Visites Des Catacombes

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

affiches-metro-paris-1950-6

During recent renovations at the Paris Trinité-d’Estiennes d’Orves Metro station, workers uncovered vintage posters from the early 1950s, hidden for six decades. The RATP will be restoring the find and adding the posters to its archives.

frenchy_rg-instagram

brinvilliers75-instagram

affiches-metro-paris-1950-7

affiches-metro-paris-1950-3

affiches-metro-paris-1950-4

affiches-metro-paris-1950-1

lecyves-instagram-2

lecyves-instagram-1

lecyves-instagram-3

Posted in Europe, History, Public Transport | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Winter Is Coming (back)

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Brian D. Butler
Posted in Art, Books, Europe, USA | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Formulary for a new urbanism

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

a74a2b2826b6e761411bf8a5e535347f

Drawing on his interest in contemporary psychogeography and cartography, the British artist known as Fuller—aka Gareth Wood—spent a decade working on his London Town project. Created with black ink on cotton board, the intricately detailed illustrated map of Britain’s capital is a mindbending exploration of the vibrant metropolis.

58b403a059d936b5f66bfc8d35aa2c10

39a752c4bfff4428e4d67a95b63d8ff1

Researching and working on London Town for ten years enabled Fuller to continually incorporate the ever changing nature of the city while conveying its unique vibe. The completed project has been acquired by the British Library for the national collection, but you can have your own copy through Fuller’s website.

==

==

==

==

==

==

London_Town_Framed

Posted in Architecture, Art, Europe, Libraries, Maps, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

No Such Thing

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

tumblr_ncevbpn2hk1qgu5b6o7_500

tumblr_ncevbpn2hk1qgu5b6o1_500

tumblr_ncevbpn2hk1qgu5b6o5_400

tumblr_ncevbpn2hk1qgu5b6o2_400

tumblr_ncevbpn2hk1qgu5b6o3_500

tumblr_ncevbpn2hk1qgu5b6o6_500

Posted in Books, Libraries, USA, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Visit the Mountains of Madness

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

oljqokpecucpn2g5ao1g

I started reading H.P. Lovecraft when I was about 12 years old and finally stopped when the nightmares became to frequent. Of course I went back to the master of the macabre as an adult, but Lovecraft still scares the bejesus out of me. Artist Steve Thomas has turned his fascination with the iconic horror writer into a set of travel-style posters based on Lovecraft’s books. The vintage looking art work belies the mind-numbing terror of the stories that inspired them. If you’d like to own your own copies of the posters, visit Thomas’ webstore.

udmligdqzncvdztl7pw5

vsqzbzegtysn11xw9mxx

Posted in Art, Books, USA, Writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Bookmobile On The Hoof

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

I always love a good bookmobile story, so I couldn’t resist the tale of Ridwan Sururi and the Kudapustaka, or “Horse Library”. With the donation of 135 books by a friend from Jakarta, the horse farmer decided to start his traveling children’s lending library in December, 2014. Three days each week he makes the rounds of local villages and schools near his home town of Serang in Central Java delivering free reading materials. The story of Sururi and his trusty steed Luna has gotten the attention of social media in Indonesia and the book donations are flooding in for the project.

aff4a8f65efd47839781964e3acf2697_6

a539a39d79b04495a952b29fb5dfcf1d_6

ad0202a690dc49acb33f46e326761597_6

 

19032df13d5f463e896433e5706f237c_6

Posted in Asia, Books, Libraries | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mirar Cap Avall

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-04

I never tire of following in the footsteps of German photographer Sebastan Erras as he travels around Europe discovering beautiful tile floors wherever he goes. His latest journey has taken him through Barcelona’s historic neighborhoods and landmarks. We can follow his peregrination via a nifty interactive map.

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-07

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-011

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-010

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-08

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-02

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-06

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-09

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-03

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-05

barcelona-floors-sebastian-erras-pixartprinting-designboom-01

Posted in Architecture, Art, Europe, Hotels, Museums, Photography, Restaurants, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Support The Book Thing

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

bs-b-baltimore-yelp-reviews-book-thing

The city of Baltimore is known for its rich historical past and contemporary poverty and racial strife. But one of the longstanding bright spots in the port city is the beloved community organization The Book Thing. This free book program has a simple mission—”to put unwanted books into the hands of those who want them.”

This amazing “free store” recycles discarded books and gives them away to anyone who visits their warehouse center. Unfortunately, earlier this week a fire broke out destroying thousands of donated books and causing considerable damage to the facility.

Book lovers can help The Book Thing rebound and get back to the business of giving away books by making a donation on their website or through the Go Fund Me campaign.

12670459_10201321339993213_4605401904017947076_n

Posted in Books, Bookstore Tourism, USA | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Keep On Trucking

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

truck-art-project-17

The Truck Art Project is a clever initiative that offers European street artists the opportunity to transform commercial trucks into rolling works of art. A fleet of ten trucks serve as mobile canvases and itinerant art galleries as they travel throughout Spain. Several of the trucks also house traveling exhibitions of work by artists who have participated in the project.

truck-art-project-19

Some of the better known street artists who have been involved include suso33, Okuda San Miguel, Marina Vargas, Javier Arce, and Daniel Muñoz. The project is financially supported by art collector and entrepreneur Jaime Colsa.

You can discover more about the Truck Art Project and find out where the mobile galleries will be on the website.

truck-art-project-top

truck-art-project-20

truck-art-project-21

truck-art-project-7

truck-art-project-6

truck-art-project-3

truck-art-project-4

truck-art-project-2

truck-art-project-1

Posted in Art, Europe, Public Transport | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Impact of a Book

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

6B_original

Guadalajara-based Mexican artist Jorge Mendez Blake draws connections between the power of literature and the power of visual arts with his monumental installations. In this work he constructed a brick wall on top of a copy of Franz Kafka’s El Castillo.

12742474_1116794155039109_672448213123538405_n

03_mendez_blake

6A_large2

6_SD_2013Biennial_JorgeMendezBlake_ElCastillo_8307

Posted in Art, Books, Museums | Tagged , | 3 Comments