Articles On Information

Hiroshi Nakamura | Optical Glass House

Hiroshi Nakamura | Optical Glass House

H iroshi Nakamura ’s Optical Glass House is a quiet oasis next to a busy Hiroshima thoroughfare. The crystalline glass blocks shut out the u...

12:42 PM

Sue Kreitzman | WOW

Sue Kreitzman | WOW

Sue Kreitzman

11:55 AM

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNGdcQGQ7Emg-mw5YwxZpaUKDvRMynC3ZnWnAjFqMudwLIIjz0qTAQHCns-QvNrgj4RDb4AZ0-x6KaXxc5LiliUcEkEhRJs7WwmdqwKALZUzF1jHIdO45CyrTzL97hCDYRH5ZNaMybNJE/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNGdcQGQ7Emg-mw5YwxZpaUKDvRMynC3ZnWnAjFqMudwLIIjz0qTAQHCns-QvNrgj4RDb4AZ0-x6KaXxc5LiliUcEkEhRJs7WwmdqwKALZUzF1jHIdO45CyrTzL97hCDYRH5ZNaMybNJE/s1600/5.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://siteprojects.org/varini/varini_bio.html" target="blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Site Projects</span></b></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.varini.org/02indc/indgen.html" target="blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">F</span><b>elice Varini</b></a><b> was born in Locarno, Switzerland in 1952 and currently lives and works in Paris, France. He defines himself as an abstract painter, and paints on architectural and urban spaces, such as buildings, walls and streets. The paintings are characterized by one vantage point from which the viewer can see the complete painting (usually simple geometric shapes such as circles, squares, lines), while from other view points the viewer will see ‘broken’ fragmented shapes. </b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLv3K5W4m6iSRU67zGQyLmjtJZXQL4AQOKetcA1w15UgTver2xHDvlenHzPkl2Qfx4iNJS-B09i9C2zel0352XK2bamgtXLaA7gYYPhbkM5qqT5bxDP6u38RgOLhECAMOUdJ8hHtz_8rw/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLv3K5W4m6iSRU67zGQyLmjtJZXQL4AQOKetcA1w15UgTver2xHDvlenHzPkl2Qfx4iNJS-B09i9C2zel0352XK2bamgtXLaA7gYYPhbkM5qqT5bxDP6u38RgOLhECAMOUdJ8hHtz_8rw/s1600/6.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">Varini explains that the work exists as a whole - with its complete shape as well as the fragments: “My paintings initially appear to the observer in the form of a deconstructed line which recalls nothing known or familiar, whence the effect of perturbation they produce. As one moves through the work, the line progressively appears in its composed form. One is thus under the illusion that the work is creating itself before one’s eyes.”<br /><br />The vantage point is carefully chosen: it is generally situated at his eye level and located preferably along a well-traveled route, for instance an opening between one room and another, or a clearing, or a landing... He then projects the form devised for the particular space onto its surfaces from the vantage point, then traces and paints.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXcwpkFAkRLY_eiKBY2isXRant2toGWZIobd_NrE_5SpqBuWNP6vYGEl2rLZkdc1qdGsLHoOz-tbhzU0IJK9vbHCOhhqDaeu_kI-eU8-0vzP3ODr55qPHf3U49UdQ_50LpLpMQ4eL3s0/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXcwpkFAkRLY_eiKBY2isXRant2toGWZIobd_NrE_5SpqBuWNP6vYGEl2rLZkdc1qdGsLHoOz-tbhzU0IJK9vbHCOhhqDaeu_kI-eU8-0vzP3ODr55qPHf3U49UdQ_50LpLpMQ4eL3s0/s1600/2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD43qyTrxq2bqcggTiTHCHvN1ph2LKHRksY7Ucqus2wuVC-9LrvXGOsP_U7vrFrZpAQoadd7dZa5K4hXgvv6zDiDp-An7b70JPIl9g3b_U_Y2JKxEb4Te6EJkxcABTI-GY-oLpovxdgbo/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD43qyTrxq2bqcggTiTHCHvN1ph2LKHRksY7Ucqus2wuVC-9LrvXGOsP_U7vrFrZpAQoadd7dZa5K4hXgvv6zDiDp-An7b70JPIl9g3b_U_Y2JKxEb4Te6EJkxcABTI-GY-oLpovxdgbo/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">The viewer experiences the work from within; as he/she moves through the architectural space which is the canvas, new discoveries are made at every step.<br /><br />“If you draw a circle on a flat canvas it will always look the same. The drawn circle will retain the flatness of the canvas. This kind of working is very limiting to me, so I project a circle onto spaces, onto walls or mountain sides, and then the circle’s shape is altered naturally because the ‘canvas’ is not flat. A mountain side has curves that affect the circle, and change the circle’s geometry. So, I do not need to portray complicated forms in my paintings. I can just use the simplicity of forms, because the reality out there distorts forms in any case, and creates variations on its own accord.” </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gXSfC8juEchgcbVtb78DSo_k8h1IbUDcG2gl4opumdsfbcpnAiAnstgFVTrnzsbz3NNFjIBPbzHLheaVHNHwd5KndmrcwzH3oKBbKfe13_GFtSxtT9hs8NRlI_zJkZqU3juVjCw1UQQ/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gXSfC8juEchgcbVtb78DSo_k8h1IbUDcG2gl4opumdsfbcpnAiAnstgFVTrnzsbz3NNFjIBPbzHLheaVHNHwd5KndmrcwzH3oKBbKfe13_GFtSxtT9hs8NRlI_zJkZqU3juVjCw1UQQ/s1600/3.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbZuUJltvm_N8MEvNeA76X4n1v4B2iVdn690lDxT3VeHCgq1JUMTOYAD9-RuMk873aTIBx8yXmm2iXEhlV7q8UcZpnvr6RNPO763BJoo_8VIZA-NW3eCvM7VTa0ztSWc4GECghjz3D1Y/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizbZuUJltvm_N8MEvNeA76X4n1v4B2iVdn690lDxT3VeHCgq1JUMTOYAD9-RuMk873aTIBx8yXmm2iXEhlV7q8UcZpnvr6RNPO763BJoo_8VIZA-NW3eCvM7VTa0ztSWc4GECghjz3D1Y/s1600/4.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">At this point, he says, cities looking to rejuvenate a public place or spice up an historic monument come to him. And with promises of washable paint and other clever material solutions, he has been able to paint what most of us can't even touch. He has drawn on the <a href="http://www.varini.org/02indc/28indch05.html" target="_blank">walls of Versailles</a> (2005), a <a href="http://www.varini.org/02indc/29indcf06.html" target="_blank">12th century abbey in western France</a> (2006), and the <a href="http://www.varini.org/02indc/27indcd04.html" target="_blank">15th century Augustinian monastery in Monte Carasso</a> (2004).</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1J_YYV2Glgl47VDMiJq6h6xS5GQo0MPcanA2El4COgG2vg-Od5BnlUR_wdKIbL12Mq8Mxvi9E3nvgAmY3F1RkYkwbiXgx148dfE0igLS2ZuwlmsBotifdoJ27d0wPh6IuuFdvKFjNr0/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1J_YYV2Glgl47VDMiJq6h6xS5GQo0MPcanA2El4COgG2vg-Od5BnlUR_wdKIbL12Mq8Mxvi9E3nvgAmY3F1RkYkwbiXgx148dfE0igLS2ZuwlmsBotifdoJ27d0wPh6IuuFdvKFjNr0/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCIJP1z2pdiOMgiS3wNjtZTHHxWPBsdavUfbjtKleKQ60BZWe-hqC4ch0HeLS21Pf2Cu2xAMFyHW-Et8hIo_dHIje4fD2XIqgYomwVSgvu5Z60AfvMWFy3-eXaYQG31kYsjCXyw676NzU/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCIJP1z2pdiOMgiS3wNjtZTHHxWPBsdavUfbjtKleKQ60BZWe-hqC4ch0HeLS21Pf2Cu2xAMFyHW-Et8hIo_dHIje4fD2XIqgYomwVSgvu5Z60AfvMWFy3-eXaYQG31kYsjCXyw676NzU/s640/2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7Ylq9VGC9Bk?rel=0" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/58358992?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=d6cf00" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="853"></iframe>

