Thursday, September 17, 2009

Images shown below are Creative Caffaine #2 which is about texture.
























































Tuesday, September 8, 2009

some pics about Blood Diamonds


The map of Sierra Leone


They work more than 10 hours per day, but only
1000 Leone ($ .30) for daily payment and some food that
value of 1000 Leone are given to them.



A Diamond dealer who is Lebanon.
More than 80% of distribution of diamonds are on thier hands.



A person who is taken from his family and became a RUF (Revolutionary United Front)
when he was 14 years old.
Now he has no choice without killing people again if ther is a war.
These people are not only most assailants, but also most victims..







On January, 6th, 1999, this person who was a cook, got cut his both hands from RUF.






DTC located in London.
That giant diamon flower(986.6 k) is called
[The Flower of Sierra Leone]




The flip side of Diamonds... Blood Diamond


Diamonds: Symbols Of Love or Symbols Of War?
Miriam Mannak Cape Town, South AfricaFebruary 28, 2007

"Think twice before swiping your credit card while a smiling

diamond dealer wraps up your precious stone."

While sounds of gunshots, screaming children and crying women filled the cinema, she looked at her engagement ring. No longer did she see a sparkling symbol of eternal love. She saw blood, gore, violence, hatred, war and young boys being drugged and trained to shoot to kill. She saw the pain of women, losing their sons and their dignity, she saw young girls' legs being spread apart by grown men, possessed by an animal-like sexual force.
More than one out of ten purchasable diamonds can be classified as Blood Diamonds, stones that are mined in a war zone, and sold in order to finance that particular war or uprisings. The vast majority of the blood diamonds — or conflict diamonds — are from Africa. In countries such as Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo war lords and have used and are using the profit of the diamond mining and sales — worth billions of dollars — to fuel war and conflict by, for instance, buying arms.
While peace has descended upon Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia — after many decades of war, military terrorism and human suffering — the situation in the Democratic Republic is one of despair and tragedy. Here, diamonds are a major engine fueling a conflict that has claimed many hundreds of thousands of lives. The same story counts for Ivory Coast.

Because they comprise 1.5 out of ten diamonds, the chance of buying a blood-stained stone is considerable. Those who refuse to be part of a conflict in a far away land have an option, and that is to insist that their jeweler or diamond dealer provide them with information that proves the stone is a clean one.
Think twice before swiping your credit card while a smiling diamond dealer wraps up your precious stone. Men should ask whether the engagement ring for their wife-to-be is a clean one, or if it was used to fuel conflict and war. Women wanting to treat themselves to a sparkly necklace should do the same. And diamond dealers should take responsibility too, by only purchasing clean diamonds and providing their customers with the necessary proof about the nature of the stone.
Myself, I refuse to wear diamonds because you never know what you are buying, as most retailers cannot guarantee that the stone you laid eyes on is not a conflict diamond. Would you want to have a ring around your finger for which, possibly, a little boy has had his hand chopped off with a machete? For which a young girl was forced to open her legs for drunken militiamen? For which several countries were drawn into a spiral of conflict, violence and sorrow? I don't think so.





Miriam Mannak, Diamonds: Symbols Of Love or Symbols Of War?, Cape Town, South AfricaFebruary 28, 2007 from http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/2695.cfm

Styrofoam Sofa







Styrofoam Sofa
Designer Kwangho Lee thought it would be clever to take old sheets of styrofoam and mold them into furniture. Now before birds, polar bears, rabbits, and treehuggers clobber me, I want to say it’s just a concept. Nobody is really going to make styrofoam furniture. But to the material’s credit, it does get warmer the longer you sit on it.
Designer:
Kwangho Lee
from the website, Yanko Design
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Since some briliant works from Droog design have inspired me I'm looking for a stuff which can be found easily around me, and styrofoam just hit my head! I sketched some hanging light w/ styrofoam, and roughly drew chairs that is also made of styrofoams.
This Styrofoam Sofa is found while I was googling of styrofoam art. This sfuff might result of some breaks (and that will be annoying!), but it is a still comfort-looking sofa.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Asante of Ghana





Crossed Crocodiles Gold weight,20th c.Asante peoples, GhanaBronze,2 x 2.5 inchesAnonymous Gift,1982.17.22
Made of cast bronze, these small figures were used to weigh out gold dust on scales in colonial Ghana. The image of crossed crocodiles that share the same stomach refers to a number of proverbs that emphasize unity in diversity. One example is: a family may have many members but only one belly. The message is that a family should cooperate, rather than fight over something that will benefit all.












Ceremonial staffAsante peoples,
GhanaIronHeight 47 inches


























Goldweight Depictng a Scorpion, 19th/mid-20th century
Copper alloy2.2 x 2.9 x 3.8 cm (7/8 x 1 1/8 x 1 1/2 in.)Gift of the Britt Family Collection, 1978.882

Bird-shaped Ocarina (Pre columbian)







Pre-Columbian MAYA (from Mexico)
apprx. A.D. 300 - 900
70mm X 70mm X 50mm
I don't think this is made of metal, but I like it.

Baule of the Ivory Coast Area


Baule is also an alternative spelling dave of Baoulé, an ethnic group in Côte-d'Ivoire.

Baule African tribe (pronounced (bah'-oo-lay). They are linked to the Ashanti, and had a war with them. There are approximately 400,000 Baule in the world. They belong to the Akan peoples, of Africa, and live primarily in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. As they die, their culture and language are being lost forever.
(from Wikipedia)

And these are some interesting pieces from Baule.




Photographs © Tim Hamill
BAULE, "KPLEKPLE" GOLI MASK 2, 38", Ivory Coast,













Photographs © Tim Hamill
PUNU, SPIRIT MASK 20, 12", 28" with raffia, Wood, pigment & raffia,



[Masks like these white-faced masks represented the spirit of an ancestor from the afterworld and were often used by stilt dancers for funeral rituals. They are known for their elegant features, forehead scarification patterns and elaborate coiffures. Despite their appearance, these masks show little evidence of age or use and were probably made to be sold.]





















Photographs © Bobbi Hamill
BAULE Bracelet 24" h. x 5.5" w. x 4.25" l.

This massive cuff is hand-cast of a bronze alloy. The animals represented are pangolins which, thought to have magical attributes, are frequently portrayed in African sculpture.

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Baule Woman Figure; early 1900
















Baule Tobacco Pipe; late 1800

and I found these from some Korean web search engine. In the short my appreciation,
they are more likely make masks. There are variations between each faces, and they look like they all have their own story of the arists.