yes please. 15/06/2009
http://www.new-territories.com/lostinparis.htm
Art without a frame 19/03/2009
"This is an incredibly sad story which gave me chills. It is a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.
He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.
When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it.
No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
My additional thoughts would only be that so many people do things because they are "fashionable" that they forget to look at things with their own eyes, listen with their own ears, and appreciate anything with their own hearts."
Author unknown
Truly, read the article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
Once upon a time there was a wren, a kingfisher and a stork... 3/02/2009
I just read via www.psfk.com that the latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary is leaving some words out to be replaced with others. There's a sad and sobering undercurrent to the selection:
Words taken out:
Carol, cracker, holly, ivy, mistletoe
Dwarf, elf, goblin
Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar
Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade
adder, ass, beaver, boar, budgerigar, bullock, cheetah, colt, corgi, cygnet, doe, drake, ferret, gerbil, goldfish, guinea pig, hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster, panther, pelican, piglet, plaice, poodle, porcupine, porpoise, raven, spaniel, starling, stoat, stork, terrapin, thrush, weasel, wren.
Acorn, allotment, almond, apricot, ash, bacon, beech, beetroot, blackberry, blacksmith, bloom, bluebell, bramble, bran, bray, bridle, brook, buttercup, canary, canter, carnation, catkin, cauliflower, chestnut, clover, conker, county, cowslip, crocus, dandelion, diesel, fern, fungus, gooseberry, gorse, hazel, hazelnut, heather, holly, horse chestnut, ivy, lavender, leek, liquorice, manger, marzipan, melon, minnow, mint, nectar, nectarine, oats, pansy, parsnip, pasture, poppy, porridge, poultry, primrose, prune, radish, rhubarb, sheaf, spinach, sycamore, tulip, turnip, vine, violet, walnut, willow
Words put in:
Blog, broadband, MP3 player, voicemail, attachment, database, export, chatroom, bullet point, cut and paste, analogue.
Celebrity, tolerant, vandalism, negotiate, interdependent, creep, citizenship, childhood, conflict, common sense, debate, EU, drought, brainy, boisterous, cautionary tale, bilingual, bungee jumping, committee, compulsory, cope, democratic, allergic, biodegradable, emotion, dyslexic, donate, endangered, Euro.
Apparatus, food chain, incisor, square number, trapezium, alliteration, colloquial, idiom, curriculum, classify, chronological, block graph.
From the Edge to the Heart 12/03/2008
http://www.welcometv.com.au/storywall-nowshowing.htm
a good reason to fly into Heathrow airport 6/02/2008
http://troika.uk.com/cloud.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42hgPLL8IrA
New gauges for the collection! 5/02/2008
Brings the grand total up to 60, mmm...
Who would have thought it'd come to this... 4/02/2008
"The result was mayhem. The 50 security guards quickly lost control, shoppers were knocked down in the rush, men traded punches and a man threatened a woman with a mallet. People shouted "Mine! Mine!" as they fought over who had first laid hands on one of the limited-offer sofas. Some collapsed with heat exhaustion and 20 needed hospital treatment. Nine ambulances, six fire engines and an emergency control vehicle joined police at the scene."
http://www.designobserver.com/archives/000290.html
Inspiration for the new Mycelium Pendant 17/12/2007
Never know where beauty lies No. 3 17/12/2007
Never know where beauty lies No.2 24/11/2007
Never know where beauty lies 23/11/2007
My lil' brother 22/11/2007
http://www.myspace.com/zakandthegreatergood
Sneak preview of my current project 20/11/2007
Celebrating coming together in the comfort zone.
The Ipomoea, Bush Potato or Yala – as it is known by Pintupi people of Central Australia - provides a rich source of bush food under harsh conditions for those living in the central desert. A potato like tuber grows in the roots of the plants, digging them up provides a time and place for socialising. The Yala plant flowers after a desert rain.
