delft on the shelf

I recalled reading about these contact lenses inspired by Delfts blauw pottery courtesy of Nag on the Lake a few weeks ago but we failed to appreciate the larger context—notionally just one entrant in an annual contest that the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam holds that calls for submissions of artworks informed by objects in the museum’s collection.  This year’s Rijksstudio Awards—to be put up to a vote by the public to name the winners—also includes, besides this work of retinal concept art, a Night Watch night shirt and prophylactic wrappers adorned with etchings of Biblical liaisons by Dürer. Check out the links at the top to learn more and to perhaps get inspired to hold a similar homage for the collections in your own local galleries.

upper caucasia

Justifiably doubtful whether chaperones could not guarantee the personal safety and security of non-white students at its southern frontier thanks to overt and covert racist border-control policies, Canadian schools and youth organisations are cancelling field trips to America. A statement issued by the Toronto district school board offers that the cancellation of all planned excursions reflect their commitment “to ensuring that fairness, equity and inclusion are essential principles” and nothing to compromise in the face bigotry and harassment.

haute clôture

The US Senate voted to grant domestic internet service providers full access to the browsing history and thus the habits, health and well-being of its customers and sell that data to the highest bidder—all without the consent of the user.
Lawmakers opposed to the bill are rebranding the initialism ISP as “information sold for profit” or “invading subscribers’ privacy” and it is really chilling to think what sort of trails of bread-crumbs we leave behind that makes judgment rather than justice swift and instant. Companies beholden to no regulation and with no consequence for spillage, mischaracterisation that could deny an individual a job or a loan, would horde vast amounts of data for actuarial purposes and targeted advertising. The bill is not yet become law but we’re not expecting the opposition to prevail—but perhaps the new policy of containment can confine it to the USA.

ho/horizon/on

Reporting on the Getty Centre’s latest acquisitions Hyperallergic introduces us the visual verses of Scottish poet and playwright Ian Hamilton Finlay known as concrete or pattern poetry, typified by meaning being conveyed by the typographical effects as much as the choice of the words themselves. Though the works are ultra-modern this reminds me of this recent study of ancient calligrams. Visit the link up top to see a whole gallery of Finlay’s poems plus those of fellow pioneer and correspondent Brazilian Augusto de Campos.