gathering tones in illuminant mode

Illus: David Hockney

I've always wanted to be able to paint the dawn. After all, what clearer, more luminous light are we ever afforded? Especially here where the light comes rising over the sea, just the opposite of my old California haunts.

But in the old days one never could, because, of course, ordinarily it would be too dark to see the paints; or else, if you turned on a light so as to be able to see them, you'd lose the subtle gathering tones of the coming sun. But with an iPhone, I don't even have to get out of bed, I just reach for the device, turn it on, start mixing and matching the colors, laying in the evolving scene.

The artist David Hockney explaining to Lawrence Weschler why, in part, he's taken to creating works on his iPhone using the Brushes application, in David Hockney's iPhone Passion in the 22 October issue of the New York Review of Books.

Hockney chiefly uses his thumbs to sketch his iPhone works because "the thing is, if you are using your pointer or other fingers, you actually have to be working from your elbow. Only the thumb has the opposable joint which allows you to move over the screen with maximum speed and agility, and the screen is exactly the right size, you can easily reach every corner with your thumb."

The New York Review of Books has posted a slideshow of Hockney's iPhone sketches »

ping me

Addiction, neurologists say, changes the physical shape of our brains. Each time old Z finds another text message, another headline, another update, my brain injects a little dopamine into a reward pathway.

“You’ve got mail!” squeals the computer and—whoosh!—here comes a shot of dopamine.

I feel stronger, says Z.

Five minutes pass, the dopamine fades.

I’m weak, hisses Z. I’m hungry. I need to see a picture of Joe Biden.

Anthony Doerr in Am I Still Here? Looking for validation in a wired world in the January | February issue of Orion Magazine

planned obsolescence

The '51 '52 '53 '54 '55 '56 '57 '58 '59 '60 '61 Volkswagen.

Volkswagen, 1961. Simple, elegant layout; simple, devastating sales pitch. The Volkswagen is never obsoleted, unlike those new American models that appear in the spotlights at the auto show. The light, humorous copy puts the ad's explosive message across easily: Detroit is a fraud.

Stumbled across this classic Ad today from DDB, alongside commentary from Thomas Frank's The Conquest of Cool, and was reminded of the storm yet to come »

but not only this

"life's too short to have sorrow"
Originally uploaded by grace*c*.

The inimitable grace*c* posted this delicious iPhone loveliness this morning (love me a cameraphone shot -- love me even more an unexpected surreal cameraphone shot) and serendipitously introduced me to the Jesus was a communist pool, which I have fallen in love with for its description alone which reads:

Shots of a small street in venice (italy) in which a communist party section is wittingly paired with a small religious kiosk with a jesus christ icon.

But not only this.
REMEMBER!

To be part of this group you don't need to be communist or to be jesus, but just be yourself [yeah.. philosophic]

*WARNING*: if you really want to be part of this group you need to know very well what "lo sciocco in blu" means (not to be confused with "lo shocking blue").

I don't yet know what "lo sciocco in blu" means. But, slowly, I'm learning »

antecedent

And [Braun] had figures set in Akzidenz Grotesk, way cooler than the boring Helvetica numbers that Apple chose.

Typographer Erik Spiekkerman commenting on the striking similarity between the form factor for the Braun electronic calculator ET33 from 1977 and today's iPhone, on Spiekerblog.