Artistic Ideas | Arts, Crafts & Culture

Artistic Ideas focuses on Arts, Crafts and Culture

Fab Fabrics: Sustainable Denim from Clariant

Clariant Denim

We’ve talked about denim’s planetary impact and even explored some eco-friendly denim options before, so you can imagine how happy I was to run across a new company offering Earth friendly denim!

Why Denim Matters

Denim production is seriously tough on the environment. Conventional denim is made from pesticide-laden cotton – one of the most sprayed crops in the world.

Not only is the fabric a problem, but all of that dye has a huge impact. This CNN report highlights the enormous impact that the denim industry has had on China’s Pearl River:

Clariant Advanced Denim

That’s where companies like Clariant come in. Clariant Advanced Denim uses 92% less water and 30% less energy to produce denim fabric that wastes 87% less cotton than its conventional counterparts.

The company uses indigo free dyes, which is huge. Indigo is a large part of what contaminated the Pearl River. Their dye process produces a fraction of the waste, and unlike conventional denim dyes, the waste water they produce is sulfite free. The process also adheres to stringent US and international standards for textiles.

While their waste reduction and dye processes are admirable, I would love to see Clariant switch over to organic cotton for their denims. Conventional cotton is genetically modified, which means its production supports big agriculture firms like Monsanto. It’s also responsible for 10% of the world’s pesticide use and 25% of the insecticides. That’s a huge amount of chemicals!

So what do you think? Do Clariant’s benefits outweigh the costs? Would you use it in your denim craft projects?

[Image Credit: Photos via Clariant]

CET & RST Education Tour

Massachusetts College of Art, Boston

Over the last months, Chaw Ei and I were able to meet students and share our work in several cities including Boston, New York, Chicago, Providence, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore. It has also been a good opportunity to catch up with old friends and to meet new ones and foremost to remind ourselves of the pleasure of learning. We even attended an evening mold making workshop in New York and in the span of an hour learned more than days scouring books. Below are some images of some of the locations and people we’ve engaged.

School of the Art Institute Chicago (SAIC)
Chaw Ei shares her work with the performance art department at SAIC
Chaw Ei speaks about her work and performance art in Burma

Nora Taylor and Chaw Ei
Professor Nora Taylor of SAIC and Chaw Ei moments before her presentation

Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
Art presentation at NIU
Art Students from NIU DeKalb

Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston
DSC 1468 CET & RST Education Tour

North Hall at MassArt
North Hall at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Chaw Ei and I at MassArt speaking to the Studio for Interrelated Media
Sharing work with the Studio for Interrelated Media at MassArt

New York City
Chaw Ei at OSI
Chaw Ei delivers an art presentation at the Open Society Institute in New York.

Providence, Rhode Island
Chaw Ei at Brown University
Chaw Ei speaks at the International Writers Project at Brown University

Tokyo, Japan
kandada lecture
L-R: Mitsunori Sakano (Command-N), me, Naoko Horiuchi (Arts Initiative Tokyo)

kandada lecture 2 CET & RST Education Tour
Presentation at Kandada, as a part of the Regional Code Asia program and my exhibition.

Hong Kong
Para/site art curatorial students
I had the pleasure in April to work with a unique group of students with the Para/site curatorial program. Students enrolled in the Para/Site curators program presented and defended the concepts for their exhibitions-in-progress. A select team of international curators based in Asia shared their experience, critique and insight through a special platform utilizing Facebook.

The curatorial student team (Nana Seo, Kathy Lam Hoi Sin, Iris Lo and Evangelo Costadimas) will present their final exhibition, Feigned Innocence, at the Osage Gallery Kwun Tong in Hong Kong on May 29, 2009.

