Happy Turkey Day, from the angriest, most savage toddler in the world: “

Nothing says Thanksgiving like a bloodthirsty, masked toddler holding a huge, lethal cleaver.

(via @JSCarroll)

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Crumple-friendly maps printed on fabric: “

Crumpled City maps are printed on a lightweight fabric that can be squished into a tiny bag, obviating the need for fiddly, tricky map-folding-wrestling while you’re trying to get where you’re going. Designed by Emanuele Pizzolorusso, released by Palomar of Florence.

CRUMPLED CITY

(Thanks, Emanuele!)

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Dancing with Invisible Light: portraits shot with Kinect’s infrared structured light: “

Shown here, images from Audrey Penven‘s photography series ‘Dancing with Invisible Light: A series of interactions with Kinect’s infrared structured light.’ From her description of the project:

With these images I was exploring the unique photographic possibilities presented by using a Microsoft Kinect as a light source. The Kinect – an inexpensive videogame peripheral – projects a pattern of infrared dots known as ‘structured light‘. Invisible to the eye, this pattern can be captured using an infrared camera.

The Kinect uses the deformation of this dot pattern to derive 3D information about its subjects (an ability which has already spawned an explosion of incredible digital art).

As a photographer I am most interested in the nature and quality of light: how light behaves in the physical world, and how it interacts with and affects the subjects that it illuminates. For this shoot my models and I were essentially working blind, with the results visible only after each image was captured. Together, we explored the unique physicality of structured light, finding our way in the darkness by touch and intuition. Dancing with invisible light.

View the full set here (prude alert: contains both portraits and nudes). To purchase a print, contact the photographer at audrey.penven@gmail.com: 11×14 for $60, 16 x 20 for $120.

Dig the crazy lens flares the Kinect light creates in the shot below!

Related coolness at openkinect.org.

Credits:

Models: qtrnevermore, C. King, Mike Estee, Sloane Soleil, Helyx, Star St. Germain, Ian Baker, Annetta Black, Josh St. John.

Assistants: Aaron Muszalski, Ian Baker, Mike Estee

An earlier photo set is also online here.

(Thanks, sfslim!)

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HOWTO make art without getting “ripped off” online: “Artist Gwenn Seemel’s post, ‘How I make sure my art doesn’t get ripped off on the Internet’ is a wonderfully calm, sensible and practical approach to living as a 21st century artist in an age where reproduction is a given. Seemel starts from six simple points:

1) Be original.

I aim to make art so original that no one will question who made it.

2) Sell only live art.

I’ve given up on the idea that art in reproduction is for sale and I focus on making work that is better in person than in reproduction.

3) Pursue credit in innovative ways.

No one has ever claimed a reproduction of my work as their own, but when I’ve known about images of my work being used without any mention of my name I’ve approached the situation as a teaching opportunity or used it as an illustrative point.

4) Embrace the copying of style.

Lots of people make originals that resemble mine somewhat, and it makes me feel pretty good about my work.

5) Don’t assume that anyone is copying style.

It’s usually pretty difficult to be sure that anyone is copying anyone else. That said, if another artist was making and selling works that I was certain were copies of my paintings, I would probably talk about them on my blog. It would drive Internet traffic looking for them to me.

6) Be clear about what you want from the world and from the Internet.

I make sure everyone knows where I stand with regards to copyright. At the bottom of every page of my site, there’s a smiley face instead of a ©. Click on the face and it takes you to a page that fully explains my beliefs.

Seemel then goes on to explain these steps in detail, talking about her mindset as she approaches the net, her public, other artists, her customers and her work, and how this approach makes it possible for her to get paid, get along, and be happy and artistically fulfilled: ‘Everything from screaming about your intellectual property rights and threatening lawyers to shrink-wrapping your images online and making them not right-click-able is just burying your head in the sand. An open source world is the one we’ve always lived in: it’s the one we built.’

How I make sure my art doesn’t get ripped off on the Internet

(via David Isenberg)

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Effervescent Brain Salt: “
The best thing about effervescent brain salt is that it’s not immediately clear whether it’s salt to make effervescent brains even more delicious, or salt to give you an effervescent brain, or effervescent salt for brains. Also, it appears to come in a Tabasco bottle, and EVERYTHING THAT COMES IN A TABASCO BOTTLE IS ALWAYS AWESOME.

Effervescent Brain Salt

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Just look at this awesome laser-cut banana.: “

Just look at it.

Banana mania – Repper experimentation

(Thanks, Walter!)

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ReBirth Synthesizer for iPad: “

is a $15 multitouch synthesizer that emulates the Roland TB-303 Bass synth and the Roland TR-808 and 909 drum machines. You can create music on it and output the songs as MP3s.

Combine these with FX units, fully featured pattern sequencers and a gorgeous-looking interface and you’re ready to make killer tracks on your iPad. Share your music with friends on Facebook, Twitter and more using the built in sharing features.

Synth fans rejoice: ReBirth for iPad now available

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Science fictional music video set in near-future Indian city: “

Alan sez, ‘I love this video, done by Sean Wainsteim for You Say Party’s‘Lonely Lunch.’ It looks like a standard science fiction mini-story, but set in the crowded streets and alleys of an early-21st century Indian city such as Mumbai.’

What he said — not my kind of music particularly, but boy, those are definitely my kind of visuals. Thronged Asian city stalked by high-tech plague doctor swat teams? Yes please.

YOU SAY PARTY ‘Lonely’s Lunch’ [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

(Thanks, Alan!)

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Mr. T: Gold Salesman. Supposedly Legitimate Financial TV Network.: “

(Video Link)

You’re welcome.

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Steve Martin’s gospel song for atheists: “

A reader writes, “From Austin City Limits (2010) Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers perform his original a capella ‘gospel’ tune for the non-believers among us.”

Steve Martin: Atheists Don’t Have No Songs

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