Enveloped: Andrew Bush

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Photographer Andrew Bush photographs envelopes. They are framed against various backgrounds that compliment their patina and design:

Meant to be seen in familial congregations of three or more, each envelope seems to enclose a confidential but undisclosed message. In the late twentieth-century world of electronic communication, Bush's understanding that envelopes, like painted portraits of one's ancestors, will gradually disappear with their untold secrets, is both poignant and prescient. {Metropolitan Museum of Art}

Flotsam & Jetsam

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Dimitris Karaiskos is a graphic design from Athens who collects interesting debris that washes ashore. He has recently published his collection in a book entitled "Flotsam & Jetsam".

"It's actually a small part (about 150 pieces) of my collection of around 1000 objects I found washed up mainly on beaches in Greece but also around the world (from Scotland to New Zealand and the Maldives).

Some of them are strange and unusual, some are common but photographed in such a way that you can't really tell what they are (or how big they are, since we decided to kill any sense of scale): Nautical maps and graphs found nearby cargo boat wrecks, pieces from lighthouses, an inflatable sex-doll head, a lifejacket from a US-Navy fighter jet, pieces of driftwood that look like creatures, deformed kids' toys and endless consumer products from around the world in their dilapitated by the sea, sun and oil packaging. We paired these objects together in funny or nice-looking combinations."

In the book's introduction, Ian Jeffreys writes, "Beachcombing is a way of consulting providence. You walk the shore and kick this or that piece of plastic debris and although it might turn out to be no more than an emptied tube of Polish toothpaste discharged by a freighter it might be altogether more intriguing. If we are lucky providence delivers something of value, something surprising and enlivening."

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Type Tuesday: Penmanship

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UPPERCASE is Valentine-themed this week, with our display of vintage valentines for sale. I call them "pre-loved" since the previous senders have inscribed their names and intended loves in pencil. So in honour of handwritten sentimentality, for this week's Type Tuesday, we'll focus on penmanship. This batch of postcards (humorous cards from the early 1900s, also for sale in the store) are most interesting for the handwritten messages. Whether the sender had neat penmanship or messy scrawls, their inky personalities make each card unique. (View the full set and in higher resolution here.)

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Jewelerines by Paige Smith

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Paige Smith is a Senior Designer at Critical Mass in Calgary. She is also a wonderful craftsperson and recently launched her line of vintage-inspired jewellery holders at the Calgary Artist Market (unfortunately, she won't be at tomorrow's sale). Made from found antique lamp bases, thrifted china and charming trims, Jewelerines are uniquely pretty holders for necklaces, earrings, brooches, rings and bracelets.

I love the thrill of finding treasures in other people’s ‘junk’ and seeing the potential of how it can be transformed into something beautiful. As a young girl, I would tag along with my mom to church rummage and garage sales to pick out a ‘new’ outfit for school. And my dad’s junkcollecting ways turned the farm in Saskatchewan into the best place to play hide-and-go seek with my brother. A collector at heart, I have searched the world’s greatest flea markets for many treasures; Loppmarknaden in Stockholm; Les Puces de Saint-Ouen in Paris; and every Sunday here at Calgary’s Hillhurst-Sunnyside flea market. I find inspiration in the many things I collect. It was a vintage pink brocade dress that inspired me to create one-of-a-kind jewelry holders called Jewelerines.

Jewelerines are available at Honey B's in Calgary or by emailing psdesign at telus dot net. I wish Paige much success in her creative venture!

Skulking & Schlepping

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The School of Visual Arts offeres a class called "Skulking & Schlepping: Stories about New York People" as part of the first year MFA in Designer as Author. The class description reads, "each student will select an individual and tell their story in a variety of design media. Students will be required to develop a humanistic interpretation of their subject. A portion of the classes will take place off campus."

The result is "The Suitcase Project" – ten suitcases repurposed into portable art objects. Instructor Maira Kalman writes, "Each suitcase is a story. Once told or waiting to be told." 

 I'm particularly fond of Esther Wu's suitcase (second from the top) which explores the life of a nun, and Zeynep Orbay's suitcase of future/desired memories (two bottom images).

Beautiful / Ordinary

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Another collection of small, beautiful and singularly useful objects: the clothespin.

"Numerous reasons can be observed for the different variations in form and functional interpretations - it is exciting to see how many variations can be generated for such a minimal structure - a lesson in the evolution of products, a lesson in change as inherent human need, as well as the need to interpret, to innovate, to say the same thing differently."

They're very typographic.