Arctic Oak » Blog Archive » We’ll miss you.

We’ll miss you.

Posted February 27th, 2008 in art, design, photography

An homage to the late, great Your Daily Awesome.

5 ‘Tops’ Your Daily Awesome Posts.

5. All About Olive-The 107 Year Old Blogger
March 15, 2007

There were many an awesome YDA posts competing for this slot. We love YDA posts that open up a whole new world of design, music or culture. The The World’s Most Amazing Temples, The Art of the Shiv and the Arborsculpture of Richard Reames were serious contenders for their outstanding awesome.

But, a 107 year old blogger named Olive stole the show. Stay cool, Australia.

“Heres’ me later pretending to type my blog at Mike’s place.”

4. Love Letters from Prison, 1977
Tuesday, August 7, 2007

3. Isamu Noguchi: “Proposal for a UN Playground,” 1952
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Playground design is an area that had flitted off our radar until we saw this great YDA post. Unfortunately, Noguchi’s vision fell prey to petty adult jealousies.

“Noguchi designed this playground for a portion of the United Nations complex on the East River in New York. The project was to be privately funded and located on property given a special international diplomatic designation.

Nevertheless, Robert Moses…was able to get the project canceled. Moses was Noguchi’s arch-nemisis in NYC having ridiculed his design for Play Mountain back in 1933. He continued to thwart any public park of Noguchi’s design from ever being constructed in New York. I believe Moses criticized this design as ‘dangerous’ and little more than a ‘rabbit warren’.”

YDA via pruned.

2. Digital Art by Dan, Age 10

This YDA post led us to hours of fun looking at some really imaginative, well-executed digital art from a 10 year old named Dan. Reoccurring characters include No Comprendo Man, Trains, the Wertes and The Alien Ship. Enjoy more pictures straight from Dan’s 10 year old brain.

1. Clandestine Photos of the Taliban
Friday, October 12, 2007

We have watched Thomas Dworzak’s short video piece about the studio photographs of male Taliban he found during a 2001 trip to Afghanistan about 15 times. Though the Taliban forbade (Editor’s note: do you mean forbids present tense? Taliban back in power in several Afghan provinces), these photos for identification purposes were allowed though a loophole in the law.

The images are bright, beautiful and struck us as vulnerable in a way that makes a work memorable.

Or, as YDA put it, “You can see these (photos) are much more convivial and decorative than your standard ID card. Watch a fascinating short video piece about Dworzak’s finds it raises all sorts of interesting questions about representation, beliefs, and functionality.” Indeed!