The good news is that our Roma custom frames are 50% off the standard list price this month. The better news is that thanks to Hurricane Irene we decided to extend the sale thru Labor Day. So you’ve got another weekend to come take advantage of the best value in our stores right now. We’ll be open 9:30-5:00 on Labor Day, Monday Sept 5. Romas are hand-finished Italian frames; each one that we cut and join is truly unique. This is your best chance to make your item – whether it’s a photo, print, painting, you name it – even more special and something that you’ll want to have forever.
Well, maybe “make art” is a little generous. But our cousins to the south did have an approach that was somewhat endearing, albeit not well-informed. Some of our staff have lived in Florida and can tell you that, yes, people certainly do put big Xs of tape on their windows when faced with a hurricane. But it doesn’t do diddly-squat. Ya gotta resort to marine plywood over the glass if haven’t got storm shutters. But who knows? Perhaps looking tough and applying a New York attitude is what saved these establishments. Being designers (after a fashion), we can’t help but chuckle at the Apple store. Yeah, they got it right – sandbags and tarps, no glass – but it just looks so orderly with no garish colors. There must be an app for that. The grand prize goes to this new residential building. They were absolutely not *&%$?# around!
Thanks to the fine folks at BoingBoing, we discovered Ben Grosser and his interactive robotic painting machine. No, that’s not a painfully obvious explanation – that’s simply what he calls it. The device is better explained by watching the video below and there’s plenty more about the making of and Grosser’s philosophizing about it at his website.
“Because of its interactive nature, the machine can function in multiple contexts. In an exhibition or gallery context, the system listens to whatever sounds come its way. This could include listening to visitors speaking directly into the mic, eavesdropping on nearby conversations, or when nobody is there, listening to itself make a painting. In this video, the machine only had itself to listen to.”
Two brothers brought us these original pages from a “souvenir edition” of The Detroit News. One of their parents had just passed away and they wanted to frame some of the items stored in the family’s attic. They settled on the moon landing photos published on August 5, 1969. We often frame newspaper articles, but rarely this old. The paper was in surprisingly good shape – obviously stored with care, but also because The Detroit News deemed it a “keepsake”, worthy of being printed on 50 lb enamel stock. Pretty interesting in a time when we’re seeing the rapid decline of newspapers.
The “first color moon photos” taken on July 20 that year are seen both on the cover and in a 2 page spread when the cover is opened, so we had two copies to work with. The piece of information that got our attention was the technical detail that the article goes into.
“These pictures were taken by Aldrin and Armstrong, using specially modified 70mm Hasselblad cameras, worth $11,600. Each camera, weighing 2.3 pounds, was fitted with a 38mm F – 4.5 Zeiss Biogon lens with a focusing range from 12 inches to infinity. Shutter speeds ranged from time exposure to 1-500th of a second and were set manually. Aldrin used one camera inside Eagle. Both used specially processed Ektachrome EF (ASA 125) to withstand extreme heat and cold. The camera used on the moon was left behind to avoid bringing lunar contamination to earth.” Good, ’cause we certainly don’t want any of that yucky lunar contamination on Earth.
We always have to wrestle with art work like this installation from 2009 by Brian Kaspr and Payton Turner at The Salon at Sundown. On one hand, we love the simplicity of the idea and how it turned out. On the other hand, it starts to make our heads hurt when we think about the time and effort that went into it. Each wallpaper pattern is made up of thousands of hand-applied stickers, and can be removed and re-applied in any space. It works on a couple of levels; the entire room itself is impressive, and then the detail photos show how there’s a whole ‘nother level waiting for you when you get up close. You’re drawn to something that’s familiar but it’s been presented in a way not thought of before. “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like that!” and “Hey, I’ve used those before myself.” That’s an entirely different kind of appeal than that of art like Monet’s Water Lilies, but certainly no less valid. The argument could be made that it takes more talent to find beauty in something common and mundane, rather than something already widely considered beautiful.
We’re coming up fast on the opening date for our new store in Andover. As is the Big Picture way, it is the responsibility of our existing stores to design and frame the art that will hang in the new location and show off what custom framing can bring to a piece. We recently finished a version of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.
