Light Calligraphy by Julien Breton [25 pics] Apr 9, 2012 French artist Julien Breton aka Kaalam started calligraphy in 2001 by copying Arabic calligraphers. Self-taught, he began to incorporate long exposure photography to create incredible light paintings around the world. All of the images in this gallery were created in-camera, meaning there is no Photoshop trickery or post-production manipulation involved in creating these works of art. Many of the photographs below were exposed anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes. Please enjoy this small gallery of his unique artwork. Sources - Official site: - Julien Breton aka Kaalam on Flickr: - Julien Breton on Behance: If you enjoyed this post, the Sifter highly recommends:
The Best Art Books of 2012 by Maria Popova From Indian folklore to Paris vs. NYC, by way of Japanese Wonderland and 80 years of loving of dogs. After last week’s look at the best science books of 2012, the season’s indulgently subjective and non-exhaustive best-of reading lists continue with the year’s favorite art books, in no particular order. (Catch up on last year’s roundup here.) From visionary Indian indie publisher Tara Books, who for nearly two decades have been giving voice to marginalized art and literature through a commune of artists, writers, and designers collaborating on beautifully crafted books celebrating Indian folk art traditions. Tejubehan takes us on a journey from her small village into the big city, where her poor parents move to find work. It is like magic. We reach the city! At its heart, however, the story is really a feminist story — a vision for women’s liberation in a culture with oppressive gender norms and limiting social expectations. I like cars. He writes in the introduction:
The crayola-fication of the world: How we gave colors names, and it messed with our brains (part I) “Who in the rainbow can draw the line where the violet tint ends and the orange tint begins? Distinctly we see the difference of the colors, but where exactly does the one first blendingly enter into the other? So with sanity and insanity.” Spectral Rhythm. In Japan, people often refer to traffic lights as being blue in color. Blue and green are similar in hue. One of the first fences in this color continuum came from an unlikely place – crayons. Reconstructing the rainbow. In modern Japanese, midori is the word for green, as distinct from blue. And it’s not just Japanese. (Update: Some clarifications here. I find this fascinating, because it highlights a powerful idea about how we might see the world. Imagine that you had a rainbow-colored piece of paper that smoothly blends from one color to the other. A map of color for an English speaker. But if you think about it, there’s a real puzzle here. This question was first addressed by Brent Berlin and Paul Kay in the late 1960s.
About leftKeep Shopping Tattly cartCart (0) Mission Our Product » Designed by professional artists who get a cut of every sale. » Safe & non-toxic, printed with vegetable-based ink. » Made in the United States and shipped out of Brooklyn, NY. » FDA-compliant and fun for all ages. Individual Tattlys With over three hundred designs by artists worldwide, our collection of Tattlys are unmatched. Tattly Sets Each of our sets include 8 Tattlys, curated by our staff. Story Tired of putting poorly designed temporary tattoos on her daughter’s arm, Tina Roth Eisenberg took matters into her own hands. Tattly Timeline flag With just 15 designs, Tattly is launched! Our 10,000th online order! A typical birthday order with a noise maker and confetti Tattly releases new packaging for Sets, featuring Julia’s beautiful photography. previousnext Ella comes home wearing yet another ugly temporary tattoo. Sending out our very first batch of orders! Tattly ships its first wholesale order! Our first birthday! Team Tattly Press
Coding as a Liberal Art February 5, 12:30pm ETBerkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd FloorRSVP required for those attending in person via the form belowThis event will be webcast live at 12:30pm ET. What is the purpose of a liberal arts education? Commencement speakers have assured generations of college graduates that the real value is less in what they've learned than in how they've learned to think. This talk will present a personal case study in learning to think through code. Along the way, it will argue that coding belongs not just on the periphery of the liberal arts, but at the center of a new canon. About Diana Diana is an MBA candidate at Harvard Business School. As a co-creator of ROFLCon, Diana's interest in internet culture runs deep. Links
Sign Painters: What a Disappearing Art Teaches Us About Creative Purpose and Process by Maria Popova “It is at the moment o f a craft’s disappearance that its cultural value suddenly becomes plain to see.” As a lover of exquisite hand-lettering, elegant vintage-inspired typography, and vibrant storefront signage, I was instantly smitten with Sign Painters (public library) — a stunning companion to Faythe Levine and Sam Macon’s documentary of the same title, exploring the disappearing art through interviews with some of its most prominent masters amidst a lavish gallery of extraordinary hand-painted signage, with a foreword by Ed Ruscha. But this is no mere eye candy — brimming with candid insights, personal stories, and wisdom on the creative life, the book envelops the “what” with rich and ample layers of the “how” and the “why.” Macon affirms this in the introduction: This book, like the job of the sign painter, isn’t always about eye-popping, flashy designs. In setting on this topic, Levine and Macon are just in time. Bigger and better machines became available.
