Although it’s a classic optical trick employed by the masters of old, anamorphic art has seen a major resurgence of interest lately. Long before the recent trend, however, Paris based artist Bernard Pras was creating room filling art pieces which at first look to be obsessively arranged piles of junk – step into the right place however and you are treated to a replication of a classic painting or famous portrait. [Read more...]
Would you like some crochet fries with that? UK based artist Kate Jenkins creates some of the most innovative knitted art we’ve seen… and all with a humorous (if not tasty) twist. Just look at the fish platter she’s created above: although its made of yarn and sequins, it looks good enough to eat and has a 3D structure often difficult to realize with the soft medium. [Read more...]
It’s no secret that the US has a weight problem, but do you know how fast the country got fat? I’ll be honest, when I first saw this map animated by The Atlantic, my jaw literally dropped when it reached the 2000s… many states explode from around 20% obesity to over 30%. In just my lifetime (I was born in 1980) the whole US has gone from a relatively thin country to a place where the norm in many areas is to be overweight to obese. [Read more...]
By now you’re familiar with seeing fantastic videos filmed while people use Google Glass. From sharing sunset moments on top of skyscrapers to skydiving while streaming live video, the glasses-like device looks poised to revolutionize the way we both experience and interact with the world. But, among so many other questions about the system that we don’t know yet, how does Glass work? Although we’re treated to video based mockups of the clever looking UI seen on the tiny glass block the devices sport, there isn’t much mentioned about how you actually see the picture. Artist Martin Missfeldt recently pulled together documents on Glass’ design – including the patent itself – and has made a revealing infographic explaining how it focuses the picture on your eye. [Read more...]
The recent collection of paintings from Louisiana based artist Amy Guidry brings the surreal so certainly into existence it seems to easily step off the canvas into reality. Her work is filled with animal and human figures, often taking center stage in what appears as a bleak and beautiful southwest american landscape. This highly ambitious imagery – from detailed rock formations, to skeletons and variously dissected creatures – would be arresting on its own, but it also explores concepts more profound: the rich layers of connection in the cycle of life. [Read more...]
It would be hard to get any more retro-nerd-cool than this. If you can identify any of these wiring schematics (without reading further) you score 200,000 points, with a 16x multiplier for every extra ID. You’re looking at the inner workings of some of the most revered personal computing and gaming consoles from the rise of the electronics era – from the Apple I and Commodore 64, to the Atari 2600 and Nintendo. Each two-tone print from City Prints celebrates the inner workings of the devices that have come to enhance and even dominate our society – and they do it with style. [Read more...]
Humans are interesting creatures. We look at the world with some of the most advanced eyes and minds, but often fail to realize that others see the world differently than we do. While this idea is often put forward when talking about the way other people experience the world, in this case I’m literally talking about vision, and insects in particular.
In the vast electromagnetic spectrum of wavelengths (extending from below the long wavelengths used for radio, to the short wavelengths of gamma radiation) we humans see only a miniscule fraction that we call visible light. This small sliver, spanning the distance between violet and red is the way we perceive the world around us with our eyes. However bees and other insects have a different view of the world. Their whole range of light is shifted further towards the violet end of the spectrum and further from the red. This means that, while they can’t perceive red, they see colors we simply cannot see – what we call ultra-violet. This also means is that bees see a world literally hidden before our eyes. [Read more...]
In my last article I mentioned “artistic tributes” to the show Mad Men. Well, although these illustrations aren’t specifically based on that series, many of the fantastically drawn examples from London based Jack Hughes certainly harken back to that mid-century appeal. Over bold background gradients and two-tone blocks of color, Hughes illustrates fashionable people from bygone eras: from the flapper craze of the 20s, right up to hip 70s kids sporting Native American threads. [Read more...]
It’s only a matter of 26 episodes before the phenomenon that is Mad Men ends… so it’s only appropriate to reflect a bit on how the show has effected our culture. Because of the gorgeously styled and expertly acted mid-century series, we’ve seen endless artistic tributes, design influences, and throwback fashions. The 21st century has a serious love affair with the 60s, and since we’re currently so enamored with that era, the cool folks at Shutterstock recently asked just what the 21 st century version of the long running show would look like. Their resulting images are entertaining and even a bit revealing. [Read more...]
With the smart tag line “Discover the Full Story,” the Schusev State Museum of Architecture in Moscow recently released a seriously slick advertising campaign. Created by Saatchi & Saatchi Russia, it sees historic Russian buildings extending far into the ground as if the part we’re familiar with was only the peak of a much larger building. It’s as if archeologists had one day explored deep into the basement and discovered they were really in the attic. [Read more...]
