black

Win two Wonderful Art-Books

Hello everyone,

I have been thinking of doing a competition for a while now, and since I am now moving out of my house, I have two wonderful books, that I have already read, and I am willing to give them away, in order to show my appreciation for reading and following my blog for these past months.

Joining this competition is very simple, easy and takes only a minute. The only thing you need to do, is provide your email, in the form of a comment, below this post. The competition will be open for only a week, so don’t waste anytime and remember: Apply by 20/03/2014

After the competition closes next week, I will collect all emails provided, randomly select one, and  post the email of the winner on my blog next Friday the 21st of March. To thank you all for following my blog, commenting and motivating me, I am willing to ship worldwide, so even if you are not a UK resident, you have the chance to win these two wonderful books!

Graphic Design, Referenced:
A visual Guide to the Language, Applications and History to Graphic Design.
51S0mYzR98L

500 Handmade Books: Volume 2
500-handmade-books_0017

I encourage you all to take a minute and participate in my competition. I promise that you will not regret it. Both books are very interesting and different and I am sure you will really enjoy them. If you want more information on both books, here are two amazon links, where you can take a sneak peak of their content, view some images and read their description.

Thank you for reading,
Elli

Advertisement

First Kiss

Sharing a first kiss with somebody is definitely something personal, probably because it can be very weird, uncomfortable and very awkward. It can be nerve-racking, but it can also be magical.

Los Angeles-based, amateur filmmaker Tatia Pilieva, along with Wren Studio managed to create a three-minute video that successfully captures the most transient of human interactions, the fist kiss. Heart stopping and breathtaking moments are present in this unique and romantic video.

Twenty Strangers, straight, gay, young and old were chosen and paired off,  and with barely any guidance f they were asked to take their time and whenever they were ready simply share a kiss.

The neutral colour of the set, use of black and white  and the beautiful background music makes everyone look equal, and creates a sweet and romantic tone to the video. The artist managed to capture the beauty of strangers sharing a kiss for the first time, and for me, the weird, awkward and uncomfortable feelings experienced are what make this film so unique, true and beautiful.

It kind of makes you think, how do first kisses look like? How do they feel like? Because in ‘real life’, you don’t get the chance to witness fists kisses too often, and you definitely never get to kiss someone for the first time twice.

What did you think about this video? I have heard and read many different opinions, and I would love to know what you thought as well. 

Thank you for reading,
Elli

Lost Worlds Reclaimed by nature

I really enjoy capturing special moments with my camera, either for art projects or in everyday life, but I am not a huge fan of going to photography exhibitions. I tend to find them boring and less interesting than painting exhibitions for example where I find it easier to understand the artists intentions and messages, connect with his and thus with his artworks. But I recently visited ‘The Photographers’ Gallery” an exhibition that I genuinely enjoyed and recommend.

The Factory Photographs, exhibition by David Lynch:

I Love Industry pipes, I love fluid and smoke. I love man-made things. I like to se people hard at work, and I like to see sludge and man-made waste. David Lynch

This quote by the artist of the exhibition, David Lynch, gives a short definition of what is expected to be seen in his photography. His exhibition features 90 black an white images in England, Berlin. Poland, New York, and New Jersey between 1980 and 2000. Focusing on obsolete but richly atmospheric, post-industrial architecture spaces, this series depicts relics of a lost world, factories once proud emblems of progress, now deserted and being reclaimed by nature.

IMG_3208

Lynch’s passion for the dark, the apical and the mysterious themes, emanates from this body of work that captures uninhabited locations with a poetic and even romantic aura. Highly subjective, the imagery resembles dream-like sequences that have both enigmatic and ominous qualities.

IMG_3209

Maybe one of the reasons why I haven’t been the biggest fan of photography exhibitions is because I sometimes find it hard to connect with the photographs and more importantly, connect each photograph to the other. I like works of art to have a sequence and one to follow the other. In that way, I have the opportunity to create a narrative in my mind, and become a part of it. This exhibition allowed me to do exactly that, even though I did not actually connect with the ‘broken glasses’ and the ‘old walls’ that were featured in the photographs, I understood the angle of the artist, his purpose and the messages he meant to convey, and connected the photos together.

   _1__Press_Image_l_David_Lynch__Untitled__Lodz___2000_52a9ecf0d9878 _2__Press_Image_l_David_Lynch__Untitled__England___late_1980s_early_1990s_52cd5b23d84af

What is of great importance in my opinion, is the way the exhibition has been put together and presented. I am very organised myself, and I like everything to be presented in a simple and ‘clean’ way. For that reason, I really like the fact that the artist has used black  frames for his o pictures, that all have the approximate size. Also, black and white is used throughout the exhibition, making the photographs clear, the details more dramatic and the exhibition coherent.

IMG_3207

One can ask: What is so important about old pipes, destroyed walls, broken glasses and abandoned spaces? Well, many people will say that nothing is interesting about that. And others, that might disagree may have a number of different answers. But in my opinion, what makes a great artist is discovering art in everyday objects. David Lynch has managed to capture the beauty of these everyday objects. Shooting in old industrial spaces, he manages to find what is unique and present it as art. He takes the unimportant elements and gives them power, significance and meaning. In that way, his work exudes a unique, cinematic style through dark, brooding images.

If you are a big fan of photography (or not) you should definitely try and make some time to visit this exhibition by David Lynch, at the Photographers’ Gallery. Its not only amazing, it is free as well. If you are interested in more information about The Photographers’ Gallery, visit their website: http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/home