Thursday, 28 July 2016

gathers no moss

Halfway between Copenhagen and Gothenburg, a family picnicking in the forest on the estate of the late Swedish parliamentarian Alfred Bexell discovered in 1925 hundreds of hidden aphorisms and maxims carved into the moss covered boulders several decades earlier.
Known as Bexell’s Talking Stones, it was later discovered that the landowner had employed two masons to work the engravings over several seasons but Bexell never declared his motivation to share these bits of wisdom or why he kept it a secret, but it does seem rather enchanting and rangers have ensured that visitors can trace their own path of discovery. Dygd รขr makt translates to “virtue is power.”

Wednesday, 27 July 2016

These jihadi hijinks are engineered to foment a religious war and sew more distrust but are the work of disgusting nihilists.
Now these terrible events are cycling in and out so quickly as to stint every one of us of the time to mourn and reflect. Appeasement is concession and not accommodation and certainly not tolerance.
Here are some scenes from some of the places where such dread and brutal violence was visited just in the past month at more tranquil times.




raubdruckerei

Being something of a manhole-fancier myself (that sounds like an awful indictment so perhaps the German term Kanaldeckel is better), I really appreciated being introduced to the urban artist called Raubdruckerin by the fabulous Nag on the Lake. This exhibitionist has made a circuit of dozens of cities to pirate the impressions of the signatures of the plumbing that lies underneath the asphalt but can really be iconic symbols of a place on to tee-shirts and tote-bags and just as representative as a skyline.

creative commons

For a decade, Wikipedia has held an annual competition to showcase the best photography that freely licensed for anyone to use, and Twisted Sifter has a finely curated gallery that features the superlatives from this past year and links to see all the winners lauded since 2006. There’s some really amazing and iconic images to discover, and the effort and enthusiasm really highlights the importance of this community of volunteers.

offworld colonies

Messy Nessy Chic transports us to the Mojave Desert where NASA and visionary artist and Andrea Zettler share the other worldly landscape for the elective and investigative outdoors activities.
While the space agency is field testing accom- modations for the Moon, Mars and beyond, Zettler is expanding on a dream to camp like alien with these fantastic self-contained pods that recede into their surroundings. Zettler’s science-fiction รฆsthetic is an exploration that certainly has the potential for cross-over into the realm of applied engineering and design, as well as the social needs of people living in isolation. Learn more about the Wagon Station Encampment in the deserts outside of Joshua Tree at the link up top.