By Neale Van Fleet on June 22nd, 2023
This stunning piece was done by Moroccan artist Tima for the Montréal Mural Festival.
The explanation is the thing I made
By Neale Van Fleet on June 22nd, 2023
Kottke had a great little excerpt from an interview with musician Perfume Genius, which I’m sharing for this little piece I really relate to:
I’m good at making things, but not talking about why. I made them because I don’t know how to talk about why. The explanation is the thing I made
and
I essentially have to get back to feeling like I’m a little baby to make things that are good. A baby with really good taste.
Suspended
By Neale Van Fleet on June 21st, 2023
This piece by Menashe Kadishman was absolutely stunning in person.
Viewed up close, the massive scale of the steel work becomes apparent and its structural viability even more difficult to comprehend. With no visible evidence of the engineering holding the sculpture up…
Game: Laya's Horizon
By Neale Van Fleet on June 21st, 2023
I don’t post about games very often, but this is a rare gem. It’s a wingsuit flying game set in a mythical world where wingsuiting is a common way to get around. It has a large world to explore, lots of difficult challenges, and beautiful stylized graphics. It’s peaceful and without violence as well.
Laya’s Horizon is by the team that made Alto’s Odyssey, a similarly atmospheric game about snowboarding, at which I was once in competition with fellow blogger Jason Kottke for a spot in the top 10 of the overall rankings. I hit roughly number 7, but he soon surpassed me.
There is one catch with this game. It’s available for iPhone, iPad, and Android, but you need a Netflix account to play it. This is about the only complaint I have about this.
The Japanese House - Boyhood
By Neale Van Fleet on June 20th, 2023
A nice little companion to my post the other day about the book The Japanese House, friend of Elsewhat Sean sent along this music video from the band The Japanese House, whose band name was inspired by a Japanese-style tea house owned by Kate Winslet. The band and the book are both great.
Half-Dollar Chair
By Neale Van Fleet on June 19th, 2023
This is a photo I took a few weeks back of The Butterfly Chair, which was creating by welding together American 50 cent coins onto a steel frame. Created by artist Johnny Swing.
Book: The Japanese House
By Neale Van Fleet on June 19th, 2023
Every so often you run into a book about a topic you know next to nothing about, and it practically jumps off the shelf and into your life. The Japanese House is such a book. It recounts in great detail all the design elements of a traditional Japanese house, including layout, gardens, and the particular art of screening things from view, as recounted in the following excerpt:
Your first experience with the Japanese art of screening is likely to occur as you approach a building. Here, in the entry courtyard of Isecho in Kyoto, Your approach is indirect. As you pass the main gate, you know the entry must be behind the small garden, but you have to go around it to be sure-and the circular form invites you to go around. Thus, even before you are in Side the building, you find you have participated in an aesthetic experience.
This is obviously not a readily available book, but it is available at the Internet Archive.
Tiger Mural
By Neale Van Fleet on June 18th, 2023
Heads Mural
By Neale Van Fleet on June 17th, 2023
