The art of: François Delfosse

I came across these while hunting through various blogs to find something for here, and found a set of photographs called "Antarctica in a Bag", by architect François Delfosse.


There is seemigly very little written about this artist, in fact all I've managed to find out that he is Belgium and makes various pieces for nothing but his own edification. Follow the link below or throw his name into Google to find more of his work. If anyone knows more about him a comment or e-mail would be very appreciated.

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Man as a machine

I thought I'd make this post a little more personal since it has been such a long time since any real development has gone into either the site, or just putting posts up on here.


Basically the past few months have been spent liaising with Google in various ways to help advertising for various sites, and (yes, 'and' can live after a comma, Wilde and Dostoevsky do it) cracking up brain around GoogleAds. There has also been a large number of new designs and sites in the works; so much new stuff that I haven't had time to put it out all over my own site.


As the title reflects, check this wonderful image by Fritz Kahn, called "Der Mensch als Industriepalast" (Man as Industrial Palace) created in 1927.

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Turritopsis nutricula: the world's only 'immortal' creature

This type of jellyfish, known as Turritopsis nutricula is the only discovered creature to be 'immortal'. As it reaches adulthood it is able to rejuvenate itself and revert to a sexually immature age. The creature (only 4-5mm in diameter) is the only known animal in existance known capable of jumping back to its juvenile polyp state. Theoretically this cycle repeats itself, rendering it immortal.

The jellyfish and its reversal of the ageing process is now the focus of research by marine biologists and geneticists. It is thought to achieve the feat through the cell development process of transdifferentiation, in which cells transform from one type to another. 

The switching of cell roles is usually seen only when parts of an organ regenerate. However, it appears to occur normally in the Turritopsis life cycle. 


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Tongue-eating louse

The tongue-eating louse, or to be more scientific Cymothoa exigua. These little creatures are about 3-4cm long, usually found around California however during 2005 a fish parasitised by what could be Cymothoa exigua was found in the United Kingdom. This is so far an isolated incident and believed to have traveled from the Gulf of California in a snapper's mouth, the one in question will be put on display in the Horniman Museum (this is what Wikipedia reports, however I travelled to the museum about a month ago and saw no evidence of it anywhere, although this article is now five years old). 

Now for more details on the parasitic crustacean. It enters the host via its gills, then attaches itself onto the base of the spotted rose snapper's (click here to read more) tongue. Then, using it's claws it removes blood from the tongue causing it to atrophy from lack of blood. The louse is then able to attached itself to the fish's muscles and completely replace the tongue. 

Once this is done it proceeds to feed from the host's blood and many feast on fish mucus. This is the only known parasite to replace a host's organ. Other than this no other damage is believed to be inflicted on the fish. 


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The art of: Yuko Takada Kelle

Quote from the artist:
"I’m interested in using tracing paper, because it creates a sense of transparency and etherealness in my work. But when I was in University, I majored in weaving. Then I wove woolen tapestries for some years. Before I entered University, I was impressed by the Northern European tapestries that I saw in a museum in Kyoto. This led me to major in weaving at University.

However, while weaving the tapestries, I gradually wanted to express something different in my work. Then I took a trip to Northern Europe to see the tapestries there. Of course, I was very impressed by them, but I was more impressed by the magnificent scenery. I had never had that kind of feeling before in Japan.

After this trip, I started to make my work using paper. At first, I used Japanese paper “washi”. But I couldn’t represent a sense of transparency with this paper. I tried to use various materials to represent a sense of transparency. Then I ran into tracing paper.

“The Spread” is the first work where I used tracing paper. I colored the paper with acrylic color, then tore it into many pieces, and sewed them together. It gave me a feeling of transparency. I realized some possibilities using tracing paper. Because, while each piece has its own rhythm and direction taken in its entirety it seems to become something other than simple tracing paper."


Visit Yuko's site..

F.lux

Many thanks to my friend Shad for sending over a link to this gem. F.lux is 'software to make your life better'.

We've all been sat at the computer when it was way past bed-time many hours ago, rather than worrying about work the next day we find ourselves straining to look at web-pages when our eyes just need sleep. The same as when we wake up and become blinded to Google's homepage.

This ingenious and very small piece of software puts your monitor's contrast on a day/night cycle. Once installed you locate yourself globally via post-code or longitude and latitude to set the appropriate sun rise and set times and that's it. On my XP SP2 it takes up roughly 5,000k of memory, so it's never going to slow anything down on modern machines. Also if you have to find yourself immersed in colour-sensitive work (read as Photoshop doodles) you can just right-click it to turn off for an hour.

The colour change is obviously subtle throughout the day and it tones everything very nicely. Well worth a download, even if you just try the simulated 24-hours. Works on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista/7.

Click here to visit their site.

At what first appears to be another cleaver Photoshop is actually a sinkhole which appeared on the 23rd of May, in the middle of a street intersection of Ciudad de Guatemala.

A sinksole is a natural depression (or hole) in the surface topography caused by the removal of bedrock or soil, often both, by water. The process can be slow, but sometimes appear suddenly, such as in this example where an entire house was engulfed. The cause of which was the underground torrents created by the storm Agatha.

One local newspaper is reporting that one person has died, but as yet this is unconfirmed. Some neighbors claim that a whole three-story building and a house fell into the hole. 


Source

3D film made me pregnant, claims New Yorker

Woman claims 3D film made her pregnant.

Jennifer Stweart (38) from New York, claims she became pregnant after watching a 3D porno.

She told her husband this was why her baby was black, despite the U.S. military man being white himself. "A month after watching the movie, I started feeling dizzy and the results were positive." Mrs. Stweart said.

Her husband is quoted as saying: "I see it as suspicious. The films in 3D are very real. With today's technology, anything is possible."

Jennifer admits her marriage to the U.S. military man, serving overseas in Iraq could be in danger: "Even though my husband believed in me, my marriage could be at risk. But he knows I'm faithful" she said.

Source

Disney & Dalí short 'Destino'

In 1946, Walt Disney and Salvador Dalí teamed up to create the short film Destino. Unfortunately Disney ran into financial difficulties and the piece was never finished. 57 years later, Disney animators have teamed up to finish the work.

"We wanted to be true to its original design and concept of 1945, and we were careful and not liberal with the use of CG," he said. "We used CG very specifically to preserve a look that represented what we think Dalí and Walt would have tried to create."

 

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The art of: Ivan Titor

I came across this artist some time ago on the BeinArt.org collective. A truly great example of mathematical surrealism, which very much cannot help but remind you of Escher. Working with such difficult shapes and geometric perfection with oils seems like an almost impossible task. If you have a spare thirty minutes give his website a look, there are his works, pictures from the studio and exhibitions where you can go to view his work.

"In my paintings I prefer balancing on an imaginary edge that, in our minds, divides reality and fiction, the beginning and the end, as well as order and chaos. Recently I have been making two parallel pictorial cycles. On the one hand, there are paintings depicting fragments of rationally organized matter in unidentified space, on the other hand there are self - portraits mirroring current news from the real world."

View his site here.