Our Weekly Update is here to bring you our favorite links from the past week: art and design news you might have missed, must-see stories, and the best new contests and calls for entry.
New photo series offers a look inside North Korea’s “socialist fairyland”
In a new book from Taschen, titled Inside North Korea, British photographer Oliver Wainwright offers a different look at the secretive nation. Read about the project at Huck Magazine:
“Wainwright takes a perspective similar to what the citizens of Pyongyang experience every day, living in this fantastical landscape filled with candy-coloured apartment blocks, Jetsons-style landmarks, and dramatic vistas. ‘A lot of the new architecture has this bizarre, escapist, fantastical quality to it–which I personally think is quite a clever way of distracting people from life in this authoritarian regime,’ he says.”
Floating park in Rotterdam created out of recycled plastic waste
A new public park in the Dutch city has been built entirely out of garbage. The project aims to demonstrate the potential of recycling. Via DesignBoom:
“In Rotterdam, the Recycled Island Foundation has retrieved debris from the city’s rivers and port to create a prototype floating park, which is now open to visitors. Aiming to illustrate that recycled plastic from the open waters is a valuable material, the 140 sq-meter, floating landscape comprises a series of hexagonal blocks made entirely from recycled plastic waste. Besides its positive environmental impact, the park is beneficial for the river’s ecosystem, as they offer a habitat for micro and macro fauna, including snails, flatworms, beetles and fish.”
Does procrastination actually help creativity? Probably not
In Art News, Casey Lesser contemplates the supposed link between procrastinating and creative insight, drawing on recent investigations and studies to suggest that procrastination is likely not the best way to do great work:
“In his new book, In Praise of Wasting Time, writer Alan Lightman discusses the benefits of giving oneself unscheduled time to simply think, play, or let ideas incubate. He cites the daily habits of historic creatives like writer Gertrude Stein and filmmaker Federico Fellini, among others, who built rituals into their daily schedules that allowed for their minds to wander freely. Stein, with her partner Alice B. Toklas, would amble the Ain countryside and gaze at cows to spur creative inspiration; Fellini would wake up at 6 a.m. each day and putter about his apartment before setting out for a walk. To an observer, this may have looked like procrastination, but Lightman nods to such activities as a means of fostering creativity, a ‘habit of mind for contemplation and reflection.’”
Call for entry: Fotofestival Schiedam
Fotofestival Schiedam is an annual Dutch photography festival exploring contemporary issues through photography and visual art. The sixth edition of the festival will take place from 18 to 28 October, 2018. Submissions are now open through August 1:
“The Open Call is not exclusively reserved for the photographic field or the art world. We specifically encourage professionals and students from other disciplines, who include visual methodologies as part of their research, to submit their imagery. A wide variety of genres and work will be considered, ranging from long-term photojournalism and documentary, moving and still, multimedia, VR, internet projects, archival and collections, installations, scientific imagery, visualizations, and publications as long as it responds to and incorporates photography.”
Call for entry: Science Friday x Ello
Creative platform Ello and educational website Science Friday have teamed up for a contest seeking illustrations of Stephen Hawking quotes. Submissions are open through August 3:
“We’re looking for artists who can help us inspire the next generation of theoretical physicists, mathematicians, and science communicators by interpreting Hawking’s vivid depictions of the universe with art.
“We’ve selected some of Hawking’s most enlightening and concise analogies, explainers, and thought-experiments from A Brief History of Time. We will select and work with six artists to represent these concept-quotes with a high-contrast, simple, color-rich illustrations. Selected artists will receive $400, and their finished works will appear with the inspiring quote on sciencefriday.com and a linked credit to the artist’s portfolio website.”
Call for entry: Rental Magazine print edition
Online photo platform Rental Magazine is accepting submissions of 15-20 unpublished photos, to be considered for inclusion in their next annual print edition. Submissions are open now.
*Cover image by Oliver Wainwright via Huck Magazine.*
*Have a tip or call for entry to share? Did you write an article or publish a project that you think we’d like? [Let us know.](mailto:magazine@format.com)*
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