(from the beyond…)

Only days before his untimely death in 2001, Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) gave a riveting talk at the University of California that sparkled with his trademark satiric wit—about, amongst a myriad of foci, blind river dolphins (in China), reclusive lemurs (in Madagascar), and a seemingly doomed parrot (in New Zealand) that is as fearless as it is lovelorn… “an ingenious commentary on his own personal, close encounters with these rare and unusual animals… revealing that evolution can actually be mighty fickle.”

Without a doubt, the best online talk I’ve viewed in months… watch it here (close to 1.5 hours in length, and worth every single minute). Enjoy!

Did you ever read Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut?

“…April, for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron’s fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away…” (more here)

Johannesburg, South Africa

The last i-jusi Magazine was published just a little over 2 years ago (i-jusi translates loosely as “juice” in Zulu)—begun in 1994, it was an experimental graphics magazine by longtime designer friend Garth Walker, born along with “the New South Africa” and posing the question: What makes me African?

By dent of being on the i-jusi mailing list, I received notice today of the launch of the first i-jusi Portfolio (which recently made its debut at the Joburg Art Fair). The portfolio consists of 10 lithographs (7 graphic, 3 photographic; each signed by the artist) in an edition of 50. The selected works are by renowned South African artists who have been featured in i-jusi Magazine and include David Goldblatt, Pieter Hugo, Anton Kannemeyer, Mark Kannemeyer, Brandt Botes, Conrad Botes, Garth Walker,  Wilhelm Kruger, Bride Vosloo, and Mikhael Subotzky.

Sales have apparently been brisk… with just over 20 of the 50 editions sold (buyers include San Francisco MOMA, the library of the International Center of Photography in New York, The Institute of Contemporary Arts in Boston, and the Minneapolis Art Institute).

More information here and here.

Unknown location* (and unknown original image source)—but I like it!

*Update: on 14 May 2010 I heard from Steven Hamilton, who writes: “I was browsing your blog and noticed a photo from my backyard! Just thought I’d let you know the photo of the face on the wall with the hanging ivy hair is in Columbus, OH, in Pearl Alley between Paterson and Oakland Ave., just North of Ohio State University… I pass it every day on my way to class.”

Thanks, Steven!

Toronto, Canada

Two years ago, I had posted about an El Lissitzky poster I’ve had hanging in my home for the past few decades—one of several dozen given to me by the curator of the magnificent Poster Collection at the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Applied Arts) in Zürich when I visited there in 1986—I’d been surprised to stumble across the original photo-montage prep the famous Russian Constructivist had used in preparing the dramatic poster.

A week ago, I was delighted to hear from Adell Shneer, a Toronto-based food stylist and now Senior Food Specialist at Canadian Living magazine who had come across my earlier post in a quest for more information about twenty or so large-sized posters she had re-discovered (rolled up in a tube and forgotten in the basement of her home). Adell studied graphic design at York University in the early 1980s and then at the London College of Printing (a diploma in Advanced Typographic Design), and in an experience similar to my own, had been given a variety of posters by the congenial old curator of the Kunstgewerbemuseum Zürich’s poster collection when she visited there. It was a reunion with former design classmates last week that spurred Adell to hunt for the posters she still had somewhere in her basement…

Adell is interested in establishing a value for these posters (they’re in excellent condition), though she’s not sure she actually wants to part with them—she has also considered donating them to a museum. I’m curious as well, as I still have six of these same posters (shown above) in my collection. I put Adell in touch with friend Rene Wanner (who offers comprehensive advice and information about poster collecting on his exhaustive website here), and offered to post some thumbnail images on this blog [√]. I invite anyone who’s interested in these posters to contact me—I’ll gladly pass your query or information on to Adell.

Please forgive the poor quality of the images shown above—Adell photographed the oversize posters with a point-and-shoot digital camera while standing on a chair and sent them to me for informational purposes… ergo the image foreshortening, inaccurate edge trim, distorted aspect ratio, variable focus, and dodgy colour fidelity—the original DIN A0 posters are truly spectacular (each is 841mm x 1189mm, or 33.1″ x 46.8″).

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

How timely, methinks… an architectural hen-house for Easter. Inspiring, and quite lovely… by Frederik Roijé.

(thanks Kevin)

(intention seems clear—image source unknown)

Holzen-Kandern, Germany

It’s OK, bro… getting older is the most natural thing in the world. Best birthday wishes, Phil! May your coming year be filled with fine days, good health, and great happiness…