For Italian artist Frederico Pietrella, time is a framework that can be measured in the time it takes to create a work of art. And one of the mediums he uses to illustrate the concept of time is a library date stamp. As his large-scale images take a considerable amount of time to produce, he will change the stamp to reflect the current date, adding texture to illustrate his everyday images in a complex, pointillistic manner. Each image can take him up to two months to complete, and they often sell for up to €20,000 (or $26.000).Pietrella, who now makes...
Words of Mystery
As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "every word was once a poem", but where do these words come from? Independent filmmaker Jessica Oreck unfolds some of the etymological meaning of words in her new animated mini-series, Mysteries of Vernacular. Each word is skillfully constructed within the pages of old books, then animated in a 90 second short, often taking 80 hours or more to create. When complete, the Mysteries' shorts will contain 26 installments of word origins in alphabetical order. By day, Oreck produces documentary films on such topics as Russian folktales against a backdrop of war in The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, and Arctic Cowboys, about reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland. The Mysteries mini-series began as...
Literary Table Napkins
Enjoy the company of four of the world's greatest writers at your dining table. This set of four cotton napkins featuring the typewritten letters of Jack London, Emily Dickinson, D.H. Lawrence, and Mark Twain will enliven any meal. Never mind that Emily Dickinson's loveletter to Susie was written about ten years prior to the invention of the typewriter—it will melt your heart. Mark Twain's note to a young child named Joy will make you rethink every letter you have ever written. "The idea of your house going to the wanton expense of a flower garden!—aren't you enough? And what do...
Long Overdue Library Cards
Who doesn't have a book lover in their life who would appreciate a well-crafted due date card? Library Cards, from the creative team of Sara & Brad McNally of Constellation & Co. in Seattle, are letterpress printed on 3x5 inch white card stock with bookish phrases, accompanied with manila pocket envelopes. For the perfect gift to a mutual book fan, tuck them inside a book with an endearing note or literary quote. Available individually, or in a boxed set of five here.The welcoming print shop of Constellation & Co. world headquarters located in an old 19th century building in Pioneer Square in Seattle.
The LunchBook
Snack on this: An international recipe book with "paper plate" pages to eat on. LunchBook is designed by Italian design team Sebastiano Ercoli and Alessandro Garlandini for the Expo Milano 2015 world exposition dedicated to food, sustainability and nutrition. This culinary world book contains international recipes encouraging the visitor to use its pages as plates and taste the many dishes from the Expo Milano stands. Once a page is used it can be easily removed. The pages have been coated with a waterproof biopolymer film and are 100% recyclable and compostable. An added feature is having each paper plate's border based upon the traditional...