Sunday, January 22, 2012

Zac Freeman: An Artist Transforming Junk

Zac Freeman started creating assemblage artworks of this type in 1999.

All artworks are made entirely out of collected junk, found objects, and general trash.

By glueing the bits of junk to a wooden substrate, Zac is able to form an image, usually faces, which only can be seen at a distance.

This stunning concept is quite the time consumer.
I was interested in communicating through visual representation in apparent 2-dimensional space and through the actual objects used for the medium in 3-dimensional space. – Zac Freeman

It is very important that he incorporate the actual objects into the art as opposed to a picture or rendition of it because it better expresses the intention of the artwork.

Freeman feels the junk is more powerful being present. It is an actual thing to be reckoned with that existed in this time and place and carries energy in and of itself.

See more of his work here

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Open Letter

To Liar Cameron,

Please find below our suggestion for fixing the UK 's economy.

Instead of giving billions of pounds to banks that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.

You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 10 million people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them £1 million each severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire
Ten million job openings - unemployment fixed

2) They MUST buy a new British car.
Ten million cars ordered - Car Industry fixed

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage -
Housing Crisis fixed

4) They MUST send their kids to school/college/university -
Crime rate fixed

5) They MUST buy £100 WORTH of alcohol/tobacco a week .....
And there's your money back in duty/tax etc

It can't get any easier than that!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of parliament pay back their falsely claimed expenses and second home allowances

If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know.

Also.....
Let's put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in a nursing home.

This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies and walks.

They'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc and they'd receive money instead of paying it out.

They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance.

Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.

A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell.

They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.

They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool and education.

Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ's and legal aid would be free, on request.

Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens.

Each senior could have a PC a TV radio and daily phone calls.

There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised. Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week. Live in a tiny room and pay £600.00 per week and have no hope of ever getting out.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Design for small spaces: A Trendy cabinet that turns into stools

For apartment dwellers worldwide, finding space to do practically anything can be a challenge, particularly for seemingly superfluous needs like entertaining.

Most of us don’t have seating space for more than ourselves, let alone our friends.

Eindhoven grad Rianne Koens has come up with a pretty ingenious solution to this problem, and it’s good-looking too.

The design is simple: it’s a wooden cabinet that converts into sturdy stools and side tables.

The mismatched drawers of this multifunctional cabinet are stacked, each with foldable legs, so when unstacked, they can serve as stools and coffee tables to make it easier to accommodate guests.

The design, called Oturakast, was inspired by the hospitality of the designer’s Turkish in-laws (otur means “to sit” in Turkish) as well as by Dutch design (kast is “cabinet” in Dutch).

According to Koens, the design is an “elegant replacement for the stackable stools in western households.”

This cabinet is not only a space-saver for those of us who have the common storage and space issues of apartment living, but it’s also considered and stylish.

Clever ideas to make your life easier

Clever ideas: use a walnut to heal furniture scratches

Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes.

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Clever ideas: WD40 for cleaning crayon off TV screens

Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or computer screen with WD40 (also works on walls).

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Clever ideas: keep a cut apple from going brown

Stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box by securing with a rubber band.

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Clever ideas: store bedlinen sets inside their pillowcases

Overhaul your linen cupboard – store bedlinen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will be no more hunting through piles for a match.

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Clever ideas: bowl as iPhone sound amplifier

Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone / iPod in a bowl – the concave shape amplifies the music.

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Cleaver ideas: wet wipe dispenser as plastic bag storage

Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.

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Clever ideas: baby powder to remove sand from feet

Add this item to your beach bag. Baby powder gets sand off your skin easily – who knew?!

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Clever ideas: velcro strip on wall to hold soft toys

Attach a velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.

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Clever ideas: gift wrap storage on cupboard ceiling

Look up! Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the floor.

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Clever idea: stocking over vacuum to pick up lost items

Gotcha! Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a stocking over the vacuum hose.

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Clever idea: box lid cupcake holder

Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting crosses into a box lid.

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Clever idea: how to fold a fitted sheet

For those who can’t stand the scrunching and bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.

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Clever idea: magnetic bobbypin storage

Forever losing your bathroom essentials? Use magnetic strips to store bobby pins (and tweezers and clippers) behind a vanity door

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Clever idea: use shower caps to hold shoes when packing

A tip for holiday packing. Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty soles rubbing on your clothes. And you can find them in just about every hotel!

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Clever idea: muffin pan craft storage

A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy. Magnets hold the plastic cups down to make them tip-resistant.

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Clever idea: bread tags as cable labels

Bread tags make the perfect-sized cord labels.

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Clever idea: cook cupcakes in ice cream cones

Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones – so much more fun and easier for kids to eat. Definitely doing this!

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Clever idea: microwave your own popcorn in a plain paper bag

Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper bag. Much healthier and cheaper than the packet stuff.

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Clever idea: use a tension rod to hang spray bottles

Brilliant space-saver: install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles. Genius!

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Clever idea: how to make heart-shaped eggs

Win friends at breakfast with this heart-shaped egg tutorial. Aww shucks!

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Clever idea: use upside-down muffic pan to make cookie bowls

Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila – you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream. Click here for recipe.

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Clever idea: freeze aloe vera lotion for soothing burns

Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.

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Clever idea: gutter veggie garden

Gutter garden: Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.

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Clever idea: egg cartons for Christmas ornament storage

Use egg cartons to separate and store your Christmas decorations.