Support Public Broadcasting

Right now there are several bills in Congress that threaten federal funding for public broadcasting. Personally, I have found some of the most interesting, engaging, and entertaining programs on these types of stations. I find myself turning to them more and more while avoiding their commercial counterparts like the plague.

Using Comic Sans

Someone at work sent this around the office today. It is an unspoken rule among graphic designers that never, ever, under any circumstances, are we (or anyone else for that matter) permitted to use this font. Considered to be a typographic sin, it makes every good designer cringe.   

Mrs. Connection

"Every day, hundreds of 'Missed Connections' posts are updated to Craigslist, expressing sentiments of desire, loss, hope, and curiosity."

I spotted this today on one of the design blogs I read periodically. Mrs. Connection is a project from the School of Visual Arts Designer as Author Program, and beautiful visual representation of the "Missed Connections" posts on Craigslist. I love the letterpress technique and the idea of playing off of "fateful futures."

Pictures of Garbage/Waste Land

"Filmed over nearly three years, 'WASTE LAND' follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of "catadores" - or self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz's initial objective was to "paint" the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both dignity and despair as the catadores begin to re-imagine their lives. Walker ('DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND', 'BLINDSIGHT') has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit."

Somewhat surprisingly, I had never heard of Vik Muniz, before going to see this documentary. I am intrigued by his work, not just the subject matter, but the materials used to create them. In the past he has created works out of such things as sugar, syrup, and other unlikely materials. "Muniz questions the nature and traditions of visual representation by ingeniously using unlikely materials to 'draw' the subjects of his conventional gelatin-silver prints." His work reminds me a bit of Stefan Sagmeister, who is also a master of creations with unusual stuff. If you have an opportunity to see this film wherever you are, GO!

Welcome to Indian Country

One of the things I love about New Mexico is the culture, particularly that of the Native Americans, whose spirituality I have been fascinated with for quite some time. A couple times a year the various pueblos open their villages to the public and welcome people to share the experience of honoring their ancestors, the land, and the spirits. Tribal feast days celebrate the birth of their patron saint; each pueblo's feast day occurs on a different day throughout the year. Dances are performed and traditional food is served; smoke from juniper-burning fires fills the crisp air like incense. You are not allowed to photograph, nor make any audio or video recordings during ceremonials (there are signs everywhere reminding people of this). The feast days are not advertised other than a short listing on some of the tourism and cultural websites because the Indians do not intend their celebrations to be tourist attractions. Most of the people who come are Natives from other tribes who have been invited or have family in the pueblo. In part this is what makes the experience so special.  

Today was feast day at San Ildefonso Pueblo, located just north of Santa Fe. Two different dances were performed in the north and south plazas which are divided by a huge cottonwood tree. The first one we saw was the deer dance in the north plaza; as the dancers left the kiva (where they rest between performances), they bent over and began dancing on "all-fours," holding a long stick in each hand and tapping them on the ground simultaneously with their feet. They wear traditional clothing, antler headresses, and bells attached to belts around their waists. Following the dancers was the group of drummers, who played a continuous, pulsing beat along with their chanting; the whole procession lasts about 15 minutes.  

For a number of years I have had the priviledge to go to feast day at this pueblo and it has always had some personal meaning. When my mom was young there was a woman from the pueblo who came to clean her house and became good friends with my grandmother. It is always nice to know someone in the pueblo if you are going to go to their house to eat, and due to the nature of their connection the family was invited to Angelita's house on feast days. Angelita and my grandmother have since passed away, but whenever we go to the pueblo we make a point of stopping at the house which her daughter Eva now occupies. According to my mom, the house looks almost exactly the same as it did when she visited as a little girl. Eating at any of the Indians' houses is a communal, family-style activity. We wait in the living room until space opens up at the kitchen table and when we are called to eat there is set before us a plethora of traditional dishes to choose from. People are constantly coming and going so within the 20 minute time period we sat at the table, there were half a dozen different groups of people who joined us. The women also cook for the dancers and periodically take food to them while they are resting in the kivas.  

I went to feast day at Jemez Pueblo for the first time back in November and had the best vegetarian tamale I think I've ever eaten, stuffed with squash, zucchini, corn, and green chile. We ended up getting the name and phone number of the woman who made them and ordered tamales and chile beans for the holidays. The  two dozen tamales came in Ziploc bags and were exchanged between parked cars at a gas station off the highway close to the pueblo; exact change was given and the deal was done. The tamales and beans were so good that the week after Christmas we decided we wanted to get two dozen more. We were hesitant to call at first, but Clarice said she and the other women had started cooking Christmas Eve and would continue to cook and dance for the next 4 days; it would be no trouble at all. We ate so many tamales that we finally tired of them and a month later there are still close to a dozen more left in the freezer. If I go to feast day at Santo Domingo it is likely that we will be invited to celebrate at Clarice's home.   

The photo is of Black Mesa, located on land that belongs to the San Ildefonso Reservation. I would love to say the photo is mine, but it's not... I downloaded it from Flickr about a year ago; needless to say, it is gorgeous.

Sunset Series

In the Midwest it is known that when the air turns green it signals the onset of a tornado; you don't believe it until you witness it, but I will tell you it is one of the most surreal phenomenon's I have ever seen. Similarly, there will be times around dusk when I look outside and notice the air is pink. This is usually my cue to search frantically for my camera and run out the door as quickly as possible, for with each passing second the sky transforms, fluctuating between every color of the rainbow, and it is irresistibly, intoxicatingly beautiful.  

   

Holiday Baking and Cookie Packaging

It is a holiday tradition at my house, like many, to bake dozens of cookies and package them up to send to friends and family. We always bake biscochitos, the traditional New Mexican Christmas cookie, and my grandmother's gingerbread. The beginning of December, my mom and I were in Hobby Lobby scouting out packaging ideas; and then it dawned on me. I wasn't satisfied with any of the choices, thinking all the while that I could design something way better, more unique, and more personal. I convinced my mom to buy the clear treat bags, and persuaded her that despite all the chaos about to descend upon us, I would make time to design labels for our holiday gifts. In art school fashion, I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning thinking about concepts, making, printing, and cutting, but I got them done. I am hoping to make this an on-going project for myself every year; this year's design is based off of three different cut-paper snowflake creations.