Neoteny

It seems like my attempt on reblogging has come to naught. I have lost the interest to put together stuff on the internet and present them in an issue, like a magazine, simply because the selection process sort of changes my own perception towards these inspiring works.

But I wondered, where else can I put together all the wonderful things people from everywhere around the world are making? It has to be here. So therefore, from this day on, Neoteny will be a tag to put together all my inspirations, on film, design, literature, art, and everything else. And for simplicity sake, I shall keep introductions and comments to the minimum.

Neoteny #005 You are my sunshine.

I know I'm late - I was held back by some distraction in life. A positive distraction, that is. So here you go, three works to make your day, with a bonus feature of a friend of mine.

I stumbled upon this Finnish visual artist's/photographer's blog, and she takes stunning photos of simple things, giving us visions that we take for granted every day. This photograph caught my eye not only because of its colours, but also of the subtle minimalism embed with innocence.

(from Suvi sur le vif)

Just a while ago, I came across this side table that impressed me by its conception and execution. A moment in time indeed, poetic. 

(from Design Milk)

As always, my penchant for the weird. Great ad. 

(from Vimeo by Antfood)

And the promised feature, by Jeremy. A well-executed piece with beautiful paper, stunning palette, and photographed deservingly. 

=002= Street Walk, Coffee Shot: iLight Marina Bay 2012

Absolute

Colorifera

Glimmer

This could be heaven, or this could be hell.

Pumped up kick.

Jackpot

Lifestream

Lumik's Cube

Metamorphotosis

Lomo. Many thanks to Howard for the company.

Neoteny #004 It just gets weirder

I know I quoted Sir Francis Bacon just a couple of posts ago, but you can't deny that the strange can be beautiful. And I would like to hang a lamp like this (by Tom Dixon) in my room, casting these shadows all over to give a secretive atmosphere. There are many strange lamps out there, but the geometry of the structure and its shadows makes this one of a kind, I hope. 

(via Retail Design Blog)

The fact that the strange can be especially beautiful is best proven by the success of Colossal, and the blog featured Markus Reugels in the past week. His works shouldn't be unfamiliar, but if it's the first time you've heard of him, then I congratulate you on your getting to know him now. 

(via Colossal)

I'll end again with another film, a short film by Andrew Huang. And of course, it is mind-blowing, it has to be. (Love the pseudo-deep-sea-fish)

(SOLIPSIST from Andrew Huang on Vimeo)

Google reader has been inundating me with lots of stuff from everywhere else that I want to share here. And so three features for every two weeks seems, restrictive. Neoteny will be a weekly affair now.

Neoteny #003 Food, Shop, and Film.

It is difficult to define the boundaries of art, not to say defining art itself. People ancient and modern have debated about this age-old question, but I'll settle with anything that impress me in ways beyond intellect.

Cooking is definitely an art. I bake occasionally (more often when I was attached heh). Enough about myself, we have here a dedicated chef from NYC, Deb Perelman. She's a very casual food photographer, taking little effort to set up elaborate lighting or decorate her works excessively. The photos come out as honest, and serve to stimulate our salivary glands nonetheless. But really, it's the food that is her art. She puts up recipes on her blogs every now and then, each of them so thoughtful. I've yet to try out a recipe, but soon I'll when I get a new oven because the old one's broken. For now, I'm just going to share one here; you have to visit her blog for more. You have to.

(via Smitten Kitchen)

In my country, Pop-Up Shops are not popular. There's only a couple of them (or one?) along Orchard Road, but they'll never be well-received unless they can best such design. We need to squeeze our creative juices a whole lot more. 

(via THEARTISTANDHISMODEL)

Last, a hauntingly beautiful short film. I have always enjoyed short films.

(For The Remainder from Omer Ben David on Vimeo)

=001= Street Walk, Coffee Shot

I have never actually liked architecture photography, simply because I don't do it well. Buildings seemed so dry, and it's hard to incorporate a sense of action and life in such photos. For that reason, most of my past street photography posts centered around people. I found it easier to capture the subject, to have something to focus on. Previous attempts to shoot street scapes ended up with photos that are 'empty'.

But a trip to The Pigeonhole Cafe (check it out here; it's a really cool place to chill out) on Thursday for some event, I was impressed by the architecture in the area and carrying a heavy camera around paid off with these catches:

In many ways these are not spectacular photos. I'm just glad that they look better than before. Just intrigued that the shutterbug has bitten me in a different way this time round.

Neoteny #002 Tops, Fangs, and Filigree.

The observant would have noticed the change. It was inevitable. Pay no mind if you have not noticed, but do check out what the author have in line this week.

Once again, from The Casual Optimist, we have here a short film by Charles and Ray Eames. They were American designers famous for their work in modern architecture and furniture, though they dabbled in other fields of art. Find out more about the couple here; before that, relax and enjoy the film. Do not be tempted to wander off prematurely. Instead, do shut out all other thoughts (a herculean task on the internet) and savor the film in its entirety.

And Fangs! Or rather, women's shoes. Incredulous shoes. Sometimes, it's hard to comprehend why would anyone design shoes like these, and even more so, who would fancy such shoes. But as Sir Francis Bacon once said, "There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion."

(via Design Milk; click to see more)

The second post of Neoteny shall be concluded with a work that closely relates to the author's pet subject of Biology. Behold! Filigree a.k.a paper quilling of human anatomical cross-sections. Absolutely strange and beautiful. 

(See more at Colossal, you have to)

There is nothing more beautiful, or uglier, than obsession itself. That is all for now.