Courtesy of Messy Nessy Chic, we enjoyed perusing this gallery of antique library infographics salvaged from the trash in 2003. Making use of the Dewey decimal system, the reference and the periodical desk less daunting for students, these posters which date from the 1930s and 1940s (see also) and were designed by Professor Ruby Ethel Cundiff who pioneered the use of multimedia and cooperation between school libraries and the classroom in a career spanning five decades, defining reference collections and library science during her tenure at the Peabody College for Teachers, now part of Vanderbilt University.
Sunday 13 October 2024
Monday 30 September 2024
sede vacante (11. 883)
Having recently happened upon this sort of rather singular seating chart with the shortest pontificate, it was serendipitous, via Strange Company, to discover that the conclave blueprint, a programme for interested parties to monitor the intrigues and progress of the electors (the papabili and ineligible amongst them) confined to the Sistine Chapel until a new pope was chosen, like the handwritten gossip tabloids called avvisi that reported on votes with a fair degree of speculation and imagination. Such reconnaissance was indispensable for influence-peddlers, like monarchs and bankers and lower clergy who tried to sway the outcome. As the process wore on, conditions for the cardinals was made less comfortable, outside observers had a detailed, God’s eye view of the proceedings, able to track the odds, see whom their delegate was bunked next to and who had the better accommodations, some spots being considered more auspicious than others. More from JSTOR Daily at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago:assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: Mid-Century control rooms plus Hurricane Maria
eight years ago: professional hermits
nine years ago: the ongoing process of German reuinification
ten years ago: East Germans sought asylum on the grounds of the Czechoslovakian Embassy plus Rome’s Secular Games
Thursday 26 September 2024
9x9 (11. 874)
must contain the characters #@^*!: US regulatory body that sets standards for government agencies issues guidance that urges the end of vexing password compliance rules
landscape of faith: church-to-residential development is in some places easing the housing crisis
ertunet crater: planetoid Ceres may harbour potentially life-sustaining oceans like Europa
hippopotami: the phenomenon of Moo Ding seems likely the natural conclusion of art history—see also
regency era: unofficial Bridgerton Ball Experience leaves attendees feeling scammed—drawing parallels with another disappointing and pricey event
outrรฉ west: eight radical architectural works from western America (see previously)
huaca de la luna: brilliantly painted throne room of a seventh century Moche female leader discovered in northern Peru
the creepy hallways of the built environment: American suburbs are a horror show
universal media disc: the challenges of conserving good data in the age of AI and shuttered, zombified outlets—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links
Monday 23 September 2024
7x7 (11. 867)
urban glitch: a series of nostalgic, hyper-detailed paintings from Jeff Bartels
ganz kleine nachtmusik: a previously unknown work by Mozart discovered in a Leipzig library archive
promptographs: Mister Franรงois presents three hundred imaginative “secret car” models with the help of AI—Lamborghini school buses and Ferrari caravanswarchitecture: the language of urbicide was developed to address the wanton destruction of Sarajevo’s build environment and continues in contemporary conflicts—see also
do not show this travel pack to gdr or soviet officials: a 1989 British guide for West Berlin
papyrological discovery: for his birthday in 480 BC, new lines of Euripides’ lost plays Ino and Polyidus uncovered—via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest (much more to explore there)
8-bit garden: dissolving digital artwork from Karol Polak of Gdaลsk
Friday 20 September 2024
building fires (11. 857)
Via Quantum of Sollazzo, we are directed to a highly visual piece of reporting from Reuters highlighting the dangers and deficiencies in construction codes (see previously) in many jurisdictions that don’t mandate the removal of polymer (essentially solidified gasoline) cladding from residential and office buildings. Driven by the energy crisis of the 1970s, architects were pressured into reducing heating costs with ventilated faรงades that provided extra insulation to improve energy efficiency. That intermediate panelling which creates an air gap for the structure are now recognised as combustible and for their failings in terms of safety and yet remain with evacuation strategies tragically outdated. Much more at the links above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit (with synchronoptica) plus the stock market panic of 1873
