Designblog

Some things are simple for us. You don’t have to think, you just Know things. Some answers don’t offer brainwork. How many answers are lying on our tong constantly? Easy how to build questions but not always easy how to create the answers.

The title of my book is ‘60+40 is probably 100’. We know the answer of the question of my book without thinking. It’s nothing to be proud of. It is simple. Everything can be simple or complicated.

We are familiar with everything we ever saw, smell, heard or felt. It’s not that we create an opinion immediately (maybe also not in the future), but it ‘flipped’ true our mind. It would be nice if we had a screen wich decides for us what we want to experience or not.

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Fauna, a word which brings sweet and fluffy images to my mind. Horrible. Especially because it’s always linked to the other half; Flora. The combination of those two words is a summary of almost all the things we see in our free time. (watching birds, taking a walk…). So for me it was quite easy to search for a book which was linked to my tag.

Although the intentions of my original tags were more general, I now ended up with a book named ‘The cat’s tail’ (De staart van de kat). Just a nice title made of simple words. Not too heavy or philosophic. The title and the cover fit well together. The book is white, small and empty. There are no images on the cover. It’s quite the opposite of images that sneaks into my mind when I think of fauna.

758.1

To find a book with the tags “mass production” and “hand works” wasn’t really easy to find, because these two term are really different. Almost the same, as positive and negative.

But “Design of the 20th century” become the book which has both words. Inside you can find mass production but also hand works.
Originally design come from the industrial revolution. Before that, products are made by hand. The design and realization from the objects were most of the time from the hands of an craftsman. Because of the new industrial production processes, and the works, design become different from production.

In this book you can find photographs from famous designers as J. Hoffman, P. Strack, C. Scarpa, etc.
It’s nice to enlarge your vision on design with this book.

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For the first posting I chose two books, which ended up in six differend tagwords ranging from ‘tribe’ to ‘random’ and from ‘cheapfashion’ to ‘funny’. It was quiet difficult to find a new book corresponding with most of those tagwords. I ended up with a book which is really mysterious. The cover is white, except from the title: Zeven Dagen, houdbaar. Not even the author is mentioned on the cover. Also in the book there is no preface or explanation about what it is about and what is going on. Each page of the book contains three drawn objects or words. The drawings are really direct, kind of primitive which made me think of the tagword ‘tribe’. The connection between the drawings and the words is not always obvious, most of the time you have to guess what this connection would be. This reminded me of the other part of this project directed by Matthias Kreutzer, in which I am busy with this unclear connection between two images and a tagword. For me, an image doesn’t have a meaning for itself, you generate a meaning outside of the image, by for instance associatians, memory’s and certain conventions. When you place two images together, the meaning is generated between them. The same with an image and a tagword.

Rietveld Acadamy Library: No 758.3 dui 1b

My second book choice was based on my tag word that was yellow. I went for a book that was completely yellow and hoped that the contents of the book related to my other tags (dot, shapes and forms and jewelry). The book I ended up with was a book made by an artist called Toon Verhoef. I did not find many dots in the book, but there were some. There was no jewelry to be found in this book, but there were many super yellow paintings which had many shapes and forms that could be easily seen as beautiful shapes and forms, as you will find in many jewelry rings, necklaces, earrings etc.  I was happy with the book because it was really yellow so was the inside of the book.

Number: verhoe 3

The second book I choose is about the architecture from library’s and museums. Because my tags were “library” “arranging” “industrial” it isn’t a really big surprise that the book I find now is quite similar to the other one. But the most important difference is the fact that this book is about the architecture of the buildings.

It is a really interesting book because you will find out more from well known buildings and also discover some new. Off course the architecture is really important for the atmosphere in library’s and museums.

The reason that makes this book interesting for me is that they show every detail of the buildings. I like the fact that you can find maps, models, etc. In some way it almost looks like a hobby book, for self-made architecture. But to make one of the buildings myself, is not gonna work I guess…

Publik Library Amsterdam: 718.4
Bauten der Kultur: “Museen und Bibliotheken”

The Rietveld Library. I take a sharp left immediately after I enter. The art section. While still trying to figure out how I will find my third and final book, I am confronted with a bright colored cover. A book leaning against some other books, clear in sight. I might have even turned my head to see if this book was really looking at me and not someone standing behind me.