artists in their studios Robert Rauschenberg 381 Lafayette Street Photo: Henri Cartier-Bresson Robert Rauschenberg and Brice Marden Beverly Pepper Todi, Italy Photo: Ban Budnick George Grey Barnard Upper West Side ca. 1916 Photos: top- unknown, bottom- Underwood & Underwood Grant Wood 5 Turner Alley Cedar Rapids, Iowa Photo: John W. John Storrs 854 1/2 North State Street, Chicago Photo: Unknown Chaim Gross Queens Photo: Peter A. Robert Boardman Howard San Francisco Eugenie Gershoy 145 West 14th Street Photo: Max Yavno Yasuo Kuniyoshi 30 East 14th Street Alexander Calder Roxbury, Connecticut Action Jackson Pollock The Springs, Long Island, New York Photo: Rudy Burckhardt David Smith Voltri, Italy Photo: Ugo Mulas William De Kooning 85 Fourth Avenue Photo: Kay Bell Reynal Marcel Duchamp 210 West 14th Street Hans Hofmann 53 East Ninth Street Robert Motherwell 14th Street Saul Steinberg East 71st Street Photo: Inge Morath Marky Mark Rothko West 53rd Street Claes Oldenburg 330 East Fourth Street Photo: Robert R. Lee Krasner Photo: Hans Namuth Ad Reinhardt 732 Broadway
Amazing Underground Art In Stockholm’s Metro Station EmailEmail A casual underground ride in Stockholm becomes quite a treat for the eyes of the passengers, as most of the stations in the capital of Sweden are showcasing some amazing underground artwork. Russian software architect Alexander Dragunov must’ve really enjoyed his rides as well, and made some stunning shots of the underground artwork. The pictures below were taken in the Solna Centrum station, were the cave-like installations were created by artists Anders Aberg and Karl-Olov Bjor back in the 1970s. Ever since 19th century, a debate has been going on in Sweden about the need to make art more accessible to people outside the salons. No wonder then that with the first proper underground line opened in 1950, various artwork was installed in the stations shortly. Website: adragunov.com
Yayoi Kusama, Japan's Most Celebrated Contemporary Artist, Illustrates Alice in Wonderland by Maria Popova Down the rabbit hole in colorful dots, twisted typography, and strange eye conditions. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass endure as some of history’s most beloved children’s storytelling, full of timeless philosophy for grown-ups and inspiration for computing pioneers. The illustrations that have accompanied Lewis Carroll’s classics over the ages have become iconic in their own right, from Leonard Weisgard’s stunning artwork for the first color edition of the book to Salvador Dali’s little-known but breathtaking version. Since childhood, Kusama has had a rare condition that makes her see colorful spots on everything she looks at. A breathtaking piece of visual philosophy to complement Carroll’s timeless vision, Kusama’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the latest affirmation of what appears to be the season of exceptionally beautiful books. Donating = Loving Bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings takes hundreds of hours each month.
Mind-Blowing Installation Makes You Feel Like You’re Walking On A Cloud I waited in line for two hours Saturday to slip on a pair of hospital booties and spend a few minutes, maybe 5 minutes tops, milling around a white room. And you know what? It was totally worth the wait. That’s because Doug Wheeler’s new installation at the David Zwirner gallery in New York is the closest I’ll ever get to satisfying a desire I’ve had since childhood: to float on a puffy white cloud. The installation is called rather unromantically SA MI 75 DZ NY, and it’s precisely what I’ve described--a white room and little else. The effect dies after a moment (turn around and you’ll notice a bunch of mood-killing lights and--eek! SA MI 75 DZ NY is Wheeler’s fourth so-called “infinity environment”--expansive, all-white rooms that evoke the sensation of entering an infinite void. I suspect that what drew people to Irwin’s artwork decades ago is the same thing that inspired legions to wait two hours (or more) at the David Zwirner gallery on Saturday.
The 11 Best Art and Design Books of 2011 by Maria Popova From the Periodic Table to Craigslist, or what the greatest graphic designer of all time has to do with Moby-Dick. After last week’s look at the 11 best illustrated books for (eternal) kids of 2011, this year’s best-of series continues with a look at the finest art, design, and creativity books of 2011 — tomes that capture your imagination and encapsulate the richest spectrum of what it means to be a thoughtful, eloquent visual creator. Marie Curie is one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of science. It’s also a remarkable feat of thoughtful design and creative vision. Full review, with more images and Redniss’s TEDxEast talk, here. I want everything we do to be beautiful. Publisher Laurence King put together this epic video of the making of the book, to give you a sense of the scale and ambition of the project: From his iconic title sequences… … to his unforgettable posters… Full review here. Original review, with more images, here. Page images copyright © 2012.
Adventures in Depression Some people have a legitimate reason to feel depressed, but not me. I just woke up one day feeling sad and helpless for absolutely no reason. It's disappointing to feel sad for no reason. Sadness can be almost pleasantly indulgent when you have a way to justify it - you can listen to sad music and imagine yourself as the protagonist in a dramatic movie. But my sadness didn't have a purpose. Essentially, I was being robbed of my right to feel self pity, which is the only redeeming part of sadness. And for a little bit, that was a good enough reason to pity myself. Standing around feeling sorry for myself was momentarily exhilarating, but I grew tired of it quickly. I tried to force myself to not be sad. But trying to use willpower to overcome the apathetic sort of sadness that accompanies depression is like a person with no arms trying to punch themselves until their hands grow back. When I couldn't will myself to not be sad, I became frustrated and angry. Which made me more sad.
Depression Part Two I remember being endlessly entertained by the adventures of my toys. Some days they died repeated, violent deaths, other days they traveled to space or discussed my swim lessons and how I absolutely should be allowed in the deep end of the pool, especially since I was such a talented doggy-paddler. I didn't understand why it was fun for me, it just was. But as I grew older, it became harder and harder to access that expansive imaginary space that made my toys fun. I played out all the same story lines that had been fun before, but the meaning had disappeared. Depression feels almost exactly like that, except about everything. At first, though, the invulnerability that accompanied the detachment was exhilarating. The beginning of my depression had been nothing but feelings, so the emotional deadening that followed was a welcome relief. Which leads to horrible, soul-decaying boredom. Months oozed by, and I gradually came to accept that maybe enjoyment was not a thing I got to feel anymore.
The "Water Light Graffiti" is a surface made of thousands of LED illuminated by the contact of water. by agnesdelmotte Aug 9