When debating how to frame their own items, customers will often say, “Well, it’s just a poster.” This was just a poster that we bought online. Take a look at it now! The handsome frame from our Big Picture collection along with an appropriate mat design make it look as good as the real thing. That’s a suede mat on top, followed by a fillet, and an alpharag mat on the inside edge. The v-groove just before the fillet exposes the white core of the suede and creates an eye-catching detail. Now, can you really imagine it being framed any other way?
Well, okay – maybe like one of the originals in Amsterdam. Van Gogh made 5 versions of the Sunflower paintings with the intention of impressing friend and fellow painter Gaughuin. It’s fun to say “Van Gogh” and “Gaughuin.” Try it. It’s also fun to hear someone with the proper accent say it. Here, listen…
Hyperrealistic human forms? Check. Clever paper cuts that are more 3D than 2D? Check. But the colliding of the two, creating an illusion that your brain can’t ignore? Well, Cesar Del Valle’s got that one all sewn up. The Columbian artist’s black & white illustrations are photo realistic, adding to the jarring sense that the figures might actually be balancing on a pencil or in front of the wall, rather than on it. We like his self-restraint when it comes to how much the paper is manipulated. Just a string here or a tear there, but for the most part our brains complete the effect. All that empty space on the paper carries a lot of power – it’s characteristically, uh… paperish.
Does anybody like moving? Geez – no one, right? We can’t stand moving, and if you feel likewise, Michael Johansson’s sculptures might give you nightmares.
Johansson was born in Trollhättan 1975, took his MA at the Art Academy in Malmö 2005, where he still lives and works. We were enthralled with his monuments to other people’s refuse. They’ve got it all – color, textures, composition. There’s no actual sculpting, yet Johansson’s control of these inanimate objects and his ability to shape them without changing their essence is very seductive. That is to say, the scales are still just scales – but who would ever place one on top of another? They aren’t attached as if they were truly a piece of art – more like each one just wants to know how much it weighs.
The suitcases are still just suitcases – but how are they different now that there are many and each is inside another? Ok, we’ll say it – this next series makes us think of Tetris and Rubik’s Cube. How’d ya like to have Mr. Johansson around the next time you gotta rent a storage unit?
Korean artist Yong Ho Ji makes sculptures with layers of used tire strips bound together by synthetic resins on supporting frames of steel, wood, or styrofoam. This certainly isn’t the first time that we’ve looked at a trending artist who’s work melds animals with modern technology. Ji’s work references eight stages of transformation: carnivorous, herbivorous and omnivorous animals, arthropods, fish, hybrid animals, hybrid humans, and finally humans. It’s interesting that the way he uses the tires suggests organic elements entirely separate from the animals depicted. The tires look feathery, or flowing the way that a fish’s tail fin would. On one hand they appear to be animal, but the machine quality of the tires makes us think of alien worlds and robots. His own artist statement reminds us that one key to their meaning is “recycled” – the tires come from man’s world, but he has a responsiblity to the animals in it.
These incredible sculptures are by Canadian artist, Maskull Lasserre. Born in 1978, Lasserre actually spent a lot of his childhood in South Africa before returning to Canada. He has a BFA from Mount Allison University, and an MFA in sculpture from Concordia University. He now works out of studios in both Montreal and Ottawa. Lasserre’s site states, “Elements of nostalgia, accident, humor, and the macabre are incorporated into works that induce strangeness in the familiar, and provoke uncertainty in the expected.” Well, that appears pretty accurate. His delicate style and mind-numbing detail leave us convinced that there are actual bones and skeletons involved in his sculptures. The effect that’s both creepy and beautiful makes a real impression.
Now, about his idea of a frame…
The good news is that our Roma custom frames are 50% off the standard list price this month. The better news is that thanks to Hurricane Irene we decided to extend the sale thru Labor Day. So you’ve got another weekend to come take advantage of the best value in our stores right now. We’ll be open 9:30-5:00 on Labor Day, Monday Sept 5. Romas are hand-finished Italian frames; each one that we cut and join is truly unique. This is your best chance to make your item – whether it’s a photo, print, painting, you name it – even more special and something that you’ll want to have forever.
Hang with Big Picture Framing 