The happy colors are formed into vegetables on a plate. I take it from its shelve to have a look inside, where I find more food on plates, vases with flowers, some abstractions and many, many dogs, most of them sleeping.

I figured I should not even look further. This book was so clearly out to be found by me, I could not just put it back.

When I leave the library, I find myself in a state of happiness, yet a little tired and quite hungry.

-hock- 18

I have these tags: mystery, old fashion and first sight with me when I went to library, I really had no idea what’s kind of book would be found?I felt so mystery….

The cover of this book from Desiree Dolron didn’t attract me so much; I was chatting with someone and picking books randomly, so I think the first sight on this book was not the cover but a photo inside, it shocked me.

It was a black white photo, seems a pair of kid’s feet were burning in the flaming fire. “What happened?! ”I shouted in my mind. And I looked up other imagines in the book quickly, and I didn’t find a clear answer. All people (some were corpses) in the images seem to be in some mystery rituals, madly and bloody. Then I had a look at cover, “Exaltation Images of Religion and Death”.

I can’t forget that pair of feet, I borrowed the book.

-dol-1

for my third choice of book i chose this monograph on the work of Maurizio Cattelan.

a donkey with a widescreen television on its back- the contradiction(the ancient donkey and the modern television) and absurdity of this picture got me into a conversation with the student returning this book who  strongly advised me borrow it. upon looking in it i saw a similar anarchistic italian wit to that of Felini (especially in the chaos of Amarcord).

the book features some of the very interesting projects that the artist has been engaged in from early 1990 to 2000-

Super noi(super us) where the artist has been portraited by 50 of his friends through a police sketch artist.

Spermini the artist created 500 molds/masks of his face, each slightly different representing sperm.

Torno Subito(i’ll be right back) due to unsatisfactory resulting work for a solo show the artist locked the gallery with this sign hung on the front door.

Stadium the artist elongated a table soccer game to fit 25 people, commenting on racist issues on immigration in itali, half of the players of north african descent and half of italian.

i have not finished this book yet but i really recommend it, in the projects as well as in the large, extensive,insightful interview with the artist.

Rietveld library code : -catt – / 1

The second book that I chose from the library was the ‘Extreme Interiors’. When I was looking at the previous tags, city, nomadic and reality, I created an image in my head, which represents a young man with a suitcase in his hand at a big city airport. The book’s width is greater than its height and it has a nicely finished cover containing bright and striking pink and yellow colours. The cover picture is displaying a man in a suit with his back turned away from us looking like someone that is probably driving a fancy car or piloting a space ship…

The book was exactly what I was looking for.

Book nr:145664

This second book the family of man attracted me in a different way. printed in 1955 it was at the time  – ”the most ambitious and challenging project with photography that had ever been attempted” (three million photographs were originally collected from amateur and professional photographers (not to mention more than a handful of gems by Henri Cartier Bresson). 10,000 of which were included in the MoMA exhibit while a further 506 photos from 68 countries were chosen for this publication (now that’s a die-hard archiving project!!)

“The Family Of Man” was originally produced for the museum of modern art in new york- not with the intention presenting the photograph as art but to show – ”photography as a dynamic process of giving form to ideas and of explaining man to man.” -to teach man about himself in all his various creeds and shades (this book was much before its time and although it did not have the intention of formenting multicultural acceptance it probably had a great influence and later gave way to books such as the 1968 random house publication The Colour of Man.) in the foreword Edward Steichen explains that his family of man was created in the passionate spirit of devoted love and faith in mankind.”.  and this i feel is what drew me to this book. pictures of birth, love, life and death shown with tangible empathy and passion. pictures of every possible ethnicity.  tribesmen from papua new guinea, native americans, french peasants, maori. this book although outdated is not without some degree of power still as can be seen by the frequency it has been rented out in recent years by people with a similar curiousity and interest to mine.

rietveld library number - 760.3 / stei / 1

This book has such a dull, ugly cover (standard A4 size) that there must be some very nice photographs inside to compensate it. Or at least, that’s what I thought while choosing this book. Unfortunately I was disappointed when I opened it. Way too much text in a very small typeface and not enough images. Although, I have to say that the few images that are there, are quite okay.

