George W. Bush: Painter of Pooches
If you’ve missed not having George W. Bush to kick around, heeeeee’s back. First, the opening of his presidential library. Second, news that he’s joined the likes of Winston Churchill and has become a painter. There is an impulse, of course, to be a snark about the former President’s new found talent, but in all fairness why shouldn’t he enjoy the pleasures and fruits of art.
Photo: Gawker.com
Bush is specializing in dogs at the moment and signs his work “43.” While there is a level of self-parody here, it is also quite charming too. Go for it W.
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Ladislav Sutnar: Comic Book Character
He invented modern information graphics, he designed the area code for American telephones, he organized Sweet’s Catalogs and now he’s a comic book character. Ladislav Sutnar’ life and work is told by the students at the Institute of Art and Design / University of West Bohemia in the Czech Republic in a comic titled “Ladislav Sutnar: Pilsen native and founder of graphic design.” Here’s the cover.
Jonathan Harris: Interactive Director
Digital maestro Jonathan Harris (who makes projects that reimagine how humans relate to technology and to each other) has just released an interactive documentary about the private lives of nine women who make lesbian porn, called I Love Your Work.
For 10 consecutive days Harris followed around nine different women, spending 24 hours with each one, and taking 10-second video clips every five minutes, filming whatever was happening. The project contains 2,202 of these 10-second clips (around six hours of footage), and he built an interactive environment for browsing through all that material.
As part of his experiment, Harris is limiting traffic to ten viewers per day. Viewers must purchase tickets ($10 per day) and wait for their turn “in contrast to the instant gratification of typical internet porn,” he says.
This is graphic and not for everyone, but Harris has taken a courageous step with what is sure to be a controversial documentary in this digital age.
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For more Steven Heller, check out Citizen Designer: Perspectives on Design Responsibility, one of the many Heller titles available at MyDesignShop.com.