Felice Varini

Site Projects F elice Varini was born in Locarno, Switzerland in 1952 and currently lives and works in Paris, France. He defines himself as...

10:05 AM

Fountain Pen Purchase: Real-Time Thoughts, Part 2

Part 1 of this tale can be found <a href="http://dailyacquisition.blogspot.com/2013/03/fountain-pen-purchase-real-time.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Basically, I'm trying to pick one of the following to be my next fountain pen (even though I don't really need another one): Sailor Professional Gear Imperial Black; Sailor Professional Gear Matte Black; Edison Pearl; or an "inexpensive" Nakaya.<br /><div><br /></div><div>I've already read a bunch of online reviews, looked over the Sailor, Edison, and Nakaya websites, and reviewed a number of online forum posts related to my candidate pens. I've even reached out and asked for expert cyber-advice in an attempt to help me choose a pen. There seems to be very good agreement about the quality and excellence of Japanese nibs made by companies such as Sailor and Nakaya (nib quality is really important to me, because I'm more interested in the actual writing experience than looks, design, materials, and filling mechanisms). In fact, Sailor nibs are very highly regarded and some people say that they are among the best in the world. Edison sources its nibs from a German supplier (at least that's what my internet research tells me), and those nibs are also highly regarded. That said, it seems as though most people favor Sailor nibs over Edison nibs. Moreover, I already have two German fountain pens: a Lamy Vista and a Pelikan M205; and I'm not too eager to try yet another German nib. By the way, the Lamy has an acceptable nib, and the Pelikan has a super smooth nib that I feel is excellent.</div><div><br /></div><div>So . . . using nib performance and reputation as important deciding factors, I've taken the Edison Pearl off of my wish list for the time being. Don't get me wrong, the Pearl still looks really good to me, and it would be great to have a custom pen that is handmade in the United States. I just have a gut feeling that I should go with a traditional Japanese company that fabricates its own nibs.</div><div><br /></div><div>Using the almighty dollar as another deciding factor, I've removed the "low price point" Nakaya pens off of my wish list. I just can't see myself spending THAT much on a pen, even though I appreciate the craftsmanship and inherent value in the ridiculously awesome Nakaya pens. If I had the patience and discipline to save 50 bucks a month in a pen fund, then maybe I would acquire one. But I don't. And I won't. So scratch the Nakaya. As a side note, if I win the lottery, then I might be willing to drop four stacks of high society on a <a href="http://www.nakaya.org/en/review.aspx?id=11024&type=body" target="_blank">"high price point" Nakaya</a>. Yikes.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm making progress here. My next fountain pen will definitely be a Sailor Professional Gear. I simply need to choose the Imperial Black version or the Matte Black version, along with the nib size. Simple.<br /><br /><a href="http://dailyacquisition.blogspot.com/2013/04/fountain-pen-purchase-real-time.html" target="_blank">Forward to Part 3</a>; <a href="http://dailyacquisition.blogspot.com/2013/03/fountain-pen-purchase-real-time.html" target="_blank">Back to Part 1</a></div><div><br /></div><div></div>