pause

Dear friends,

This is the 300th quote from designjatra.

It has been a long and enriching journey with art,craft,design and YOU so far and we hope we have many more days of exploration ahead.

However, we will be taking a short break to rejuvenate and refresh our ideas, starting tomorrow. We know that all of you, who wait eagerly for the daily quote and research, will be a bit disappointed, but this is a Comma, not a Fullstop!

We hope to be back soon with new ideas and a new perspective! Till then, we are in a 'pause' mode.

See you all soon on this platform.


Asmita and Manjusha
for designjatra

comma

rain

success

best friends

death

the light within

taste of life

passion and perseverance

being pulled

question and answer

infinite

forgiveness

inner strength

winners and losers

I am

Thought behind the thought

I am ... this, that, many things at the same time. That is what I think I am. And I will make my choices, decide my path and write my own destiny.

And how do I portray myself? If I am a poet, I show my self through words and I use brush strokes if I am a painter! A sculptor though, can portray his self-image through many materials, like these amazing self sculptures done by different artists.

The art

Every material that is used for sculpture making has its own advantages and challenges. Each allows you a totally different form of expression, and one may choose according to the image one wants to create and project.

'Self Portrait by Valery Yevdokimov

Source: http://www.artparks.co.uk/artpark_sculpture.php sculpture=4473&sculptor=valery_yevdokimov 

Cast bronze Sculpture by Burton Blistein

Source: http://www.burtonblistein.com/Sculpture%20by%20Burton%20Blistein%20-%20Self-Portrait%20I.html

"Geometric Self-Portrait" Fall, 1995 life-size plaster cast © G. Hadd

Source: http://www.sculpturebyghadd.com/geometric.htm

Stainless steel Portrait by Martin Debenham

Source: https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/isMm9jBo1gIJ1Q/wire-sculptures-self-portraits

Ash sculpture by Zhang Huan

Source: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ash-head-no-1

Louis Fortier's wax and plaster heads

Source: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/louis-fortier

time

Thought behind the thought
Time is your greatest friend and your worst enemy at the same time. It teaches you humility, gives you hope and pervades your life from the minute you were born till you take your last breath! Or maybe even later, or earlier than that. No one has been able to understand time fully. And it remains an unknown force that you can combat at times, or simply surrender to!

About the art
The concept of time has been explored by many scientists across the world and there are as many theories about its essence. Some of these scientific facts are put in front of the layperson with amazing clarity in the video below.
Animation, as a form of entertainment, is very popular. But animation to explain scientific concepts and that too, so lucidly, is indeed remarkable. Almost an art by itself!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrqmMoI0wks

parents and offspring

Thought behind the thought
Parents are the reason why we are here on this earth. But we take them so much for granted! The things they have done for us all their lives, the unconditional love they have showered on us, we all realise it. The only mistake we probably make is we don't remember it too often! And don't express it either!
But when it comes to our children, we expect them to have regard for us and show it too, through their words and actions. Strange are the workings of the human mind!

About the Art
Portrait painting is a very challenging art because apart from the obvious physical characteristics, one has to catch and portray the mental make up of a person for the painting to come alive.

Here are some beautiful portraits of their parents drawn by various artists.

Pierre Denis and his Parents, Oil on Canvas

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/pierre-denis-and-his-parents-181445

 Raphael Soyer, Oil on Canvas

Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/482007

David Wilkie, Oil on panel

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-artists-parents-the-reverend-david-wilkie-17381812-an210860

David Hockney, Oil on canvas

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/my-parents-199286

Paul Rhys Bowen, Oil on canvas

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/two-parents-178232

Lubaina Himid, Acrylic and mixed media on Canvas

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/my-parents-their-children-34289

mirror

incomplete

Thought behind the thought
We all strive to achieve perfection. Try to fill in the gaps. Try to take things to their logical conclusion. But isn't it far more exciting to leave things a little incomplete?
A film that ends just before it actually does, leaves a gap that we fill up with our imagination. And each one of us is free to fill it the way we want. So that many stories are created out of the same story! Sentences left unfinished linger on in the mind, with added layers from our imagination. Visits to people and places that are cut short for want of time leave us hoping for more. And completing the scenes with our infinite imagination thinking to ourselves ...." What if ????"

