Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Whats Happening in the World of Arts and Design




Intypes (Interior Archetypes Research and Teaching Project), is an online database providing a consistent... "typology of contemporary interior design practices". This
free and well-designed website was launched in July 2009 at the NeoCon World's Trade Fair in Chicago. The Project, said to be "13 years in the making", has been worked on by Cornell University faculty and sixteen graduate students. The database has an advanced search form, and may also be accessed by intuitive illustrated A-Z indexes that are clearly linked from the front page. The website also has a full description of the project and project staff, and two founding partners - the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and Interior Design magazine.
Link: http://intypes.cornell.edu/




Computer Baroque Launched in March 2009 at Tate Modern in London, 'Computer Baroque' is an online archival collection of exemplary and innovative short films, all made using computer animation between 1982 and 1995. 15 short films from this period are freely available to view on the website, and are presented using Flash video. Films are accompanied by substantial curatorial notes by curator Richard Wright. The collection aims to represent a period... "in which computer animation was the focus for audacious and exuberant experiments across all areas of new media, art and technology".
Link: http://www.animateprojects.org/films/by_project/computer_baroque/baroque




Su-Mei Tse presents New Multi-Media Installation at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
In 2007, Luxembourg- and Berlin-based visual artist Su Mei Tse lived at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, drawing inspiration from the museum’s rich collection, its history, and the Dutch Room, where the empty frames remain as an ever-present reminder of loss and absence. This summer, the 2003 the Golden Lion award-winner returns to present a solo exhibition and new sound installation in Floating Memories, on view July 16th through October 18th, 2009. Programming during the run of exhibition includes artist and gallery talks, a book signing, and a musical performance featuring Su Mei Tse, contemporary visual artists Lee Mingwei and Cliff Evans, songwriter and performer Niko Hafkenscheid, gallery owner Peter Blum (Peter Blum Gallery, New York), curator Enrico Lunghi, Director of the Mudam Museum in Luxembourg, and Pieranna Cavalchini, Curator of Contemporary Art, Gardner Museum, will accompany the exhibition.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com/2009-07-15-00-59-17-su-mei-tse-presents-new-multi-media-installation-at-the-isabella-stewart-gardner-museum.html



This website is the online companion to the exhibition `Fashioning Felt' hosted by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The exhibition took place from the 6th March until the 7th September 2009. The exhibition focuses on felt that has been produced by hand or by machine-felting process but it excludes non-woven felt and techniques in order to emphasise the essential elements used in felt making. There are three main sections. The section on objects, shows images and details of exhibits as well as links to related designs. The section on process includes photos showing how a Turkmenistan carpet is made. There is also a blog. One can browse objects by keyword such as architecture, fashion or furniture or by designer.

http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Fashioning-Felt/

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Art and Design News



Thread
This is the website of the BBC's online magazine Thread, which deals with the concept of eco-fashion. The website can be viewed in an Adobe Flash version or as HTML. It contains a collection of feature articles, including: Reports on subjects such as sustainability, ethical designers, working conditions, fair trade and waste management; Columns from regular writers; How-To Guides, including conservation and construction tips, and instructions on finding ethical fashion; Galleries including current trends and recommendations. There are a number of BBC videos on the website including interviews with designers, and in depth reports. An archive of Style Files contains photo shoots of eco-fashion looks with details of suppliers and prices.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/thread/




The National Film Board of Canada’s new film site makes hundreds of animated films, documentaries, and experimental films freely available online.
Link: http://www.nfb.ca/

Katherine Dunham Collection
This website provides access to a range of materials taken from the Katherine Dunham Collection at the Library of Congress. Comprising a selection of photographs, videos and texts, this web presentation documents the life and career of a woman who has been credited with changing the face of American modern dance, largely through introducing African and Caribbean dance movement to the public. Photographs are taken from the Library of Congress, the Missouri Historical Society, and Southern Illinois University. The database allows searching by keyword, and searching can be limited by factors such as name of ballet, and format. Other features include a chronological timeline, featuring photographs of Dunham.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/dunham/dunham-home.html

Public Art Resource+Research Scotland
This is the website of Public Art Resource+Research Scotland (PAR+RS), a new initiative developed by the Scottish Arts Council to "promote excellence and innovation within public art". The website has a news section with opportunities and developments, and there are also a number of featured articles available in full-text. The 'Blogs and Reflections' section of the website has blogs from invited writers reporting on live and complete projects and events. The 'Archive' provides details of previous public art projects and includes information about the commissioning process, funding and outcomes. Other content on the website includes information about how to contribute, a forum for registered users and a tools section, which includes links to useful information for artists on external websites.
http://www.publicartscotland.com/


Florida Broadsides
This website forms part of the Florida Memory website maintained by the State Archives of Florida. It provides free access to a collection of more than 200 digitised images of broadsides (posters, leaflets, petitions, flyers, advertisements, political cartoons) and other ephemeral such as pamphlets and newspaper articles relating to the social, political and economic history of Florida during the period 1800-2000. Themes of particular interest to social scientists include political cartoons relating to US national and local elections; materials relating to race and slavery.
http://www.floridamemory.com/collections/broadsides/


