crooked house

Germs

Sylvie has been bringing a lot of germs home from school.

Grace Weston's World

I am so excited by Grace Weston's hilariously creepy work. And, in this video, she is endearingly enthusiastic about doing it. An art critic quoted on her site describes it as a sort of combination of Mr Roger's Neighborhood and Hieronymous Bosch and yes, that about sums it up. Apparently, some of her photographs appear in Microworlds, a book I really must have.

Children Not Looking at Art

This is a great photo, as fellow Nova Scotian Chelsea Nichols, the curator of The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things, points out. I bet there are a lot of photos out there of children not looking at the art in museums. I bet there are a lot of photos out there of people in general not looking at the art in museums. Wouldn't that make a great art show?

Sandwich Bag Art

David LaFerriere, a graphic artist, has been decorating his sons' sandwhich bags since 2008. There are hundreds of them. Watch a video of him here.

Books and Buildings

By artist Frank Halmans.

Obsession, by Jennifer Rodriguez. It is a book of photographs of doors.

Photographs of Children from Around the World and Their Most-Prized Possessions

Lucas, from Sydney, Australia with his Thomas stuff.

Tangawizi, from Kenya, with his stuffed animal.

Photographer Gabriele Galimberti took pictures of children all over the world with their favourite toys. They're very interesting photos. I think it would also be interesting to have the children pose with ALL of their toys. (I would be mortified to have my children photographed with all of theirs, however. We practically need another house to keep them in.)

For some reason, this reminds me of Vera Saltzman's portraits of middle-aged women posing with their childhood dolls. (You have to click on "Sue and Winnie" on her portfolio site.) Maybe it's because the photos are interesting but I think they could've been even more interesting. In the case of Saltzman's series, all the women are wearing rather grim expressions and, as you look at more and more of the photos, it begins to look rather staged. I think they'd work better as a collection if they wore more natural expressions.

 

Miniature Landscape Nail Art

Miniature landscape nail art by Alice Bartlett.

Giant Swing Installation

Check out these photos of artist Ann Hamilton's gigantic swing installation at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. If I lived in New York I would so be there right now. That looks like one weird and wonderful way to relieve stress. There are a whole bunch of big swings hanging from the roof in this place, as well as that giant billowing curtain you see there. As the swings move, they make the curtain move. Apparently there are also radios wrapped up in paper bags strewn around. When you pick them up and listen, you can hear people reading.

I want a job making things like this.

 

Rainbow Primary School

This is a French primary school. It is gorgeous -- very energizing. They better not hire any old teachers who just want the children to sit quietly. More photos here.

Charlotte Sometimes

Another gorgeous book cover -- the New York Review Children's Collection's edition of Penelope Farmer's Charlotte Sometimes. Lizzie Skurnick mentioned this book today on her Shelf Discovery facebook page and I vaguely remembered reading it as a child. Can't wait to get my hands on a copy (preferably this one) and revisit it. (I had a wonderful dream recently that the New York Review people sent me copies of all their children's books. If only they would...)