August 7, 2011
‘Mr. Susan’ in the “Mirror World” – this scene from the BBC’s The Mighty Boosh is a pretty good introduction to this cult BBC TV show. The show, the surreal adventures of two London zookeepers’, features DIY production and costume design that owes a lot to comedian Noel Fielding, one of the show’s two actor/writers.
Playplax, another toy from my childhood, was designed in 1966 by the brilliant British industrial designer Patrick Rylands. It’s in the permanent collection of the V&A Museum in London.
July 15, 2011
I grew up with this psychedelic rocking camel, handmade in the late 60s/early 70s by B.C. artist/novelist Jim Willer. He called these “Bumpity Camels” and ours was one of a series—our cousins had one too.
June 30, 2011
Thanks to Dezeen for this video interview with Swiss architect Peter Zumthor on his pavilion at the Serpentine (a previous ouno post on Zumthor, on the occasion of being chosen to do the pavilion, is here).
June 27, 2011
The impulse in Berber rug-making to both interrupt and also loosely maintain a pattern seems unique in traditional textiles. If not unique, then it’s hard to name a tradition that equals Berber mastery of this particular tension.
June 16, 2011
“Hockey’s over-the-top fandom (and the same could be said for the Olympics) seems a frantic expression of what the post-modern metropolis and its high-rise ghettos lack and even deliberately negate — a human-scale community in which individuals feel purposeful and acknowledged.”
“In the absence of any shared collective progressive principles, the BC elite longed for a new solidarity forged from of this “fighting collectivity” of Canucks fans.
June 15, 2011
https://youtu.be/AGmPEVwqDVk
“If you are a moon and you don’t have a mirror, so you have to, if you want to see your face, you got to have a little look in the rivers.
May 31, 2011
Happy Birthday, Habitat!
Today marks Habitat’s 35th birthday. The UN Habitat Conference on Human Settlements took place in Vancouver from May 31- June 11, 1976. This anniversary also just happens to coincide with Vancouver’s 125th birthday in April 2011.
May 25, 2011
Spaceship condominium in Guilford, Connecticut, designed by Wil Armster. We need to see more buildings like this, especially in Vancouver, to break up the endless architectural monotony not to mention mediocrity.
April 6, 2011
This is a belated short note to say I am participating in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s current exhibition WE Vancouver—12 Manifestos for the City, running February 12–May 1, 2011.
