I started to think about the way pictograms are often used to convey basic messages, almost always without any sense of expression. However, having the opportunity to add a sense of life, to basic black shapes, can result in a wonderful thing. As is shown by the pictograms at the Lighthouse design gallery in Glasgow, which add a sense of humour to their message.
There are so many good photographers in the world. Particularly with the increase in digital, there seem to be a growing number appearing every minute. When I look on Flickr, I get lost in a sea of photography: the good, the bad and the ugly. However, when I see something that hits me and constantly makes me think about it. I know I have found a keeper.
I first saw the work of Dennis Darzacq when I was living in Paris. I went down a little street, into a little building, down some small stairs and found myself in a delightful gallery space, with some fantastic images. The series of photos on display were called La Chute and I was won over. How did he capture these people in these seemingly impossible positions? Do they not create the most incredible portrait of the young people living in the Banlieus of Paris? Just a reminder that good photography is about the an interaction between the photographer and the subject, which then captures the heart and imagination of its viewers.
Tonight I was just thinking about favourite things. I have often been one to say that I can have so many favourites that it is difficult to choose. The problem is, that is easy to be inspired by things in life and it can be difficult to choose just one as a favourite. I think I can define something as a favourite, as opposed to an inspiration when it continues to inspire me in a long term. That every time I revisit the work of a specific artist, that it gives me a renewed sense of pleasure, that it makes me want to find out more, to learn about who inspires them and who they inspire.
Erwin Wurm is one of these favourites.
I simply love his work. I discovered him a few years ago, when I came across his book The artist who Swallowed the world in the school library and since then I have been hooked. I love the simplicity of the idea in alot of his work, yet I find so much of it to be extremely compelling. It often makes me smile. which is the most important of all.
I love the series – 1 minute sculptures, which are based on simple interactions between the model and their surroundings. They are interactions which are unusual, that cause you to stop and take a second to look and to chuckle, as it is if for a single moment the person has been caught in the act of doing something that is normally not done. It is almost like a photographic diary of everyday people caught in a strange moment, these pieces seem so quick, so brief in their creation. However, there also seem to be many deeper messages that can be read within the photographs.
I like that you can notice traces of his work in others. I guess that’s pretty standard in art. I see his work as a possible inspiration to design work, mostly in the sense of the idea – not to take products and spaces at face value, to search for all possible ways that something may be used or interpreted by the people that interact with them.
ACCEPT CHAOS 