About the Art
The sense of 'incomplete' makes art really exciting! Like these horseman sculptures created by the Beijing based group of the three artists Liu Zhan, Kuang Jun and Tan Tiawei known as Unmask Group.

The Beijing-based group, a creative formation of Liu Zhan, Kuang Jun and Tan Tianwei, masterfully constructs their hollowed, incomplete sculptures out of stainless steel and marble. The almost-abstract figures leave just enough of the sculpture intact to make the solid figure clear. It's the exclusion of certain parts that add a hint of intrigue. There is also an odd oneness to each sculpture that allows the human figures to melt into and meld with the horse's form. It's hard to tell where one entity ends and the other begins.

Credit and Source of information
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/incomplete-sculptures-of-a-man-and-his-horse
http://amazingtechzone.com/art/incomplete-horseman-sculptures-revering-humans-by-beijing-based-artists-2/

crossword

Thought behind the thought
Crosswords are fun! But at times, they really try your patience. Words just don't seem to agree with each other. They refuse to sit next to each other, or if they fit in, push others out of their way, leaving empty spots. But one just has to persevere. Finally, there comes a word that sets things right. And the whole puzzle just falls in place at once.
Just like life .....

About architecture and Design
Crossword lovers would surely like to see this happening in their neighbourhood!

With a large crossword puzzle installed on the side of the structure, this building in Ukraine has an address that no one can get wrong. Created as a part of a city-wide art installation, clues to the puzzle are scattered all throughout Lvov. You'll have to find them one by one if you're hoping to solve the giant crossword. Designed as a way to encourage people to visit the town's interesting locations, they're distributed among popular city landmarks, like theaters, monuments and museums.

How do you know if you got the answers right? You'll have to wait till nighttime, when the combination of the installed lighting system and the fluorescent paint fills up all the boxes with the correct answers. Measuring 100 feet in height, it is truly a sight to behold, especially when set against the backdrop of the evening skies.

Credit and source of information
http://www.coolthings.com/ukraine-building-gets-a-100-foot-crossword-puzzle-that-solves-itself/

chemistry

Thought behind the thought
Chemistry was one subject that I simply couldn't befriend at school. All the chemical formulae and equations, quite simply, puzzled me. I just could not balance the information and make sense out of it. Somehow, I did swim through the curriculum but it left a gaping hole in my brain!
Looking back now, a good thirty years since I last met Chemistry, I think she taught me some important life lessons! That you always need to balance out seemingly unrelated things .... or they balance themselves out eventually, even if you can't figure out how! And most importantly, she taught me that "Reaction" is everything. It runs the whole show. Whatever the action, the reaction is what leads to the final outcome. And that is so true with life.
How one reacts to words, events, people, situations ... determines the final outcome of your life. Not what happens to you, but how you react to it. That is everything!

About Art and Design
The concepts that once seemed so difficult to understand, are depicted here in such an innovative way! That is the power of graphics! It can turn abstract ideas in to something very interesting and easy to understand! I wish our text book illustrators took a clue or two from these amazing science illustrations!

Pablo Bustos AKA Wirdou (the creator of these fantastic illustrations) is a young designer from Madrid, Spain. He's a total geek, and loves anything related to the world of gaming, movies or TV shows. He majored in Biology some years ago, which explain his many science-related designs, with a special focus on mixing pop culture and science.

 Freddie Mercury

 Heavy metals

Noble gasses

Krypton Man

Credit and Source of information
Wirdou: Fun science by Pablo Bustos  http://wirdou.com/

http://www.neatoshop.com/artist/Wirdou#listing?tag=819807