Last Photo

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

There’s something touching and heartwarming about Ivan Cash’s quirky video series called “Last Photo”. In this sporadic, ongoing project, the San Francisco-based artist, writer and idea man travels to various U.S. cities and asks random strangers to show him the last photograph on their mobile phone and to describe the circumstances that led to the picture. So far Cash has visited New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco for the project, and plans to take “Last Photo” to New Orleans, Detroit, Dallas and Nashville .

Posted in Film, USA | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Adventures Underground

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

page1lge

“Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, and where is the use of a book, thought Alice, without pictures or conversations? So she was considering in her own mind, (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid,) whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain was worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.”

I don’t recall exactly when I first read Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, I was five or six years old. But I do remember that the iconic children’s book blew my little mind. I must have checked that battered little copy out of my local library three more times.

page13lge

Now it’s possible to read the original 1864 version of the book, first titled “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground”, presented by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) to Alice Liddell at the British Library website. The entire handwritten volume, including Dodgson’s original ink illustrations, is now available.

page11lge

Alices_Adventures_Under_Ground_-_Lewis_Carroll_-_British_Library_Add_MS_46700_f45v

Posted in Books, Europe, History, Libraries, Museums, Writing | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Walk This World

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

lottanieminen_lemonde-01

Lotta Nieminen is a Helsinki-based artist, illustrator and graphic designer. Her witty and whimsical work has appeared in dozens of publications and advertisements. You may have seen some of her maps, such as the one she did of Paris for the French newspaper Le Monde (above). Or you may have run across one of her marvelous cityscape prints like the series she did last year on Budapest (below).

Here in North America Nieminen has been making her mark with work on public transit projects in Detroit and Toronto (see below). Now she has her first children’s book titled “Walk This World”. The charming book celebrates the similarities and differences between culture around the world.

Walk this World2

walk2

lottanieminen_dbusiness-01

lottanieminen_budapest-02

lottanieminen_budapest-01

Posted in Animation, Art, Books, Canada, Europe, Maps, Travel Writing, USA | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lonely Louvre

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

3

I’ve visited the Musée du Louvre in Paris three times in the last two years and not surprisingly it was ass-to-elbow, chockablock, bursting at the seams, swarming with throngs of tourists each time. Between the French school groups, enormous Chinese tour groups and an unusual number of Russians, it has gotten more and more difficult to enjoy the art work and the glorious museum itself.

Somehow Brooklyn-based, French photographer Franck Bohbot managed to get permission to shoot a series in the completely deserted museum. Take a look; you may never get another chance to see the Louvre this way.

7

6

10

5

8

4

9

2

1

Posted in Art, Europe, Museums, Photography, Tourism | Tagged , | 4 Comments

They Heart NYC

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

Times Square on a rainy night in New York City

Growing up in the New York metropolitan area in a family composed of 100% native New Yorkers, I always expected everyone to love New York City. So, it was no shocker to find that a survey of travel journalists voted NYC as their favorite city to visit. The survey of 100 travel pros conducted by the award-winning website 101 holidays also found that Paris was No.2 and Venice No.3 on the list.

Posted in Tourism, Travel Writing, USA | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Syrian Museum

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

tammamazzam01

Syrian artist Tammam Azzam left his home in Damascus at the start of the Syrian civil war. Losing his studio, he turned to digital art to call attention to the horrors unfolding in his homeland. Early last year, his piece called Freedom Graffiti went viral (see above). The work showed Gustav Klimt’s painting The Kiss photoshopped across a war-ravaged building in Damascus. That piece led to a moving series called Syrian Museum that combines photographs of Syrian devastation with famous paintings.

tammamazzam03

tammamazzam05

tammamazzam09

tammamazzam08

tammamazzam06

tammamazzam04

tammamazzam07

Posted in Art, Middle East | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

I Want A Ziferblat (and you will too)

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

ziferblat-cafe-london-2

Have you ever been made to feel that you’ve overstayed your welcome in a coffeeshop while reading, working or just sucking up the free wifi? Then Ziferblat is the place for you.

