Websites: “WindowSwap” – Look Out Through Someone Else’s Window

WindowSwapWindowSwap?
Let’s face it. We are all stuck indoors.
And it’s going to be a while till we travel again.
.

Window Swap is here to fill that deep void in our wanderlust hearts by allowing us to look through someone else’s window, somewhere in the world, for a while.

WindowSwap website

A place on the internet where all we travel hungry fools share our ‘window views’ to help each other feel a little bit better till we can (responsibly) explore our beautiful planet again.

Top Artists: Watercolor Painter Deborah Chabrian – “Vibrant Narratives”

Deborah Chabrian Artist“To me architectural and still life paintings are anything but still… they are personal narratives, full of life, that tell the story of a person, time, and place that I find… endlessly inspiring.”

Deborah Chabrian is a watercolor artist who transforms houses, gardens, and objects into vibrant narratives. Her paintings have been included in numerous exhibitions throughout the United States and awarded honors from The American Watercolor Society, The National Watercolor Society, The Portrait Institute, The National Academy of Design, and The Society of Illustrators. Her work graces more than 500 book covers and is featured in numerous books and magazines focusing on Fine Art.

Deborah Chabrian Artist Still Lifes

Passionate about art since childhood, Deborah was born and raised in Illinois, and won a full scholarship to Parson’s School of Design in NYC, from which she graduated with Honors. There she met her husband, portrait artist Edward Martinez, they are each other’s strongest supporter, and most critical second eye. Over the years they have studied with many inspired artists, most notably, teacher and master realist painter, Burton Silverman. As a lover of watercolor, Deborah discovered Silverman, first through his book, Breaking the Rules of Watercolor, which led to several years of personal study in his NYC atelier. Silverman said of Chabrian: “In some measure Deborah’s work is more than the watercolor medium she uses. Its excellence relies on her visual sensitivity and her expressive content to talk about the wonder of the ordinary, to reveal what our eyes usually just record without really seeing. In this regard, her work is very special indeed.”

Website

Top Architectural Design: Antony Gibbon Designs “Pushing The Boundaries”

Antony Gibbon Designs logoEmbracing nature’s forms as a source of inspiration and pushing the boundaries of architectural design, Antony’s body of work has gained world-wide recognition and been featured in Vanity Fair, New York Times, Huffington Post, Dezeen, Dwell, Designboom and the Secret Homes Television series.

Antony sees the environment as an important driving force behind his work, each structure is individually created to consider the surroundings using sustainable materials wherever possible. He aims to create the connection between Nature & Nurture, seeking a path to merge one into the other. To combine each unique, bespoke structure and its individual habitat and to develop harmony, so they grow together.

Antony Gibbon Designs Work

Wherever you are based, the team works with you to create a design that meets your exact needs. Working with a selection of the best building companies around the world to deliver the highest quality service tailored to each individual project.

Website

 

Artist Profiles: The Legacy Of Violinist Isaac Stern

NPR PodcastTuesday, July 21, marks the centennial of the birth of violinist Isaac Stern. He was not only an acclaimed musician, but a devoted teacher who was a mentor to generations of musicians.

Isaac Stern, (born July 21, 1920, Kremenets, Ukraine, Russian Empire—died September 22, 2001, New York, New York, U.S.), Russian-born American musician who was considered one of the premier violinists of the 20th century. Active in organizations promoting the arts, he played a key role in saving New York City’s Carnegie Hall from demolition in 1960 and later became president of the corporation that administered the hall and its cultural programs; he held the post until his death. In 1964 he helped establish the National Endowment for the Arts. Stern was also noted for his encouragement of young musicians, and he aided the careers of Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman, among others. The recipient of numerous awards, Stern received the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1984 and a Grammy for lifetime achievement in 1987.

Author Interviews: Slavoj Žižek On His New Book “Hegel In A Wired Brain”

Monocle 24 Meet The WritersSlavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher and writer whose vast catalogue of work has earned him celebrity status across the globe. A radical leftist, his work encompasses everything from psychoanalysis and political theory to art and film criticism. 

