More recycling...

I've posted on these guys before... They are amazing artists and so inspiring... 
luzinterruptus.





They staged an installation in Warsaw called Recycling Sunday to not only 
encourage recycling, but also familiarise the residents with the colour codes 
used to separate different kinds of recycled garbage... blue for paper, yellow 
for metal and green for glass.

1000 bags in these three colours were inflated with lights and distributed

around a plaza.

Apparently, Warsaw has no recycling program... it'd be interesting to find out 
whether this installation had some impact on that :)


photos by Gustavo Sanabria

Inspiration: Recycled/Repurposed

Love this! A recycling feature in the US Elle magazine.
Designers given the task of creating a piece of couture from 
a selection of garments.








That ruffled skirt is just magic! :)


Found via Blue Moss

The Other Side

I've just discovered that a most amazing installation occurred in Paris just after 
we'd left. The Place Vendome played host to a ring of 4-metre high mirrored 
cubes bouncing light and reflecting scenes. The installation was created by 
Arnaud Lapierre for FIAC 2011.





Don't you think it has that funny surreal feeling to it that you get when travelling?
Maybe there's a bit of jet-lag in the mix but also that heady feeling of seeing new 
things and they all fracture and jumble in your mind as you try to take it all in and 
make sense of your new surroundings?





I love it :) Wish I could have seen it. Better than drugs I'd say ;)








Apparently, it's currently to be found at the Paul Ricard circuit in Castellet and
from there it'll be 'doing the rounds' to several art fairs around Europe. Hope you 
get to see it if you live over there... I'd love it if you could share some pics :)


via  

Our Creative Spaces: New (to me) Crochet Technique

I've discovered something new! Well, it's new to me anyway;) 
I'm so excited about it I've decided to have a giveaway tomorrow to celebrate 
my 500th post from September.


Anyway, new technique... I was playing around with some crochet... I wanted 
to be able to swap between colours in a row without having to do the old 
knot-and-cut routine over and over. 





I began that way but the piece was getting a bit bumpy... so, I started introducing 
new colours and keeping them running through the piece, picking up different 
colours as I wanted them. I think it worked out a treat.





This is how I did it, working with a simple double stitch...


(1) When you get to the spot where you'd like to introduce a new colour, put
your hook through that space and pull through a loop of the new colour, yarn 
over with the new colour and pull through the two loops on the hook to complete
the double stitch. It should be half the new colour and half the old colour...



(2) Continue working your double stitches into the next spaces with the new 
colour... 





(3) Make sure you are crocheting the old colour into the work so that it is hidden...





(4) When you've completed as many new colour stitches as you require,
pick up the old colour of yarn and start working double stitches with it.
Again, you need to make sure that the other colour is worked into the piece 
and hidden from view, but ready to pick up again when you need it... 





It's almost like weaving in a way because all the threads run along the length
and can be picked up and woven in as you need them.





The finished effect is rather soft looking too - quite feathery in appearance
which is funny. I love that the surface is all smooth and bump free too :)


Strangely, the colour parts are more defined on the back of the piece...





Anyway, in our world where nothing is ever original, I'm sure it's all been done before...  
but I do admit I'm quite chuffed at discovering this method through experimentation.


Hope you've had a wonderfully creative week too. You can find more creative
spaces here.


Don't forget to come back for my giveaway tomorrow! :)

London + Powerful Making

Timber Wave Cromwell Rd installation by Amanda Levete Architects
Part of the London Design Festival.

There were two amazing exhibitions I saw whilst away where you were 
not allowed to take photos... and this was a great shame. One was in Paris 
and I'll come to that in a day or so. The other was in London at the V&A 
Museum entitled The Power of Making. It was breathtaking.

As you enter the V&A from the Cromwell Road entrance there's a large 
space to the left of the information desk where the bookshop used to be. 
Here, The Power of Making exhibition will be in situ until 2 January 2012 
– a free exhibition celebrating handmade and the presence of craft in 
modern life.





I'm sorry if this is text heavy but I just have to reproduce the exhibition's 
introduction:


Making is the most powerful way that we solve problems, express ideas 
and shape our world. What and how we make defines who we are, and 
communicates who we want to be. 
For many people, making is crucial for survival. For others, it is a chosen 
vocation: a way of thinking, inventing and innovating. And for some it is 
simply a delight to be able to shape a material and say 'I made that'. The 
power of making is that it fulfills each of these human needs and desires.
Those whose craft and ingenuity reach the very highest levels can create 
amazing things. But making is something everyone can do. The knowledge 
of how to make – both everyday objects and highly-skilled creations – is 
one of humanity's most precious resources.


Guest curator, Daniel Charny


Isn't that just fabulous? The exhibition leaflet listed a glossary of the skills 
and techniques employed in the pieces, including: 3D animation, 3D printing, 
airbrushing, annealing, baking, beading, blacksmithing, blocking, brazing, 
carving, cobbling, cordwaining, crocheting, cross stitch, drawing, drilling, 
dyeing, embroidery, etching, felting, glassblowing... and so many more.





It was so very inspiring. We were all blown away by the depth of imagination 
and ingenuity... and just when we started, reluctantly, to leave the space, we 
saw this lovely fella from one of our favourite movies. The handmade Mr Fox :)

photo credit 

There's a vimeo too for the exhibition. My favourite quote is from the 
flutemaker, Steven Wessel, when he says "Craft, or working with yours hands, 
is fundamental to being human". That just about sums it all up really :)




Power of Making from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

Crochet Love

                             

A happy mix of crochet love today... 

These fabulous wheel covers really made me smile when 

I saw them at Lynn's.

They reminded me of this fabulous piece of artistry when Kate 

yarn bombed the spare tyre on their caravan...

Then I found this yarn bombed car... 

and I found myself imagining Kate's caravan covered in yarn :)

I'm not doing my creative space today... I don't really have anything to show just yet as I'm 

embracing Alisa's idea of having an MOF (month of finishing). There are a couple of projects on 

the roll here that have been far too long in the finishing. When I do eventually post on them, 

no doubt you'll be stretching your memory for when you saw them last ;)

Anyway, on with my jobs. Hope you're having a great day.

1000 Poems

There's a lot going on around here at the moment and my mind has been spinning with ideas as well... I've had this post on file for a while now, but lately, I've found I keep having a peek at the photos. They are so calming. This is like a fairytale garden to me :) 

1000 Poems by Mail is an installation by Luzinterruptus, guerilla lighting artists extraordinaire. They filled one thousand envelopes with poems written by 17 poets and hung them from the leaves of the garden at the Madrid Poetry Festival venue last year.

On the last night of the festival, one hundred visitors were offered the chance to have a poem sent to their loved one with the light inside.

One of the things I really love about this installation is its aim to highlight days past when special words were sent by post.  

I have a computer-phobic friend in London with whom I correspond. We put together tomes of clippings and photos and pages and pages of news in our letters. We also take care to comment of every single inclusion in our replies... it's quite a task and takes forever. 

I only manage to send 3 or 4 letters a year but I love doing it :) Do you get many letters these days? Do you write letters?

p.s. 

In case you don't already know, the

 Queensland Poetry Festival is on 26 - 28 August.

via 

Early warning system...

I've been laughing to myself every time I see these posters. 

They're a web find from Etsy sellers Bexpert of nautical code

flags and their meanings. 

Maybe I have a deranged sense of humour, but 

don't you think they'd be hilarious t-shirts?

Nothing like clearly stating your intentions... 

Just running that up the flag pole ;) 

If they tickle your fancy, you can find them here.