The business of architecture
Driving a pod to slaughter What is it? Taiji is a small town in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, inconsequential except for its notoriety as the site of the regular and highly controversial slaughter of large numbers of dolphins. Endorsed by the Japanese government, details of the slaughter are systematically concealed by local authorities, so much so... Continue Reading →
Predator What is it? A photographic series by Lithuanian artist and former architect, Tadas Černiauskas, who invited a hundred friends and strangers to his studio during Design Week in Vilnius last Friday where he blasted their faces with gale-force air currents and captured the hilarious, creepy and downright unnerving results. In spectacular modern fashion, this... Continue Reading →
What is it? A photographic exhibition arising out of a series of expeditions to the usually-dry Lake Eyre at the heart of Australia by Sydney artist, Murray Fredericks. The exhibition documents 16 solo journeys undertaken between 2003 and 2010. "Immersed in pure space, Fredericks camped alone in the centre of the lake photographing a landscape... Continue Reading →
Original photo: Hill House by Mihaly Slocombe Original photo: Basser House by Mihaly Slocombe What is it? An interesting photography manipulation technique for Photoshop learned via The Artist Makena and Digital Darkroom Techniques: Start with any photo Filter > Pixelate > Mezzotint > Medium lines Filter > Blur > Radial blur (slider = 100, blur method = zoom,... Continue Reading →
What is it? A photography shoot by Amanda Rynda of newly engaged couple, Juliana Sunmi Park and Benjamin Jinsuk Lee. The Los Angeles shoot overlooks the traditional but bland engagement storyline of boy-meets-girl for an infinitely more compelling narrative. What do we think? Somehow, despite their ghoulish appearance and intensely monomaniacal disposition, western culture is in love with zombies.... Continue Reading →
What is it? First seen on My Modern Met, here, this is a project by Swiss-based photographer, Corinne Vionnet, that explores the complex associations between tourism and visual culture by superimposing tourists' photos of significant landmarks one over the other. The result is a fascinating collage series of elusive yet immediately identifiable monuments and places that exist somewhere... Continue Reading →
What is it? The MAXXI National Museum of Art from the 21st Century is a recently completed and much lauded project by Zaha Hadid in Rome. So far, it has won the 2010 RIBA Stirling Prize and, just last month, the 2010 World Architecture Festival World Building of the Year award, both prestigious and well-contested accolades.... Continue Reading →
Philippe Parreno has two installations running concurrently in London this December, one of which is "Uncle Neaw, Pilar, Rirkrit, Then Me" installed at the lovely Pilar Corrias gallery in Oxford Circus. The gallery entrance is visually arresting in its simplicity. A glass fronted foyer is completely bare save for the white walls and a flickering... Continue Reading →
What is it? First introduced to us via a Coolboom newsletter, they are collages assembled from found photographs by American artist, Jim Kazanjian, creating mesmerising black and white worlds from pieces of the everyday. What do we think? Kazanjian favours deserts, cemetaries, marshland and earthquake-damaged freeways as the settings for his work. Combined with crumbling houses, abandoned shrines... Continue Reading →
What is it? The Australian exhibition at the 2010 Venice Biennale, open these past three months and closing in just 3 days. Curated by the well-known architectural photographer, John Gollings, together with architect, Ivan Rijavec, it comprises two spaces of stereoscopic projections accompanied by a haunting soundtrack by Nick Murray and Carl Anderson. The first space, Now,... Continue Reading →