seven years ago: more links to enjoy, Trump at the UN General Assembly plus the lives of Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe
eight years ago: a telescopic mountain-finder in the Swiss Alps, even more links worth revisiting plus AI jingles
nine years ago: a visit to Lake Garda plus regional vintages
ten years ago: Roman timekeeping
Sunday 15 September 2024
inspeccionando las tropas (11. 847)
Via Super Punch, we discover Mexico’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum, visiting one of the country’s military academies and addressing an audience of cadets and alumni ahead of her inauguration ceremony scheduled for next month. Though by far the most interesting story is victory of this progressive individual with little significant dispute from her competition and the peaceable transfer of power, but the venue is also worth noting with those hulking modern buildings that look like something built by the Galactic Empire, the Heroico Colegio Militar’s Tlalpan central campus, completed in 1976. Located just south of the capital, it was designed by famed sculptor, poet and architect Agustรญn Hernรกndez Navarro, recognised internationally for his monumental and futuristic ensembles, with references to pre-Columbian heritage, the Brutalist abstraction of the main hall is meant to invoke the Mayan god of rain Chaahk, also associated with warfare.
Friday 23 August 2024
arc of narrative (11. 786)
We thoroughly enjoyed thinking about plot and plodding along with these cinematic pathways from illustrator Andrew DeGraff (previously, I later remembered) that chart the hero’s journey across sets and scenes mapped out like the imaginative cartographic conclusions of Billy from the Family Circus funny pages, elaborating on these itineria, strip maps from the web-comic xkcd, except for modern classics like Fargo (pictured), Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, The Breakfast Club, etc. All are instantly recognisable and draw one into the story. More from Kottke at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: emulating a backflip (with synchronoptica), a lyrical song clock plus Wagner Group chief dies in a plane crash
seven years ago: synthetic biology
eight years ago: more on the Voynich manuscript, KFC sun-screen plus gravity wells and a Sisyphean train
nine years ago: a visit to Bad Nauheim plus a day at the zoo
ten years ago: Rome defeats the Samnium coalition plus a table-top mining game
Saturday 10 August 2024
♨︎ (11. 756)
We very much enjoyed revisiting artist and drafter Honmai Enya’s work (previously) in her newest book of detailed isometric renderings (see also here and here) of Japanese cultural institutions. Honing her architectural illustrations skills at local establishments, Enya’s repertoire spread from her favourite sentล to area laundromats, salons, cafรฉs and kissaten (a quieter version of the former to contemplatively drink one’s coffee or tea). More from Spoon & Tamago at the link above.
Thursday 8 August 2024
hasenpfeffer incorporated (11. 751)
While pursuing the long-tail of a rumoured solution to try to satisfy two Hollywood egos both demanding top-billing and one possible and now pervasive compromise, known in the industry as the Laverne & Shirley card, we got the opportunity to revisit The Art of the Title (see previously here and here) and explore some of the creative and contractual considerations that go into opening sequences. And while fascinating to learn about the more elegant and efficient way to make concessions to rising talent (bottom left and top right gives two stars more or less equal prominence), the hook was really the unique stalemate of the 1987 Arthur Hiller Outrageous Fortune comedy featuring Bette Midler and Shelley Long (or Long and Midler) with neither willing to concede to be second-billed. Strangely aligned with the film that takes its title from Hamlet’s “…slings and arrows…” about two acrimonious acting students who are dating the same mysterious individual, unbeknownst to each other, and manages to keep their shared tryst secret, the production studio commissioned two sets of promotional materials and title sequences for distribution in US East Coast and West Coast markets, in the respective actors’ home turf presumably with neither being the wiser—movie lore confirmed by a visit to the last video rental shop in Atlanta. Much more from 99% Invisible at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: artist Karla Knight (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: a proposed canal in Malaysia plus radio for dogs
