Shooting an Elephant

This book contains a collection of short stories/essays written by George Orwell.

Some of the essays are autobiographical describing Orwell's experience, observations and thoughts about being a police officer in imperial Burma. Orwell is forthright with his observations. It can also be said that his opinions were progressive for the time. Working for the British empire in a place where it was unpopular would have been a difficult task. Orwell describes his disgruntlement to the regime, and sensitivity to the locals.

Looking at the book critically, the series of novels provides a great insight into the mind of the famed author Orwell. It also demonstrates the feelings of people working for a dominant regime and indeed the people it affects. The book continues to add to my interest about George Orwell and his thought processes and is well worth a read.

David LaChapelle

David LaChapelle is a photographer and director most noteworthy for his photography pieces including celebrities.

His style is unique and surreal, with most of his pieces notoriously provocative in appearance. Despite this his photography is world-renowned and he is highly regarded in fashion photography.

Recently LaChapelle was reported to have been inspired by artists of the past including Baroque. His piece Deluge (below) certainly has qualities of paintings from this time period.

David LaChapelle’s Deluge

You can find an interview with LaChapelle discussing his inspirations here.

Looking at LaChapelle from a critical point of view it may be said that his pieces play on the ‘sex sales’ claim and celebrity culture. I would agree with this comment, however it must be noted that LaChapelle pioneered this style of photography and it is still effective.

LaChapelle pushes boundaries and is an inspirational artist, more of his work can be found on his website here.

Craig Holden Feinberg

Craig Holden Feinberg is an internationally recognised and award winning graphic designer from America.

He worked on many campaigns for the communications research and development company Fabrica. (See the bottom image which puts emphasis on competition.)

Feinburg's work is very provocative in its approach and certainly grabs the attention of the viewer. It could be said that their is an abundance of designs currently which try and grab the attention of the viewer in the same way, however Feinburg's work is not superficial with meaning and is creative in its approach.

You can find more of his work here.

Daniel Eatock - Thank You Pictures Website

Daniel Eatock is an award winning U.K based graphic designer. I recently came across one of his website projects which members of the public and/or designers could contribute a photographic piece.

Lightning Car: Rudin Swagerman

Siamese Cats: Hoagy Houghton

The contributers use titles that change the context and/or meaning of the photo often in a humourous way. After looking through a selection I thought some were better than others, but the concept overall is pretty interesting and reminds me of the book 'The Art of Looking Sideways' by Alan Fletcher in the method of changing perspectives of things around you by applying a different meaning.

You can find more of the selection on Daniel Eatock website here.

Trainspotting - The Novel

Before seeing the film that has become a cult classic, I decided to read the book. I read a synopsis of the novel and it was apparent that the novel had caused just as much controversy and partial outrage when it was released in the early 90’s.

The novel (which was written by Irvine Walsh) follows the life of heroin addicts in Edinburgh. The issues experienced by the characters in the book are both gripping and shocking.

The book gives an insight into a world that is not often seen by everyday people and provides accounts on a personal level. Looking at the book critically it may be difficult to grasp an essence of the 90’s Scottish drug sub-culture, but this book does conjure up negative images. The novel may have caused controversy, but I think it is important to discuss and acknowledge current and past sub-cultures and issues that we are usually do not think of on a daily basis.

Skyscrapping

I have always been amazed by huge buildings that force your head upwards in astonishment, but building high and tall has been a controversial issue, especially in the U.K.

This is the Renzo Piano's design for London Bridge Tower (dubbed by the press as 'The Shard') which is currently being constructed.

There does seem to be a culturally different attitude to tall buildings. In the U.S. the skyscrappers of Manhattan are home to the rich and famous with aspirations of owning a penthouse in the sky. Whereas in the U.K. the general norm seems to oppose building upwards, in addition tower blocks are often synonymous with poverty and poor social housing.

Renzo Piano came up against many critics when designing London Bridge Tower, but managed to create a design which was inspired by church spires and gently merging into the sky. When the design was nicknamed 'The Shard', it was reversed to became more endearing term; reflecting London's scenery.

Scottish Parliament Buiding

I recently visited the city of Edinburgh. During this visit I took an excursion to the Scottish Parliament building. I was interested in the design of the building, because it was so different from the norm. It is also famous for its ‘eco-friendly’ sustainable architectural approach.

When the building opened first, it received a mixture of responses about the design. The building is probably the most abstract design of a parliament building in the world, with inspiration being taken from many sources including historic paintings.

When I viewed this building it made me think back to my previous post about the Brutalist movement (click here to view) and questioning what is right and wrong in design. Good design evokes a response, and this building certainly does that. Critically another view may-be that good design is democratic, a possible topic to debate.