diagonal lines and graphic design: rodchenko part 2

 Stairs//Young Pioneer

image credit: Artadox

“I want to take some quite incredible photographs that have never been taken before… pictures which are simple and complex at the same time, which will amaze and overwhelm people... I must achieve this so that photography can begin to be considered a form of art.”  

-- Alexander Rodchenko's diary, March 14, 1934 

[from Artadox]

Rodchenko's talents are not restricted to the photo-montages I posted about earlier in the month. No, that wouldn't be enough. The prodigious Russian artist was also a master photographer and graphic designer. I love his command of composition, his use of strong diagonals, almost to the point of geometric abstraction in a few of the photographs shown below. I could say more, but really, I think the work speaks for itself.

Part A: Photography

 image credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 

Part B: Graphic Design

image credits: 1-3, 4

More goodness at Third Drawer Down: the green thumb edition

 Postcarden City, by Aimée Furnival

An equation for you: Postcard + garden = POSTCARDEN. Alterntively, a slightly simpler one: Third Drawer Down = AWESOME.

Not only do Third Drawer Down stock Melbourne's favourite limited edition, artist-designed teatowels and pillowcases, they also source arty, well designed goodness from all over the globe. Exhibit a: Vik Vidor's brilliant art print that I posted about earlier this month. Exhibit b: Postcarden, produced by Aimée Furnival of London's A Design Studio.

Postcarden is a creative combination of greeting and gift -- a pop up card that transforms into a mini garden. Each card comes with an inner growing tray, a packet of cress seeds and growing instructions. Frankly, I don't even posess a green fingernail, let alone a green thumb, but I think even I could manage to avoid killing cress. Plus I think it makes a great idea for city apartment dwellers who often have very little in the way of real, live green-ness around the house. 

Third Drawer Down only stock City, but there are in fact two more Postcardens: Allotment and Botanical. Making things even cooler, the exterior of the cards feature the work of up and coming illustrators Millie Harvey (City), Krista Nyberg (Botanical) and  Sophie Burdess (Allotment). Sadly, there is little to no information online about Aimée Furnival herself, but I imagine the person behind such a clever idea has many more projects in the pipeline.

1-3 Postcarden City

4-6 Postcarden Allotment

7-9 Postcarden Botanical

all images via www.postcarden.com


EDIT: I just found a cute video of the Allotment Postgarden on the rather amazing blog, That [Unreliable] Girl, AND as it turns out it was added to YouTube by none other than Postcarden designer Aimee Furnival. Enjoy.

even Holga gets the blues

These are all from the final roll of Holga snaps I took in WA back in January. I wasn't particularly trying to shoot blues, but I do like how these look all lined up. Things have been a little busy of late, which is why I've been a little slow on the blog/photo front. But with my Nikon point n shoot fixed, and four rolls of film ready to print after a weekend away in Heathcote, something tells me I won't be quiet for too long.

that ol' stitchy feeling

As before, these were made using free software from DIPSTYCH. Full set here.

Boccioni in a box

No, really. Oh and by the way, how delicious does the narrator's pronunciation of the Italian names sound?


UMBERTO BOCCIONI - THE LIFE OF THE ARTIST EXPLAINED BY BOXES from MARGODESIGN on Vimeo.

a crash course in art history...

...thanks to French-American band, Hold Your Horses! and their music video for the song 70 Million.

When I first read posts about this the cynic in me sneered a bit (and I'm sure there are a fair few arty farty purists who this clip will annoy in the extreme), but I bit the bullet and watched it, and oh boy am I ever glad I did. I am an art nerd, so to me art, though it is often to be taken seriously, can still equal fun, and not for a long time have I seen such a cute, giggle-inducing music video.

Normally I would just embed the video, but there are so many awesome and hillarious art-references in it (there is just something so SILLY about seeing Caravaggio's beheaded John the Baptist and David's dying Marat singing indie tunes) that you get screen grabs PLUS the video. Enjoy. 

Found via The Debonaire and eternallycool.net

PS: Brownie points to whoever can identify each of the nine the famous paintings featured here.

One week; three cameras. Part three: PENTAX, baby

Yes, that's right, three cameras. Digital, holga, and lastly, a clunky old Pentax MZ50 which I'd been loaned in the hopes that I could somehow magically diagnose and fix merely by shooting a few rolls of film with it. Well, given that I'd never used an SLR camera before, let alone this specific one, I am given little warm fuzzies every time I look at the prints from those rolls of film. Very pleased indeed. Unfortunately, proving the camera isn't in fact broken meant the original owner wanted it back, leaving me scouring ebay for MZ50s to no avail. Soon, little Pentax, soon you will be mine...