TV Frame

Featuring the work of three visual luminaries, Colorcalm’s “By Design” DVD turns flat-screen TVs into frames for ambient artworks. Dutch graphic designer Irma Boom presents shifting vertical bands of color that are based on works by artists from Caravaggio to Ellsworth Kelly. Peter Saville, famous for his New Order album covers, saturates the screen with […]

Featuring the work of three visual luminaries, Colorcalm’s “By Design” DVD turns flat-screen TVs into frames for ambient artworks. Dutch graphic designer Irma Boom presents shifting vertical bands of color that are based on works by artists from Caravaggio to Ellsworth Kelly. Peter Saville, famous for his New Order album covers, saturates the screen with colors to a sound track by the band. But it is artist and MIT professor John Maeda who really takes advantage of the medium. “Food Coloring” presents a steady progression of abstract computer animations: blurry pink shapes slide across the frame like fingers pressed against a camera lens; shuddering squares of color degrade into static; a creamy white screen undulates with faint shadows. The palettes were inspired by food that Maeda found in his refrigerator, but the artist adds: “My primary inspiration is the happiness I find in everyday life.” Maeda’s elegant abstractions will help you wring even more happiness out of that most everyday of items—your TV.

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