Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba
Best wishes on this ostentatious day, Jennifer! (Your mother dug up this old photo of you last night while we were talking about your arrival on this planet back in the seventies… you may find it encouraging to know that if the Neurophysiologist gig isn’t working out for you, or becomes boring, you might still have a shot at success being a bunny—the advantage of being both smart and cute).
Smile for the camera…
Cleveland, Ohio (99 years ago)
“The Pyramid of Capitalist System is a provocative illustration of the hierarchical system of capitalist rule in America. In this beautifully colored portrait, the artist depicts the multiple tiers of working class oppression. At the top of the pyramid sits the state, which serves the interests of the ruling class and functions under capitalism as the protector of private wealth and property. Below the state stand the religious leaders, clergymen, and preachers of false consciousness who encourage obedience to and acceptance of the status quo, entreating the working masses to accept their ordained fate and seek their just rewards not on earth but in that glorious hereafter.
If obedience cannot be encouraged it will surely be enforced by the members of the next tier… beneath the military sit the parasite class, the bourgeoisie, who exploit the toilers of the world and profit by their labor power.
Beneath it all, bearing the weight of the entire system, are the workers who produce all things fundamental to the perpetuation of life and the continuation of this system. Thus, in addition to illustrating the multi-layered oppression and exploitation of workers, this image also begs the question, “what would happen to capitalism if the workers simply withdrew their support?”
Poster image: Pyramid of Capitalist System, issued by Nedeljkovich, Brashick and Kuharich, Cleveland: The International Publishing Co., 1911.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Back in the 1960s, my good friend Ronald Shakespear was also something of a photographer—a collection of his images were published in the book Caras y Caritas, and he’s shared some of his reminiscences in a blog posting (from which I’ve paraphrased the following snip)…
One day in 1964, I took a plane to Spain to go see Orson Welles, who lived near Juan Perón in Puerta de Hierro. I knocked on his door, without an appointment, and was surprised that he opened the door to me—it did not matter that I had arrived “just like that.” There he was, the great Orson, washing down an old Buick (which never actually ran). The fact that I had no appointment mattered not at all: “Never ask permission,” he said, “Never.”
That cemented my admiration for him. He invited me to the Plaza de Toros de Madrid, I spent a lovely afternoon and took some pictures that I still love (even though the originals were lost by Atlantis magazine after they were published). We spent an unforgettable afternoon watching the master bullfighter Curro Giron… then we went to the Plaza butchery (to buy meat) and Giron gave the bull’s ears to Orson.
Above images (all photos by Ronald Shakespear): film director Orson Welles (1915-1985) in Madrid, 1962; Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, (1899-1986), already blind at the time of the photo, in Mexico, 1964; Argentine jazz pianist Enrique “Mono” Villegas (1913-1986) at a friend’s house in BA, 1964. The book cover of Caras y Caritas, design by Rubén Fontana.
Graz, Austria
Actually, it’s both, ideal for a small space (such as an apartment) where you might only occasionally need a dining table. It’s not completely original (Victor Papanek and James Hennesey floated a similar idea in Nomadic Furniture back in the 1970s, as per the sketch above), but clever nonetheless…
(unknown individual, location, and source)*
* Thanks to an e-mail from Rod at www.creativeroots.org I have just learned that the above image is actually of Trolltunga, “troll’s tongue”—given the hundreds of photos that show up in a Google image search for Trolltunga, obviously this horizontal slab of rock that sticks out above Skjeggedal is a very popular trekking destination in Norway. Thanks Rod!
See lots more images such as the one below, here…
(another one for you, Jennifer)
“There is only one difference between a madman and me.
I am not mad.” —Salvador Dali
New York, New York
The images above are but a few from a lovely post that I stumbled across by ephemera-nut Eric Baker on Design Observer.