It’s interesting that someone designed this, someone published this, someone bought this book.., even when it looks so unattractive. In this case, I think that the unattractiveness is the attractiveness. The layout works for this book.

The book is about an exhibition in Stedelijk Museum in 1981 and contains mainly photographs. People who went to the exhibition probably like the book. So do I, just because it is so different from all the other books. I’ve never seen such an ugly book in my life. The connection with my first choice is that this book is about photography which is in a state that it turns into film.

760.3 Cat8

Entering the room expecting to be overwhelmed by an overload of impulses. This was not happening this time. No screaming of flirting books. I looked at the place where the magazine was before. From where it was observing me and had tried to seduce me. Her replacer silently watching me with a smile. The change of time leaded to the divergence of being.

This time deliberately searching for the escape from reality. But how can you find one when you are in need. The books were deadly silent now I was the one who was screaming. Devastated by frustration. One book after the other moved through my hands. Attentively searching for a way to escape.

This time no hidden doors.
Time is jostling. Again the clock dictates my swiftness and need to precipitate. Entangled in the web of time. Paralyzing me. Feverishly starting to look for an escape.

Suddenly between all the books on a notable shelf a dim glittering. A sparkle of hope, would this be the one? Finely resting in the palm of my hand.

The opposite of absorption this time, the appearance of a reflection. For a moment I was captured in this image while seeing myself. This was no escape but fruitlessness of reality.

Boek nummer : 760 -bax- 1

The advantages of being a woman artist:

‘Being reassured that whatever kind of art you make it will be labeled feminine.’

‘Being included in revised versions of art history.’ (Guerilla Girls)

After listening to a presentation on feminist art I contemplate these statements. I find them funny, but they also make me uncomfortable. What is a woman artist? Are there specific issues she should address?

Later, in the library, I know I have to find a book on design, but first I wander around to find a book that addresses the subject on my mind. Intuitively, I pick up a pink book with feminist essays on art. Later, I return to my initial task and pick up a book on color theory. That book, now lying in front of me on the table, doesn’t speak to me at all. If this is a subjective library, I should just read about feminism instead.

708.4 Lip 2

The book I chose is all about it’s size and content. It’s is a big white book, very light and very thin. On the cover there is a broche of a beautiful lady in gold. Her legs are squatted, her torso upright and she holds her arms wide open. Her arms are part of very lush and colourful butterfly wings. She has two curly antenna’s on her head and her hair flows around her face and arms. She appears to be flying. When I saw her I knéw that my pinnocchio has found his Blue Fairy. It’s a book about Nouveau Jewelry. Because of the sheer size of this book, the pictures of the jewellery inside are very big and very impressive. Every page is full of color and has a vibrancy that really captures the attention and imagination. It’s like a box of candy’s this book. EYEcandy!

777.4 ber 1

Looking for theft, tiny and supermarket, I came across this old book about jewels. It is indeed tiny. You can steel jewels (or this book, however it’s not interesting). And about the supermarket; I link supermarket to housewives and my impression of this book so far is that it’s kind of prudish and suitable for housewives in their midlifecrisis. I can see them joining in little groups making bracelets and collars; bitching about their husbands. Maybe twenty years from now I will borrow it again, just after moulding class didn’t turn out to be ‘my thing’.

777.6 gil-1

(it’s not called “an introduction to juwellery” by the way, that’s just what it seems to be)

Something happened to me at the library. Not such an everyday thing.

A clear report of what happened at the library: The first book I took from the shelf was the right one.

You might think: “Okay. What a breaking news”, or you might have read my last post and know that I’m the girl that never picks the right book from the shelf, and that’s why your now thinking: “Chapeau chapeau!”.

Extraordinary it was. This book wasn’t a swindler. Not a library loser. Opening the book proved my thought, it was lend 29 times before. I trusted the people who had lend this book before me. They must have picked the pick for a good reason. Probably.

