crockery of the Day: Geraldine De Beco has taken the traditional “hidden bunny” cereal bowl to the next level by carving clandestine critters directly into her ceramic containers.
De Beco’s “Breakfast Bowls” for Bernardaud typically retail for ~$317, but appear to be presently sold out.
‘La Joueuse de tympanon is a dulcimer playing android. It was presented at Versailles in 1784 and bought by Marie Antoinette. It is believed that the android’s hair is that of the Queen.’
Scott Beale of Laughing Squid writes: “Colossal has a great roundup of Skull Nickels, carved coins that are made in the tradition of Hobo Nickels, which are still celebrated and collected by the Hobo Nickel Society.”
![thedailywhat:
Critter Crockery of the Day: Geraldine De Beco has taken the traditional “hidden bunny” cereal bowl to the next level by carving clandestine critters directly into her ceramic containers.
De Beco’s “Breakfast Bowls” for Bernardaud typically retail for ~$317, but appear to be presently sold out.
[mmm.]
I need new bowls, and these are just lovely!](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lso2b8XoWM1qzpwi0o1_1280.jpg)
