vacation - if it feels good..

this blog is going on vacation! it will be back with all the schools at the 1st of september! in the meantime a really fun vintage budge for all of you - hope you see it in an internet cafe during your vacations and not in the office... 

underground library

i took these photos a while ago in my primary school in jerusalem. when i was a pupil the school's library was situated in a labirynth-like empty underground bomb shelter. if i close my eyes i can still smell the dump and feel the touch of the always-slightely-wet bean bags in the reading corner. as a child this impossible mixture seemed natural and reasonabe. this might be understood if i think of the shopping mall in my neighbourhood which included a black concrete

and steal memorial to the holocaust. this dark sculpture was the meeting point for all the girl scouts around - climbing and sliding on it while waiting for the activity to begin. i guess this all sounds quite depressing as a childhood landscape but it really did seem natural in the realm of the brutal concrete architecture of the time.

found typo-graffiti

in the spirit of neuromancer and cyberpunk - some graffiti fragments from barcelona.

quote of the day

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
the opening line from william gibson's neuromancer, a novel who introduced the world to cyberspace and became the bible for the cyberpunk movement. when i was a design student in an art academy (early nineties) i found great inspiration in this book, and even used this quote in my graduation project - a sub-and-club culture magazine named guerrilla.

retro badge

in the nonsensical illogical zen mood that rests on this blog lately, here is a really elusive retro badge. i've found this image a year ago and i still find it very amusing [still no idea regarding its hidden intention].

quote of the day

"it is not the answer that enlightens, but the question."
[eugene ionesco french playwright]

kōan of the day

for those of you who have gladly met the zen kōan from salinger's '9 stories' opening page - here are some clues to come close to this one.

the lucid explanations are cited from d.t. suzuki's an introduction to zen buddhism. i warmly recommend this little book and its great and surprising foreword by carl jung.

quote of the day

"typography is what language looks like"
[ellen lupton director at the mfa program at the maryland institute college of art]

kōan of the day

for all salinger lovers - one of the best opening pages to a book ever. never stopped to intrigue me - always proves as a great source for creative and intuitive thinking.

quote of the day

"The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution."

[hannah arendt political philosopher]

miflat - étude of local under-ground shelters

these great sketches were contributed to my blog by a great friend, designer and artist - eitan sharif. they are part of a larger study of the unique silhouette of israeli concrete bomb-shelters.
we all know them - lurking around playgrounds, parks, street corners. some are deserted and empty, some host local libraries. this is were i find interest in this étude, as i'm documenting this israeli phenomena - under-ground local libraries. the personal connection to this subject matter began long time ago when i realized that my first ever library was situated in an intricate under-ground labyrinth.
eitan and myself would be glad to know if any of you live next to an under-ground library. please send us information about under-ground shelters in your neighborhood, this can be the ground for further research and creation.

quote of the day - special morrissey

"And if you have five seconds to spare

Then I'll tell you the story of my life:

Sixteen, clumsy and shy

I went to London and I

I booked myself in at the Y...W.C.A

I said: "I like it here...can I stay?

I like it here can I stay?

And, do you have a vacancy

For a Back-scrubber?"

[half a person the smiths]

i was first introduced to The Smiths' music in 1987 when my big brother, Tomer, gave me the world wont listen as my 21 birthday gift. this means i was still a soldier, after the teenage years. the memory of removing the plastic cover and playing this cd for the first time in my kibbutz room was a sensation i will never forget. it took me a few years to find my way back to the Smiths first albums, but when i discovered them at my late twenties, it was definitely the beginning of my journey to the brit-pop and the indie music. through the gate opened by the smiths i later discovered all my other favorite british bands - Radiohead, Blur and other.

Hovav