The book contained 846 pages of sketches of forgotten trees, endless forests, empty landscapes. It was sketched two centuries ago. Flipping through these, almost numb, pages made me feel like walking through a library. The feeling of being lost. The feeling of never finding the right book. The feeling of being a library loser. These 846 pages were a perfect resemblance of my library feelings. After thousands of failures, I found a book that fits me.

-frie- 3

Finding a new book with the tags; “alchemy, identical, metaphysics, mysticism and mythology” was more difficult then I expected.
Still, all the time my eyes lingered back to this one book lying on its back, showing on the cover naked classical looking ladies, who are eating grapes, playing the the Arabic ‘ud’, and generally having a good time.
Not to difficult to associate with my tags ofcourse, its only logical.
The title of the book is “Oriëntalisten (orientalism)”. The subject of the book tells about the western depiction of aspects of eastern culture by writers, designers and artists, which is hostile and inaccurate, and mainly based on stereotypes.
It sounds fascinating, but within all likeliness I will not read a single word of its content. A pitty.

905.2 sai

This time I was looking for a book inspired from the image I found earlier, searching for my tag words. An image that shows one of the meanings of the word “connection”.
Death of one’s own grandmother.
At first I tried to find something about funerals, gravestones, tombs and in how many ways of designing them is possible.
This failed.
This might have been too specific. So I continued to search for more general terms. Just Death.
From all the books I was attracted to the one with the title ‘A Magic stronger than Death”.

Rietveld Library code: -ting-8

Waiting. For the next to come along.

I am plain, hard and angular, but soft and blue under the surface. Filled with interesting elements, like a little treasure – waiting to be found. A treasury of various jewelleries. Shape, material, colour and content. Judging from my appearance I look like something out of a dumpster or like I should be returned to a recycling station. If only people could see.

Looking aside or being abnormal does not need to be terrifying, but should bring forth curiosity.

Grab the book as it lies here on the shelf with its naked surface. It doesn’t seem all that interesting, but somehow you still feel drawn to it. A book where the content does not show, this must indeed be a disadvantage. Who would choose this book based on its external?

Do we choose the book or does it choose us?

777.6-cat-304

When DHL delivered the package with the traditional Zeeuws costume to the Bristol Hotel in Athens, Greece, I immediately ripped it open, only to find a stack of different fabrics in various sizes, textures and colours.
I had no idea what to do with these mostly two-dimensional pieces of cloth, what was supposed to go where and how.
This knowledge-gap became the works’ major point: what is the perception of a traditional cultural expression by someone from another country (and in this case I regard the city of Amsterdam as another country in relation to Zeeland as well) grown up in an era where self-examination and focusing on the present and future prevailed over historical awareness and/ or cultural pride.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

In short: a young Danish woman of gigantic proportions who happened to pass by on the streets of Athens was lured into the hotel room, to be dressed and undressed in different combinations by an innocent Greek woman, using the separate elements of the costume to create a whole new image of national identity.

Barbara Visser, Winner of the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Art (2008) check out her new website.

Medium Girl (1996)
video, 6 x 30′

Looking at a books presence before next to a wide space of absence and how present that book was my next step was to look at a book that was remarkably present even though surrounded by other books.

The book i chose was chosen not because it was larger or a different colour than the other books but because it, the book itself was a paradox- the text, the material the book was made out of, the size. None of these things matched or linked up.

It was an odd book. And for me the books it was surrounded with all conformed to each other. They were all self explanatory and true to their own individual format.

DISORDER, word that I picked up in the book S,M,L,XL by Rem Koolhaas, by playing my childhood game, haunted me while I was in a library second time. I knew that I wanted to find something that will help me compensate this strong feeling of mess and confusion that word DISORDER brings, something that will deal with it clearly and simple, something that tends to organize and systemize.

The perfect solution and pick was a book about simple system of visual organization: THE GRID, that provides rich overview of this purely proportion, symmetry and geometrical based system of organizing type.

