Matthew Reinhart's Blog, page 21

Word of the Day: Lugubrious

Lugubrious \lu-GOO-bree-us; -GYOO-\ adjective

1. Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, esp. in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner.

Origin: Lugubrious comes from Latin lugubris, from lugere 'to mourn'.

Whats Popped Up: Isabel Uria

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I love getting mail, especially if it pops up. A few days ago I received an impressive invitation from paper engineer, Isabel Uria. We meet in 2008 at the Movable Book Society conference, where she showed some of her paper engineering creations from her undergraduate portfolio. Since then she has been busy working with the inventive novelty company Up with Paper while attending graduate school at MICA. And now all her hard work is going to pay off as she displays her MFA thesis on April 22 – May 1 at the Decker Gallery in Baltimore, MD. Besides the reception on Friday, April 22nd from 5-7pm, Isabel will also be conducting a workshop to introduce basic pop-up concepts on April 29th from 3-4pm.

The thesis announcement arrived in a packet that contained an intricate pop-up card featuring laser cut type. And hiding behind a photo and diagram on heavy card was a cute little custom made cutting mat. What a wonderful idea! If Isabel's thesis show is as memorable as her promotional mailer, then she has a bright future in paper engineering.

You can learn more about her thesis work through her blog. Or better yet, stop by and see it for yourself.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Autochthonous

autochthonous \aw-TOK-thuh-nuhs\ adjective

1. Aboriginal; indigenous; native.
2. Formed or originating in the place where found.

Origin:
Autochthounous derives from Greek autochthon "of or from the earth or land itself".  From auto "self" + chthon "earth".

Word of the Day: Aura

Aura \AWR-uh\ noun

1. A distinctive air or quality considered to be characteristic of a person or thing.

2. An invisible breath, emanation that surround people, animals, and things.

Origin:
From Greek aura "breath, breeze"

Listen Up: Mumford & Sons 'The Cave'

I was introduced to Mumford & Sons literally an hour ago.  So I'm not an expert, but what I did find out about them is that they're from West London and they make really great music.  I just found their video 'The Cave'.  And even though it seems like a very simple video, it's really beautiful to watch and listen too.  See (or rather hear) for yourself here:




To find out more about Mumford & Sons click here!

~Jess

Vintage Movable Review: Koehler cards

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Here is a set of mechanical trade cards that use a single pivot to create some rather stylized "Before & After" views of Victorian era characters. First off we see a bride transform into a widow, followed by a Civil War solider ravaged by battle and cap it off with a quick passage of time from sweet sixteen to sixty with the turn of a hat. The cards are all chromolithographs on a gold background with no printing on the reverse. A small note mentions that a patent was applied for and registered by Jos. Koehler, NY in 1882. I could not locate the specific patent on-line but found many others and came across this information from the Chicago Postcard Museum and the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City.

"Joseph Koehler, New York, NY; Founded as a printing firm 1892-1911, they later began publishing view-cards in both continuous tone and halftone lithography as well as real photo cards. They have been well known for their early hold to light postcards, mechanicals, and exposition cards, since publishing an unofficial postcard set of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. While most companies stopped using the expensive chromolithographic printing method in favor of the cheaper halftone printing process, Koehler (a pioneer in halftone technology) had returned to producing chromolithographs. Koehler postcards have a very distinct style to them and is the reason why Koehler postcards are so sought after by serious collectors. All of their postcards were printed in Berlin Germany."

~Kyle

Artist Watch: Art + Architecture 2011

Art + Architecture 2011, a diverse and multidisciplinary exhibition of emerging artists, is comprised of works that examine, question, or outright challenge everyday interpersonal and contextual relationships.

Through the integration of a variety of media including painting, sculpture, video, performance and works on paper, the installation weaves a wide ranging fabric of form and style, which envelops the immense Gowanus Ballroom and transforms the space into a thoroughly interactive experience. This affords both artist and audience a chance to dismantle and construct anew one's perceived environment. By alternately reinforcing and undermining the suppositions defining social and physical arrangements, the exhibition implores participants to reexamine the boundaries delineating self.
You can see the show this Friday evening, April 15th.55 9th street #61, Brooklyn, NY 11215 ~Gio (My own submission!)

Word of the Day: Roseate

Roseate \ROH-zee-it; -ayt\ adjective

1. Overly optimistic; bright or cheerful.
2. Resembling a rose especially in color.

Origin: Roseate comes from Latin roseus, "rosy," from rosa, "rose".

History Lesson: First Man in Space

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyvich Gagarin became the first human being to travel into space.  Aboard spacecraft Vostok 1, Gagarin orbited the Earth at a maximum altitude of 187 miles.  His space flight lasted roughly under 2 hours.  Back on Earth, he became an instant hero and celebrity.  Gagarin traveled the world to spread the word of Russia's successful space trip.  Gagarin died on March 27th, 1968 in a routine training flight that ended in a fatal crash.  There are many speculations and conspiracy theories about the reason why his aircraft failed.

Word of the Day: Desideratum

Desideratum \dih-sid-uh-REY-tuhm\ noun

1.  Something considered necessary or desirable.

Etymology:
For Latin desideratum 'something desired' from desiderare 'to desire'