Anti Television Protest in Tunisia

An anti TV protest in Tunisia leads to art installation, story on France 24.

The End of Piano-Industrial Complex

In a Ken Burns documentary, I forget which, there was a reference to how in the late 19th century more American homes had pianos then indoor plumbing. They were aspirational object that signaled one's arrival into middle class gentility. In the TV documentary The 1900 House a piano was installed in to the parlor. A Globe & Mail story a few years back profiled a family of recent Chinese immigrants. The father was an engineer, now a factory foreman. They lived in a cramped basement apartment, with a piano but no TV. Piano sales are up in China.

Today is different. The above image is from a BBC report of a London piano restorer, Will your piano end up in the dump? The piano being dissembled was made in London's former piano district.  It was judged and found wanting. Its parts well go on to other uses, other pianos. The Image below, Elergy, is from a show The Piano as Art, by Penny Putnam and Shauna Holiman.

The newer cultural artifact of our age is the TV. Soon there won't be any cathode ray tube televisions left, there will be hauled away as trash. The factories that made them are also gone.

Here is an example of a new player piano system that can also replicate a full range of volume, from piano to forte. Looking at through the site of the people who created the modern player piano industry suffers from proprietary and shifting technological standards.

Why George Lucas "..And All His Works" Have Sucked Since 1983

I recently saw the some of the movie/art installation The Clock. What it does is point out the primacy of the editor to cinema. The editor can create almost anything out of the raw material that the director produces. Check out the posts marked mashup in this blog. These may only be "amateur" creations but show how editing can completely change everything. Editing and editors matter more in film than is immediately apparent.

There is not a day/year goes by when I do not curse George Lucas to the heavens for what he did to Howard the Duck. It was confusing that a director like Lucas could be so sensitive to his interpretation of golden age pulp sci-fi could be so ham handed when adapting a comic book. At this point the most profitable part of Hollywood is comic book adaption. But it must done right, by fans who understand and respect the material. Admittedly Howard the Duck was the first movie adaption for a long time however it be safe to say that just about everything that George Lucas has done since the last real Star Wars movie, The Return of the Jedi, sucks.

And why does everything that George Lucas has done since 1983 suck? The short answer is that he divorced his wife and film editor Marcia Lucas. Without her he was lost. Read at this long exploration of Marcia Lucas' influence on Star Wars, Tribute to Marcia Lucas at the Secret History of Star Wars.

Motel Art 07/24/2012

Star Trek Recruiting Poster

Posted by Doragon in his thread/story Star Trek: A New Beginning

Polar Bear Animation

The artist Greg Martin has created an animation of a polar bear walking across a polar landscape. White bears in a white landscape means line animation. The image above is taken from wiki.

Thinking About Chairs

Chairs. Young designers design chairs earlier in their careers. It not their fault it is how they were trained. I am so convinced by this tutorial that I will not design a chair this year.

NO-CHAIR-DESIGN Year 2012! from Eero Y on Vimeo.

Star Wars Yoga

Not everybody wonder what types of yoga poses various Star Wars characters. practice. Rob Osborne has wondered that.Found at The Laughing Squid. Found after looking at alternate route designs for the Bay Area's BART.

Home Appliances Fed On Rotting Flesh.

Carnivorous Domestic Entertainment Robots from Auger-Loizeau on Vimeo.

Years ago there was a bug zapper ad featuring Vincent Price. As the bugs were consumed he would chortle an evil laugh. Unfortunately I can't find it on Youtube. These innovative designs are part of an experiment in "predatory cyborg furniture". The only design that seems really gross is the coffee table that eats mice.

This is also got a mention on NPR, Meat-Eating Furniture, and slashdot, Designers Create Meat Eating Furniture.

Logorama - Animation Through Logos

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

Logorama is a short film made up entirely of logos. The landscape, the flora, the fauna, the people the world are all made up of different logos. In the opening sequence there there is a pan over the city where every building is logo shaped. Most of the story has many pulp fiction elements from both the movie or the genre.

This was posted on Adfreak last February. I only noticed it today.

Nuit Blanche 2010

The Balloon Art of Menace


The Street Level, (truck sized) Light-Brite


The Hanging Suit (body?) in in Gym with the video screens of Chandeliers


The Shadow Box of Parkdale



The Giant Metal Pine Cone


The Burning Giant Metal Pine Cone


The Swinging Fender (Audience Participation encouraged)

William Notman - Photographer

Just watched a documentary about William Notman on TVO. Here is his wiki entry and an exhibit about him.

The Murderer as Artist

Blood splatter, when framed and displayed, looks a lot like abstract expressionism.

(still from Dexter S01E01)

Cool Art Project and the Heartless Corporation That Ripped it Off

This short film gives you context and scale to imagine yourself on a trip to space. I first saw the copy of this film. Toshiba has a new ad out that replicates this with a higher budget and better electronics. Here is more detail on Escape Vehicle No. 6 from Simon Faithfull, the artist who created the project.

Toshiba and its ad agency is trying very hard to be like marketing department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. In Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe they were described in current and far future editions as; "a bunch of mindless jerks [who'll be / who were] the first against the wall when the revolution comes."

Ancient Computer Graphics in Star Wars

slashdot has a link to an an old film explaining the computer graphics in the Star Wars briefing scene, 1977 Star Wars Computer Graphics. The Topless Robot found this gem and has this wonderful comment from Nonish on the terrible and declining taste of one George Lucas.

"Stick around. I'm sure Lucas is close to unveiling plans to refilm the classic trilogy.

Now with poop jokes and Jar Jar Binks™"

No. NO! Don't even go there. I've been scared pretty much shitless over this ever since this let's-refilm-and-gangrape-classics fad caught on at Hollywood.

Sawdust Furniture

Stools and coffee tables made with sawdust and resin. See Core77, This Just Inbox: Furniture made from wood shavings and resin, for full story.

Auschwitz with Dolls and Action Figures

While looking on flickr this image pops out. It looks like someone staged a scene from Auschwitz with dolls and action figures. The photo is from guido z's photo stream.

Action figures are dolls for boys.

The Mona Lisa Must be Protected or We Will ALL DIE

A madwomen threw a mug at the Mona Lisa today. This news was re-reported on AH.com which prompted Pkmatrix to repeat a Nostradamus prediction.

The people in Paris weep,
Death claims La Joconde.
The dead rise again,
And the Seine runs with blood.

- Nostradamus, VII Century, 30th Quatrain

I responded with

Do Super Villains know about this prediction? I can this imagine a thrill in which a Super Villain how the world by threatening to nuke the

How ever black angel remembered this has already happened in a movie.

any one ever seen the Movie "Equilibrium"? for those who haven't one of the opening parts is where they find The Mona Lisa under the floor and burn it with flamethrowers must of seen the movie 100 times, but every time i scream "NOOOOOO"

Classic Florida Post Cards

If I was someone like Lileks I would grab all these scans of classic Florida postcards and then make funny/snide /sad comments about each one. Anyways here are are a collection of 50 some classic Florida postcards. Suffering through a heat wave however gives me yet another reason not to visit Florida besides its swampy ambience.

How To Kill the T-62

If you have wondered how to destroy a T-62 and its crew of 4 "commie pinko swine" here is the coloring book for you. This booklet is a pleasant relic of the cold war.

(Link from Timbo)