‘We’ve landed on the moon’

This is one of those things that have been out there for years and years now and have rarely been seen or appreciated by most people. Anyone interested in motion graphics, physics or narcotics will dig this little fella… shown to me by one, beautiful,Sarah June Fox  

Lovely little vid…

Right, I’ll confess it’s been a fair while. For that I’m sorry. It’s been a busy ould month but alas we’re almost through.

Got some nice little things for you to feast on:
Firstly one shown to me by Mose Harper Click on me an have a look. There is one I feel is a stand out; ‘The softlightes, “Heart Made of Sound” go in and have a browse otherwise simply watch it here:

Secondly, a nice piece of kinetic type for all you anoracks:

Finally, my new wibsite is to go live in the coming days will post URL when it’s up.

Be good,

Paddy

Design week 07

Design week is starting up on the 5th of september and runs until the 11th. Some really great stuff going on and some highly reputable designers talking again this year. Erik Speikermann Lecture should be on the top of the pile for anyone interested, he’s giving a lecture in the Westin Hotel on Saturday the 10th. Anton Beeke’s exhibition is also well worth a visit and will be in The National Print Museum, Beggars Bush. Beeke is regarded as ‘L’enfant terrible’ of Dutch design and has some very provocative work; well worth a look.
Anyway all you need to know is here: Click me…

Tadao Ando churches…

Had the pleasure of hearing Ando talk back in september. A self taught architect, former boxer and arguably the most stoical architect of all time. I find his use of concrete, glass and light remarkable. Ando insisted that for the ‘church of light’, the only cruciform to go in would be that created by the incised wall behind the alter.

Peter Zumthor, Vals…

More on the swis man responsible for the thermal baths in Vals. Text is thanks to ‘archidose.org’.
Sorry to repeate a topic but I have a remarkable amount of respect for this guy…

The bath house is a simple rectilinear structure, constructed of a local stone, gneisis, formed from the same heat that warms the water of the baths. In plan, the building is organized around a rectangular outdoor pool and a square interior pool, with auxiliary spaces (showers, toilets) contained in small block adjacent to the pools. The separation between indoor spaces is minimal and creates a succession of spaces in which temperature and lighting guide the body. Narrow slots and openings in the ceiling of these spaces adds to their eerie, grotto-like character, established by the stratified facing of the gneisis. On the outside, large openings on the facade link the outdoor pool to the surrounding landscape, while smaller apertures bring light to the small spaces of the ground floor.

Addressing the ideas from Zumthor’s essay, the sensuous qualities of the stone, especially in relation to the bath water, is evident in these images. Cut in narrow slices and varying in height, the gneisis carries a well-crafted look while the range of greens and natural patterns give the walls a carved sensation. The building depends upon this material for its composition and its power, and even the spa’s marketing (which is successful in the almost doubling of business to the adjacent hotel). It is difficult to imagine the sharp rectilinear volumes and spaces in another material. The modularity of other materials (concrete block, brick) or the roughness of other stones would dissolve the illusion of an organic shaping of space by the water itself.

Zumthor’s assertion that architecture is a balance of emotion and reason is apparent in this design. The restraint in the rectilinear plan, along with the logical placement of functions to create a clear procession of spaces, comes from a reasoned approach to these parts of the design. The purely non-material aspects of design, drawing in particular, tap into parts of the human brain that rely on intellect. In the manipulation of materials and light, the emotional side of the brain takes over. The qualities of sight, touch, and smell are stimulated through experiences with materials and the effects of light upon them. The success of Zumthor’s work is his ability to remember these experiences that give a rise to us emotionally and use these to envision a new design that attempts to achieve the same level of excitement.

To teamYES*…

Who claim this ‘all looks a bit familiar’…

Remove yourselfs from your pedestal for just one moment. From a design point of view, perhaps it is similar. The chosen skin makes sense. The typographic solution used on the dates is akin to a style I encorporate, and have done for many moons, into my own work, and the simple layout is peerles. I believe it is, however, a ’style’, there to be used at the discression of the user and not a oeuvre of ‘teamYES*’. However, listen carefully and let me bequeth you, the content is nothing short of disparate, I will confess the ‘Theo Jansen’ is appropriated, although not without reference. It is nothing short of shameful that you only see yourself in the trials of others, bolster yourself to your own glories in a deplorable act of self-promotion. For such exertion to be passed of as regurgitation is nothing short of cruelty. To have such a degree of arogance and to deploy such authority of ownership over a template which is provided to all wordpess users is puerile. And to think, I felt I could share something culturally uplifting with you philistines. Chastise you men of folly, or suppress your valour. Patrick Mullen.

Autechre video…

For anyone that has visited this before, I’m guessing you’ve noticed my affinity for motion graphics. I’m unsure if it’s caused by sheer vacancy but moving objects seem to enthral me. Anyway video for ‘gantz graf’ by Alex Rutterford, way better with earphones…

City Ports video

check out this video for City Ports on Forss’ Soulhack album by Gary Butcher. Immense abstract piece that doesn’t stray far from early avant garde animations. In short it’s beautiful.
For qualityClick me…
or for a quick fix watch it here…

DEAF 2007

Dublin Electronic Arts Festival 2007 is kicking off on the 25th through to the 29th.

Click

Theo Jansen

This one is thanks to team YES*.
Sculpture that walks… it’s incredible.