International Curators' Talk Series
International Curators’ Talk Series: Public Lecture
“Curatorial engagements in the Mekong Subregion of the Southeast Asia”

Solar Panel Installation for Our Home

solar installers2 Solar Panel Installation for Our HomeIf you are thinking to invest in solar installations for your house then remember that you might need to answer for a numerous questions. Firstly you need to make sure of how much could invest for this solar panel installation. The unbelievable fact is that the technology is more reasonably priced than power from your local distributor. Presently most of the people are resorting to more reasonable modes of electricity. We all need to pay a lot of monthly dues to clear up those and this can be anything from electricity cover to insurance. Once if you decided to go environment friendly i.e. to use solar panel then yearly you will start saving a lot of bucks.
Statistics told that a normally powered home can save about 0 a month. There are many people who ignore about the capacity of electricity. Most of the people think that electricity is not apt for electrical machines in residence. For instance, cooking area is one of it. Of course it is true that we can count from this side only if you enhance your home for architecture. So this indicates that our residence has to be well designed with techniques that can take the full benefits of the electrical power’s performance.
All the individuals who are depended on the main part from the electricity board will keep on settling the bills monthly as they just lease the electrical power they don’t own it. One of the greatest things about a household owning solar power is you just own that electrical source and you don’t need to pay anything for using the electricity.
After a person rise a unit or construct a household then you should keep pathway of your expenditure. Once if you see back the bills that you don’t need to pay any more then you will come to know of how much are you saving monthly. Even the household tries to utilize the maximum electricity from the solar panel products. One of the interesting thing to know is the highest priced equipments takes a lot of electrical power while the basic appliances uses a reasonable energy.
Start thinking about installing a solar panel in your residence as well and it can be anything like duplex residence, private accommodation, condo, vacation cabin or a holiday apartment. The fee structure of installation really depends upon the measurement and structure of the residence. Comparatively a guest house or flat would cost you more in installing than a vacation cabin.
So in order to keep solar panel, you don’t need to refurbish the home. All you need to do is to just call the experienced professionals related to this industry and they will try to incorporate the electric power in your residence.
Some even calculate the percentage share required to your household and they may utilize the solar electricity together with the major electricity from the city organization or even you can change to a 100% environmentally friendly powered residence.

Our First Meet the Masters (Homeschool) Project

Source: Satori Smiles

Satori Smiles is a glimpse into the lives of an inquisitive young girl and her mother homeschooling with an eclectic mix, mostly influenced by classical education, and making it come alive with tons of read-alouds, books, crafts, field trips and more books.

This weekend also marked our very first foray into our new art enrichment program, Meet the Masters! Satori and David had been coloring on the living room floor, so I snuck a laptop in front of them and started playing the lesson. This program is online, so we watched both the Preview and van Gogh Unit lessons. This viewing was Step 1, and we loved the lesson and enjoyed listening to “Starry, Starry Night” by Don McLean.

MTM

We are now seeing van Gogh’s paintings everywhere! Now that we studied him in just this initial lesson, we can’t miss his unmistakable art techniques, colors, and subjects. This is exactly what I wanted in starting an Art Appreciation program!

Read the entire blog post here.

Time Ligaments, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, HK

Time Ligaments

TIME LIGAMENTS – Contemporary Vietnamese Artists
Exhibition dates: 14 May-16 August, 2009
Venue: 10 Chancery Lane Gallery ART PROJECTS and ANNEX
Chai Wan Industrial City Phase One, 6/F, 60 Wing Tai Road, Chai Wan, Hong Kong

Participating Artists:
Khanh Cong Bui, Tiffany Chung, Phu Nam Thuc Ha, Christine Nguyen, Thi Trinh Nguyen,
Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Tuan Thai Nguyen, Tu Duc Nguyen, Rich Streitmatter-Tran

Co-curated by Dinh Q. Lê and Zoe Butt in cooperation with San Art, Ho Chi Minh City

Circulating within our image-burdened world are creative wanderers that ponder the vestiges of mediated fact and control — the crumbling layers of paint on government walls; the memory of a burning, martyred monk; the quasi-morphing of local habit with the experiential remnants of a ‘European Elsewhere’ — these itinerant image makers of Vietnam contort such hidden shifts into concrete form in Time Ligaments.