Described as “the leading Hegelian of our time”, he speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Hegel in a Wired Brain’, which is an evaluation of the German philosopher’s relevance in the 21st century that ties in with the 250th anniversary of his birth.

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of G.W.F. Hegel, Slavoj Žižek gives us a reading of the philosophical giant that changes our way of thinking about our new posthuman era. No ordinary study of Hegel, Hegel in a Wired Brain investigates what he might have had to say about the idea of the ‘wired brain’ – what happens when a direct link between our mental processes and a digital machine emerges. Žižek explores the phenomenon of a wired brain effect, and what might happen when we can share our thoughts directly with others. He hones in on the key question of how it shapes our experience and status as ‘free’ individuals and asks what it means to be human when a machine can read our minds.

With characteristic verve and enjoyment of the unexpected, Žižek connects Hegel to the world we live in now, shows why he is much more fun than anyone gives him credit for, and why the 21st century might just be Hegelian.

Food & Dining: “How A Michelin Star Restaurant Will Cope Post Covid-19”

After months in lockdown, restaurants are back. But they’re coming out of hibernation into a strange new world shaped by the coronavirus pandemic. In the first in a new series of films, food writer Tim Hayward and the FT’s Daniel Garrahan visit Lyle’s in east London to see how a Michelin star restaurant has pivoted from fine dining to pizza.

Legendary Food: “An Ode To Manny’s Deli, Chicago”

NPR PodcastI’ve had lunch with politicians, clergy, reporters and people who’ve just been indicted at Manny’s Cafeteria and Delicatessen in Chicago, and there’s a code of silence over the clatter: it doesn’t count.

The schmear of cream cheese thick enough to be a ski jump? No calories! Potato pancakes hefty as manhole covers?

No calories!

But the weeks of the shutdown became months. Even as businesses reopened, multitudes still work from home.

“That can’t pay our rent, insurance, our payroll,” says Dan Raskin. “We can’t go on like that.”

When a family business is forced to close, people lose their livelihoods, families lose support, and a city loses revenue and vitality. A landmark like Manny’s is also a link to history. You can point to where Barack Obama talked politics over pastrami, Oprah had apple sauce on her latkes, and where your grandfather went when he got tired of dieting.

Website

Online Streaming: “How Spotify Came To Dominate Digital Music” (CNBC)

Streaming has become this decade’s preferred way of listening to music. It’s an $11 billion dollar industry, making up 47% of global music industry revenues, and Spotify has become the clear winner globally in terms of paid subscribers. Taking on behemoths like Apple, Amazon and Google, Spotify has dominated the global streaming music industry with about 130 million premium subscribers world-wide. Recently, Spotify secured distribution deals with Joe Rogan and Kim Kardashian West to produce podcasts for the platform. Watch CNBC’s deep-dive into how Spotify started, how it became the audio leader, and where what’s to come next.

World’s Top Architecture: “Atelier Alice Trepp” In Switzerland By Mino Caggiula Architects (2019)

ATELIER ALICE TREPP - Mino Caggiula Architects 2019Atelier Alice Trepp, located in Origlio, a small and stunning village, is an atelier designed for Alice Trepp, an Ecuadorian sculptress. The site is characterized by a gentle descending slope, the view of the pastures and of Monte Tamaro, and the coolness given by the lake.

The site resembles the Greek theatres that used to lie on hill slopes, often in locations that offered a fascinating view and a spectacular perspective. The concept of lying on a natural slope gave the idea for Atelier Alice Trepp.

Mino Caggiula ArchitectsThe shape develops from the analysis of the contour lines and the folding of two of them upwards, under which the building is inserted by cutting out sinuous spaces and movements. The volumes take shape like leaves lifted from the ground, so that the architecture actually seems to be a part of Earth itself.

ATELIER ALICE TREPP - Mino Caggiula Architects 2019

The symbiosis with the context is emphasised by the continuous and essential presence of the vegetation, that transforms the villa into a large expanse with an opening. It resembles a natural cave with its open-air cenote into which the light and the evanescent green dive, reflecting and refracting in a pool of water that creates light shows, vibrations and sounds.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious