Via ibฤซdem, we enjoyed contemplating this display that shows the passage of different units of time side-by-side advancing relative to the observer. Named for the Jain concept of that which brings forth change (also meaning death), the second is the smallest practical measurement, made up of countless and indivisible samaya—like Planck time though the zeptosecond or one sextillionth of a second is the smallest fragment of time that can be reliably calibrated—and itself representing about forty-eight seconds and the kลaแนa about forty-eight minutes. Aside from the more familiar units and the Hindu-Sanskrit tradition of describing the cosmological cycle, from microseconds to trillions of years, there’s also the milliday, invented by the Swatch company as one-thousandth part of a day or a .beat, the lustrum to mark the five-year interval between Roman censuses, the indiction for the fifteen-year requirement for tax assessments in the Empire, a ghurry, the time it took a water-clock to empty, gauged to divide the day into sixty intervals or rather twenty-four minutes and the chelek (ืืืง) one eighteenth of minute from the Babylonian for one degree of celestial rotation and a momentum, a medieval reckoning of the hours by the sun-dial, about forty moments for each twelve-hour solar day—as well as more informal but countable units.
Friday 19 January 2024
Tuesday 9 January 2024
10x10 (11. 254)
job security: the US only created seven-hundred new IT positions last year—compared to two-hundred seventy thousand in 2022—via the New Shelton wet/dry
tidy mouse: an industrious rodent sorts out a human’s workspace
a theft from those who hunger: Dwight Eisenhower’s Chance for Peace Speech of 1953
seo: how Google’s search algorithm has shaped the webpast is precedent: Austin Kleon shares one-hundred things that made his year—a very good list
the big mac index: the rising costs of fast food and its political implications
high school high: graphic designer Veronica Kraus curates gems from old yearbooks—see also—via Messy Nessy Chic
armed conflict survey: mapping wars around the world
double fantasy: celebrated photographer Kishin Shinoyama, who captured the intimate moments of John Lennon and Yoko Ono for their album art (see below) passes away, aged 83
year-on-year: the word from Davos forecasts anaemic economic growth
synchronoptica
one year ago: Nobody Told Me plus canal workers’ jargon
two years ago: Mambo Italiano, RMS Queen Elizabeth plus the premier of the iPhone (2007)
three years ago: classic rebrands, assorted links to revisit, a snowy day, more on Cats plus a diet inducing doorway
four years ago: attempts for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq War (1991), the yacht whisperer plus plans for a Woven City
five years ago: the diplomatic status of the EU downgraded, more Hampsterdance, repairing the Azure Window plus more links to enjoy
catagories: ๐, ๐, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, ๐ฑ, ๐, ๐, ๐ท, ๐บ️, labour, networking and blogging
Sunday 31 December 2023
high-voltage (11. 229)
Sometimes colloquially called in their native Australia as Acca-Dacca and named after their sister pointed out the label on the electric adapter of her portable sewing machine, thinking that it captured the sense of raw energy that her brothers Angus and Malcom Young wanted to convey, the band had their first official engagement on New Year’s Eve in 1973 in a nightclub in Sydney called Chequers (or according to other sources, an event for Bondi Beach lifesavers). In the early days, their stage personae consisted of glam rock outfits and super hero costumes and would go on to record their first studio album two years later. Their iconic logo was designed by typographer Gerard Huerta who also produced lettering and artwork for Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Blue รyster Cult among many others and created corporate alphabets for Condรฉ Nast, Waldenbooks, Calvin Klein’s fragrances and Swiss Army brands as well as mastheads for Time, Money, People, Working Mother and the Atlantic magazines.
synchronoptica
one year ago: same procedure as every year, an unreleased Blade Runner video game plus the first detailed views of Mars
two years ago: the first cases of COVID-19, Hogmanay, UN Secretary General U Thant, the outsider art of Louis Wain plus a laser display in lieu of fireworks
three years ago: the founding of Guinness, Kanji creation contest finalists plus Marshall McLuhan
four years ago: Putin begins his presidency (1999), more esoteric programming languages plus a New Year’s Countdown
five years ago: a pre-New Year’s Eve display, Japanese New Year traditions plus more countdowns
Saturday 9 December 2023
clock-radio (11. 174)
Admitting a certain penchant for multi-function gadgets—like infamously a car vacuum-flash light-tyre pump combo that excelled at none of these tasks—we found this latest post from Fancy Notions to be quite resonant, particularly the German Engineering aspect with the precision of the eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher, calibrated to an ideal weight to crack the shell perfectly without mangling the soft-boiled interior—the steel plunger exerting a force of a little more than half a newton (one kilogram accelerating one meter per second per second). While we have a very serviceable egg-timer that alleviates some of the guess-work, it is a challenge (that I aspire to keep) to run the eggs under cold water long enough to get the exterior to peel away easily.
