Book Review: The Air Loom and Other Dangerous Influencing Machines, by Thomas Röske, Bettina Brand-Claussen and others. Catalog by the Prinzhorn Collection, 256 pages, 92 illustrations, 2006. ISBN: 3-88423-237-1. This book, also a catalog for an exhibit at the Prinzhorn Collection, is even more focused on psychiatric issues than the Collecting Madness volume. In an earlier time that could have been problematic, but the success of Dubuffet and his followers in liberating the art from its psychiatric context actually makes it easier to appreciate the insights. Although there is still plenty to debate relating to terminology and the significance of
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More Wacky Names From All Over
A new treasury of oddball store names from around the world.
Continue readingMy Weekly Credo: Ruin vs. replacement
For buildings and cities, poverty and neglect can be better preservatives than loving care.
Continue readingBook Review: Sublime Spaces And Visionary Worlds
Sublime Spaces And Visionary Worlds: Built Environments Of Vernacular Artists, By Leslie Umberger, Erika Doss, Lisa Stone, Jane Bianco and Ruth Kohler. Princeton Architectural Press, 424 pages, 650 color plates and 100 black and white illustrations, 2007. ISBN 1-56898-728-5
Continue readingKankakee and Waukegan: Swell Places
Some first-rate signage from the funky Chicago suburbs of Waukegan and Kankakee.
Continue readingMotel matches
Great lodging images from motel matchbooks.
Continue reading100 Best Signs From Roadside Art Online
Here’s a selection of my 100 favorite signs from the pages of Interestingideas.com’s Roadside Art Online section.
Continue readingThe Interesting Ideas Store
Three great gift ideas from the pages of interestingideas.com 2008 Diner Art Calendar Gyros Project Calendar 2008 Edition Bizarre Bazaars the book: Weird, Wacky and Just Plain Embarrassing Business Names From the Grog N Groc Hall of Fame
Continue readingLittle Grills: Diner art from matchbook covers
Matchbook covers can be tiny masterpieces of vernacular commercial art. This set covers a favorite subject from the mid-20th Century, the roadside diner.
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