nevermind the bricolage

WallPaper

We are decluttering, packing boxes and generally getting ready for our move this weekend. It's a bit overwhelming, but it does feel as though we have been living with something hanging over our heads, so it is also a big relief to know that we can re-settle in a few days. I am happy with change but the waiting is difficult for me, I get edgy when things are in too much disarray, I am a bit of a neat freak I must say! A new house means new decorating opportunities--we are severely limited in terms of economics, but not in terms of imagination--I think space is important and I really like decor and design. We have been talking about wallpaper, which is undoubtedly getting a revival--I would love to find a place for a little piece of this marvelous paper called Central Park--if you look long enough you will see just how 'city' this paper truly is, complete with fire hydrants and rats!!!

Industrial Strength Sleep

I need some...(Ed Ruscha)

Aaah Love, sweet love!

WTF?!! Maybe they should try something like this instead, probably not gonna happen though, is it?!

 

Global Dictionary of Theology

Destined to be a massive seller! A copy of the Global Dictionary of Theology arrived in the post today. I have an entry in the Popular Culture section. The book is an attempt to capture something of the breadth of the theological enterprise, exploring both local and global theologies, searching for nuances, similarities and whatever else a compilation this expansive might have to offer. Compiling a dictionary is a tremendous effort it seems, and one that takes a while, my article was written three or four years ago I think, a while back anyway.
On a different note, we are moving next week so postings will be sporadic at best for the next week or so.

The Other Damian/Hypnogogia

Damian Loeb lacks the notoriety of the other Damien--Damien Hirst, but I like his stuff almost as much, for entirely different reasons of course. Loeb began by taking found images and recreating them in hyper-realist style--this pissed off more than a few guardians of personal copyrights etc. and he found himself embattled for a while. I thought these paintings had incredible energy and actually complimented the originals by making 'art' out of 'news' (of one kind or another, whether from a National Geographic magazine or some celebrity rag), but litigants didn't seem to think so. He has a new show open in New York: Synesthesia, Parataxic Distortion, and the Shadow. You can view the paintings online on his 'unofficial' site--they mine new territory--a different kind of landscape, haunting--echoes of another dystopian era.

TYPOcalypse

The subliminal messages fonts are telling you.

Madmen...again

I'm hooked. Season 2 of Madmen is not disappointing. The show is delving more into the lives of the main characters, to some degree it puts the advertising element on the back-burner a bit, but it is making the show richer--Don Draper's 'lost' life is making a comeback big time and looks to explode into something, sometime soon. Will perhaps use an episode or two in my History of Advertising Class as we are venturing into the 60s. I met a lady who directed some of the first series last weekend at the 'teenager's' school.

7 deadly...again

I came across these votive candles from Z Gallerie. it's Halloween, surely one of America's most popular occasions--people go nuts with the skeletons and pumpkins. This year I have seen even more 'skull' stuff than usual and Z Gallerie in particular seems to have gone all out for the memento mori approach to Halloween. The continuing use of the 7 deadly sins in pop culture is an interesting thing, mainly because there is almost a celebratory approach to them. I have thought for a while that there has been a bit of a reversal of understanding when it comes to the concept of sin--rather than being seen as a negative, sins are viewed as a part of life, and are often celebrated. You see this in the language of advertising, chocolate, for instance, is 'sinfully' delicious. Alan Mann wrote more extensively about this idea in his book, Atonement for a Sinless Society (which I recommend highly to anyone interested in exploring the idea more), and I see this idea reflected in so many aspects of pop culture. I have used the sins as a device in my advertising classes, exploring the ways in which the concepts have evolved over time. Over time the 7 sins became defined by associated colours, animals, particular demons and specific punishments--the myths around the sins becoming bigger than the sins themselves.

Wooster Collective

K-Guy at Wooster Collective.

24 Hours in LA

Hill Street, Jewellry District, Downtown LA.

Skull Cupcakes, 3rd Street, West LA

Gallery, Washington Blvd. Culver City