• Temporize
• Web log
  2009
• 05/01/09

This is one of those questions/comparisons that is always guaranteed to start a debate, and seems to popping up more often than not lately, starting with about a month ago when I picked up a 1971 version of Bruno Munari’s book Design As Art at a car boot sale. I’m currently reading though it, and was going to wait until I’d finished before posting about it, but the other day I was surprised to find via the CR blog that Yes Studio has just redesigned the Penguin on Design series, which includes Design As Art. I think they have done a great job of giving the publication a new face and still keeping it so in line with the content and the 1971 cover design.

Secondly, we have Is Graphic Design Art, a web poll I came across via Michael’s twitter feed, which surprisingly, shows ‘Yes’ as the general consensus. Personally, I’m in the ‘No’ camp. Sure Graphic Design and Art share many things in common, and I would definitely agree that Graphic Design is artistic, but the fundamental difference between the two is that the primary purpose of Graphic Design is to convey and deliver information, and not self expression, as I would say is the primary purpose of Art.

But hey, that’s just me …

Form the 15th until the 31st of May, the Next Wave festival will once be taking place in Melbourne. To find out whats on and where, head over the website, which was built by Barking Sparrows in conjunction with Chase & Galley, who came up with this years amazing festival identity.

A friend of mine has just set up PATTERNS OF CREATIVEAGGRESSION, an online publication that displays the development and progress of 5 individual projects in the fields of design, writing, fashion and art. Each installment displays the ongoing development and growth of the project, illustrating different techniques used, research and investigations conducted, and how different outcomes are reached.

There is also a printed version due out at the end of the year.

Since posting about Robert Hodgin’s work over at Flight 404 back in September last year, the quality and complexity of the projects he has been producing have skyrocketed. His latest piece Solar is amazing.

Tuesday night saw the premiere of a great new TV series on ABC called ‘Not Quite Art’. Conceived and presented by Marcus Westbury, the first episode looks at why we spend far more money building sterile palaces to dead artists and their artefacts than supporting living ones, which personally, I think is a very valid point. I was lucky to see the rough cut of the first episode about a month back as Tin&Ed, who I share a studio with, have been working on the titles for the show (which look fantastic) You can catch Not Quite Art at 10pm Tuesdays on ABC, or subscribe to the vodcast here.

The Rise & Fall gallery, located in the lift of the Curtin House building in Melbourne, is the latest venture by Chris Barton (Now Now) and David McDonald. The gallery opens this Wednesday with an exhibition by Al Stark titled Text Me. For more info, head over to the website.

While we’re on the subject, I came across this nifty little piece by Robert Hodgin (Flight 404) over at the Processing Blogs. If you are writing about using (and learning) Processing, be sure to send these guys and email, as there are currently looking for more feeds for the site.

I’ve recently been helping a friend set up an old Singer Memo-matic knitting machine, and was thinking how great it would be if you could hook the machine up to a computer and knit from digital files as opposed to the old punch card that it comes with. Well that exactly what Magdalena Kohler and Hanna Wiesener from the University of Arts in Berlin have done. Using a laptop running Processing and connected to 24 servo-motors, Gelsomina transfers individual vocal melodies to the knitting machine which are reproduced as knitted patterns. (link and images via we make money not art)

Experimenta is Australia’s leading contemporary arts organisation dedicated to commissioning, exhibiting and promoting media art. This years show ‘Playground‘, which is on display at the Art Center, is comprised of a fantastic collection of interactive artworks (one of which I helped out on), video installations and short films. I was really excited to see Philip Worthington’s Shadow Monsters included in the show this year, as I’ve read a lot about it but didn’t actually think I’d ever have an opportunity to see it … If you are in Melbourne before the 23rd of September, I’d definitely recommend checking out the show.

One of Australia’s most collectable contemporary artists, Giles Ryder, currently has a solo show running at Block Projects Gallery, located on Block Place in the Melbourne CBD. Founder and director of Peleton Gallery in Sydney, Ryder’s work is represented in some of Australia’s most prestigious private and public collections including the Monash University Collection & Artbank. The exhibitions runs from the 20th July till the 18th August.