In this exhibition nine perspectives grapple with the persisting memories of a country where the past stubbornly lingers in the literal and mental landscape of the everyday. Their stories traverse the experience of migration and return; the metamorphosis of popular foreign trend with local custom; the stymied struggle of resistance against historical ideas of social control; or the increasing urban dilettante whose material desires lay waste to their history and surroundings. Time is schizophrenically warped in the photographically paused moments of Tu Duc Nguyen, while Phu Nam Thuc Ha’s lens captures the surfaces of crumbling government walls marveling at how time is the nascent agent of change. In Tuan Thai Nguyen’s careful paintings, where working life holds hostage to ideas of individual social worth, a crouching headless figure dressed in office garb faces a corner of an empty room. Such psychological influence of a neo-liberal world is also of great import in the gouache rendered drawings of Khanh Cong Bui and the conceptual sculptures of Tuan Andrew Nguyen, where ideas of deterioration and control are given broader metaphorical context in examining how the tools of a game operate as political strategy in pacifying conflict and terror, not just in Vietnam.

This is but a brief glance of the layered complex narratives in this exhibition where nine provocative artists will be showcased through painting, video, photography, sculptural installation and works on paper.

Title: Lao Tzu Dreams of the LHC (2009)
Lao Tzu Dreams of the LHC
Sculpture. Stainless steel, copper, brass

The installation began with an observation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most expensive scientific endeavor to date. The LHC is a particle accelerator whose mission is to replicate the conditions of the universe during the first fractions of a second of the Big Bang, and to validate our current models explaining the nature of reality. Particular components of the LHC appear strangely similar in form to the Ba Qua mirrors used in Feng Shui geomancy found throughout Asia that aim to properly align natural forces. Both the LHC and the Ba Qua mirrors aim to harness and understand the power of nature and yet are tools separated by thousands of years.

Some of most recent observations of the quantum world are also very close to descriptions found in the ancient texts, such as the I Ching (Book of Changes) and the Tao Te Ching, such as the fundamental nature of all things being movement and change. The number 8 has for long been considered lucky and primary to the Chinese as the trigrams represents all possible human and cosmic interactions. Eight has also become fundamental to our modern conditions, as the number has become the cornerstone of the binary code of our digital world (for example, 8, 32, 64-bit), and it has extended beyond into other areas of thought such as the 8-fold path in Buddhism.

This installation reconsiders the unique relationship between ancient texts and the most advanced cutting-edge frontiers of science and wonders if both are the same, as if Lao Tzu had once dreamed of such an experiment.

For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory… [we must turn] to those kinds of epistemological problems with which thinkers like Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted, when trying to harmonize our position as spectators and actors in the great drama of existence. – Neils Bohr, Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge.

LHC and Ba Qua
Similarities in visual form: The LHC and the Ba Qua

Work in progress

LHC faces
Work in progress. Completion of the polygonal faces

Time Ligaments Opening
Opening night at the 10 Chancery Lane Gallery Annex

View through the LHC
A view through the sculpture

Easy Bathroom Remodelling

bathroom remodeling Easy Bathroom RemodellingDespite the undoubted fact a significant number of owners would like to have their bathrooms reworked, not all make the call to do that. Though there are a number of pros to bathroom remodeling, there also are a considerable number of cons.
If you are considering a bathroom remodeling project, these cons may make you wish to rethink your call.
One of the most vital cons or downsides to bathroom remodeling is the pricetag of doing so. The price of a bathroom remodeling project will all depend on how much remodeling you need done.
The more that you need to have your bathroom redone, the more your remodeling will cost. As well as the cost of supplies and materials, you also must define whether there’ll be any additional costs. For instance, if you make the choice to have your bathroom professionally transformed, you are going to have to pay a pro contractor. Though a professional contractor frequently produces better results, you will find the cost of hiring one moderately high. As well as the price of bathroom remodeling, it is also vital to spot the time it will take. The quantity of time it needs for remodeling will also rely on what kind of time can be dedicated to it. If you make the decision to hire an expert contractor to redo your bathroom, the remodeling will probably be done faster. As well as knowing precisely what they are doing, execs can generally give more time to work than somebody that’s only doing the work on the side. Another one out of many cons to remodeling your bathroom is what it can do to your place. As you could understand already it’s possible for a bathroom remodeling project to extend the value of your place. A professional or quality remodeling job is likely going to provide the best rise in value. What you want to be aware of is what a poor remodeling project can do for your home. There is a probability that a poor bathroom remodeling project could also reduce the value of your place.
As formerly discussed, when having your bathroom transformed, you’ve got a choice to whether you would like to do your own remodeling or a have a pro do it for you. When talking about bathroom remodeling, you’ll find that are far more cons to do it yourself bathroom remodeling. The actuality is that even pro contractors harm themselves ; there’s also a fair likelihood that you will.
the correct way to avoid injury is to get yourself up to speed with your environment and the materials and tools you are going to be using. The risk of injury seriously decreases if you know what you’re doing ; it may be best if you have previous DIY experience, even if it’s only a touch. While it may appear as if it isn’t worth it to rework your bathroom, there also are one or two bathroom remodeling pros.
These pros include a new bathroom and the possibility of hiking up your home’s value. If you’re interested in remodeling your bathroom, only you can decide whether it might be worthwhile .