eight years ago: assorted links to revisit, mass-transit upholstery plus Olympic typography
nine years ago: the Happy Birthday song plus presidential merch
eleven years ago: US government lapse in appropriations plus thoughtful souvenirs
Sunday 4 August 2024
13x13 (11. 744)
hot clipmalabor summer: a Scots language translation of the latest trend
the pudding: AI makes a data-driven visual story—via Kottke
dรฉsolรฉ! taking a mental health year: American vs European out-of-office auto-replies
the paris games: a look back at the other times the French capital hosted the Olympics—via Nag on the Lakefaustian bargain: Russian “Tiergarten Killer” released as part of prisoner-swap
the lord house: a tour of a home designed by architecture Richard Neutra—see previously
take me to the water: James Baldwin and the roots of the Palestinian-African American solidarity movement
hop, skip and a jump: e-bikes for one’s legs
dressage: Snoop Dogg as head Olympic cheerleader
securing the peace: US mobilising to shore up defences in Middle East
minoritarian rule: US in democracy self-destruct mode
yay newfriend: a linguistic look at the new AI pendant companion
emdunks: the internet’s infatuation with the Second- and possibly future First-Gentleman
Monday 29 July 2024
ad copy (11. 728)
Via Web Curios, we enjoyed perusing this gallery of mostly—but not exclusively—vintage Anglophone print advertisements that make the exception to the curator’s collection entitled, “Nobody Reads Ads” from Miguel Ferreira, who writes a lot about commericals and creativity. There are some really effective and arresting ones, though not the ones that everyone remembers as indisputable examples, that are lost in the data of engagement and targeting and each demonstrates a subtle hook to an audience that is not exactly self-selecting. What are some of your favourites or ones you think have been overlooked and should be included? Much more at the links above.
Sunday 9 June 2024
stack overflow (11. 616)
Courtesy of Waxy, we are directed to the flashy showroom of Terminal Text Effects, a collection of customisable coding scripts to apply to one’s website to create looping pages to assemble, decrypt and crumble content. There are quite a few to choose from and can be configured to match one’s themes and schemes. We especially liked the Burn, Black Hole and Rain routines and will one day learn how incorporate such pre-installs ourself although right now a bit too intermediate for us.
Friday 24 May 2024
internal audit (11. 580)
Our trusty AI wrangler, Janelle Shane (previously) vents her frustration over a shared lament that many artists, marketers and prompters—to the point where close enough is good enough—are experiencing with generated images. Often times tantalised with results that are preternaturally approaching the desired outcome, asking for an edit with a minor detail results, yields instead a completely different picture, ruining the assignment over a small and clearly articulated revision. I suppose AI doesn’t have object permanence despite the fact it clearly remembers, and this limitation is a strong argument for engaging a human artist who can understand one’s notes. More at the links above.
airfoil (11. 579)
Via Super Punch, we get this chance to revisit renowned industrial and commercial designer Lutz “Luigi” Colani with his Polymorph Space Shuttle concept model showcased at the 1984 Expo held in Otaru, Hokkaido (awarded with top honours however during the show for his designs for Canon cameras, including the prototype for the T90). The aerodynamic proposal failed to take off at the time but is perennially revisited by companies in the orbital freight business and included a new stylised logo for the US Space Agency.
Thursday 16 May 2024
scope of practise (11. 563)
Via Kottke, we that the inaugural World Umarlling Championship has been announced and is taking submissions, giving us a chance to revisit the gentle stereotype, classically a male pensioner who pauses to observe and inspect construction works in progress. Self-appointed foremen, the interest that umari take in infrastructure and built-environments is a model that we could all take a lesson from in terms of civic engagement without being a busybody or a backseat driver, especially under the terms of the competition. Learn ore at the links above.
