June 29, 2008

Strandbeest: Theo Jansen's Amazing Artificial Life

This is the wiki on Theo Jansen.
Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist and kinetic sculptor. He builds large works which resemble skeletons of animals and are able to walk using the wind on the beaches of the Netherlands. His animated works are a fusion of art and engineering; and in a BMW TV commercial, Jansen says, "The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds." Jansen is dedicated to creating artificial life through the use of genetic algorithms, which simulate evolution inside their code". The video below shows the marvelous Strandbeest(beach beast)in a BMW commercial. This stuff is really incredible!





Strandbeest

June 26, 2008

Ray Caesar's Fantastically Surreal (and Slightly Creepy) Children

Ray Caesar (b. October 26, 1958) is a visual surreal artist and digital painter residing in Toronto, Canada. Caesar's art redefines possibility and pushes the boundaries of digital art, moving away from multiples to create completely innovative digital artworks.

Caesar experiments with new techniques and materials on a larger scale, applying each one-of-a-kind digital ultrachrome and acrylic medium print on wood panel with varnish. Combining themes of hope, birth, and victory of the human soul, Caesar parlays the spiritual nature of his art in fantastic, grimly hopeful and gravely whimsical images of wizened children who radiate an enigmatic serenity. Sprouting bio-mechanical limbs and appendages, the figures are otherworldly, a melding of sci fi fantasy and lush landscapes.











































June 25, 2008

Money Shots of Celebrities - Its Not What You Think

There is a celebrity version of the viral phenomenon known as Money Shots. Money shots are made of folded banknotes matched to a portion of a person’s face to create very interesting, and really fun mergers. These are Money Shots of famous people such as the late Heath Ledger, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Mel Gibson and many others. Can you identify all the celebs?




















Desiree Palmen Incredible Camouflage Photography







Rotterdam-based Dutch artist Desiree Palmen work revolves around the concept of camouflage. She merges her models with their surroundings to the point where they appear to become one with them. Palmen has been exploring this visual deception theme over a number of years in a series of works which include: Old City Suits/Surveillance Camera Project, Camouflage, and Streetwise /Surveillance Camera Project.





































The Mysterious Stranger - A Banned TV Cartoon



This aesthetically beautiful but dark cartoon is from The Adventures of Mark Twain." This one is based on an unfinished work by Twain, called "The Mysterious Stranger". Reportedly, this cartoon got banned from TV as it is pretty intense and it is definitely not for children.

I personally see allegorical references to the Bible. Specifically to Genesis and the old testament.

Mark Twain, whose likeness we see in this cartoon, wrote in his "The Mysterious Stranger": "It is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream - a grotesque and foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought - a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities."

June 24, 2008

Brian Dettmer's Book Autopsies









Brian Dettmer is an American contemporary artist. He is known for his alteration of preexisting media -- such as old books, maps, record albums, and cassette tapes -- to create new, transformed works of visual fine art.Using surgical tools, Brian Dettmer removes paper from books like an archeologist releasing a fossil from layers of sediment, thereby unveiling connections between words and images hundreds of pages away from each other.

June 23, 2008

Blood Car - A Car that Runs on Human Blood

In the future gas prices are $30 a gallon and one man invents a car that runs on human blood. This is the premise of a low budget movie called Blood Car . The trailer is pretty funny.




June 21, 2008

The Coca Cola Happiness Factory - The Movie

Coca-Cola: Happiness Factory - The Movie! This is a really beautiful short animation ad for Coca-Cola.
The whole thing started with an animated spot made by Psyop for Coke and agency Wieden+Kennedy. Since launching in 2006, the original "Happiness Factory" has gone on to become the highest rated global spot The Coca-Cola Company has ever tested. The ad has won several awards including a "Silver Lion" at the 2007 Cannes advertising awards, the "Grand Prix Gold Prize" at the 2006 Epica Awards and most recently a nomination for a prime time commercial "Emmy" in the United States. This is the latest installment of the Happiness Factory

The Manga Bible







Manga is the Japanese word for comics (sometimes called komikku) and print cartoons.
According to Wikipedia:In Japan, manga are widely read by people of all ages,so that a broad range of subjects and topics occur in manga, including action-adventure, romance, sports and games, historical drama, comedy, science fiction and fantasy, mystery, horror, sexuality, and business and commerce, among others .

Ajinbayo Akinsiku is a manga artist who wrote and illustrated The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation.

Mr.Akinsiku wants the world to know Jesus Christ, just not the gentle, blue-eyed Christ of old Hollywood movies and illustrated Bibles. Mr. Akinsiku, who goes by the pen name of Siku, grew up in England and Nigeria. He says his Son of God is “a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,” here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga.The author of “The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation says that “Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy.”