Guatemala City Dump by Misty Keasler

November 25, 2009 by Designsquish

November 24, 2009 by Designsquish

Camouflage House by Hiroshi Iguchi

November 23, 2009 by Designsquish

by Nithikul Nimculrat.

by Designsquish

anastasiaugorskaya.com

November 18, 2009 by Designsquish

Youngsuk Suh:  “For the past three years, I have been living in the central valley of Northern California and this has afforded opportunities to observe a variety of human activities within natural environments. Many of these activities take place in less-regulated (or private) lands and seem to be a more direct expression of our desire to commune with nature. The images in this series are monuments to this individual desire. One travels away from civilization in order to be immersed in ’pure’ nature only to discover oneself an alternative civilized institution. Yet despite the cynicism implied in the study of modern travel, the genuine desire for close bodily contact with nature cannot be ignored. No matter how illusory the “nature” experience may be, one stands at the peak of a mountain yearning to be profoundly moved. Instant Traveler collects these traces of longing”

November 17, 2009 by Designsquish

Emma Kunz was aresearcher, healer, and prolific artist, who also discovered the healing rock powder AION A, which has helped thousands of people on their path to recovery. 

November 15, 2009 by Designsquish

anastasiaugorskaya.com

November 12, 2009 by Designsquish

Blind drawing by William Anastasi.

by Designsquish

‘Seconds’ are items, which, in some way, are not quite right. They are imperfect and therefore of lesser value. But who made these rules that we use to judge perfection? Who says the decoration has to be in the center? Who says a whole bird is better than half a bird? Who says a flower can’t grow down? - Jason Miller

Ceramic Superordinate Antler Chandelier by Jason Miller (Miller Studio)

November 11, 2009 by Designsquish

November 03, 2009 by Designsquish

Nature Deficit Disorder, is a term invented by Richard Louv in his book called “Last Child in the Woods”. Louv writes that children are spending less time outdoors, resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems. Louv claims that causes for the phenomenon include parental fears, restricted access to natural areas, and the lure of the screen. Recent research has drawn a further contrast between the declining number of National Park visits in the United States and increasing consumption of electronic media by children.
Richard Louv spent 10 years traveling around the USA reporting and speaking to parents and children, in both rural and urban areas, about their experiences in nature. He argues that sensationalist media coverage and paranoid parents have literally “scared children straight out of the woods and fields,” while promoting a litigious culture of fear that favors “safe” regimented sports over imaginative play.
Causes:
Parents are keeping children indoors in order to keep them safe from danger. Richard Louv believes we may be protecting children to such an extent that it has become a problem and disrupts the child’s ability to connect to nature. The parent’s growing fear of “stranger danger” that is heavily fueled by the media,  keeps children indoors and on the computer rather than outdoors exploring. Louv believes this may be the leading cause in nature deficit disorder as parents have a large amount of control and influence in their children’s lives.
Loss of natural surroundings in a child’s neighborhood and city. Many parks and nature preserves have restricted access and “do not walk off the trail” signs. Environmentalists and educators add to the restriction telling children “look don’t touch”. While they are protecting the natural environment Louv questions the cost of that protection on our children’s relationship with nature.
Increased draw to spend more time inside. With the advent of the computer, video games and television children have more and more reasons to stay inside, “The average American child spends 44 hours a week with electronic media”.
Effects:
Children have limited respect to their immediate natural surroundings. Louv says the effects of nature deficit disorder on our children will be an even bigger problem in the future. “An increasing pace in the last three decades, approximately, of a rapid disengagement between children and direct experiences in nature …this has profound implications, not only for the health of future generations but for the health of the earth itself.”
Childhood obesity has become a growing problem. There have been multiple studies that show children who go outside more often exercise more.
Attention disorders and depression may develop. “It’s a problem because kids who don’t get nature-time seem more prone to anxiety, depression and attention-deficit problems.” Louv suggests that going outside and being in the quiet and calm can help greatly. Attention Restoration Theory develops this idea further, both in short term restoration of a person’s abilities, and the long term ability to cope with stress and adversity.
In an interview on Public School Insight, Louv stated some positive effects of treating nature deficit disorder, “everything from a positive effect on the attention span to stress reduction to creativity, cognitive development, and their sense of wonder and connection to the earth.” From Wiki.

October 30, 2009 by Designsquish

Flower inspired earthenware by Walter Ostrom.

October 26, 2009 by Designsquish

October 23, 2009 by Designsquish

Birds by Kenojuak Ashevak. Kenojuak Ashevak was born in an igloo in an Inuit camp, Ikirasaq, at the southern coast of Baffin Island. 

by Designsquish

Streetlamp pole by Vancouver based artist Germaine Koh. Custom LED chandelier responds in real time to wind speed, wind direction, humidity, and rainfall “A large chandelier with blue LED bulbs hangs from a sleekly modern lamp post, sprouting from the green roof of the Convention Centre West. The LEDs are animated by exterior weather conditions — glowing, sparkling or dimming in response to humidity, rain and wind, measured by sensors integrated into the electronic system. The lights grow brighter with relative humidity, and individual LEDs flash when rain falls, while gusts of wind dim or flicker the side of the chandelier that they hit. On clear and calm days, the piece remains constant. ” - Germaine Koh.