Fab Fabrics: BioCouture Made from Sweet Tea

green tea

We’ve talked about banana cloth and spider silk, and this week we’ve got another unusual fabric for you: fiber grown from sugary green tea!


Designer Suzanne Lee has come up with a way to grow her own fabric by feeding bacteria with a sugary green tea solution. The base sounds a lot like the tea you’d make to brew a batch of kombucha: sugar to feed the bacteria and caffeinated tea as a catalyst.

Using “less tea and sugar than a family might consume at home in two weeks,” Lee grew enough fabric to create an entire dress!

Not only is BioCouture innovative, it absorbs dye readily, meaning it takes less dye to color the fabric. As we’ve discussed here before, fabric dyes are not always environmentally sound, so this property could make a big impact!

The fabric does have some problems with water resistance right now. And by “some problems” I mean you can’t get the stuff wet. According to a report from New Scientist, the fabric is very absorbent, so it would first swell when in contact with water. Then, it would dissolve into a sugary liquid.

Scientists are working now on how to augment Lee’s recipe to make a water resistant version of BioCouture. You can learn more about this cutting edge new fabric and read an interview with the designer over at New Scientist.

[Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by mahiskali]

Singapore Art Museum and Ifa Gallery, Shanghai

I will be exhibiting work in the next days in the TransportAsian exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum and the Ifa Gallery in Shanghai, both opening on May 30th.

2 Singapore Art Museum and Ifa Gallery, Shanghai

Artists: Nguyen Minh Phuoc, Nguyen Quang Huy, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Le Huy Hoang, Pham Ngoc Duong, Hoang Duong Cam, R. Streitmatter-Tran. Curated by Marie Terrieux

Title: A Snapshot of Contemporary Vietnamese Art
Venue: Ifa Gallery, Shanghai
Dates: 30 May – 20 July, 2009
Vernissage: 30 May 3-8pm
Info: www.ifa-gallery.com
9i9y9yvzab

transportasian Singapore Art Museum and Ifa Gallery, Shanghai

Artists: Shannon Castelman, Chun Kai Qun, Chua Chye Tec, John Clang, Xavi Comas, Mark R. Kauffmann, Dominic Khoo, Ko Aung, Tung Mai, Nge Lay, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Rich Streitmatter-Tran, Samantha Tio, Francis Ng, Gilles Massot and students from Lasalle Faculty of Fine Arts. Curated by Patricia Levasseur.

Title: TransportAsian
Venue: Singapore Art Museum
Dates: 30 May – 11 August, 2009
Vernissage: 30 May 6pm
Info: www.singart.com

TransportAsian is a photography exhibition featuring works of artists from Southeast Asia.

The fusion of themes Transport and Asia presents a delightful array of works documenting the history of transportation. It also showcases each photographer’s interpretation and metaphorical explorations of the theme. It is divided into four focuses in photography: Time, Space, Action and Fiction.

Vistors will be invited to experience a new perspective of photography that uses various surfaces, materials and even techniques. TransportAsian boasts works in media including prints, installations and multimedia.