Thursday 9 May 2024
the (other) line (11. 548)
As much as the projected NEOM (previously) professed to be a technological utopia with minimal—or negating impact—on the environment, promises which are looking less and less deliverable, this AI-generated cityscape extending out in all directions but centred on a main traffic artery isn’t quite so much antithetical (at least behind the veneer) as regressive and a reminder that the technocrati over-promise and cannot offer a real escape from the crowded, dirty, decaying and hierarchical framework of capitalism that created and enabled them. The oasis in the desert is a mirage. More from AI-DA at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: a political cartoon attributed to Benjamin Franklin plus assorted links worth revisiting
two years ago: Dianetics Day, all the .horse websites plus the musical origins of the seven-day week
three years ago: another MST3K classic, parahawking, Europe Week, television and the public interest, recycled sets, the skyscrapers of NYC, more text-based computer games plus early generative artwork
four years ago: a Roman festival to appease the restive dead, BBC backdrops, a planned alternative UN headquarters plus the Treaty of Winsor (1373)
five years ago: form+zweck, a US plan to bomb the Moon (1958), Watergate hearings commence (1974) plus a fire-chasing beetle
Wednesday 1 May 2024
7x7 (11. 527)
the function of colour: more scans from a beautiful 1930 volume on design in schools and workshops
sporulate: scientist create a plastic first strengthened then digested by bacteriawck: resuming their mission of feeding people in Palestine, Josรฉ Andrรฉs’ cookbook is nominated for a prestigious gastronomical award
aim high in creation: a survey of North Korea’s popular culture
barnard 33: JWST captures a sharp image of the iconic Horsehead Nebula of Orion
dead reckoning: the history of the Etak Navigator and other cartographical innovations
architectural renderings: the Art Deco illustrations of Charles Perry Weimer—via Messy Nessy Chic
Friday 19 April 2024
9x9 (11. 499)
pumping iron: Technogym invites forty artists to reinterpret its exercise bench for Milan Design Week
wikipedia rectangles: a collage of images sourced from the Commons subdivides one’s screen in increasing smaller sections of disparate pictures—via Web Curios
the microcosm of london: an illustrated three-volume set by Rudolph Ackermann showcasing the public spaces of the capital๐: the massive Quilt for Palestine unveiled at the Met
rundown royale: a look at the family tree of Charlemagne, the Father of Europe—via Miss Cellania
ulnar nerve: the etymology of the expression funny bone and variants—including the Swedish terms enkelstรถt/รคnkestรถt
dua lipa stuns as congressional gerrymander: that and other headlines from Super Punch
from our correspondents: World Press Photo contest captures destruction and devastation
the revolution will not be biennalised: the withdrawal of the Israeli pavilion in Venice was performative and opportunistic
Tuesday 16 April 2024
web elements (11. 491)
Via Waxy, we discover a unique time of digital time capsule in this tribute and trove of early 1990s clip art collections (see previously), capturing a snapshot of the decade frozen in time, like contemporary advertising ephemera—which were also informed by the graphic templates in the era before computers when designers had libraries of pre-printed icons at their disposal—showcasing obsolete technologies, vintage fashions and monoculture. More from Benj Edwards’ Vintage Computing and Gaming at the link up top, plus search for yourself, rummaging through the DiscMaster archives.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the Shrug Guy from Wikipedia plus a new notional system
two years ago: a moveable feast
three years ago: assorted links to revisit
four years ago: more found art, St Drogo, hug a tree plus flag mashups
five years ago: AI gives us the answers we want to hear plus Notre Dame in flames
Sunday 7 April 2024
neocities (11. 473)
Via the Verge, we are directed toward a fine little interior decorating pastime for iPads in the form of Rooms—inviting players to cultivate and share their cozy cubbyholes—in the tradition of the old school web and good old fashioned building-blocks or paper-dolls putting together a pixellated diorama put together with modular elements voxel by voxel—see previously. It’s like dressing up and perfecting one’s avatar within predefined but expansive parameters and features a social aspect to meet one’s virtual neighbours and follow their home improvements.