Material World

Designer: Xie Mulian (谢幕连) 1978. Selling the fruits of a bumper harvest in a friendly manner

During the Cultural Revolution customers have to treat shop staff with respect and submission: the workers are the bosses. Now kindness and politeness from the staff towards customers are encouraged again. This poster actually was first published in 1965. It soon became obsolete - or even counterrevolutionary. Apparently the design was judged strong enough to be reprinted after so many years, and to get a new chance under new political circumstances.

via Xie Mulian - Selling the fruits of a bumper harvest in a friendly manner

It’s all been done before but it’s never been done by you: if you don’t look into the past there is no chance to go into the future.

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—	grrl dog: Maurizio Anzeri

wall painting in santarcangelo II (by i k o)

sfmoma:

“To be an artist is to believe in life.” - Henry Moore

(via Behind the Scenes at the Opening Night of artMRKT | de Young Museum)

There is a painting of you wheat pasting an image of a bear with the words ‘You Have Everything You Need’. Where are you in the pic and what’s the story behind the paste ups? That photo was taken at a wall downtown. The bears have always symbolized the Buddhist idea that to desire is to suffer. I think I first started painting bears when I quit smoking, and I was constantly looking for something outside myself to fill up the emptiness left by overcoming that addiction.

via A Little Chat with Deedee Cheriel. - my love for you is a stampede of horses.

There is a painting of you wheat pasting an image of a bear with the words ‘You Have Everything You Need’. Where are you in the pic and what’s the story behind the paste ups? That photo was taken at a wall downtown. The bears have always symbolized the Buddhist idea that to desire is to suffer. I think I first started painting bears when I quit smoking, and I was constantly looking for something outside myself to fill up the emptiness left by overcoming that addiction.

via A Little Chat with Deedee Cheriel. - my love for you is a stampede of horses.

(via Gravity-Defying Land Art by Cornelia Konrads | Colossal)

German artist Cornelia Konrads creates mind-bending site-specific installations in public spaces, sculpture parks and private gardens around the world. Her work is frequently punctuated by the illusion of weightlessness, where stacked objects like logs, fences, and doorways appear to be suspended in mid-air, reinforcing their temporary nature as if the installation is beginning to dissolve before your very eyes.

From Shanghainese artist Fan Shisan’s series titled “Two of us.” The series is made up of more than 50 photographs. In each a young Chinese person is shown with an alter ego, a double posing in a different position — a commentary on China’s one-child policy.
via China’s post-1980s artists and the one-child policy

From Shanghainese artist Fan Shisan’s series titled “Two of us.” The series is made up of more than 50 photographs. In each a young Chinese person is shown with an alter ego, a double posing in a different position — a commentary on China’s one-child policy.

via China’s post-1980s artists and the one-child policy

via ‘OC / OCD’ a work in progress by Emma Johnson

The traditional owner, an older woman with a tough grace, welcomed us to her land. Her words were plain and her voice was tinged with a sense of pride. Her group was one of the few in southern Australia to obtain a native title determination recognising the members as native title holders. (via Reading the Constitution out Loud · Meanjin)

Marcia Langtons’ article on the history, process & issues around constitutional reform for recognition of Aboriginal Australians. Photo: Untitled (Marcia Langton) 2002, detail, Christian Bumbarra Thompson.

The traditional owner, an older woman with a tough grace, welcomed us to her land. Her words were plain and her voice was tinged with a sense of pride. Her group was one of the few in southern Australia to obtain a native title determination recognising the members as native title holders. (via Reading the Constitution out Loud · Meanjin)

Marcia Langtons’ article on the history, process & issues around constitutional reform for recognition of Aboriginal Australians. Photo: Untitled (Marcia Langton) 2002, detail, Christian Bumbarra Thompson.

vizzz:

(part of my ongoing series commemorating trans women killed in hate crimes)

Paige Clay was only 23 and was just killed a few days ago. this shit needs to stop.

(via Revolutions – Forms That Turn (2008 Biennale of Sydney) at ecopolis)

Vernon Ah Kee, tolerance, 2005, Vinyl on PVC, 122 x 180cm.

(via EDUCATIONAL BLOG: tapestry-fiberart.blogspot.com) NAKANO, Emiko. ‘Brilliant Feast’ 1978, wool; warp effect plain weave, space dying, coiling, plaiting.

(via INDESIGNLIVE | Architecture, Design and Interiors) Tiwi design fabric for Deka furniture range.

(via Mosman Art Gallery: Australian Accent: the Designs of Annan Fabrics and Vande Pottery of the ’40s and ’50s)

Nance Mackenzie and Anne Outlaw screen printing fabric, 1944. They started their screen printing business, Annan Fabrics, in the depths of World War II and went on to represent modern Australian textile design internationally and domestically. (Collection: Powerhouse Museum, Sydney)

i love this photo, for how much printing hasn’t changed, and their overalls.

oz culture note: their designs were less appealing otoh. they might have encouraged the shift from parochial, British trend following in design to acceptance of [some] local women artists and styles, but they also had a phase of producing those colonial racist kitsch styles which competed with real Aboriginal artists.

In my night garden, by print artist Ed Boxall.