Kielitiettyni

 animals, animation, Art, colour, fun things, nice things, random  No Responses »
Apr 082013
 

The Tongueling from Elli Vuorinen on Vimeo.

This little animation is by Elli Vuorinen, a recent graduate of the Turken Arts Academy in Finland, has been making waves. Elli has been selected to be a resident animation artist in Tokyo 2012-2013, her animation ‘The Tongueling’ will be part of the KROK international animation festival, was entered into the main competition of Hiroshima International Animation Festival. The Tongueling is a wondruous wintery colour palette, full of high contrasts, this is totally apt seeing as despite it being April and BST, it’s still winter here in the UK. I watched it complete with scarf and blanket over my lap, cradling my coffee as I giggled, gasped, winced and exclaimed by way through this short story. Both funny ha-ha and funny peculiar, this tells the tale of a man looking for love and finding it in a most unexpected place. Full of wet mouth noises, so if you’re a little sensitive, this may not be for you.

Kielitiettyni (The Tongueling)
Wooden knocks are echoing in a frozen landscape when a lonesome man is searching for a tongueling of his own.
Hand-drawn animation- Direction/ Animation/ Script/ Editing: Elli Vuorinen
Sound design: Elli Vuorinen, Jani Lehto
Music: Jani Lehto
Production: Turku Arts Academy / Eija Saarinen/ 2010

Stack ‘Em Up

 architecture, Art, colour, decorative, fun things, furniture, inspirational, organisational, photography, random  No Responses »
Feb 132013
 

Michael Johansson Stack Em Up

The more I wander through Swedish artist, Michael Johansson‘s website of sometime-colour-coded-but-always-stacked-up household paraphernalia which for once, actually does include the kitchen sink, the more I like it. Actually, it’s definitely verging more on the love. They are WICKED. And so NEAT. There are a variety of installation spaces, from exhibition to domestic places and areas of whimsy but all executed with the same precision and care. I can’t begin to imagine the time and effort that goes into filling each void but the shopping must be fun. It’s beautiful mundanity.

Rains Down, Down On Me

 Art, collaborations, exhibitions, fun things, inspirational, interiors, London, nice things, random, theatre, things to do  2 Responses »
Oct 122012
 

rain1 Rains Down, Down On Me

So, having got drenched yesterday it seems somewhat pertinent to be blogging about an exhibition about rain which doesn’t get you wet. Yes, people, you read that right. A rain exhibition. You’d have thought that in this country the last thing we’d need is a room of rain. And even more amusingly, the day I went, I had to queue for almost an hour to get in. Laugh, you may, but the last laugh will be on you if you don’t go. Rain Room is the latest project and installation from those clever people over at Random International at the always and forever fabulous Barbican, London. It’s free to get in and on until March 2013. Make sure you get down there. This is art definitely worth getting wet for, or rather, not.

Random International: Rain Room
4 October 2012 – 3 March 2013
The Curve Gallery

Tickets: Admission Free

Times: View gallery opening hours
Open daily 11am – 8pm; Thu until 10pm,
Except Sat 13 Oct: 11am – 4pm (last admission into the queue 2pm)
Wed 31 Oct: 11am – 10pm

The Seven Sisters

 holidays, inspirational, nice things, photography, random, things to do, treats  No Responses »
Sep 112012
 

Seven Sisters1 The Seven Sisters

Sunday saw the Summer’s final fling of glorious sunshine, which surely signals a change in the weather and the start of the move towards Autumn. And how better to spend it than out in the fresh air. I bade farewell to London with all its activities (Paralympics closing ceremony and The Thames Festival) hopped on a train and chugged my way down to the south coast. Slathering on the sun cream and looking the part of the ultimate walking geek, I headed to the beach at Seaford and hooked a left, heading east along the coast. This little walk was by no means a breeze. 21km of pure unadulterated hill and no joke, various parts of my body are still stiff rendering it tricky to do even the most basic of daily movements. However, the views were such that I would do it again in a blink of an eye. We are rapidly losing our south coast due to the aggressive erosion of the sea, which has been documented in the dramatic photographs on display at Birling Gap, charting the demise of Birling Gap in particular. On the day went, and slowly climbed all seven of the sisters and made it to the top of Beachy Head. The weather momentarily turned for the worse and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the clouds blow on in, we were spared and remained safe on top the cliffs, despite moments of uncertainty. With my end goal of Eastbourne now in sight, I ignored my throbbing feet and onwards was spurred. I skipped through Eastbourne (not literally) without stopping even for chips and settled smugly onto the train, an hour earlier than the book predicted. Go me. I recommend it to anyone and everyone. No walking book required as you just follow the coast!

It’s All About Paper Balls

 craft, decorative, fun things, homewares, inspirational, interiors, nice things, paper, random, things to do  2 Responses »
Jul 252012
 

paperballs1 Its All About Paper Balls

I recently did a job that involved a lot of craft and I thought that I would revisit it for this post because it was surprisingly good fun. I always enjoy making things more than I think I do. It’s good fun even if it doesn’t work. And with the summer holidays upon us, what better way to keep one out of mischief than a good old session of homemade ‘Blue Peter’ in the garden. You don’t even need kids. What could be better? The key is to engage your lateral-problem solving brain and don’t worry about either the mess or the outcome. It’s all in the doing. Here are the pages for the above ideas. Get to it.

1.) Paint Chip orbs, Readymade, 2.) lace doily lamp, Dos Family, 3.) Knitted hot air balloons, Butterfly Love 1, 4.) paper baubles made from paperbacks, no instructions so this is where you have to get really clever (by the clever Cathy of California) 5.) paper streamers, Martha Stewart

All images with many thanks to all those featured

The Bold, The Bleak and The Beautiful

 Art, collaborations, colour, inspirational, nice things, photography, random, texture, things to do  No Responses »
Jun 112012
 

Rapha Continental: Assynt from RAPHA on Vimeo.

This may be just a feature-length long advert for Rapha road wear but if you’re gonna do it, here’s how to do it. The Rapha Continental have a series of short films of cyclists around the world and this time they’re in the UK. This truly is a beautiful piece of work. From the colours of the surrounding rugged rocks and mountains, lochs and sky to the relatively delicate texture of the man-made road, there is so much to look at and admire. The grey of the sky and how it meets the grey of the Loch with only a shimmering reflection of light off the water to help you differentiate. A cold April in north-west Scotland might as well be Winter for all its closeness to Spring, these boys battled their way through rain, hail, snow and force 7 gale winds. The words and soundtrack of the video are from ‘The Idea of The North’ which is part of a series of sound essays called ‘The Solitude Trilogy’ which were made by the pianist and artist Glenn Gould as experimental radio documentaries. And perfect they are for the environs and mood of the piece. Now, I’m no cyclist but this truly has me twitching. It looks amazing even in all its obvious pain. The exhilaration and endorphin-crazy buzz of such a ride must be intense and well worth every minute.

Film by We Are Superglue

Read here for more films and information on this video.

Don’t Play With Your Food (oh, go on then)

 animation, fun things, photography, random, treats  No Responses »
Jun 072012
 

We’re all guilty of this one. If only we’d thought up this jolly good reason for playing with our food. We never get less curious about ‘what might happen if I just…’, we just get better at controlling the urges. The adult conditioning that has been drummed into us from a young age frowns on child’s play especially when it comes to food. As part of that conditioning we also have the ability to imagine the results of such messy play and that it is only us that is responsible for clearing up (more’s the pity). But if you’re making a video or making pretty pictures, as I do, you occasionally get the opportunity to indulge the inner monkey. I think everyone ought to at least once in their lives. Lovely photography involved in this little Dutch video and a funny soundtrack which is totally appropriate for the stills animation smashing of puddings and eggs. I would have loved to have seen a bigger range of food stuffs but trifles are a very good place to start. Cleverly done and nicely executed. Play away, kids, play away (I recommend using panel of glass to squish- that way you see it without it getting in your eyes).