Friday 1 December 2023
⌘ (11. 155)
Via Things Magazine, we are only introduced to the enthralling blog of Gingerbearman but also can put a name to the early computer artwork and illustrations of Barbara Nessim as featured in Byte magazine and elsewhere. Not just pixelated renditions, these graphics, produced thanks to a residency with Time-Life in 1984 that gave her access to state-of-the-art technologies, were vector drawings formatted and encoded to display on televisions and terminals. See more of Nessim’s extension portfolio and learn about her contributions at the link up top.
Sunday 26 November 2023
componibili (11. 142)
Celebrating half a century since their original presentation in a Kรถln pavilion in 1972 and 1973, the rarely displayed club- and pin-like orbitals by sculptor Roberto Cordone will be gathered for an exhibition near the original grounds to reintroduce the iconic design and symmetry that helped legitimise plastic as a medium to complement traditional public art. Whilst these molecular, tetrahedrons are stationary, Cordone’s most celebrated installations are kinetic, metal elements called perpendicolari and elicoidali that can be repositioned by wind and waves and are self-righting, displayed as permanent outdoor monuments but occasionally adapted for the stage as part of a ballet choreography. Learn more about the showcase, the artist and its sponsors at designboom at the link above.
Monday 13 November 2023
folly cove collective (11. 119)
Under the tutelage of Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios, the all-women’s group in a Massachusetts community from the 1940s to the late 1960s cultivated the art of block-printed fabric patterns informed by their personal experiences and narratives (see also—too bad there was nothing truly subversive like a housewife’s vengeance represented but maybe there were subtle acts of rebellion in themselves), from home economics, local, vernacular architecture and family outings. Click through the link above for more on this community of printmakers.
Friday 3 November 2023
8x8 (11. 093)
outsider art: revisiting the narrative embroidery of Agnes Richter and other works in the Prinzhorn Collection
market sundries: the paper bag baron of the East End—via Strange Company
the crispy r: more on rhoticity and unusual consonantpentimenti: conservators reveal a hidden demonic figure in Joshua Reynold’s “The Death of Cardinal Beaufort”—see also
the statistical breviary: an overview of the history of digital design
uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, cinco, seis: DJ Cummerbund (previously) presents a mashup of the The Offspring and Boney M—with quite a few other musical cameos
face-hugger: the parasitic crustacean Phronima sedentaria was the inspiration for Ridley Scott’s Alien
sgraffito: the alleged safe-room where Michelangelo hid from his political enemies, decorated with his anatomical and engineering studies opens to the public
Wednesday 25 October 2023
8x8 (11. 074)
hilma af: a planned towering gallery for the Swedish artist realised as a virtual reality experience
papercraft: gorgeous moderne four palette architectural models to make
the book of hallowe’en: a 1919 illustrated, syncretic study of the appropriated holiday in the spirit of the Golden Boughswarm charms: a go-to guide of medieval bee spells
trainspotting: an omnibus post on avoiding rail collisions including a nineteen century timetable still in use
reconstruction: the sounds of ancient languages—see also
the logo is formed from minifig hands: the new LEGO Dune playset
flow-chart: a study on the abandoned shopping-carts of America
you may touch the artefacts: a gallery of early internet relics from Neal Agarwal—see previously
one year ago: further adventures in Crete
two years ago: the US Invasion of Granada (1971)
three years ago: a hexadecagonal country retreat, SS Crispin and Crispinian plus pandemic gods and heroes
four years ago: a lyrical headline (1924), a video game atlas plus the world’s first erotic boutique proprietress
five years ago: The Master Key of Futurity, virtual restaurants and ghost kitchens plus programming a more ethical Pac Man
Sunday 8 October 2023
folio (11. 045)
Saturday 9 September 2023
tirazain (10. 992)
Via Clive Thompson’s Linkfest (happily back after a short hiatus), we learn about the traditional form embroidery practiced in Palestine and the efforts to preserve, promote and catalogue the neglected and endangered craftwork used to decorate dress, curtains and bedding. Called tatreez (ุชุทุฑูุฒ), with instructions included on how to create these cross-stitch designs, the formerly unstudied occupation is no recognised as more than a pastime but a form of biography (see also) for those marginalised and had no other medium for expressing and transmitting their ambitions and skills. Much more at the links above.
