1. links for 2008-03-08



  2. links for 2008-02-08

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    From LSO’s Chronicle

    Russian 20th-century music is inseparable from history. As film composers, Shostakovich and Prokofiev both got used to the idea of providing accompaniments to images of great moments from their country’s past. But few have chronicled their own times as relentlessly as Shostakovich.

    Variously fêted and reviled by the Soviet authorities, and constantly treading a fine line between triumph and disaster – sometimes even between life and death – his desire to compose never wavered, and thus it is that the late symphonies featured in this series offer an image of the postwar decades in music of unfailingly intense expression, from the ‘optimistic tragedy’ of the Tenth to the descriptive power of the Eleventh, and the dark contemplations of the Fourteenth to the quirky irony of the Fifteenth. Yet out of necessity Shostakovich’s is also an art rich in ambiguity, its surface messages often seemingly undermined by steely irony and double meaning.

    Three decades after his death these great works still have the power both to fascinate and to reach deep into our hearts and minds.

    From Wikipedia: Shostakovich’s page:

    After a period influenced by Prokofiev and Stravinsky (Symphony No. 1), Shostakovich switched to modernism (Symphony No. 2 and The Nose) before developing a hybrid of styles with Lady Macbeth and the state-suppressed Fourth Symphony. This hybrid style ranged from the neo-classical (with Stravinskian influences) to the post-romantic music (with Mahlerian influences). His tonality involved much use of modality and some astringent neo-classical harmonies à la Hindemith and Prokofiev. His music frequently includes sharp contrasts and elements of the grotesque.



  3. links for 2008-02-06

    I met Goldin+Senneby at a meeting at Gasworks yesterday, and we didn’t had time to discuss more about what they were doing – there was much stuff to organise for the incoming ‘Disclosures’. When I came back at home, after the meeting, I was really pleased to discover their work. This image, particulary struck my mind – I instantly recognised the landscape.

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  4. links for 2008-02-04

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    what vs. how (tecznotes)
    nice writing about design process at stamen. It is nice to see Pierre and I, we are actually quite right with all the thoughts we are giving about ElectroNest and how to manage the company/work/life – it’s all about utopia! :)
    (tags: design process)

    internet usage statistics origami – data visualization & visual design – information aesthetics
    a very nice tangible visualisation of internet traffic and flows; it reminded me the logo electronest designed for my own electronic presence on http://www.jeromerigaud.com
    (tags: visualisation tangible schema statistics sculpture origami internet traffic paper)

    Declutter Your Desk how to make space on your desk – everything is hidden in the shade, still accessible but not messing all around (tags: ***** desktop hardware ideas lifehack organization productivity)

    The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web – a practical guide to web typography I quite liked the book of Robert Bringhurst – now, it seems like there is a nice web equivalent with the very specific issues of typography on screen (lower resolution, less control) (tags: screen typography webdesign ***** design display)

    Creating a Color Scheme some explanations and insights about the color parameters and values I used to manipulate in picture editing software without knowing what it meant exactly (degreee, etc.) (tags: color howto tutorial photoshop hue degree)

    How To: Separate WordPress Comments and Trackbacks WordPress with a bit of subtlety: separating comments and trackbacks (tags: wordpress hack code custom)

    Koyaanisqatsi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia “It’s not that we use technology, we live technology” – amazing and brilliant movie. it is the first of a trilogy (tags: film inspiration slow_motion technology nature society explosion)

    CommentPress an amazing plugin that let’s you comment posts on a per paragraph basis; it brings feelings somehow of taking notes with a pen in the margins of a real book. (tags: wordpress comment plugin textuality discussion)