Bot’ls

This morning I needed a kitchen thingie and looked for it in the cellar when something colorful caught my eye. A bunch of colored bottles that for some reason ended up in the basement were hit by the sunlight that entered through a small window on standing height. Time to do a bit of pre-spring cleaning, and capture some colored sunlight in the process. The stripes, caused by the Venetian blinds, created a nice pattern in the reflection, and the refraction areas. The somewhat hesitant morning sunlight was just enough to make it look nice and bright.

Colored bottles, cleaned, and drying in the morning sun 1.

Colored bottles, cleaned, and drying in the morning sun 2.

Colored bottles, cleaned, and drying in the morning sun 3.

Colored bottles, cleaned, and drying in the morning sun 4.

Colored bottles, cleaned, and drying in the morning sun 5.

Colored bottles, cleaned, and drying in the morning sun 6.

S.C.A.R. rhythm & proportion

S.C.A.R.

S.C.A.R.

Sociétés Coopératives Agricoles Réunies (SCAR), Argenteau (B).

Some archaeological objects

Marne-type ceramic dish, iron age. Coll. Liemers Museum, Zevenaar (NL)

Bronze age vessel, Liemers Museum, Zevenaar (NL)

These are two out of twenty archaeological objects that will be part of an interactive presentation in the Liemers Museum, Zevenaar (NL). It was a  nice experience to be able to have a closer look at these objects, and feel the craftsmanship that created them a few thousand years ago. As a paleographer, and codicologist by training, I am used to handling old, venerable and precious objects, like medieval manuscripts. But these unpretentious objects rushed me still further back in the mist of time, or ‘La Nuit des Temps’. I regret the many times that I carelessly passed display cases with archaeological objects in museums in favor of more spectacular, and resplendent material. But I feel that I have made my amends, now that I have spend a good day making pictures of this small collection.

‘Counterfactual’

Counterfactual

This morning, while working on a different project, my thoughts wandered off for a moment, and went into a philosophical mood. So I opened an empty screen and drew this quick doodle on the side. The title of the doodle, ‘Counterfactual’, refers, of course, to philosophical logic, propositional logic to be more precise.

“A counterfactual conditional, subjunctive conditional, or remote conditional … is a conditional (or “if-then”) statement indicating what would be the case if its antecedent were true (although it is not true). This is to be contrasted with an indicative conditional, which indicates what is (in fact) the case if its antecedent is (in fact) true (which it may or may not be).” (source Wikipedia).

´What if …´ a thought that always comes to mind in these early days of May when the Netherlands remember the fallen and celebrate freedom.

Material cultural heritage: a prehistoric weaving comb

Weaving comb from deer antler, coll. Liemers Museum, Zevenaar, NL

This weaving comb, made from deer antler, may look to us as an insignificant object. It is a simple and unadorned object created to play a role in an altogether mundane process, weaving. But if you take a little time to let it come to you, like I did when I was making the photo’s, you become aware of its sheer elegance, simplicity and functionality. It’s by no means unique, many weaving combs made of a number of materials have been found, and are kept in museums all over the world. But through it we look into the depth of times, when people living in small settlements were just discovering organised, repetitive, and structured ways to survive the harsh conditions in which everyone must live, the condition humaine.

I made a montage of the back and the front to show the soft outside, polished by use, and the concave inside that displays the cellular structure of the antler bone. This is one of a series of images that will be displayed on a multitouch table presentation we are currently developing for the museum.

B01 N2-8

B01 N2-8, part of an offshore wind turbine

We’re not afraid of grey, yellow and blue.

Structure

Vopak silos with tesselated domed caps in a hazy sunlight, 27-04-13

Rhythm, structure, light, force, form, tension … it’s all here. Connecting walkways on Vopak silos in Eemshaven, Groningen, NL. One of a series I shot today while passing through the area. The light was sunny, but slightly subdued by scattered clouds, and a thin haze.