Prising important insights into the professions of curation, conservation and circulation, a storage facility in Rotterdam is opening its doors to visitors to allow them to peruse the museum’s entire collection, the ninety percent of the art and artefacts that their formerly public-facing galleries could not accommodate, we discover via a thematic round-up from Messy Nessy Chic. We really liked this idea to invite guests behind the scenes and hope that this sort of programme expands.
Tuesday 2 November 2021
Wednesday 13 October 2021
designgroep
Named after the tarot card, the psychedelic design collective based in Amsterdam, The Fool, and influenced by the hippie community of Ibiza (see previously), whose costuming for stage and album cover art include iconic outfits for Procol Harum, Cream and the Beatles, as seen in televised broadcasts of “All You Need is Love,” the Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper’s inside graphics plus the largest mural in the world for a performance of Hair at the Aquarius Theatre. Much more at Messy Messy Chic at the link above.
Monday 30 August 2021
6x6
headgear: Languagehat is no longer neglecting the latter portion of its remit
on seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful april morning: a pair of short stories from Rysuke Hamaguchi adapted for film
aggregate accessory fruit: the curious, circuitous route of the misnamed garden variety strawberry
like astrology for businessmen: a look at the Myers-Briggs personality test
strokenteelt: see strip cultivation at work in the Netherlands
erm: a discussion on intonation and a hummed “I don’t know”
Wednesday 25 August 2021
cheeseboard
Via fellow internet caretaker and turophile, Nag on the Lake, we are directed towards this thorough, wholesome and circumspect guide of how to serve and store almost any sort of cheese from an expert cheesemonger. The pictured painting is called Still Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels (Stilleven met kazen, amandelen en krakelingen), created by Dutch artist Clara Peeters circa 1615.
Tuesday 29 June 2021
le pont de trinquetaille
Seeing that on this day in 1987, a Van Gogh (previously here and here) of a bridge scene in Arles fetched a then record twenty million dollars at auction made me reflect on a recent podcast episode about the individual responsible for the artist’s posthumous and compelling fame promoted out of necessity and circumstance, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger (*1862 - †1925), widow of theretofore Van Gogh’s greatest champion, his brother Theo, and sister-in-law who had acquired a great deal of the then worthless works and against the advice of friends and family brought them back to their native Holland from Paris after losing her husband. In order to provide for herself and her child, Van Gogh-Bonger collected and edited an epistolary exchange and between the brothers and family biography, helping to establish her brother-in-law’s fame and reputation, as well as arranging exhibitions, helping to define not only Vincent as a celebrity but the attendant marketplace of the art world as well.
Sunday 27 June 2021
8x8
into the bantaverse: a bot ghost-writes a Star Wars story—see also
green guerrillas: the role that radical gardeners play in fostering community out of urban blight
earth, wind and fire: combine basic elements and create new substancesas an alchemist—via Waxy fourth world: celebrating the life and career of trumpeter and electronic music pioneer Jon Hassell (*1937)in frame: see the untrimmed, original version of Rembrandt’s Night Watch (previously) thanks to the help of a curating algorithm
homo longi: recently discovered ‘dragon man’ skull may be a transitional species from Neanderthal to modern humans
ine bay: hidden, historic boathouses (ไผๆ นใฎ่ๅฑ, funaya) in Kyoto—via Nag on the Lake’s always excellent Sunday Links
the skeleton crew: our friendly artificial intelligencer (previously) trains a neural network to write a horror story
Monday 31 May 2021
noordzee
The always intriguing and enlightening Maps Mania refers us to a suite of tools and tracers to help us visualise the huge among of marine traffic that passes in and out of the North Sea bordered by the Low Countries and Scandinavia, the waters off Belgium far exceeding the throughput of either of the shipping industry’s great corridors and potential bottlenecks, the Panama and Suez canals. Especially interesting is the data-driven scrollytelling from the financial daily De Tidj (pictured) which shows the activity and congestion of navigable routes along with the dredgers that keep the trade routes open to traffic.
