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Popular Culture Blog Posts - Page 16 of 17 - The Open College of the Arts

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One person’s redundant technology is another’s hobby thumb

One person’s redundant technology is another’s hobby

As an OCA tutor I spend a lot of time waiting for parcels to arrive in the post. The small heavy package that arrived last week was not a student assignment but a brand new metal casting of Rockwell 30pt. Like a growing band of typography and letterpress enthusiasts I have recently purchased my own […]

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They Rule thumb

They Rule

I first came across the group of artists and designers called Futurefarmers at a conference at the University of Montreal in 2001. They were there to talk about the development of one of their projects called They Rule. A blend of internet software wizardry and journalistic enquiry that allowed users to explore who sat on […]

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Are limited editions dishonest? thumb

Are limited editions dishonest?

Are limited editions about making money? Milking the value of whatever you have produced? My view on limited editions for anything other than fine art printmaking has just changed. Why? A result of a conversation with a photographer yesterday. And this image of a sheep produced using Brushes on my iPhone a couple of years […]

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An interview with cartoonist Jacky Fleming thumb

An interview with cartoonist Jacky Fleming

Jacky Fleming’s illustrations and cartoons have regularly featured in The Guardian, Big Issue, New Statesman & Society and Independent on Sunday amongst many other publications, books of her cartoons published by Penguin and her work exhibited far and wide. She kindly agreed to an email interview for the We are OCA blog. Did you always […]

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Ready to be immersed? thumb

Ready to be immersed?

It is not immediately obvious why this video is different to many video news reports coming out of Libya. But watch a little longer. The video is, in fact, a promotional trailer for a company Condition ONE, who describe themselves thus: ‘Condition ONE is a mobile media technology company developing the tools and platform for […]

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A camping stool and a bottle of water in the panier thumb

A camping stool and a bottle of water in the panier

Sheffield’s first Tour-de-Sketch took place yesterday, with support from the Pedal Ready Cooperative A few sketchers were wobbly and unconfident on bicycles, so the Pedal Ready team coached them first, checked the bikes over, even supplying some spanking new bikes on loan, and then we set off, with the Cycle leader at the front and […]

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Creativity out of protest? thumb

Creativity out of protest?

I’ve got a postcard with this heading and the statements below it on the wall at home. Displayed with a somewhat tongue in cheek intent of course, it does act of a reminder, not just of my ardent feminism in the 70s, but, on International Womens’ Day (today) perhaps it’s appropriate to look at the […]

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I'm a fan thumb

I'm a fan

You might be a football supporter, love Elvis’s music, read comics, enjoy charity shop purchases or simply be an ardent fan of a local band. Whatever your interests, someone, somewhere will have made a fanzine about it. You may have not come across many fanzines as they tend not to make it onto the bookshelves […]

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The Typographic Hub thumb

The Typographic Hub

The Typographic Hub has just been launched as a new initiative by UKType and Birmingham Institute of Art & Design to promote the history, theory and practice of typographic design. If you’re a typographic geek like myself, or just somebody with a passing interest then the website is well worth a browse. The Typographic Hub […]

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