Artists' Illustrated Letters
The Getting the Picture website provides a selection of artists' illustrated letters from the collection of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art. The collection encompasses "exuberant thank you notes, winsome love letters, lively reports of current events, graphic instructions and other personalized communiqués from the early nineteenth century through the 1980s." It gives a wonderful insight into the private world of the artist. Artists include: Alexander Calder; Dale Chihuly; Marcel Duchamp; Thomas Eakins; Winslow Homer; Roy Lichtenstein; Man Ray; Eero Saarinen; Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; and Andy Warhol.
http://www.aaa.si.edu/exhibits/exhibit-illustratedletters/

Marcel Breuer Papers
Marcel Breuer Papers 1920-1986' is a website which provides access to the papers of Marcel Breuer in the Archives of American Art, at the Smithsonian Institution, New York City Research Center. They were digitized in 2005 from 32 reels of microfilm, totaling 42,734 images. Architect and furniture designer Breuer was born in Hungary in 1902 and died in 1981 in New York City. He studied and taught at the Bauhaus until 1928. The collection contains biographical material, correspondence, business and financial records, writings, project files, interviews, notes, sketches, exhibition files, and photographs.
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collectionsonline/breumarc/

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Whats Happening in the World of Arts

Haus der Kunst to feature William Eggleston's Retrospective of Photographs & Video
Munich, Germany - William Eggleston's early photographs were black and white. In the 1960s he began to photograph in colour and - almost single-handedly - heralded in the era of fine art colour photography. A solo show at the MoMA in 1976 made him famous. Eggleston's snapshot aesthetic and his psychologising use of colour was still unusual at the time; in an annual review, the MoMA show was even called, "The most hated show of the year." Today Eggleston enjoys a cult status among younger generations of photographers and film directors. On exhibition at the Haus der Kunst from 20 February through 17 May, 2009.http://www.artknowledgenews.com/William_Eggleston.html

"Superabundant ~ A Celebration of Pattern" to open at Turner Contemporary
KENT, UK - " Superabundant " is an exhibition that creates a sense of celebration, of joy and delight through the power of pattern. The exhibition features work by nine artists who make use of pattern and decoration in very different ways, some adopting a systems approach to pattern whilst others are more fluid and organic. For this exhibition, many of the artists have created new and sometimes site specific work especially for the Turner Contemporary Project Space. On view 24 January through 22 March, 2009.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com//Turner_Contemporary_Project_Space_Celebration_of_Pattern.html

The Film Forum to Premiere Chiara Clemente's Portrait of 5 NYC Women Artists
NEW YORK, NY - The Film Forum will present the New York theatrical premiere of OUR CITY DREAMS, a new documentary by Chiara Clemente, beginning Wednesday, February 4. It’s an affecting love letter to the city which strings together the self-told narratives of five women artists (ages 30 – 80), each of whom has a passion for art-making inseparable from her devotion to New York . Swoon, the youngest, exhibits cut-outs directly on city walls and subways, and exudes idealism and energy while carrying a two by four the way some women would carry a briefcase. Cairo-born Ghada Amer mixes media -- embroidering with painting -- to confront sexual taboos that cross cultural boundaries.
http://www.artknowledgenews.com//The_Film_Forum.html

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Goethe Institute Newsletter Jan 2009

The Arts Newsletter - January 2009

Reality and Theatre - a Report on Echt!, the 7th Festival of Politics in
Free Theatre. Theatre for an audience aged under three is still in its baby shoes in
Germany, unlike Italy, France and the Scandinavian countries. However German
theatres for children and young people have made a start on learning to walk
in these shoes.
http://www.goethe.de/kue/the/thm/iub/en4059237.htm


ARCHITECTURE

Enjoying Historic Monuments in Germany - and Caring for Them
http://www.goethe.de/kue/arc/en3997639.htm

DESIGN AND FASHION
A Manufacturing Renaissance - German Porcelain Blazes New Trails
http://www.goethe.de/kue/des/prj/des/dth/en4011750.htm

Prized Dresses Made from Worthless Materials - the Fascination of Stephan
Hann's Creations
http://www.goethe.de/kue/des/prj/mod/thm/en4013207.htm

FILM

Swelling Turnout at Independent Berlin Festival "Around the World in 14
Films"
http://www.goethe.de/kue/flm/thm/idd/en4012107.htm

In the Realm of the Shades: Christian Petzold's Films
http://www.goethe.de/kue/flm/thm/idd/en4055772.htm

LITERATURE

Dossier: Independent Publishing Houses in Germany
Lilienfeld Publishing House - Outstanding Books
http://www.goethe.de/kue/lit/dos/uav/lil/en4025885.htm

MUSIC

Avant Garde Electronica from East Germany: Raster-Noton
http://www.goethe.de/kue/mus/thm/prh/en3991360.htm

A Concert Hall with a "Radially" New Flair
http://www.goethe.de/kue/mus/thm/idd/en4056101.htm

THEATRE

The German Children's and Youth Theatre Prize 2008
http://www.goethe.de/kue/the/thm/iub/en4012141.htm



VISUAL ARTS
(Painting, Sculpture and Graphic, Photography, Media Art)

You Have to Go to the Brits for a Pee
http://www.goethe.de/kue/bku/thm/idd/en3993518.htm

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