Saturday, September 25, 2010

Source of inspiration 225 (click on this title!): Egg box



This picture shows a normal egg box. The peculiar thing is that these eggs have faces...
An egg box is used to stock and transport fragile eggs. The molded cardboard of the box surrounds each egg and protects it a little.
Egg boxes are good soundproofing material when placed on walls.
Egg boxes are also widely used in handicrafts.
Just imagine a life without egg boxes: broken eggs, noise pollution, and lot of desperate mums, dads and kindergarten workers!

Article by Annika Nischik

Source of inspiration 224 (click on this title!): Stranger in a glass box


Quentin Shih is a Chinese American photographer. The photo above is one in a series called "The stranger in the glass box" for Christian Dior (the famous haute couture and perfumery firm).

The model trapped in the glass box is wearing Dior. Around the box are normal Chinese people dressed in their work uniforms. They are looking somewhat perplexed at this stranger who seems to have landed there by mistake.

This glass box is symbolic of the perhaps insurmountable cultural barrier between the rich West and China. These ordinary Chinese, trapped in a boring, grey, empty no man’s land, can only observe. They cannot touch this oversized beautiful alien being in her aquarium-like spaceship/cube. They can only desire her and what she stands for.

This advertising photo is not just aesthetically pleasing; it is a political comment on consumerism and globalization. It is about conformity versus individualism, about poverty and wealth, the many and the few, about desire and frustration.

Article by Annika Nischik

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Source of inspiration 223 (click on this title!): Whelping box

The word "whelp" is defined as "a young offspring of a mammal, such as a dog or wolf". A whelping box is simply a specialized box designed for optimal birthing and raising of small mammals, specifically puppies.

You are probably thinking "well my grandma put our pregnant dog in a cardboard box or laundry basket with some towels when she was giving birth, isn't that the same thing?". I assure you it is not. Many people even view this simplistic, old-fashioned idea as neglectful these days.

Discussions about how pups can become injured during birth flood the internet. Pups can become tangled and injured when born in a laundry basket and without proper supervision a birthing mother can even unknowingly crush her pups in a cardboard box during the birthing process.

Whelping boxes are mainly a safety precaution for birthing mothers and their offspring and they are most commonly used by breeders. They are designed for easy clean up, optimum safety for the pups and they are reusable. which is a great benefit for multiple litter breeders. When you are breeding for money the care and survival of your pups is your livelihood.

Ensuring the safety and cleanliness of the pups in addition to finding convenience and efficiency in the breeding process is how whelping boxes became prevalent in the breeding world.

Whelping boxes are also now considered a necessity for many owners who find their pet has become pregnant. This is because whelping boxes are known to ensure the safety of the pups without extra supervision needed. They have specially placed rails within the box that'll keep mama from accidentally squashing a pup between herself and and the box wall during the birthing and afterward.

A whelping box keeps young pups confined while allowing the mother to easily enter and exit at will and a whelping box keeps the mess of birthing puppies off your floor. Additionally, whelping boxes are made to keep pups shielded from drafts which can make them sick and weak after birth.

In what way is a whelping box a source of artistic inspiration? This box provides safety, it allows life to come forth... it is no ordinary box!

Article by Elliot Jackson

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Source of inspiration 221 (click on this title!): Tativille!

These photos are stills taken from Playtime, a movie by Jacques Tati:


Comment on the last photo:

In the background, there are numerous grey cubicles, work boxes where people are confined. Everything seems well ordered; nothing unexpected can probably happen in their lives. It’s an image of a society where everything has to be perfectly organized and tidy. The fact that these people are closed up in boxes suggests they are strongly influenced by a society which dehumanizes them and prevents them from thinking for themselves or from communicating with each other. All these people, locked up in their geometric environment, seem trapped in an insane ideology.

Metallic grey is the dominant colour in this picture. It symbolizes the boring conformity of the characters.

The man in the foreground is Mr. Hulot, the main character of the film. He’s dressed conventionally in a grey coat and hat, and he’s holding a black umbrella.

Hulot does not seem to understand what is happening. He seems unsure of where he has to go. He appears to be an observer, alone, hesitating at the top of the escalator. He stands out from the mass of office workers by his behaviour.

Is he conscious of the absurdity of a world based on senseless work and order?

Article by Julie Botet

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Source of inspiration 219 (click on this title!): Wardrobe


This is no ordinary piece of furniture! It is through this wardrobe that children enter Narnia!

Clive Staples Lewis, better known as C.S. Lewis, was born on the 29th November 1898 in Belfast (Ireland) and died in Oxford (England) on the 22nd November 1963. He was a writer, and also a don at the University of Belfast. He worked on Medieval literature, was a literary critic, and a devout Christian. He is famous for writing the Narnia chronicles published in the 1950s.

What is the significance of the wardrobe in the Narnia stories? C.S. Lewis never explained it... Does it have something to do with his childhood or a particular event? Lewis was full of secrets... His perhaps excessive love of God sometimes made him write strange things; he sometimes made use of heavenly creatures as important characters in his stories.

The Narnia books have been adapted for the stage and film (the first, by Disney, in 2005), and there are video games based on the stories too.

A big wardrobe is impressive, especially for children (are there just clothes in there, or are there "skeletons in the cupboard"?!). It intrigues curiose kids... It can also be a refuge (that's the case in the Narnia story when the children are hiding from each other and then from a menacing adult). It is also the doorway to a better world, one of fabulous adventures in which children are no longer victims but become heros.

By Laura Caumel

Source of inspiration 218 (click on this title!): BoxBoxBoxBoxboxBox...


In 1937, the process called Xerography was invented by American law student Chester Carlson. Carlson had invented a copying process based on electrostatic energy. Xerography became commercially available in 1950 by the Xerox Corporation. Xerography comes from the Greek for "dry writing".

Article by Elliot Jackson

Source of inspiration 217 (click on this title!): Speed kills...


This is a traffic enforcement camera, also called : flash box, road safety camera, road rule camera, photo radar, or speed camera. It is a system including a camera to detect traffic regulation violations, including: speeding and vehicles going through a red traffic light. This strange box along roads can limit the number of road accidents.

According to BBC News "Oxfordshire has already switched off its fixed-location speed cameras" because their efficiency has been thrown into doubt.

Article by Elliot Jackson

Friday, September 3, 2010

Source of inspiration 215 (click on this title!): Sentinel's box


A sentinel or sentry box is a boxlike structure serving as a shelter for a soldier on guard duty (usually during bad weather).

Who is this impressive man inside the box in the photo above?

He is a highly trained soldier who protects the Queen of England. He stands guard outside Buckingham palace or St James' palace. He is a member of the Queen's Guard.

What does he have on his head? It is the standard bearskin of the British Foot Guards. It is 18 inches tall, weighs 1.5 pounds, and is made from the fur of the Canadian black bear. An officer's bearskin is made from the fur of the female Canadian brown bear as it is thicker (it is dyed black).


St James' palace:

Buckingham palace:

Article by Elliot Jackson