Rietveld Library code: 757.3 -ella-

The action is quick. The ‚NEW‘ tag directs my steps to the transparent shelf with the top new boks in the library. The first book that I see has:

- yelow background cover
- big, white and fat number 79
- long list of black titles, each one written with the different font
- straightforward title Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design

Everything is clear now, this must be the book on design ( I reassure myself that it belongs to the industrial design section), therefore fits for the project. I look at the hopefully new publishing date, and this is the only dissapointing moment: 2007. I can‘t find any newer design book on the top new books shelf. The title of the very first essay sais: Warning: May Contain Non-Design Content. If the librairians would read all the books they get, how should they react to such statement? What the amount of the Non-Design Content would move the book out from the design section? What date would put it out from the top new books shelf?

Non-Design Content

Rietveld Library code: 770.6-bie-1

Yet again I came back with a book about gold. About golden jewelry this time. It was not my intention to do something with gold again. Gold was one of my tag words, but I preferred to do something else. I had other tags to search for, like “meeting an old lover” “attraction” and “recognition.” So I went searching…. When I saw this golden jewelry book I could not take my eyes of it. I felt so cheap and wrong to take something goldish like again, but I felt really good in the same time. I could call this second journey “the irresistibility of wrong things” or “why we like to do wrong things?”, which sounds like the title of a novel. Interesting question actually. A question where you could have many thoughts about. For myself I didn’t found an answer to it yet.

Rietveld Library code: 777.6 cat172

A hole, a crack, a black space – consisting of nothing!

I came to the bookshelf to choose my book and what i found was a book on its own and a large space which seperated it from the main body of the other books. The absence of something was so present for me in its tension that it drew my attention to that spot right away. Like the suspense of quiet in between movements of musical symphony the quietness was pointing and preparing me for this one very special book.

Rietveld Library code: *7399*

The second time in the Rietveld library to search for a book that I know nothing about yet.
The only thing I know is the mantra I keep repeating in my head. The mantra consisting of my last tag words. I pull a few books from the bottom shelves but none of them seems to be the right one.
Until I pull out a thin, square book of which the library code consists of the letters e a t (might be “cat” but i still read it as “eat”).  The second thing I looked at was the back cover. It’s full of scratches. What happened with this book if you go beyond “it’s used as a cutting mat”?
I found it more then appropriate.

Eating; the everyday activity.
Square; meaning boring.

Thin book, bottom shelve; forgettable.

Scratches; popping up of questions.

My mantra of automaticlivesoblivionstorymaking was answered.

Rietveld Library code: 705.8 eat 12

Where in the fist book the absurdity of life is discussed in a very airily funny and positive approach, this books deals with the same theme, but in a very confronting real way. This book is about the things and facts of life as well. Most photographs are shocking and horrifying, but they tell the story of history since 1955. It’s a book about photojournalism. Despite all the nasty images there are also beautiful pictures included, some of famous photographers. Though there’s definitely a shadow hanging over this book and it’s called reality.

The search for a book with the same tag words was pretty hard. I was exactly looking for the other more confronting realistic side of the absurd things in life. In the end I think this is really a book that suits exactly that subscription and therefore the same tag words as my previous one. I think it‘s his serious brother.

Rietveld Library code: 761.6-pan-1

The Session is an Amsterdam based thematic fanzine run by a group of artists and designers. The Session takes place for one day every second month, during which works around a specific theme are being made.

The group uses different methods and media, from drawing to research to songwriting. There are as few rules as possible in order to keep things open and uncomplicated. The members of the group are taking turns in deciding the theme to work with, members can invite guests to join a session. The member deciding for the theme of an issue is the publisher and responsible for editing, design and (re-)production. This means that every issue will look different, that every issue will be compiled with a different approach and produced in a different way, testing out formats and techniques. The Session is a flexible container for any kind of content, trusting in the spontaneous quality of its Sunday-afternoon outburst. Issues released so far are:
(1) The Banana Session (September 2007)
(2) The Colo(u)r Session (December 2007)
(3) The Weapons & Armour Session (February 2008)
(4) The Secret Session (March 2008)
(5) The Holiday Session (June 2008)
(6) The Psychedelic Session (September 2008)
(7) The Obsession (January 2009)
(8) The Amsterdam Session (May 2009)
(9) The Last Session (September 2009)

