ya bass

image from the boston globe

In my first year at University, we were set a project that involved the creation of a typeface in honour of a certain artist. The artist selected for me was dadaist Hugo Ball. After a few attempts, I decided upon a literal tribute to his above photographed performance of one of his sound poems.However, My favourite outcome from that project was a more conceptual typeface, inspired by my research into Ball's own practise and philosophy.

Ball's sound poems were an attempt at a more meaningful form of human communication by the breaking up of words into sounds and fragments.

A long time ago, a friend of mine, Phil Dodd, Asked me to make some artwork for a music project he was working on called 'ya bass'. He had taken a word from the novel, dealing with the breakdown of communication through the breakdown of language; the breaking apart of words.

My original piece for him was just 'ya bass written in the style of the typeface above, but this sort of betrayed my original concept, so Phil suggested muddling the title up. This perfect compromise not only preserves the meaning of my original work, but also enhances the meaning of Phil's title. He is clever.



Those extra holes are mistakes as this is just a mock-up. The print reads 'BA YA SS' and is folded, holding the cd inside. The case is then tied shut with cable ties. In order to get at the cd, one must either cut the ties or tear the case. More on that later. I'm pretty happy with it anyway.


p.s. Someday I will use colour in my work, I promise.

polite party bags

This is the contents of the party bags we gave away at music and pictures at cafe kino. They looked wonderful and it was all thanks to these contributors: Frances Dixon, Joanna Fernandes, Jennifer Campbell, Stephen Daoud, Bisi Wakeham and Oliver Watson.

eco fire article

I recently wrote an article about eco fires for a design web-zine and though I don't want to be naive about the journalistic world, I felt that the edit that they published pretty much obliterated the structure and sentiment of my original version

here's the original:

The EcoSmart fire is a clean burning, free-standing fire place that uses renewable fuel. The flame produced is clean and bright, and complimentary to the design itself. It is, effectively a cleaned up, paired down version of a flame.

The design of the fire is a product of its function. The stainless steel in which the fire is housed is chosen for its durability and has been computer cut for accuracy of assembly (as well, one assumes, as for speed of assembly in a competitive market place). Having no need for a flue, the fire is free-standing and self-contained, leaving it with an incidental, though not unconscious, contemporary feel.

The fire burns denatured ethanol, i.e. Methylated Spirits. This is a bio-fuel, the use of which may be morally questionable; giving the amount of land - including areas of rain-forest - required to produce it. Having said that, what fire can claim to be truly ecologically sound? Wood burners require the felling of trees and natural gas fires require the tapping of gas reserves deep beneath the earth’s crust. This fire is not so much ‘eco’ as it is renewable. The word, ‘eco’ is more of a selling point for a rather aesthetically unique fire design in a buzz-word obsessed market.

and here is their edit:

Eco Fires February 6, 2009
By Henry Ireland

It’s something of a cliché that smoke comes with fire and when it comes to fireplaces that was until recently quite true. Whilst the functionalists out there will of course remind us that a fire is necessarily a method of heating the home and modern environmentalists will tell you fireplaces are not a viable option en-masse, the market is ablaze with the introduction of a wide range of supposedly eco-friendly and affordable smokeless fires.

As a buzzword 'eco' appears to be everywhere and in the surest environmentalist terms its hard to see how much of what is widely produced is in any sense environmentally sound, however, the EcoSmart fire claims to be a clean burning fireplace which uses a renewable source of fuel (bio-ethanol) and is transported flat pack to add to its eco-credentials. Having no need for a flue, the fire is free-standing and self-contained, leaving it with an incidental, though not unconscious, contemporary feel.

Having not as yet had the opportunity to toast marshmallows in front of one were not quite sure how the fire works in terms of heat output but it might just be a case of watching this space. As a substitute for a gas burner and all that entails, EcoSmart, and products like it, may well be the most convenient and least damaging substitute for the real thing.

felix frith

Events such as dealing with the comparison of values in conversation can be subtle and crude where statements are mistaken and emotions or general states of comfort are the leaders of content, rather than any kind of intrinsic opinion. Stability or changeability of truth is therefore another issue I am concerned with. The many disparate and often heavy, sometimes trivial, assumptions that people make on a day-to-day basis seem highly unreliable and are not pursuits of truth at all. They appear to be pursuits of security or functionality; a way to satisfy the fear of the unknown and the instability the unknown brings. Being able to accept the fact that day-to-day assumptions can be wrong would promote the ability to live with the knowledge of the unknown.

By exposing various geometries of a subjective landscape/space, which tries to evoke and relate a wide variety of events and experiences, I hope to describe the relation between the self, the personal mind, and the idea of the other, the exterior person’s mind.

felix frith artist statement

rules for collage

I make collage because it gives me a chance to create something that is purely aesthetic, with no need for justification. Any other work i do is based on concise communication, with a justification for every mark made. The single underlying concept for the collage I make is that it is always constructed from the scrap material left behind from previous projects.



With this concept in mind, I decided to make a piece of collage work, making pieces of aesthetic art out of the 'off-cuts' of abbreviated words. e.g. the 'o' that is cut out of 'not', making 'do not' into 'don't' etc.



I've started making the 'o' piece already, but it's not finished yet.

Music and Pictures at Cafe Kino

we're thinking of having a little something in cafe kino on thursday the 12th of february. There will be music and songs from some polite records types (maybe Grizzly and the Bears...) as well as something visual too. It's going to be free and hopefully fun.