Hotpoint Washers

1231261444 79082 full Hotpoint WashersDespite the sturdiness of Hotpoint washers, there would be times when the unit seems to be not working perfectly. For some, this might entail a speedy call to a technician but others might simply inspect the appliance themselves and see to the problem if they can fix it or not.Here then are some of the common problems users usually encounter with washing machines such as Hotpoint washers and how to address them before rushing to your technician:• If the unit is not filling up with water – once you have noticed that although you have already turned on the faucet, water is not yet filling in, then it is best to check on the water valve for it might still be closed. Surely water will not fill in your container when this is the case. Filters should also be checked for clogs, as this is another reason why water is not entering your laundry machine. And lastly, although the screens are fine and the valve is already open, there might be leaks on your external water source, thereby preventing water from getting in.  • The water is not going out from your unit – if after one full cycle the water is not draining from your washing machine, it might be due to potential clogging in the draining hose. This can be verified by checking the drain line by putting the unit in off mode then pulling the hose, which connects the outer tub to the pump. Once done, remove any particle or clothing that hinders the way for water to easily pass through.
• Units that are not spinning or have forced spinning motions – this can be remedied by either removing the pump and rotating the pulley interior to it by your bare hands and watch if it will still move. If it won’t then it simply means that you have to replace it in order for your unit to spin properly again.  • Uncommon noise during spinning – this is brought about mainly by unbalanced loading. If this is the case, you simply have to stop the current cycle then redistribute the laundry. Should the noise persist, you have to perhaps remove some of the clothing as the unit might be overworking. • Unit that is only giving you a noise but not cycling – a number of things including a leaking hose, tub leaks and a leaking pump can cause this. If this happens, you have to inspect the attachments of your Hotpoint washers one by one to determine which one is the culprit. Should replacements be necessary, this must be done as soon as possible in order to prevent additional damage to the unit.

Artistic Ideas to Design a Room

WM2519 Artistic Ideas to Design a RoomWall mount shelves are one in every of many artistic ideas to design a room. usually, when adorning a room, people only visualize how you can adorn the horizontal area of the wall. Through the use of wall mounted cabinets, will aid you to save lots of areas of horizontal space and utilize the vertical space all at once. this can be a option to maximizing the space of your walls and excessive corners. the other benefit is that will help you adorn your room neatly by putting stuff inside your shelves.
These days, trendy supplies for these cabinets are designed to be very mild but durable on the similar time. You possibly can put a variety of things in wall mount shelves, reminiscent of books, porcelain collections, household photographs and even purses. What it’s worthwhile to ensure is the thickness of cabinets can stand up to the load of the belongings you put into. The primary material for shelves is wood. Some of them are manufactured from pure hardwood and a few others are combination of strong wooden and plywood. You can even have trendy shelves which have accents product of glass, metal, plastic as an enhancement for the design and function. The colors of the cabinets additionally are available variety , reminiscent of pure wood end, vibrant colors or even black paint finishes.
The design and structure of wall mount shelves might be very versatile, they is dependent upon your preferences. At one level you may be handy with conventional horizontal rows but asymmetrical dimensions and fascinating curves or even an experimental surfaces (comparable to an uneven surface) can be achieved. A mounted shelf can all the time fit completely to your own home interiors no matter what. You may choose a easy, single-tier shelf with a number of naked accents or a full fledged dramatic wall dimension mount on your ebook or photograph collections. Initially, bigger cabinets gives you the illusion of peak and depth of a room, while spare accent cabinets may give the three dimensional expertise and thematic insights into the room. The impact of the added dimension will make your room look extra fascinating. Will probably be an excellent issues to show to your friends once they come to go to you. Allow them to see some attention-grabbing factor that are put inside your shelf.
By having a wall shelf, you possibly can minimize the wants for added drawers. It additionally means that you can save the price of shopping for a standalone bookcase or shelf. Having a free house in your room can make you embellish and prepare issues easily as a consequence of its wider place. Shelf storage also can assist you to search out and return the things a lot easier. And it is really the best way to showcase your collections, resembling trophies, favourite knickknacks, etc.
« Older Entries