catagories: ๐ต๐ธ, ๐, ๐งถ, Middle East
Saturday 26 August 2023
vernacular architecture (10. 966)
Midcentury Modern embassies and consulates commissioned by the US State Department between the years 1948 and 1962 at the height of the Cold War were not only outposts of ideology, as an interview with historian David B Peterson for an upcoming retrospective on the architecture of democracy, diplomacy and defence reveals but also host to quite extensive outreach programmes and to project culture and the values of progressive and open societies—though considering American’s own practises of apatheid, it’s a rather hollow image. Numerous star architects and luminaries of the day were involved and most compounds had a publicly accessible area for lectures, libraries and exhibition spaces. The chapter on the embassy of New Delhi designed by Edward Durell Stone (the MoMA, Radio City Music Hall and the Kennedy Centre) looks particularly interesting. More from designboom at the link above.
Sunday 20 August 2023
9x9 (10. 954)
cucumber castle: a star-studded promotional film for the Bee-Gee’s medieval-themed, chivalrous 1970 album
as big as a football pitch: the vague rulers of informal metrology
good(bye) design: a tribute to the aesthetic of vintage consumer tech by Miki Nemcek with a special focus on Braun
grand master: World Chess Federation places restrictions on trans competitors
1:25: a tour inside the scale model of St Paul’s, hidden in a chamber in the attic
⛔: like Zuckerburg explored before—in violation of app store policies—Elon Musk is threatening to remove Twitter’s block feature
magalog: combination magazine-catalogue that was successful print model in the 1970s
langue รฉtrangรจre: faced with budget-shortfalls, US public university cutting foreign language from its ciriculum
elephant in the room: the imprint of favourite songs of our formative years and what that says about our capacity for new things
Tuesday 15 August 2023
die bauhausausstellung von 1923 (10. 945)
Opening on this day in Weimar and running for the next six weeks, the exhibition was the first public presentation of the art and architecture movement founded in 1919, and advertised in around one-hundred train stations with Oskar Schlemmer’s Bauhaus logo (the event delayed due individual presenting workshops wanting to prefect their items in accordance with the shift from handwork to industrial production and the poster stickered over), attracting around fifteen-thousand visitors. The first week included lectures by Walter Gropius and Wassily Kandinsky, ballets and concert performances and a procession with lanterns and fireworks. Installations included a model home, ceramics and various painting and building designs by contemporary figures such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier. Occurring during the height of the Great Depression, the exhibition became of symbol of the culture war simmering in Germany with praise and enthusiasm on one side for the school’s creative and educational goals and roundly rejected by conservative leaning critics who felt strengthened in their position by the relative financial failure.
Friday 28 July 2023
vinnie ream (10. 911)
On this day, aged 18, in 1866 Lavina Ellen Ream Hoxie became the youngest and first female sculptor to receive a commission by the US government for her most famous and celebrated work, the statue of Abraham Lincoln (see also here and here) in the Capitol rotunda. Ream also sculpted the bronze of Cherokee inventor Sequoyah (the town of Vinita, Oklahoma in Statuary Hall and the monument of David Farragut in Washington DC’s Farragut Square. Although her selection by the House of Congress to render a life-sized marble of the president had already generated some controversy over her experience and false accusations by some factions that she was a “lobbyist”—the term at the time referring to a public woman of ill-repute and Ream took the slander and attacks in stride, it was mild compared to the scapegoating and unrelenting attacks to come. Whilst working on Lincoln in a basement studio of the Capitol, the impeachment proceedings of Andrew Johnson were taking place in the chambers above. Failing to secure a conviction that would have removed Johnson from office, by a single vote, radical elements of the Republican Party sought out someone to blame other than their own members and deflect from the bribery that was actually the motivating factor. It was discovered that the Kansas senator, Edmund G Ross, who cast the decisive vote to acquit was staying in a DC boarding house owned by Ream’s father during the trial, and it was suggested that Ream, notably absent from the family lodging operation and busy with her work, had somehow influenced Ross’ vote in order to vouchsafe her commission and preserve the legacy of Lincoln through saving his predecessor. The House passed a resolution to turn the studio space into a guardroom and nearly ejected Ream and her unfinished statue from the Capitol. The press and the art community aired their outrage at this petty retaliation and Congress eventually reversed the decision. Ream went on to open studios in New York and Washington after studying in Europe and producing busts of continental celebrities including Franz Liszt and Gustave Dorรฉ, her career essentially ending after her marriage at twenty-four as it was considered unseemly for a married woman to earn an income.
