wonderful assemblies: disney and bill viola.

disney underground, midnight rhapsody, 13″x19″.

if you’re in the area, acmi is having an exhibition on the art of disney that looks pretty super lovely. starts on november 18 and apparently it’ll have “original concept art, story sketches, drawings, maquettes and final frame cels”. acmi’s animation-related exhibitions are always my favourites (they had a brilliant pixar one years ago; i bought the book and i’m still in awe of the artists in there); if you’re an artist who deals in the 2-dimensional they leave you wanting to spend the next 12 years of your life with a sketchbook in hand, trying to be somewhere – anywhere – near that good. and if you’re not an artist you get to just look at all the pretty and enjoy.

bill viola, the raft, video still, may 2004.

also, while you’re at it? take a look at the bill viola video piece on display for free in gallery 2; i haven’t seen it yet but i’ve heard good things (from people who are just as sceptical about video art as i usually am). i get the impression (mostly from the visuals and the subject matter) that the piece is a reference to theodore gericault’s raft of the medusa (1818-19), one of the most famous of the french romantic paintings. gericault’s raft was his first major work; it got a whole lot of attention because it was based on a particularly infamous shipwreck of the time. when the medusa sank in 1816 around 150 people escaped on a raft, but by the time they were rescued (13 days later) there were only 15 left after a truly horrendous voyage that included extreme dehydration, insanity, and – obviously this is the element that made the whole incident supremely interesting to the vultures/spectators at home – cannibalism. now the painting is mostly vaunted for its (in my opinion dubious) depiction of ’heroism’ (read: survival of the fittest/most rutheless) and (anxiously hushed up) homoerotic elements.

also, if anyone managed to see the other viola’s that were on show for the 2010 melbourne festival, i’d really like to hear about them. i particularly regret missing out on Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall) (2005)…

objects of desire: bicycle by adeline adeline

as evidenced by the picture, i am sick, but i am keeping hope alive with this delightful piece of mechanical whimsy:

granturismo donna 1, by adeline adeline

and thoughts of my very own imminent bicycle reclamation.  i remember the joys of cycling only vaguely, from when i was about 10 years old, but from what i understand it’s a bit like flying – who doesn’t want more of that?  plus, bikes are pretty.  and the freedom of being able to get wherever i want to go, fast, no matter the time?  that’s quite fantastic too.

also, this shop has some pretty delightful baskets.   just need some sort of attack-cat/feline mascot to tote around with me…

wearable art: shoes by noritaka tatehana

i would really, really love a pair of these shoes by noritaka tatehana.  they’re like pieces of art.  they are pieces of art.  i would put them on my mantlepiece (when i have a mantlepiece of my very own); i’d stare at them adoringly; perhaps, every once in a while, when i felt like being particularly amazonian, i’d take them out to see a particularly spectacular work of avant-garde dance or fashion.

i am looking forward so very much to seeing what he does next.

diy baroque

how great is this shop interior by ukrainian design company belenko! ?

i found it via design for mankind, and it’s brilliant because of how beautifully simple it is – all done with white paint and black markers.   i most particularly enjoy the contrast, though; baroque is, by definition, a style of layers and sumptuous tactility – it’s such a lovely idea, you know, to invoke it on a wholely two-dimensional surface.

jewels: punch-ons for the environment

picture and links from inhabitat.

i really love (and find quietly hilarious)…these moss knuckledusters by icelandic designer hafsteinn juliusson.  it’s such a beautiful idea, on so many levels: portable plants, jewellery that incorporates growing things, and most of all the lovely contrast between hard and violent things that can kill you…and the warm, living softness of moss.