The Session are: Monica Tormell, Tomas Adolfs, Staffan Björk, Tarja Szaraniec, Matthias Kreutzer, Kalle Mattsson, Orpheu De Jong and Jens Schildt.

http://www.thesession.nl

http://www.myspace.com/thesessions

http://www.thelastsessionradio.com

I choose an ugly black book named Afval toekomst (waste future). It looks totally different than the other books and it feels strange as I touch it because the cover is made of a material that I can not call by name. Maybe it is rubber but I am not sure. The colors are very dominant and aggressive, black and a red title. I really like the design of this book. It is not usual. The weird material fits perfect with the title of the book. I also like the way how the pages and the cover are bound together with pins. The cover is open at the side (like a sandwich). If the cover was not so strange I never would rent this book. Now I have this book I realize that it is a very special book with a great theme and it is a lot of fun to read.

Rietveld Library code: 772.9

At March 16th 1992, Cornelia, Jane, Greetje, en Weimpje Koelewijn Vermeer cleaned the pavilion of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie.





the soberness and functionality of Rietveld

the neatness and the costume of the women from Spakenburg

respect

space – light – color.

a women that cleans will not lose her morality.





Job Koelewijn, Winner of the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Art (2006) talks.
photo’s by Erik van de Boom, reprinted from Rietveld Publication no 76

The library is a vault of knowledge and place of opportunities and inspiring meetings if only you know the combination to open it up.

In an attempt to expose that hidden treasure for ourselves we have to find out what we are searching for. Not aimed at 1 specific objective question but in an effort to make our personal focus manifest. Searching and naming (tagging) our find.

What if…, we were to browse through it, just like we so often browse the Internet, on association and intuition? Would we be able to unlock it and find hidden treasures. We probably would and we might also find out why the fast information that we find on the internet, the superficial re-shuffling of opinionated facts and loads of images, desperately requires editing. We might find an answer to the question, why more books are printed than ever and libraries thrive.

40 students set out to “browse” the library in that state of mind, showing what happens if you just release your preconceptions and start doing it. All their adventures can be read under the category >“subjective library” project<.
The tags they created in that process became part of the Designblog’s monumental tag list.

click on the images above to find some of the tags as we translated them into images for you. If you want to check them all out go to …… Flikcr.com /subjective library /click people link

selection made by Matthias Kreutzer and Henk Groenendijk

Amsterdam based Visual artist and archivist Tjebbe van Tijen (1944) works since 1988 under the name Imaginary Museum Projects consisting of regular lectures, performances and publications on subjects like social memory, psycho-geography, media history, mapping of human violence and visual language. Especially interesting in this project are the “Museums in our Minds Scrolls” that he is making. To view the strips of images, he build a special wooden viewing device with handles that one had to turn to scroll through the strips, a manual scroll-bar really.
link to the Imaginary Museum Homepage, or read the interview that Geert Lovink had with him in 2004
In his celebrated book “Le Musée Imaginaire”, Andre Malraux (1901) developped the idea that the world of reproductions forms a “museum without walls“ a museum in your head. A virtual museum read more:



Continuous Drawing by Tjebbe van Tijen. Photographs Pieter Boersma. Collections Henk Groenendijk

One of Tjebbe van Tijen first “actions” was “the continuous drawing” organized by him and students of the London ‘Sigma Centre’ in 1967. The “continuous drawing” came out of a Londen sewer and travelled to The Netherlands. Two parallel lines, continuously branching and looping creating organic forms. True streets, onto cabs,in the airplane and thrue Schiphol Airport, over the streets, into the Stedelijkmuseum where it continuous on the stairs, to the terras, covering visitors and statues until it ends as a projection in a smoke filled dome, as if desolving in smoke. This project was initiated by the City of Amsterdam Municipality, Tourist Promotion and various Art Foundations in A’dam and R’dam. Other participants were a.o. Willem Breuker (musician), Theo Botschuijver (industrial designer), Graham Stevens (architect), Pieter Boersma (photographer). His took the initiative for a documentation center on art, technology and society at the Sigma Center and Stedelijk Museum (1967-1969) and was later founder and curator of the Documentation Center of Modern Social Movements at the University Library and International Institute for Social History in Amsterdam

sources: “Actie, werkelijkheid en fictie in de kunst van de jaren ‘60 in Nederland” (Action, Reality and Fiction in the art of the sixties)©’79, Mediametic, Gandalf #19 ©’79. imaginary Museum