one year ago: Eilean Donan plus Castle Linlithgow
two years ago: your daily demon: Bunรฉ, assorted links to revisit, a silly super villain plus a Czech space opera
three years ago: artist Lรฉon Spilliaert, cartooning the US constitution, assorted links worth the revisit plus moving forward with fusion technology
four years ago: more links to check out, a food writer and former pirate plus growing one’s own victory garden
Sunday 23 July 2023
9x9 (10. 901)
effective altruism: FTX lobbyist tried to purchase the island nation of Nauru as a doomsday bunker and create a genetically enhanced human species
getting drunk at a disco: 1977 found footage of an evening not necessarily going downhill
this is not a love poem: a round-up of favourites that are not all lovey-dovey—via tmn
rambler: a collection of illustrated exteriors of California ranch homes—see also1975: Kuala Lumpur authorities shut down the Good Vibes festival after headliner Matty Healy criticised Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws
point of no return: time is running out on the Climate Clock
stooping: trend adopted by Chinese young people involves decorating with cast-off furniture left by the curb
smokey, this is not ‘nam—this is bowling, there are rules: Big Lebowski (previously) inspired bowling alley via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links (lots more to explore there)
typoglycemia: bypassing chatbot’s ethical subroutines using word scrambling and transposed letters
Sunday 16 July 2023
esprit d’corps (10. 887)
While problematically exclusively white and male with militaristic overtones, we enjoyed looking through this workwear catalogue in a classic instalment of the Daily Heller from the George Master Garment Corporation dated 1951—reflective of the post-war ideal of reintegrating soldiers into the civilian workforce. Whilst perhaps not as finely tailored and mass-produced, many trades in Germany still keep to a professional uniform (not to say it hasn’t become more relaxed and informal here too) provided by the company or guild, especially for manufacturing and construction, usually in the form of a monogrammed jumpsuit. More from Print magazine at the link above.
synchronoptica
one year ago: the flag of Estonia plus assorted links worth revisiting
two years ago: Askersund, Sweden and adventures in Vรคrmland
three years ago: Disney’s pandemic reopening plus more links to revisit
four years ago: a celebration of usual holidays, the Space Race was meant to be a call for international cooperation plus farewell to an iconic sign
five years ago: Breakthrough Starshot, Trump and Putin meet plus the TV advertisements of David Lynch
Wednesday 5 July 2023
church key (10. 862)
From the shifting onus of mass-delivered single-use that incentivised disposing of one’s beverage container properly to the technological innovations that allowed beer from a can to be palatable and not compromised in the filling and distribution process while being easily and readily accessible, to follow-on safety concerns about the opening mechanism and wide-spread pull-tabs, which led to engineering that we are familiar with today, we are directed towards the design history of the aluminium can. Learn more from Tedium at the link above—with plenty of top-popping detail.
Tuesday 27 June 2023
i have some notes (10. 839)
Wednesday 21 June 2023
8x8 (10. 825)
the restaurant of mistaken orders: a pop-up establishment in Japan serves a lesson in compassion along with its dishes
specimens of fancy turning: these late nineteenth century lathe patterns look like spirographs
dwarf fortress: an interview with the author of 50 Years of Text Games—see previouslymercurial: more on the found and lost planet Vulcan
monk parakeets: over a decade living in Wiesbaden, these invasive birds went from rare, doubtful sightings to absolute flocks
area sacra: assassination site of Caesar and since taken over by semi-feral cats opening to the public
รฑ: the origins of the letter with a diacritical tilde
evergreen appeal: once considered dire sustenance only, pine-based cuisine in Nordic countries is becoming fine-dining