1472049_470394779748727_65089809_n

Ziferblat is a brilliant concept—a place where you can hang-out, read, write, work, meet friends, make friends, surf the web, hold meetings, drink free coffee and tea, eat free ziferblat-79137036snacks, listen to music, make music, have exhibitions, run workshops, and much, much more. Everything at a Ziferblat is free except the time that you spend there, and you pay for that time by making a suggested donation of just 5¢ a minute.

1475891_470394749748730_697059123_n

Founded in Moscow by Ivan Mitin, Ziferblat has spread to ten cities in Russia and Ukraine. Recently the “franchise” has opened its first outpost in London’ EastEnd. You can learn more about the concept by reading the Ziferblat manifesto here or by visiting the Facebook page. Maybe you can encourage Ivan to open some Ziferblats in your town.

ziferblat-cafe-london-5

1398857_465205986934273_1395373822_o

1425397_455097501278455_967999041_o

1401414_465206390267566_913837641_o

1399840_455099307944941_1044576045_o

Posted in Europe, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Are You Experienced

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

jimi-528x510

Years ago I was disappointed to discover that the Mayfair London townhouse where Jimi Hendrix lived in 1968 was being used as office space. Now it’s a relief to find that it will finally be converted into a true Hendrix museum thanks to a grant from the UK’s Heritage Lottery Fund.

640x500xjimmbed2_jpg_pagespeed_ic_JwA55HTX8c

The guitar virtuoso paid just £30 per week rent for his flat in the Georgian building that coincidently was located nextdoor to the 18th century home of classical composer George Handel.

630x496xjimilivingroom_jpg_pagespeed_ic_DpWVIepPLa

Plans call for a carefully curated recreation of the apartment with period décor based a photos from Hendrix’s time there in 68 and 69.

660x1000xhendrix23_jpg_pagespeed_ic_8r7_8RiWBn

london003hendrixandhandelhouses

Posted in Europe, Museums, Music | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Maps from the Mind

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

map_amsterdam_black

I love maps—antique maps, impossible to re-fold tourist office maps, old gas station maps, even Google Maps. So it won’t be a surprise that I think that Archie Archambault’s handcrafted, minimalist letterpress maps are pure dead brilliant. Three years ago, the Portland, Oregon-based designer, writer and printer created a unique circular map of Portland on a 19th century letterpress machine. He has since added seven more urban maps to his collection, along with a map of our solar system.

map_portland_blue

When he was asked  “can’t you just use Google Maps?”, Archie’s reply was:

A Google map is very helpful for lots of tasks. It’s good for finding the best Chinese restaurant and getting directions. But it can’t show the entire city in a totally simple, totally clear way. Believe it or not, our eyes and brains are not built to absorb that much information at once. But by graphically reducing a city to the most important elements helps us visually explore the city and install it into our minds with much more ease. I use circles because they are the most graphically simple shapes for our eye to understand. When we are faced with a barrage of circles, our brains don’t get the “dazzle effect” that kills our ability to understand a big information system. Instead, we get a holistic vision of the city’s layout and essential landmarks that sticks to our brains.

Google maps are also not people. They don’t know that the area between “Nob Hill” and “The Tenderloin” is called “TenderNob”.  This is an essential conversation that must come from on-site discussions with locals.

Google maps also do not show me that “Main Street” is full of life and activity that MUST be represented on my map of essentials!

map_neworleans_color

map_boston_black

map_sanfran_blue

map_brooklyn_black 

Prints of all of the maps are available at Archie’s Press online.

map_atlanta_black_chip

Posted in Art, Maps, Tourism | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

It’s Elementary

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Brian D. Butler

Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print almost 127 years ago. The subsequent novels and short stories inspired more than 200 films and television series. The recent legal ruling in the United States on Sherlock Holmes copyright suggests that we can expect an avalanche of work inspired by the iconic sleuth in the future. You can draw your own deductions from this Holmesiana infographic below.

Infomania

Posted in Books, Film, movies, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment