Visual Loft

September 19, 2012

Paris vs NY

Tony Miotto's 1-minute animation film is just awesome!

September 18, 2012

Since every designer must have their own chair, these are great pictures of six amazing designers sitting on their chairs + table: George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames and Jens Risom (Playboy, July 1961).

I love the Panton chairs in my dinning room. They were a first: the first made of one single plastic piece, the first to be toxic. It was also the very first sleek and sexy chair.

Studies by Panton

First prototype

"How to undress in front of your husband" campaign

My next investmen is going to be a Kaare Klint Easy Chair from 1930, hopefully. I really prefer leather and wood, natural materials.

Even if sitting is not healthy at all...

Rio 2016

Although Sepp Gumbrecht is a bit skeptical about Rio's readyness for the Olympic Games in 2016, this clip shows you how it is going to be organized. I'm excited about rugby and triathlon for paralympic athletes.

September 17, 2012

Anti Pinochet, Alejandro Magallanes

In 1973, Augusto Pinochet organized a violent coup d’état that deposed president Salvador Allende. Time's cover was this one.

On October 5, 1988, a Chilean national plebiscite was held to determine whether or not Augusto Pinochet would continue as the country’s leader for another eight-year term. The “No” side won with over 55% of the vote, and Pinochet eventually stepped down from office in March of 1990, putting an end to his military dictatorship.

Found here

In Mexico, graphic designer Alejandro Magallanes came up last year with the "No more blood" campaign, as I mentioned before. The logo looks quite similar. Coincidence or inspiration drawn from Chile?

September 15, 2012

Self-made man, slave

Benjamin Franklyn coined the concept of "Self-Made Man", applying it to himself, the poor son of an unknown candle-maker who made his way up in society. The concept was further developed by Frederick Douglass. But in fact it goes back to the Roman concept of novus homo: who achieved a seat in the Senate without familiar precedents, such as Cicero.

A self-made man own his destiny and time and self. He is authentically free. The opposite is being slave. A self-made man struggles to free himself, the slave resigns to his fate.

Opposites tend to look similar...

Bobby Carlyle, Self-Made Man

Michelangelo, Bearded Slave (1525-1530)

September 14, 2012

Religious nonsense

Specially after the terrible 20th Century, most of the Western civilization learned to behave properly and be tolerant. We make fun of religion, you can make fun of God, Jesus Christ, Mary, the pope, your mother, and besides a bunch of conservative people, nobody really cares.

We visit the Metropolitan Museum and discover sexualized images of Mary:

We visit Rome and find out that artists such as Bernini have being inspired by sexual activity in order to depict religious ecstasy:

Other artists, such as Banksy or Joseph Canger, criticize society and actual vices by making fun of Jesus or Mary:

People even get aroused by religious motives and make fun and/or money out of it:

And it is ok, because we live in modern democracies and our History has being enriched by the Enlightment.

Yet, recently we have witnessed how intolerant some Muslims can become when they feel that you are being disrespectful to their beliefs. Do not mock Islam or Allah or Muhammad! You might pay with your life a simple provocation – what fanatic people consider as a provocation.

If they would let their women move around freely and let them dress and undress as Western women do, they would probably find out that the Black Stone (al-Ḥajar al-Aswad) they revere looks very similar to this.