paper sculpting

As Halloween approaches, I find myself coveting eerie, avian-inspired paper sculpture from Australian artist Anna-Wili Highfield. Highfield, who studied painting at the National Arts School in Sydney, creates her slightly menacing, otherworldly pieces from archival cotton paper that she paints and stitches together ("I leave the stitches and the threads on the surface; I find it intriguing when you can see how something is made," Highfield says on Yatzer). Go to Anna-Wili Highfield for sourcing information.

Raven
2010
35cm x 80cm x 55cm
Ink, shellac, black archival cotton paper. cotton thread, copper pipe, timber block

Boobook
2010
Ink, watercolours, archival cotton paper, cotton thread, brass rod, timber plinth.
70cm x 80cm x 33cm

House Finch
House Finch
2010
14cmx 15cm x 7cm
ink, water colour, archival cotton paper, cotton thread, brass rod, timber block

Australian Magpie
2010
32cm x 40cm x 17cm
Ink, shellac, archival cotton paper. cotton thread, brass rod, timber block

via remodelista

volcano perfume

Lava and ashes help create new Icelandic perfume

REYKJAVIK, Oct 12, 2010 (AFP) - A new line of perfume is about to explode onto the Icelandic market, made of melt water from a glacier sitting on top of the Eyjafjoell volcano that erupted in April, spreading ash and flight chaos across Europe.


"When Eyjafjoell started erupting I suddenly got the idea to bring the power of Icelandic nature into people's homes," Icelandic designer Sigrun Lilja Gudjonsdottir, head of company Gydja Collection, explained Tuesday. That is when "the idea of using water from the glacier as an ingredient for a perfume came about," she told AFP.

The citrus-smelling perfume, which will be produced in Grasse in southern France and will be sold in square bottles with a lava rock attached, has been named EFJ Eyjafjallajoekull.

The letters EFJ are there "so that non-Icelanders can pronounce the name of their perfume," Gudjonsdottir explained, adding however that the full name of the glacier on top of Eyjafjoell also needed to be on the bottle since "I wanted the perfume to represent the strength of Icelandic nature."

EFJ Eyjafjallajoekull should be available in stores in Iceland by mid-November and Gudjonsdottir said she hoped her new fragrance would go on sale abroad soon, especially in duty free zones "at airports worldwide."

spoke too soon

Gap succumbs to crowd’s uproar and puts back its classic logo

Gap acknowledges its failure to "crowd source" for a new logo, and has decided to keep its classic blue box logo, according to Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America.

When Gap announced their new logo via a post on its Facebook page on Oct 7th, it instantly received over 1,000 negative reviews from its own fans and customers. The post also asked its fans to send in their own designs, and thereby the company attempted to “crowd source” for a better logo.


The following day, the 8th of October, the community manager of Gap’s Facebook page posted a statement from Marka Hansen, the brand’s president, who defended its latest version because it was aligned to how Gap’s clothing was evolving, that is, “more contemporary and current”, she explains.

To the relief of its many fans and customers, Gap has announced on the 12th of October its decision to keep its classic blue box logo. Marka Hansen explains in her latest statement the following: “We’ve learned a lot in this process. And we are clear that we did not go about this in the right way. We recognize that we missed the opportunity to engage with the online community. This wasn’t the right project at the right time for crowd sourcing.”

In the meantime, the brand shall be restoring its iconic blue box logo. However, do not be alarmed if the blue box is turned red for their seasonal campaign, its original colour will come back after the holidays.

10.10.10

In 1977, Charles and Ray Eames made a nine-minute film called Powers of Ten that takes the viewer on an unforgettable journey. It starts with a sleeping man at a picnic, then takes you out to the edge of space, and then brings you back, and into, the hand of the sleeping man. Every year on the tenth of October, the Eames Office celebrates the Power of Ten. This year’s celebration includes an online streaming of the film.

gap's new logo revealed

Gap has unveiled its new logo, now visible on its website, a simple version with a fading blue square top right of the letter P of the brand’s name written in Helvetica font.

Gap's old logo (L) and new logo (R)

According to its post on its official Facebook page, the new logo has been launched, but the brand suggests that its ‘crowd sourcing’ project for new designs regarding its logo is ongoing : “We love our version, but we’d like to see other ideas. Stay tuned for details in the next few days on this crowd sourcing project.”

For over 20 years Gap has kept the same logo, but it has decided to renew its image, nonetheless. The American brand is Gap Inc.’s star performer. Gap Group has more than 3,100 stores worldwide for its labels Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. In 2009 the company’s sales amounted to $14.2 billion (£8.9 billion).

By Matthieu Guinebault

artisanal la

Go here for more info & to buy tickets.

who owns these

Norton Simon's disputed 'Adam and Eve' getting closer look from Supreme Court

Lucas Cranach the Elder’s 480-year-old “Adam and Eve” diptych

If the case ever goes to trial, it would focus on the painting’s journey over the past 100 years. Did it belong to the Stroganoffs, a family of Russian nobles, before the Russian Revolution of 1917 -- or to the church where it had hung before being declared national property by Soviet authorities? In 1931, the Soviets sold it to Jacques Goudstikker, a Dutch-Jewish art dealer; there’s no dispute that the Nazis looted it from him in 1940, and that victorious Allied forces restored it to the Dutch government after World War II. But did an early 1950s settlement between the Netherlands and Goudstikker’s heirs extinguish their claim to “Adam and Eve”? If not, did the Dutch have a right to subsequently sell it to the Stroganoffs’ heir in 1966, after he claimed it as family property? And ultimately, does the Norton Simon have clean title to this masterpiece showing Adam and Eve moments before their fall? Or has it been tainted by a century’s historical sins?

Read more here.

news flash

Ikea, the flatpack furniture retailer, is to embark on a cost-cutting programme. Its founder Ingvar Kamprad said he had been warning his board that the focus on expansion had become "excessive". How novel!

postcard from provence

Sunset, Couguieux
21cm x 14cm (8"x5½"), oil on gessoed card

Today's painting will be sold by auction - auction starts today
and ends on Monday 4th October at 8pm GMT (4pm EDT / 1pm PDT)

Starting price: $100
To register or login to the auction visit: http://auction.shiftinglight.com