Look at the pretty

We were talking yesterday about colours and colour theory (hexachrome's a new one) and someone brought up Diego Velazquez and his beautifully luminous canvasses. I was heading up Parramatta Road this morning as the sun was coming up and the sun was rising behind the clouds with a most Velazquezian aurora.
(Unfortunately my filthy windscreen, crappy phone camera and the general ambience that is Camperdown mute the visual impact but you get the idea?)

Cross-breeding costumes and puppetry

Thinking about the unique and mind-expanding designs in the productions of Julie Taymor which bring together film, dance, puppetry, Eddie Izzard, blue people, a hogs head of real fire....

Look at the pretty

Swiss luxury watch made of fossilized dinosaur feces, toad skin costs $11,290 (Photo)

Reassuring proof that you can polish a turd.... and then put it to good use!

There's hope for me yet.

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Syd Mead

Went to see Visual Futurist at the Cremorne Orpheum last night. Syd Mead was there for a Q&A after as well. His work is astounding - he paints the future (paints! an analogue man in a digital world, although clearly he is fluent in the realm of CGI) with wonder, curiosity and passion. I love that in the future he sees, life and technology have a happy symbiosis; so much science fiction leans towards tales of fear and caution. To quote a line from the film, his universe "reminds me of something I've never seen before". I think if I lived in the world he sees I would go outside more.

Also astounding is the time capsule that is the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace. I always feel like I should be wearing a fur stole and cloche when I go there. It is heart-warming that the grand old lady is being preserved and even celebrated in her Art Deco opulence. The range of cinema to be seen there is broad but they don't stoop to the lower echelons of movie junk that pads out the viewing selection at the local multiplex. May my work one day display in such a venue, and may it be worthy!

Fungus the Bogeyman

Love pop-ups. I'm fascinated by the paper mechanics, there's an underrated genius to the craft. I found this at Rozelle Market on the weekend and of course had to have it - Raymond Briggs' work is always compelling. I wonder if there's a pop-up of When The Wind Blows.... a sobering entertainment indeed.