Visuals : Hugo de Kok & Kay van Vree
Music : Ivo van Dijk & Sophie Ansems

A Very British Affair

 colour, events, flowers, fun things, holidays, nice things, random, things to do, treats  No Responses »
Jun 062012
 

Jubilee A Very British Affair

So, Wednesday morning dawns and how confused do we all feel? Very. I spent all the weekend feeling most baffled as to which day it was. But it was of little matter as I was up in the land of the Lancastrians visiting family and enjoying some of their rural gems, a wide variety of which are on offer. We took a little from ‘there’ and a little from ‘here’, and mixed it all up to make for a fantastically good weekend. The weather did not deter us, we wrapped up warm and stoically carried on. We had our ‘Jubilee’ picnic in the grey chill of 8 degrees (at least it wasn’t raining) in the grounds of the National Trust’s Sizergh Castle, we had a Bank Holiday ice-cream whilst promenading along the seafront of Morecambe in the glorious sunshine, we took in flowers and architecture, cake and fellow holiday-makers. An absolute delight was seeing the ‘newly’ (four years ago) renovated Art-deco Midland Hotel by Urban Splash. Sympathetically done yet brought bang up to date by the use of contemporary bright colours and materials. We ate cake, drank tea, visited a DIY retailer, watched jousting, got lost in gardens and counted tadpoles, discussed sheep, laughed at the telly box, deconstructed the past as well the present. All-in-all making a jolly British bank holiday without a single flag being waved between us.

Images from top to bottom, left to right: Lancaster train station, flower stairs at Sizergh Castle, Iris in the Winter Gardens at Sizergh Castle, the front of the Midland Hotel at Morecambe, seating inside the cafe of the Midland Hotel at Morecambe, Jubilee picnic cake and cupcake, Eric Morecambe statue at Morecambe, monarchs in training taking a rest after jousting at Sizergh castle.

All images © Emily Blunden/ Atticus and Finch

#16. Østersøen (Ödland, Sankta Lucia)

 animation, Art, collaborations, fun things, inspirational, nice things, random  No Responses »
May 212012
 

This is the sort of clever, meticulous crafting that I like. Predominantly out of paper and time. Lots of it. Created by French artists le Petit Echo Malade for French band, Ödland, this video is not only marvellous but it truly is a rather charming song too. There’s something of the ‘Amelie’ about this little number in style, an ‘aged’ sound that I’m really rather liking along with the crackled film effect. I love that gently-lazy repetitive jazz drum brush sound that forms the mood and helps create the dream-like nature which is finished off beautifully with the sweet girly voice. I have no idea what the song is about but for me, it conjures perfectly the idea of meandering along the Seine in a hazy sunshine Spring Parisian day, eating ice-cream and drinking coffee. The construction of the train, train tracks, icebergs (especially nice with pin-stripes) and the boat is awe-inspiring and the fluffy cotton wall planets a touch of the inspired-genius. Very nicely done.

Ödland, album Sankta Lucia (october 2011).
Directed by Vincent Pianina & Lorenzo Papace (may 2012), le Petit Echo Malade

Music written, composed and recorded by Lorenzo Papace.
Alizée Bingöllü : chant
Lorenzo Papace : pianet
Léa Bingöllü : scie et chant
Isabelle Royet-Journoud : balais

I’ve just been told by Lorenzo Papace that the song translates as:
I had a dream on the Baltic Sea.
I was traveling in a bed.
This bed was floating in a room.
This room was sliding in a train.
This train was whirling in a very great boat.
This boat was billowing on the youngest sea in the World.
Isostasy made emerge like fast swords
dangerous islands on the water’s surface.
For the boat it was a menace.
Death we were avoiding.
I hold a nice memory of that evening.

How nice is that?

pixel #16. Østersøen (Ödland, Sankta Lucia)
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