Simon Watts "recently spent close to a year in the Ukraine painting artwork on the ceilings and walls of the home of one of the world's richest men. And as intriguing as it is to witness the level of pure bad taste that can only exist when money is no object, [he] was far more fascinated by the world outside..."
Read and see more at the one plus ukraine photo gallery.
A 1+1=3 Plug
Many readers of this blog will have come across the photography of Thomas Kalak – his 'trans-cultural' work has been mentioned here a few times. Thomas is about to release a book of his shots: Thailand: Same same, but different.
From the press-release:
"Bamboo scaffolding, knotted aerial lines, hand painted signs or converted plastic bags: the objects photographed in Thailand by Thomas Kalak are sometimes unusual, both funny and peculiar, and often mind-boggling. Far from the world of clichés, Kalak finds motifs that complement and enhance the famous image of the country and simultaneously documents the unshakable cheer of the Thai people as true masters of improvisation.
Ready-mades
Individually portrayed and objectively documentary photographed, the strange yet commonplace, at least in Thailand, objects and arrangements remind us of the famous 'ready-mades' from the beginning of the 20th century. This book is a 'must have' for all Thailand enthusiasts, because everyone has seen the collection of items at some time or other, but often not really consciously.
Thomas Kalak has been shooting photos in Thailand since the end of the eighties. His photos from Bangkok were last presented in the book, Growing a chair, which was published by the Vitra Design Museum and received an award from the Art Directors Club in Germany."
More photographs of Thailand by Thomas in the continuation.
The Danville Warriors' third album 'To Be Onto Something' is a return to their post-electronica neo-ambient blues of their well-received first album 'Blueneck'.
Actually, the above group does not exist (must admit I'd love to hear their music). The album cover generated via the Flickr CD cover meme (quite a bit of fun). Nice photo Dear Harry.
Via Creative Review.
Japan didn't invent the vending machine, but it's perhaps in Japan that the humble vending machine reaches its apotheosis. According to Wikipedia, "Japan has the highest number of vending machines per capita, with about one machine for every 23 people". They're very popular indeed (although some love them perhaps a little too much). All sorts of goodies can be purchased, often 24/7 and almost you-name-it.
The above egg vending machine was spotted by 1+1=3's sometime Japan photo-correspondent Ray Kinnane. You may be travelling along, craving an omelette, when up pops this little yellow shed full of fresh eggs – kept in air-conditioned egg-comfort. Perfect – and only 300 yen. Now you just have to find someplace to cook them.
Visit the egg vending machine gallery.
Also, see a washi (Japanese hand-made paper) factory that makes washi from locally found ingredients. Beautiful.
A new book: The Architecture of Parking "casts an objective eye over car parks, one of the most important but most neglected building types of the modern era, and finds a strange and haunting beauty."
Branislav's Kroplilak's eerie and graphically interesting gallery of car parks. (Thanks Sid Guglielmino).
Emery Studios' award-winning carpark graphics at Eureka Tower. "Using an anamorphic approach wherein the images seem
distorted until the viewer’s vantage point is perfect, the words 'In', 'Out', 'Up' and 'Down' snap into alignment to convey information at
key decision-making points along the way." A clever method for enlivening what is usually a pretty drab environment. (Visit Emery Studios' site).
Melbourne's Total Carpark (seen above in a photo from 1966) is one of my favourite buildings in town. According to Philip Goad, this 1965 building is a 'Japanese-Brutalist inspired' landmark and is possibly the first building in Australia to feature an office building (top), carpark, shops at street level and cinema in the basement.
Then there's Melbourne University's famed (and wonderfully spooky) underground carpark – used in the first Mad Max film. Carpark gothic anyone?
Whilst on holiday, he also likes to take shots of vending machines as he travels about the place. Read more here.
And just for the record, Ryuichi Ikeda is not a Pepsi-man.
Over the last ten years, Letterbox has been documenting the re-emergence of once-entombed signage. Some of these old signs remain in the light of day for a while. Some are soon covered up again.
A story from India along vaguely similar lines and if you fossick here and here... you'll turn up some more in New York. (Type designer Tobias Frere-Jones recently conducted a type-tour entitled 'Alphabet City' through the streets of lower Manhattan). And let's not forget Melbourne's own Typo-Tour, courtesy of Letterbox as well.
Issue 29 of Polar Inertia Journal is live, and is quite fabulous as usual. Thomas Kalak finds the wires and cables of Bangkok interesting. A visit to Seoul by yours truly revealed similar cabling (in particular regions).
Also in this issue:
– Abandoned shops and spaces in Singapore
– Mines in Ontario and Quebec
– Lost in Sarajevo
– Giudecca, an island in the Venice lagoon
– Street vending machines in Tokyo
– The Fiat 126
Ray Kinnane, friend, ex-teaching colleague, Japan resident and photographer, has started Digihito, a new photoblog. Digihito is devoted to portraits of Japanese people (and others) going about their daily lives in Japan. Being the terribly obliging souls that they are, Japanese people are usually more than happy to pose for a shot.
From beer-drinking ladies, to a crane driver (who wears his 'indoor' slippers when inside his crane's cabin) to a pink-haired 'Harajuku girl' and beyond, Ray is happily documenting contemporary Japanese life. He also swears by the new Olympus E410 DSLR – the smallest DSLR on the market.
"A visual train of 365 home-grown numbers. The numbers in this film (and gallery) are from commercial and residential properties in metropolitan Melbourne. From the ordinary to the compelling, the modest to the spectacular, the curious to the impetuous, this film captures the style, substance and spirit of Melbourne." Lots of Numbers by Ian Low. Thanks Scott.
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