The appearance of Muhammad in Arabia in the year 610 had no effect whatever on art in Arabia and no common single homogenious Islamic style is to be found from India to the Straits of Gibraltar. All kinds of influences, in accordance whit local conditions, are evident such as for example, Antique, Early Christian, Byzantine, Phoenician, Hebraic, Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, Egyptian, and even Indian influences. These together whit what remained of Arabian art, combined whit their own original contributions, were all formed into one whole one single new style.
As the pictorial reproduction of men and animals was forbidden by the Islam religion, Islam art was obliged to confine itself to geometric and vegetable Ornament. This command however appear to have been promulgated in the later periods of Islamism and to have originated in the fanatism of the Mohammedan priesthood, for animal ornaments have been found which date from more ancient times. There is a general absence of plastic work in Islam art, the moslims appear to have had no understanding for this class of work.
For information about this subject link for a large two part documentary to google video ….

A walk in to a wall. Different walls are facing me.

Hello I said to her.

She said hello to me.

I talked with her for a very little time.

The thing she said to me was red.

In points I agreed in some points I disagreed.

But in conversation with especially her cover I became curies.

Why is it that she said hello.

Why the others didn’t said hello.

She is not very beautiful at all, not very interesting either.

The word she chooses to say hallo was regular.

But it brought me to another level of being aware.

Rietveld Library code: ?

Walking in the library. Looking for something who is nothing, at the same time. All the covers of the books are staring at me, they are all something. Then I find…

This book, black.

This book, German language.

Attracted, white lines on the cover.

The lines going to the nothingness of the black. I want to walk in the cover to see and feel the nothingness around me. Like standing somewhere on a field in the middle off the night.

This book, I can’t read because the language.

This book, with a very disturbing content.

Attracted, understand what I don’t understand.

Let me know, I whisper. Let me know…

Rietveld Library code: 774.4

Image instead of font, relaxed instead of compulsive, everything except cats: these are the tags of the book I picked. No relation is a relation as well, and thus is this lack of relation the perfect link between the first and the second book. I found an objective way to link this post to my earlier post. This book pulled my attention in the same way it is linked to the other book: the big differences. Was the first book white, about fonts and having a sort of mysterious neurotic repeating cleanness, the second book is colorful, filled with images, hundreds of subjects and a bit of chaos. Browsing through the pages you see countless interesting illustrations, which make you want to take a closer look but also make you want to look further; are there more images like these, are there better images then these, could it become better then this? It makes you want to draw or make such images too: images from which you can see there was a lot of work in it or absolutely not much work. The amount of work is of no importance, the works are intriguing.

Rietveld Library code: ?

Subjectively searching for a very unsubjective assignment, but still with the subjective thought in mind that it is not possible to be subjective in command, I saw a large white book. The title is not really that interesting, but the bigness of the book attracts me. It might be worth taking a look on the inside. So that is what I do. The whole book (798 pages) is filled with the same text in different sizes and fonts. If the book was on sale, I would buy it. But it is on lend, so that is what I do. It is fascinating to read the same text (‘In our house we had a cat with the grandiose name of Gonnosuke …’) over and over again. If not knowing the purpose of this book (a sort of shopping guide for fonts), you could think it was written by someone who was or high or compulsively neurotic or both.

Walking through the library with a specific direction in mind (the tagword signs) my eyes crossed a book with the title ‘City Signs and Lights’. It is a book printed in the seventies and it has a silvershining cover with a lot of black ink printed over it. The book contains a study in city signs and lights. The interesting thing about this book for me is that it shows the paradox I discribed in my last post. And it contains a lot of examples where signs could get confusing.

One solution I really liked was where the writer (Stephen Carr) tried to untie a traffic knot. What he sugested was marking all the different directions by giving them their own color and repeat this in the direction signs, and give each section of the road the right colour wich lead you to the place where you wanted to be.

754.5 -carr-