Wednesday 26 May 2021
one year gone
One year on from the violent murder of George Floyd, we are reacquainted with the award-winning cover for de Volksrant newspaper’s Saturday Supplement from Noma Bar utilising negative space to illustrate people rallying in the streets over this injustice and inhumanity. Indisputably a harsh and discomforting reality that many are made to cope with on a daily basis but a sobering and eye-opening experience for all. Thanks to Duck Soup for the timeline of events that occurred in the aftermath of Floyd’s death and their enduring impact.
Tuesday 25 May 2021
triptych
Via friend of the blog Everlasting Blรถrt, we thoroughly enjoyed pouring of the details of Carla Gannis’ 2014 digital art project that replaces the religious allegory and iconography of Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights (see previously here and here) with a more secular and contemporary vernacular, the collage exploring modern vanities and consumerism. Much more at the links above and the short video on the exhibition below. Check out all three panels compared with the original and let us know your favourite emoji substitutions.
catagories: ๐ณ๐ฑ, ๐จ, ๐ฃ, networking and blogging
Wednesday 28 April 2021
midden-aarde
First spied by Super Punch, we are referred to a nice appreciation of the recently departed, prolific Dutch artist Cor Blok (*1934), particularly well known in the Netherlands for illustrating J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (In de ban van de Ring) in the early 1960s.
Later creating a tapestry out of Middle Earth’s characters to showcase his repetoire, Blok went on to become docent of the school of modern art at the University of Utrecht from 1977 to 1999, retiring as professor emeritus at the University of Leiden.
Thursday 1 April 2021
de twee bruidegommen
Passed by the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) of the States General and affirmed by the Senate during the December before, same-sex marriage (Homohuwelijk) became legal in the Netherlands on this day in 2001, the first country in modern times to sanction and recognise marriage equality. Registered partnerships were introduced on New Year’s 1998 as an alternative for homosexual couples, which under the law convey the same rights, duties and responsibilities as matrimony, and have since become nearly as popular as civil marriage among heterosexual couples as well.
catagories: ⚖️, ๐ณ๐ฑ, ๐ณ️๐, 2001
Sunday 28 March 2021
radio caroline
Named after the daughter of JFK photographed dancing in the Oval Office and interpreted by the founder and chief backer Aodogรกn Ronan O’Rahilly (*1940 - †2020) as representing the playful disruption of government business and joyful rule-breaking, the pirate broadcaster (see also) that was never actually circumventing the law as it operated from international waters aired its first regular programme set on this day in 1964—transmitting from a retrofitted passenger ferry anchored off Felixstowne, Suffolk, just beyond the jurisdiction of any one who could object to their activity. Established like its Dutch and other European counterparts to undermine the monopoly that the BBC had over the radiowaves and the pressure that record companies exerted on stations, dictating that their popular songs dominate, Radio Caroline broadcasted from five different ships through 1990 before moving to satellite radio and community AM bands in select areas, continuing today on the internet. Limiting programming to day time hours so as not to interfere with Radio Luxembourg, the station, with news reports at the top of the hour, was extremely popular with homemakers and children and left a lasting impression and alterative from mainstream commercial music. Do give them a listen.
Monday 22 March 2021
7x7
mรธbler, belysning, rumdesign: another dip into the iconic designs of Verner Panton—see previously
fortuitous numbers: a few sums with the rare property where a number equals its letter count multiplied together
avondklok: a photo-essay on the curfew in Amsterdam during the heights of the pandemic
digital only trainers: Gucci is selling a virtual sneaker for augmented reality photographs
yoshizawa-randlett system: rocket scientists and engineers are turning to origami for inspiration
screen-time: a comic panel from 1997 about high school in 2021 A.D., see also
in memoriam: a pair of obituaries celebrating the life and work of designer Zeev Aram from Things Magazine
Friday 12 March 2021
portrait of the artist as a young woman
Thursday 11 March 2021
impasse des deux frรจres et le moulin ร poivre
Never loaned to a museum or displayed to the public in its hundred and thirty-year history, this Van Gogh work from his Monmartre period when the artist lived in Paris with his brother Theo has been in private hands and only now previewed ahead of its auction. Having developed an intensive interest in ukiyo-e woodblock prints in Antwerp and hoping to experiment with Japonaiserie with his new circle of acquaintances, this landscape (absolutely rustic in comparison to what the neighbourhood is today), represents a transition in style when Van Gogh started to adopt elements of pointillism and bright clash colours. Ahead of its sale, the painting is slated for short exhibitions, with due precautions, in Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Paris.
