Art
bcohen | July 16, 2009I haven't been here much, but I did begin a new series over at McSweeney's called "Days at the Museum." It's a limited-run set of dispatches (summer-length, let's say) about research at the Smithsonian and related miscellany. Tuesday was the first one, called "Ronzoni All the Way Down."
This is the central image of the story, a fairly well-known portrait by the French Barbizon artist Jean-Francois Millet from 1857 called "The Gleaners":
And what is the story? I'll repost it in full below the fold. I'd bet it's fair to say it has the character of one of Lawrence Weschler's Convergences…
laelaps | July 15, 2009If you are going to be around Brooklyn, New York tomorrow night and don't already have plans you might want to stop by JLA Studios to check outGeeking Out, hosted by Gelf Magazine. Among the guests will be paleoartist Viktor Deak, the man responsible for the beautiful hominid restorations in the "Lucy's Legacy" exhibition and the book The Last Human. Even if you cannot make it, though, you can still check out this interview with Deak.
emjohnson | July 12, 2009Picnic. Rob Sheridan / Creative Commons
In the second of my 226,000 part series (as yet unnamed) in which I help promote my favorite photographs and artwork bearing a Creative Commons attribution license, I would like to introduce my readers to the amazing work of Rob Sheridan. Picnic is his latest piece, in honor of the Fourth of July, and I think everyone will agree it's as twisted as it is hilarious. I encourage everyone to check out his entire collection of work at his Flickr account and at his Sketchblog: Rob-Sheridan.com.
grrlscientist | July 7, 2009tags: Africa, Toto, Perpetuum Jazzile, music, streaming video
This video is a live recording of Toto's "Africa" (I love that song!) performed by Perpetuum Jazzile at Vokal Xtravaganzza 2008 (October 2008). This vocal group uses only their bodies to create these remarkable sounds, ranging from rain to thunder [6:17]
grrlscientist | July 6, 2009tags: Antarctica, music, Terra Nova, Sinfonia Antarctica, photography, streaming video
This video is the trailer for DJ Spooky/Paul D. Miller's next large scale multimedia performance work: an acoustic portrait of a rapidly changing continent. Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica is a seventy minute performance featuring music combined with visual material from Getty Images' vast collection, creating a unique and powerful moment around man's relationship with nature [5:36]
Quark Expeditions is searching for an Official Blogger to join a voyage to Antarctica. Their goals are to have this person…
grrlscientist | July 3, 2009tags: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, film, movie, trailer, entertainment, streaming video
This is a behind-the-scenes look at the soon-to-be-released Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which will open on 17 July 2009. I have been waiting eagerly for more than one year for this film, ever since Warner Bros claimed it was going to be released one year ago .. but wasn't! [6:33]
grrlscientist | July 2, 2009You may have noticed that the images in my left sidebar have recently been depopulated -- awards that my blog has won throughout the years, blogroll icons and even books that I've contributed to .. what is going on? It seems that Flickr is cracking down on miscreants like me who (1) use their site to host graphics, logos and other items -- such as blog awards and book cover art -- and (2) use their site to host photographs that are not theirs, even apparently, if the images appear there with the photographer's permission (goodbye Mystery Birds!). These images have been on my Flickr account…
bioephemera | July 2, 2009
Ornament(al) Skull
Noah Scalin
Anatomophiles alert: tomorrow, Noah Scalin, proprietor of the Skull-A-Day blog and author of Skulls, opens a new show at the Quirk Gallery in Richmond, VA.
I just typed "Richmoaned". Does that qualify as a Freudian slip? Or something else?
jricco | June 29, 2009
The congress center "Inselhalle" at the opening
Also a very young person is attending.
The harbour after my first interview.
The young participants keep discussing outside.
A view back on my way to the hotel.
» Paula Schramm is a chemist and doing her PhD at the University of Stuttgart.
bioephemera | June 28, 2009
Her Dark Satanic Mills
Paul Taylor
When I saw Paul Taylor's massive paintings at Artomatic, I immediately thought of two things: fire and Blake's etchings. So I was tickled that the title, "Her Dark Satanic Mills," refers to a poem by Blake, and that Taylor's creative process is all about fire:
The medium is essentially highly flammable furniture stripper gel - set on fire of course. They are canvas pieces mounted on Luan, covered in Polyurethane to protect the canvas. The gel is applied, somewhat in a Pollock-like manner, lit, and then the process takes on a John Cageian-like "chance…
bioephemera | June 27, 2009
Nápoles #2
acrylic
Fabian H Rios Rubino
It's the last two weeks for DC's Artomatic, which runs through July 5. If you haven't had a chance to go, in addition to losing your chance to Draw A Robot, you're missing a lot of wonderful artwork. For the next week, I'm going to highlight some of the Artomatic artists that especially impressed me, starting with Fabian Rios Rubino. Napoles #2, his only contribution to this year's show, is kind of like what you'd get if Gustav Klimt painted a circuit board: this painting simply glows. View a high-res image here.
