Not so long ago I can remember being confronted by the loud uproar in the media surrounding the new U.S.A presidents Birth place. I even remember thinking how mad the whole thing was, this rare event of a man who visually represents a new age in the history of the country. Was getting attacked by the bullish, bastard, brute, Donald trump and his Fox retards about wether he was a genuine American, their point being he had ancestors and living family from another country, how isolationist is that? This man who won the election through carrying with him an idea of hope, one articulated  so well that all you had to do was listen and you believed that change could happen. And it has happened, It is a minor miracle that Obama has managed to influence the image of his country and its direction by moving away from the hypocrisy and idiocy of the Bush administration. Which included an illegal war that has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and banks and financial systems that screwed over the global economy. Obama not only is the first president since Clinton to actually have a brain but is an amazing enigmatic leader and communicator. He observes and witnesses whats really happening before deciding what action to take, he is an amazing speaker absolutely flawless in his voicing of his policies and ideas. America should keep him as their leader handing the reigns to anyone else would be extremely wrong, on another front his name in Swahili means ‘One who is blessed’ and on his desk he has a wooden carving of a hand holding an egg a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life.

Design is an interesting and at times challenging form of creativity the ability to imagine new spaces new objects or structures for us to inhabit is perhaps one of the most distinguished processes known to mankind. I have recently read a conversation between Ai Weiwei and Hans Ulrich Obrist about Weiwei’s curation of architecture projects and his actions through his company Fuck Design (english translation). The dialogue focused on this idea of old and new and how in Beijing there is massive modernisation and the artist feels that this is taking some of the city’s history and character.
It was a very impressive read and I would suggest it to anyone seeking new ideas on contemporary urbanism and the idea of building a building.

Is the saying ‘form follows function’ true and importantly does this term apply to the majority of design types I.e product design? Coined by the early tutor of Frank Lloyd Wright Louis Sullivan it refers to the notion of a result or outcome derived primarily from its purpose.  Now I am a big fan of architecture and I can really see this thought in lets say a building like the Seagram Building, New York, 1958 created by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. You can see its purpose within the aesthetics of the building, and you can also decipher as a result of it being designed in this manner that it is meant for business, and it says that visually. I do not know if this thought or saying is needed anymore as truly modern structures are incorporating new technologies and ideas and no longer bow down to a result. I would argue that in todays design the results are often unexpected and the really successful creatives challenge themselves to pursue the purpose, and its idea or concept.

China’s literal translation of its name means ‘Middle country’ signalling a old belief that it is the center of the world. It is not a stretch of the imagination to envisage a future where this is a reality, and China becomes the center of the world. Its economy is the strongest in the world making it the most powerful country in the year 2012, its a place I have always wanted to visit. Primarily because of its culture and history and I also believe that it is important to not forget these aspects of China. Even if its current government  occasionally oppress its people and the total population is unknown its still a place of interest. Tea was first discovered and popularized in china and exported in the year 1903 and Paper was invented by the eunuch Ts’ai Lun. According to the official history of the Han dynasty (3rd century A.D.), Ts’ai Lun was given an aristocratic title after he presented Emperor Ho Ti with samples of paper. In 751 A.D., Chinese papermakers were captured by the Arabs at Samarkand, and by 794 A.D. several state-owned paper mills operated in Baghdad. The Arabs were manufacturing paper in Spain around 1150. It was not until 1590 that the first English paper mill was founded, at Dartford.

“Zapata’s blood
Wasn’t spilt in vein
So now the most poor the most poor
the most poor the most poor
will wage war, wage war, wage war
To reclaim their name
Some guys got blurred
So now the most poor the most poor
the most poor the most poor
will wage war, wage war, wage war
To reclaim our terrain

On January 1st, 1994
The indigenous farmers of Southern Mexico
Declared war on an unjust
and illigitimate government

Of the debt of the most wild, the most poor
Came a just arm struggle
for democracy, justice, and liberty
And it won’t stop until that 65 year old dictatorship,
the Partido Revolucionario Institucional
(Institutional Revolutionary Party) is buired in the ground
and the people’s voice is heard once again

So check it out:
On January 1st, they became known as
the Zapatista movement
And they have a saying, and I want you all to
sing along with me real quick.
It goes something like this
It goes, everything for everyone…
and nothing for ourselves.
Everything for everyone, and nothing for ourselves.
Everything for everyone, and nothing for ourselves.
Everything for everyone, and nothing for ourselves.
Yeah, sing that shit…
Everything for everyone, and nothing for ourselves.
Everything for everyone, and nothing for ourselves.
Everything for everyone, and nothing for ourselves.
Everything for everyone, and nothing for ourselves…”

– Rage Against The Machine / Great Band









Lies, damn lies and statistics!