Wednesday 10 March 2021
mercenary pirate
Our gratitude to TYWKIWDBI (indeed) for reminding us about the etymology of the practise of political stonewalling wherein a parliament, congress or other legislative body obstruct a proposal by talking it to death, which ultimately comes from the old Dutch vribuyter meaning plunderer (a freer of booty) with the antiquated intermediate English term freebooter. Eventually such mendacious piracy came to refer to the unsanctioned—that is operating outside the government in a fashion similar to a soldier of fortune but strictly working for oneself—in hopes of fomenting revolution and installing a regime more amenable to one’s business or trade interest, particularly said of United States citizens acting as agent provocateurs in Latin America (previously) in the nineteenth century, but this is of course a recurring role for the USA. It passed in the vernacular as a campaign by extension to block or delay the passage of legislation with tactics to buy time (see also)—that is squander it. The procedural remedy for filibustering and taking up floor time and leaving the opposition with no recourse is cloture, but this termination of debate usually requires more than a simple majority to move on it.
Saturday 6 March 2021
6x6
di grattacielo con le bretelle: Milan’s Brutalist Torre Velasca
sixty songs in three and ½ minutes: the Hood Internet (previously) presents 1995razor banks: the rather macabre antique bathroom wall slots to dispose of dull blades in the voids between walls
through the looking glass: vis-ร -vis the above, a tenant finds hidden rooms behind her medicine cabinet in her New York City apartment—via Super Punch
superior mirage: walker in Cornwall spots a ship floating aloft
in your bubble: contemplating quarantine in the Bolwonigen globes of ‘s-Hertogenbosch—see previously
Saturday 27 February 2021
gezicht in delft
The 1652 painting A View of Delft with A Musical Instrument Seller’s Stall by Carel Fabritius (*27 February 1622 - †1654, student of Rembrandt and had his own studio in Amsterdam) typifies the painter’s style, a departure from that of the master in experimentation with foreshortening and spatial effects. The exaggerated angle of the cityscape suggests it might have been intended to be displayed on the curved surface of a perspective box (perspectiefdoos), using light, camera obscura and architectural elements (see previously) to create an illusion of depth.
Friday 5 February 2021
tulipenmanie
The market bubble peaking, according to available records and sales ledgers, on this day in 1637 before bursting, rampant speculation (see also) and deviation from intrinsic value, with single flower bulbs selling for what a skilled artisan or trader could expect to earn in a decade in his trade drove the Dutch Tulip Craze, generally understood as the first stock market crash. With a newly liberated—no longer the Spanish Netherlands—and wealthy populace captivated by an import from the Ottoman Empire that could be cultivated and coveted unlike any other flower endemic to Europe, increased demand attracted as many professional brokers as tulip fanciers to the marketplace, complete with abstractions including short-selling and futures contracts. Once the bottom finally fell out of the trade amid distress and recrimination, those left holding flowers and bulbs in the end were left with little recourse as no court was willing to enforce the terms of a contract, declaring the debts incurred through gambling and not subject to commercial law.
Wednesday 3 February 2021
6x6
fietsstrook: LEGO cycling lanes (see previously) on their way
pay no attention to that man behind the curtain: Jeff Bezos to hand over the reigns of power at Amazon
it’s a duck blur: an in depth, retrospective analysis of the 1989 Capcom video game Ducktalesend effector: Boston Dynamics’ Spot gets an arm and gripper attachment
nihon no shiro: abstract woodcuts of the castles and palaces of Japan—via Present /&/ Correct
force multiplier: innovative, portable CLIP drive transforms any convention bicycle into an e-bike—via Swiss Miss