Timely Timelessness

The other day shiftazine was wondering the streets of inner city Sydney (Redfern) when a vision of design wonderfulness came into view.

There it was, a Figaro.  

The Figaro was introduced at the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show under the slogan "Back to the Future",

and the name "Figaro" was a reference to the main character in the play The Marriage of Figaro
by Pierre Beaumarchais.
It was built by a Nissan special projects group called Pike Factory, which also produced other niche automobiles such as the Be-1, Pao and S-Cargo.
It was based on the Nissan Micra aka March.

                                                 

Only four colours were available: Topaz Mist, Emerald Green, Pale Aqua and Lapis Grey.
Each colour symbolised a season of the year. When the car was launched, Topaz Mist was the least popular colour.
There were only 2,000 produced in Topaz Mist hence they have become increasingly rare.

The Figaro was equipped with leather seats, air conditioning, CD player and an open roof.
It was designed by Shoji Takahashi, who won a design competition with the car.

Only 8000 were originally available with an additional 12,000 added to production numbers to meet demand.
Prospective purchasers had to enter a lottery to be able to buy one of these cars.
Limited edition cars came with passenger side baskets and cup holders.

This information was found on Wikipedia (thank god for Wikipedia)

One word says it all

One word says it all...

A brush with pretty

Lumière de l'Atelier Art récup ... Rebecca Szeto Fine Art où l'art de transformer de vieux pinceaux en belles demoiselles en robes ...

Art Recycled... Rebecca Szeto fine art where the art of turning old brushes in lovely ladies in dresses...

This is a beautiful example of shiftazine thinking and doing.

Visit Lumière de l'Atelier for more wonderful stuff and ideas.

The disruptiveness of Art (APTNo.8@GOMA)

This eighth edition emphasises the role of performance in recent art, with live actions, video, kinetic art, figurative painting and sculpture exploring the use of the human form 

to express cultural, social and political ideas, and the central role of artists in articulating experiences specific to their localities.

Besides the exciting and comprehensive array of artistic, innovative and disruptive art works, Queensland Art Gallery has reinvented the environment in which 

their permanent collection is presented. 

The series of galleries are full of the leading creative, innovative, artistic minds and their end results from the turn of the 19th to 20th century.

Engaging a pattern that is deeply influenced from indigenous art and an inspired colour palette, the galleries take your breath and mind away to a place where all you see and feel 

is the product of exciting and successful disruptive thinking.

A most restful colour

"Absolute green is the most restful colour, lacking any undertone of joy, grief, or passion.

On exhausted men this restfulness has a beneficial effect, but after a time it becomes tedious.” —Wassily Kandinsky

A recipe for a 'good life' moment

The notion of the good life comes in many forms. (We are lucky enough to even have that option.)

As Summer finally rolls out in front of us (in the great Southern land), relaxed thoughts about the little things or moments that brings joy to one's life surface.

Here are the ingredients for a shiftazine 'good life' moment : 

A bottle of Tanqueray Gin,

a fresh lemon and a lime,

a bucket of ice cubes,

some chilled tonic,

simple but well designed glasses,

a friend,

a great conversation,

a sunny late afternoon,

some bossa nova playing,

and that’s about it.

That was that

2015 is done and dusted.  2016 is beginning to unfurl.
Here is to a shift in how we see the world and gain some new insights and inspirations.  

Thank you

The world is getting smaller every day, but the issues are getting bigger.

Hopefully shiftazine has brought some new ideas or inspiration to you on some level.

Thank you to everyone who has followed or even clicked once on shiftazine.

Have a joy-filled festive time.

See you all on the other side.

Peace.

Beautiful but temporary

Chalk drawings are all around the streets of any urban environment.

People need to see them, noticed them, love them, embrace them.

People need to create them, fill their world with them.

Go and buy some chalk today, pick a bit of tarmac and DRAW!

Place: Redfern Park. Time: early morning. Evidence: play from the evening before. Engagement: imagination and multiple coloured chalk. Result: delight from all who come across the drawings.

Issue No.18: Enjoy

Craved

Most Wallisms are painted or drawn on walls.

But these quirky examples, found in Agious Nikolas, Crete, have been craved into the soft plaster of an innocent wall.

Childish or sophisticated? A statement or a visual whim?  Skilled or clumsy?  Delightful or vandalism? 
Maybe these are a bit of all of the above, but Wallisms are a part of the texture of a place where people live, everyday.

Sparkling

Crystal clear and cooling on the hot, bright days, the sparkling water always amps up the JOY of Summer. 
Celebrate the tiny things that bring you JOY, every day, but especially on JOYDAY, 25th November, every year.

The 'otherworldly' found in a garbage bag.

A couple of black garbage bags, some marking tape and a sense of the Baroque helped create this moment at the ‘Dare to Fail’ salon. 

The otherworldly appeared from the mundane to haunt us and draw us closer. 

It's JOYDAY!

Old places, beautiful light, unexpected still lives bring me JOY.

It’s JOYDAY, so celebrate it by embracing those tiny things that bring you JOY.

JOYDAY

25th November

every year.