Above: another piece by Germaine Koh. This is a site-responsive installation with plants and soil transplanted from vacant land. Plants and seeds in the soil continue to grow over the course of the show.

by Designsquish

by Designsquish

October 22, 2009 by Designsquish

Ben Reeves

“These works highlight formal structures while causing the figurative image to slip away within an apparently abstract field: the language of representation supersedes its subject. Reeves investigates the inevitable gap between ‘reality’ and representation: a space where the world is rationalized through visual conventions.”

October 21, 2009 by Designsquish

Beautiful photographs by LANE CODER.  Found on ART RUBY

October 20, 2009 by Designsquish

October 19, 2009 by Designsquish

Chair made from recycled , reused fabric pieces /  discarded scraps. By Fernando and Humberto Campana from Brazil.

by Designsquish

Vancouver and New York based artist Aurel Schmidt.

by Designsquish

Island #2
Janaki Lennie
oil on canvas

Island
2008

My artwork is a response to my immediate surroundings and in a larger context to our complex relationship with the natural environment. My recent relocation from downtown Houston, Texas to St John’s, Newfoundland represented a dramatic shift in my point of view. I have been inspired by the wonderful coastline of this province and its unique social and political situation to explore the mystique that islands hold in our culture and history.
Islands fire the imagination, sometimes as places of entrapment or dread but more often as alluring utopias shimmering on the horizon, promising a serenity normally absent from modern life, an image often at odds with the reality of their isolation.
This series of paintings explores the island as an ephemeral vision, slightly beyond reach, embedded in an uncertain atmospheric space and separated, sometimes by distance, sometimes by the trappings of urban existence. The nostalgic pull of this island dream persists. - Janaki Lennie

Breathing Space
2006

For the last several years, I have explore the possibility of calm in the midst of chaotic contemporary experience, which is believe is often characterized by a profound disconnection between people and the natural world. They present the natural world as the experience of space itself; her images push man and nature to opposite sides.  The images are softened models of industrial sites and/or intensely lit tree limbs existing together or facing each other.  Her colors suggest distortion of light through pollution, another unseen sense of man’s presence. The final result is a strangely beautiful and surreal illumination of an imaginary window of space and stillness of time. -Janaki Lennie

October 18, 2009 by Designsquish

Creek Tangle A/2, 2009
Gordon Smith
Acrylic on Canvas
60 x 67 in.

Creekside Grasses #1, 2009
Gordon Smith
Acrylic on Canvas
67 x 85 in.

by Designsquish

Installation view, Fog, 2004
2 rollei medium format projectors,
medium format slides

Fog study, 2004
Lightjet photo
24” × 24”

Fog study, 2004
Lightjet photo
24” × 24”

Fog study, 2004
Lightjet photo
24” × 24”

Burning Bush, 2005
HD DVD
05:03:15

Burning Bush, 2005
HD DVD
05:03:15

Face Lake, 2006
KEVIN SCHMIDT
Lightjet photo
48” × 48 ½”

Little Blue Lake, 2006
KEVIN SCHMIDT
Lightjet photo
48” × 48 ½”

Johnson Lake, 2006
KEVIN SCHMIDT
Lightjet photo
48” × 48 ½”

Installation view,
Sad Wolf, 2006
DIY projector video installation
00:04:11 (looped)

Installation view,
Sad Wolf, 2006
DIY projector video installation
00:04:11 (looped)

Still, Sad Wolf, 2006
DIY projector video installation
00:04:11 (looped)

Still, Sad Wolf, 2006
DIY projector video installation
00:04:11 (looped)

by Designsquish

Semi #2, 1999
Kevin O’Connell
Platinum palladium photograph
4.75 x 6.5 inch

Erosion #3, 2001
Kevin O’Connell
Platinum palladium photograph
4.75 x 6.5 inches

Jet Trail #4, #2/25, 2001
Kevin O’Connell
Platinum palladium photograph
4.75 x 6.5 inches

Prairie photographs by Kevin O’Connell

by Designsquish

Best Seen From 100 Feet, #2
Peter Krashes
2004
oil on linen

Best Seen From 100 Feet
Peter Krashes
2004
gouache on paper
52 1/2 X 79 inches

Untitled
Petr Krashes
2001
oil on linen
72 X 78 inches

More filled seats magnifies the message

Some letters have to be written, but are best not sent.

Best Seen From 100 Feet, #1
Peter Krashes
2004
oil on linen
78 X 140 inches

October 14, 2009 by Designsquish

Red Chair Antiques.  Found on Wabi & Sabi blog.

October 12, 2009 by Designsquish

Reusing old buttons as fridge magnets. By Skin and Tonic Too.



Rings made with old vintage buttons. Found in Red Chair Antiques shop.

by Designsquish