Arrowtown (NZ): It's An Attitude

Arrowtown Club House, hidden deep in the valleys of New Zealand's South Island, is an attitude, rather than a building, according to its architect Andrew Patterson. Truly one of the most stunning examples of harmonizing building with breathtaking landscape, this golf course and club house take careful cues from nature. A philosophy of being part of this world and this world being part of us is thread through Patterson's design. Built from local rock, wedged from the earth, and covered with native grasses, its evident that Arrowtown Club House respects its gorgeous new home. Cruise over to the South Island via video, produced by Wallpaper Magazine.

Featured Artist: Mark Weaver

There's a modern parable of the creative process in which a ceramics class is divided into two halves. One half is graded on quantity, receiving an A grade if they produce a minimum 50 pounds of pottery, and the other on quality, requiring one near-perfect pot to achieve an A. By the semesters end, the finest work is clearly in the hands of the quantity crowd, as they had, in their incessant repetition, smoothed out their flaws, polished their technique, and refined their aesthetic. The quality group, however, was bogged down in theory, obsessing over conceptuals which never metamorphosed into high caliber work.

Designer and illustrator Mark Weaver is clearly in the quantity camp. His "Make Something Cool Everyday" project has not only produced something everyday, an admirable task unto itself, but, as the name implies, a whole mess of seriously cool images. Weaver's well-defined collage aesthetic, which blends bold typography, the muted tones of vintage photographs, and scientific and retro-futuristic themes, allows for  remarkable consistency work, as he manages to avoid a daily reinvention of the proverbial wheel. Below are some favorites, but be sure to check out his website and flickr page for more.

 

Featured Video: Art is Work

Filmmaker, designer and artist David Hillman Curtis (hillmancurtis, inc), of Brooklyn, NY has created a stunning video series over time, featuring artists who have inspired him throughout his career. Through video, Hillman Curtis takes his audience on a journey and an intimate conversation with some of the most moving artists of our time. "One of the rules I gave myself when I started making these movies was that I’d feature designers who directly inspired me or somehow made it easier for me to become a designer," he said in an interview with AIGA. "That rule is becoming a little blurred as I become more aware that this vehicle-the series-is also a great way for me to discover the work of designers whose work I may have seen or admired, but whom I knew very little about." Take a moment to watch one of our favorite videos, his feature on Milton Glaser, who is perhaps best known for creating the infamous I Love New York logo. Run time is approximately 6 minutes. See the entire artist series here.