Jun
10
2009
Jun
10
2009
The summer of crop circles is just getting started
The 2009 crop circle ’season’ started with abundance and now looks set to bring a summer of circles to Britain’s fields.
Whether made by human hands or an altogether different life form, no less than 20 formations have been spotted since the season began in April. This week alone two huge designs have mysteriously surfaced.
An intricate 150ft dragonfly appeared in a barley field near Yatesbury, Wiltshire, just days after a jellyfish design was cut into crops in Oxfordshire.
(via Electric Children)
May
23
2009
Ripple interviews Nemo Boko of r6xx
May
1
2009
Inside the Odditorium of Joe Coleman
Photography by Jason Nocito.
Rod Stanley: You’ve just shown me that arrest warrant on the wall, but there’s so many other amazing objects in here. How long have you been collecting these items?
Joe Coleman: Only since my 20s. The collection is so much a part of my work that it can also reflect the way I work. The overall experience of the room is like my paintings – you look at a painting from a distance, but then if you get close to any of the details, each one has a whole story behind it. I can just grab… here, this is my favorite autograph – it’s William Marwood. He was a famous hangman, who discovered that if you weight the body and measure the distance of the drop, you could cause someone to die instantly. This is his calling card – if you turn the autograph around… here – you will see that it is his calling card.
Dazed: Inside the Odditorium of Joe Coleman
(via Richard Metzger)
Apr
23
2009
Photos: World Sand Sculpture Festival 2009
“Fairy tales and legends” is the theme of this year’s World Sand Sculpture Festival now underway at the Tottori Sand Dunes in Tottori prefecture. On display (until May 31) are 19 massive works crafted by world-class sculptors from ten nations. The artists used around 2,700 tons of sand and took about two weeks to complete their works. Can you identify the fairy tales and legends depicted in these sand sculptures?
Apr
20
2009
Paul Laffoley awarded Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
My work is the product of the convergence of the instantaneous practice of invention and the slow craft of art
I have always believed that my period of most complete expression and appreciation would be my late future and beyond, in Time Phase X, the final phase of Modernism in the Western world. Time Phase X began on September 11, 2001, and will continue for the next one hundred years. My term for this period is “The Bauharoque.” It combines the heroic Modernism of the German Bauhaus, with its aspiration toward a technological Utopia, and the exalted theatricality of the Italian Baroque, in which an exuberance of form and illusion serve to express the mystical union of art and life.
Guggenheim Memorial Foundation: Paul Laffoley
(via Richard Metzger)
Apr
17
2009
Pleasures of the Flesh: Fernando Vicente
Apr
9
2009
The trippy architecture of Ball-Nogues Studio
My first encounter with their work happened 3 years ago through blogs and magazines that were raving about Maximilian’s Schell, a temporary outdoor installation that the Californian duo had installed in the courtyard of Materials & Applications in Los Angeles. I finally got to experience one of their works last Autumn at the Venice Architecture Biennial. Titled Echoes Converge and made of thousands of coloured string catenaries, the installation attempted to create a visual sensation reminiscent of the audio phenomenon of an echo while it kinetically registered the gentle currents of air as visitors experienced its cloud like volume. [...]
But let’s get back to 2005: their Maximilian’s Schell warped the flow of space with a golden rendition of a celestial black hole. Constructed in tinted Mylar resembling stained glass, the vortex functioned as a shade structure, swirling overhead for the entire summer of 2005. The interior of the immersive installation created a space for social interaction and contemplation by changing the volume, color, and sound of the courtyard gallery. During the day, the canopy cast colored fractal light patterns onto the ground while a sound installation by composer James Lumb lightly rumbled below the feet of visitors. When standing in the center or “singularity” of the piece and gazing upward, the visitor could see only infinite sky. In the evening when viewed from the exterior, the vortex glowed warmly. The piece paid homage to a character played by actor Maximilian Schell in 1979 sci-fi movie The Black Hole.
We Make Money Not Art: Postopolis, Ball-Nogues Studio
(Many more images at link)
(via BLDGblog)
Mar
4
2009
The True Stories Behind 5 Famous WTF Images
Most people have already seen the following images in the ‘WTF’ sections of social bookmarking sites, in threads dedicated to badass pictures or just circulated through their inboxes by the “funny” boss. There is never an explanation for these pictures, because they seem to intrinsically defy explanation; they are just still moments in time of unbelievable scope, and epic badassery. It seems hard to imagine what brought about the extraordinary circumstances these images depict, and that’s the magic, really - letting your imagination run with these ridiculous situations. Well, I decided to do some research on what the actual explanations were behind these famous pictures…because I hate magic, and I want to ruin it for you forever. I drown witches, bitches.
(via Robot Wisdom)
Feb
27
2009
Ferrofluid Sculpture by Sachiko Kodama
The body of the tower was made by a new technique called “ferrofluid sculpture” that enables artists to create dynamic sculptures with fluid materials. This technique uses one electromagnet, and its iron core is extended and sculpted. The ferrofluid covers the sculpted surface of a three-dimensional iron shape that was made on an electronic NC lathe. The movement of the spikes in the fluid is controlled dynamically on the surface by adjusting the power of the electromagnet. The shape of the iron body is designed as helical so that the fluid can move to the top of the helical tower when the magnetic field is strong enough.
More Info: Sachiko Kodama’s Web Site
(Thanks Ian!)
Jan
27
2009
‘Organic’ robots to mimic primitive life
A University of Tokyo research team led by professor/computer graphic artist Yoichiro Kawaguchi is developing robots designed to imitate primitive life forms. Mockups have been put on display at a Shinto shrine in Tokyo, and working versions of the robots are scheduled for completion in two years.
According to the researchers, these robots are being developed as a way to explore artificial life and gain insights into how living things survive in a world governed by the law of the jungle.
More pics: Robot Watch
Dec
26
2008
Joel-Peter Witkin: Tribute to a Genius
I first came across Witkin’s work years ago via the Process mailing list. I was just reminded of his work today while discussing NIN’s “Closer” video. Amazing stuff.
Joel-Peter Witkin: Tribute to a Genius (NSFW)
Dec
17
2008
