Above slogan was hung between two treetops in the countryside, 1978. It reads: “I do not complain about anything and I almost like it here, although I have never been here before and know nothing about this place”

Collective Actions is an art-group founded in early 70’s in Russia that was part of Moscow Conceptualist Movement.  Collective Actions is responsible for series of art performances and installations in forests and suburban parks outside of Moscow.  They call their happenings “Trips Out of Town”(«поездки за город»)

Above photo was taken by Collective Actions not far from the “Slogan” installation.

Above: Twelve canvas paintings by N.Alekseev were sewn together into one single piece, installed in the shape of a tent and left in the forest. 1976.

Above slogan installed and left in the forest: “I waited for you at the appointed time and left. You know the road yourself. Come, if you want to see me.”

December 14, 2010 by Designsquish

I was happy to find this online snowflake library: The Bentley Collection  Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Thousands of snow crystals available for view online for free:

December 11, 2010 by Designsquish

Moss terrariums are fun and easy to create and maintain.  Decorate your moss terrariums with precious stones and twigs you find.  Above are do-it-yourself moss terrariums created with vintage listerine bottles found on Bottle Beach, Brooklyn and moss from Upstate New York.  Bottle Beach is a great place to find old bottles. If you are not afraid to dig through Brooklyn’s vintage garbage:

“Keep the moisture in. The moss will use the CO2 provided by the decomposing and dead plants in the soil. Sometimes, there’s algae and seeds from other plants in the mini-ecosystem, which will overgrow the moss over time [...] Seal the jar off completely making sure, that there’s enough moisture in it. Try to supply the jars with enough light without exposing them to direct sunlight”
- from experienced moss terrarium owner, Henry K Miller

You can always use old wine bottles and jars, or buy ready-made moss terrariums. Below: Moss terrariums at Cog and Pearl.

December 09, 2010 by Designsquish

Vanished Forest by Bo Yang Zang.

December 08, 2010 by Designsquish

December 06, 2010 by Designsquish

Antonello Fuse coat hangers made from old recycled chair backs.

by Designsquish

Some drawings inspired by grapefruit pulp, dragon fruit, eyes and sky:

- http://mareikeauer.com/iam/anastasia_ugorskaya.html
- http://www.i-am-artist-designer.com/

December 04, 2010 by Designsquish

Community garden on Albemarle Rd in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. Photo taken on December 2, 2010.
Read more about it on Sustainable Flatbush:

http://sustainableflatbush.org/2010/05/03/flatbush-community-garden-2010/

by Designsquish

at Cog & Pearl in Park Slope, Brooklyn

by Designsquish

Clayton Merrel is my new favorite artist. “In my recent work I have been experimenting with peeling the paint film from my own large oil paintings, then manipulating them by folding, tearing, stretching, etc. before remounting them to canvas in the manner of the old conservation process of ‘lining’.[..]It makes the painting process appear infinitely fragile, tenuous and contingent.  by analogy, the painting’s subject, the sky or rather our perception of the sky, our eyes, our coherent world view), becomes human, skin-like, and in need of care.” - Clayton Merrel

December 02, 2010 by Designsquish

Sandcomb seat from reused cotton by DKSD, Dutch interior and product design studio. A lightweight, yet windproof seat when filled with sand. Part of ‘portable’ furniture series. - http://www.wraf.nl

Beautiful exterior cladding panel design by DKSD inspired by…herring!
Below is a new exterior cladding panel designed to protect buildings from rainwater and also retain it. This slightly bowl-shaped panel harvests rainwater and funnels it to tanks for internal storage. The water is then used for the building’s heating, cooling and sanitary installations.  The scale-like surface and pearly colours give the panels their nickname ‘Hollandse Nieuwe’, referring to Dutch fresh herring and two brand new Dutch designers!

November 30, 2010 by Designsquish

Fog and Ice, Jokulsarlon Lagoon, Iceland, September 2006 BUY

Icebergs, Jokulsarlon Lagoon, Iceland, September 2006 BUY

Stanislav Ginzburg recently launched SG Print Shoppe - a place to buy beautiful nature photography from all over the world while benefiting iconic North American wildlife (A ten percent donation from each sale will be made towards creating American Prairie Reserve in northeastern Montana. This future three-million acre wildlife sanctuary will provide an uninterrupted area that will harbor more than 90 species of mammals, 300 birds and over 1,500 kinds of plants. For the first time in a hundred years it will restore migratory routes for pronghorn antelope, grazing fields for bison and will reintroduce entire colonies of prairie dogs and foxes back into their native habitat. )
This is truly the best present for holidays!

http://www.sgprintshoppe.com

Read more about American Prairie Reserve:
http://sgprintshoppe.com/protect-wildlife/

November 23, 2010 by Designsquish

Above: Moth from various leaves, acorn, rose hip, sticks.

It is autumn and acorns, pine cones, sticks and various seeds are available outside. These are some wonderful illustrations instructing on how to make toys from found natural materials. (Поделки из природных материалов)

Some materials to think about:

Snake from acorns, string and acorn caps:

Cat from deergrass, sticks and maple seeds:

Above: Bear from pine cones. (ha-ha)

DIY hedgehog from pine needles and pine cone.

Donkey from acorn, sticke, peaunut, maple seeds.

Goldfish from acorn, oak leaves, maple seeds.

Owls from pine cones.

November 22, 2010 by Designsquish

Bags from reclaimed tractor inner tubes by Chicago based company Defy Bags. Old materials. New ideas.

http://www.defybags.com

November 19, 2010 by Designsquish

Botanic illustration drawings by Ernst Haeckel

by Designsquish

Mycetozoa (still life with porcelain #4), from Hidden Place series. Inspired by Ernst Haeckel’s botanic illustrations, 3D rendering and photography.

Portrait of Ernst Haeckel.

Mycetozoa drawings by Ernst Haeckel.

Untitled (still life with porcelain #2), from Hidden Place series, 3D rendering and photography..

Untitled (still life with porcelain #3), 3D rendering and photography.

3D renderings of various creatures….

Above is an installation piece with secret silent film/animation hiding within.  Inside is a 3D animation on loop based on folktale about two women finding shelter under a whale skull amid the frozen landscape:

Animation below is based on folktale about the origins of snow. Ancient whale left the ocean to die on land.
Air and wind withered away his body until all left was a colossal heart. It wasn’t too long before it too gave away. When it burst open millions of white particles escaped and fell all over the ground.

What a beautiful story about the origins of snow!!

Stanislav Ginzburg is a Brooklyn based artist originally from Orenburg, Russia.  A lot of Stanislav’s artwork is inspired by folktales that deal with nature, strange species, microcosmic organisms, as well as animals which could have been living on earth or not. 

http://www.stanislavginzburg.com

November 14, 2010 by Designsquish

Sewing table made from two broken chairs and I suppose, an old surfboard.  Redesigned by Robert Kalin, founder of ETSY.

November 13, 2010 by Designsquish

Jerko is an environmental cleanup movement with head-quarters in Gowanus Canal DIY slavaged, solar powered, rainwater harvesting house boat. Jerko the Gowanus Water Vacuum house boat floats up and down the Gowanus Canal, cleaning water through biological filtration.  (Gowanus Canal is one of the most polluted waterways in New York City, if not the world)
Read about Jerko the Gowanus Water Vacuum on Half Nomad:

http://www.halfnomad.com

Photographs of Jerko the Gowanus Water Vacuum were discovered on beautiful blog by photographer Elizabeth Weinberg:

http://www.elizabethweinberg.com

November 11, 2010 by Designsquish

Above: Ben Edwards and Juliet Moore

Made from discarded wood from various sources. Sanded and finished with linseed oil, putty and wax.

-http://edwardsmoore.com/

by Designsquish

“Suppose every creature is a circle, which exists in this world, how many of them can I draw? This is my life’s work and my challenge… By drawing circles I feel I am alive and existing in the cosmos.” — Hiroyuki Doi

November 08, 2010 by Designsquish

Golden leaves and trees full of house sparrows in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

by Designsquish

The Shepherds Way -  photography series by Dima Gomberg

November 04, 2010 by Designsquish

I found these beautiful greenhouses made from upcycled old windows on HAUTE NATURE. I recently have seen a bunch of gorgeous old windows in the garbage. ...

October 29, 2010 by Designsquish

Pigeons need houses too?

Few decades back in Russia, almost every building courtyard had a pigeon house(pigeon loft / dovecote). There were two near where I used to live in Moscow near Molodezhnaya street.  Why? Pigeons symbolize peace? The need to care for environment and others (bird and non-bird friends)? To be used as messengers during war (haha)? White doves, brown, black and regular gray pigeons were trained to fly around the neighborhood in perfect circles.  I loved watching them flying or sitting in their pigeon lofts.  Today most of pigeon houses in Russia are abandoned or demolished.  Reasons: pigeons spread disease but most importantly care for pigeons asks for money and time. Maybe it’s not cool anymore to have pigeon keeping as a hobby..

“The hobby of pigeon keeping is gaining in popularity in the United States, after having waned within the last 50 years. Both the hobby and commercial aspects of keeping pigeons are thriving in other parts of the world” -Wiki

Read about John Neilko’s flock of 250 pigeons that lives on the roof of the Polonia Democratic Club in Williamsburg, New York - NYMag

October 27, 2010 by Designsquish

Yucca Valley portraits by Sue Huang with Pascual Sisto and Fernando Sanchez.

“Yucca Valley Portraits (2006) is a triptych of chromogenic printed portraits shot in Yucca Valley, California. The images capture three actions by the subjects. Each of the subjects throws a large rock into the air and poses as the rock falls. The middle image #2 reveals the mechanics of how the picture is accomplished. The project explores the perceptual dilemma of an unlikely scene and the possibility for collage via performance rather than compositing” - from http://sue.knifeandfork.org

October 26, 2010 by Designsquish

New watercolor http://anastasiaugorskaya.com

October 21, 2010 by Designsquish

Handmade snowballs made from rubber and seeds by Everyday Design.

Above: Artist David Hammons selling real(100% snow)
snowballs on the streets of New York.

October 18, 2010 by Designsquish

Bikes on Driggs Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York

October 14, 2010 by Designsquish

‘Whatever’ flower pots are a terracotta pots by brooklyn designer Jason Miller. The pots are made out of clay but are inspired by plastic bottles, metal cans or coffee cups people often use when they do not have a regular flower pot at hand.

http://www.millerstudio.us/

by Designsquish

Oak Tree, Spring
2010, C-print, 24 x 36”, edition of 5

Oak Tree, Winter
2010, C-print, 24 x 36”, edition of 5

Sealed and Buried For All Time
2010, C-print, 30 x 40”, edition of 5

Striking photographs by Joshua Citarella. 

by Designsquish