grrlscientist | June 26, 2009tags: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, film, movie, trailer, entertainment, streaming video
This is a behind-the-scenes look at the soon-to-be-released Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which will open on 17 July 2009. I have been waiting eagerly for more than one year for this film, ever since Warner Bros claimed it was going to be released in November 2008 .. but wasn't! [1:45]
sciencepunk | June 24, 20099, a new animated feature produced by Tim Burton and directed by Shane Acker, comes out in September (09/09/09, naturally). Details are sketchy, but it's safe to say in the world of 9, something has gone horribly wrong, the world has been destroyed, and the only survivors are some cute little sack people and an army of murderous machines. One can't help but think that a few squiddies from the Matrix somehow tunnelled into Little Big Planet.
Anyway, it tickles my fancy, if only because it checks the requisite boxes of "post apocalyptic dystopia" and "technopunk machinery". Which is good,…
ddobbs | June 23, 2009
Perhaps because I so enjoyed the time I spent at sea learning about fish, I particularly enjoyed this collection of Nick Cobbing's photos of ice, sea, and people who work them â scientists, fishermen, adventurers. Cobbing has a great eye for color and form, particularly those of the icy north and the sea; his study of the Greenland ice, fast fading, is particularly stunning, and I very much like his photo account of the voyage of the Nooderlicht, pictured above â a 100-year-old schooner restored and then sailed from Svalbard to Greenland. And don't miss "The Watch Keeper," which is about…
bioephemera | June 23, 2009
I'm here in DC at the Newseum for the State of Innovation Summit, a collaboration between SEED and the Council on Competitiveness. The crowd is pretty awesome - right now Adam Bly, SEED's CEO, is sitting a few rows from me with E.O. Wilson. Earlier, Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, talked about a conversation he'd had recently with Steven Chu about using the Smithsonian's resources to enhance public understanding of climate change. As he spoke, the intense sunshine of a summer day in DC played across the Smithsonian castle turrets directly behind him (the seventh floor…
ejohnson | June 23, 2009
A recent NEA survey of the arts revealed a dismaying trend: a consistent decline in public participation across nearly every discipline studied, including music, theater, dance and the fine arts. And while ScienceBlogger Chad Orzel points out that the survey neglected to include rock or pop music, film, or other video art, he also speculates that weakening musical education programs might contribute to the decline in appreciation for "high art"--particularly, classical music. As Scicurious explains on Neurotopia, an ear for classical music might help some scientists listen for subtle…
grrlscientist | June 19, 2009tags: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, film, movie, trailer, entertainment, streaming video
Do you have your tickets to the opening showing yet? Thanks to one of my readers, I DO! I DO!
This is the newest trailer for the soon-to-be-released installment in the Harry Potter series; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which will open on 17 July 2009. I have been waiting eagerly for one year for this film, ever since Warner Bros claimed it was going to be released last November .. but wasn't! [2:24]
ejohnson | June 18, 2009
As scientists often lament, science in the entertainment industry is often ignored or misportrayed outside the realm of science fiction. But two compelling new documentaries have ScienceBloggers hopeful that their messages will have the mass-market appeal of films such as An Inconvenient Truth or Fast Food Nation. The End of the Line, which Darren Naish calls "captivating, charismatic and beautifully filmed," investigates the alarming effects of overfishing and the exploitation of marine resources. Food Inc., co-produced by Fast Food Nation director Eric Schlosser, aims to expose the extent…
grrlscientist | June 17, 2009tags: tattoos, tattoo location, What does your tattoo say about you, humor, funny
Image: Cracked [larger view].
Yes, I do have a tattoo (it's on the back of my neck, where the rest of the prison population has at least some of their tattoos, according to this diagram), and I'd have more if I could afford them. How about you?
grrlscientist | June 16, 2009
Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set [larger view].
Do you know someone who loves chess, art and parrots? If so, you might wish to start saving your money now for a Christmas gift that they would probably love: an Endangered Parrots of the World Chess Set.
This environmentally-friendly hand-made Chess Set was created by Grant Dawson Collections in the United States from certified sustainable North American hardwoods (walnut and maple) and food safe natural finishes, with recycled glass ball feet, and features 32 lead-free pewter playing pieces finished in 24k gold or sterling silver…