LIFE magazine on “LSD Art,” 1966: “
From the LIFE magazine September 9, 1966 cover story about psychedelic art:
‘Amid throbbing lights, dizzying designs, swirling smells, swelling sounds, the world of art is ‘turning on.’ It is getting hooked on psychedelic art, the latest, liveliest movement to seethe up from the underground.’
More LIFE images from that story and the 1960s psychedelic culture
“
Chris Berens new dreamlike paintings on photo paper: “
Amsterdam painter Chris Berens has a show of new work opening today at Seattle’s Roq La Rue Gallery. Above, ‘Microcosmos,’ (mixed media on panel, 20′ x 20′). Below, ‘Leap’ (mixed media on panel, 18′ x 18′). Berens’s dreamy images have a decidedly Photoshop feel, but they are not digital. (I can tell by the paint drops?) Indeed, he prefers ink on photo paper to oil on canvas. All of the work is also viewable online. From Roq La Rue:
His work features a fantastical mélange of exotic creatures and 18th century imagery, floating in buttermilk colored clouds, lush verdant countrysides, or silvery sea blues. Photo realistic, totem-like animals and distorted childlike people float like dreams through blurry surrealistic European city scapes or drift on stormy seas on decrepit ships in a soft focus haze, shimmering as if in a fevered dream. It is almost shocking to look at, but in the gentlest of ways.
Beyond the wondrous imagery there is another startling and unusual aspect to Chris’ work, in which the smooth, translucent look of the his medium of choice (all works are created with drawing ink, bistre, graphite, parquet lacquer, alkyd coating varnish on inkjet photo paper that is then mounted on wooden panels and adhered with bookbinder’s glue) is contrasted with fact that the paintings are patch-worked together, in pieces ranging from 1 to 3 inches across. Each section has been been painted numerous times and layered over each other and each segment flows seamlessly into each other, creating a cohesive image…This new series of works, entitled ‘Leeuwenhart’ (‘Lion Heart’) take a turn from his last body of work which depicted icicle-like skyscrapers and NY cityscapes that sparkled like diamonds, to more of a lush, fairytale world of forests, rolling green hills, and ancient looking villages. And while the usual assortment of magical animal spirits show up in all the works, another character makes an appearance, Chris’ new daughter Emma Leeuwenhart Berens.
“
The other day I stumbled across some photos of the late
Ronnie James Dio’s LA home, which is for sale. If you wondered what kind of place a metal God lived in, well, here’s your
answer.
The Teutonic touches, like the beer stein collection and the gothic windows, made me think of other Gods: the characters in the Wagner Ring
cycle that has just recently begun a run here in NY.
That production uses a high-tech set and video projections to evoke the Rhine
maidens swimming across the stage and other events in the story.
So, I wondered to myself, wouldn’t this be a natural fit?
Dio already lived in a kind of Valhalla, and the imagery and themes of metal
bands often deals with death, destruction, and demons, so metal bands have those
elements in common with the Wagner epic as well. Why not do a Ring cycle (or
maybe an abbreviated version as the whole thing runs 15 hours) with the music
played by metal musicians and sung by them too? The sets would be like Dio’s
house, a home fit for the Gods, and there could be spectacular live performance
scenes, which some bands already stage as myth-laden rituals. Here’s a live
shot of a Rob Zombie concert:
And the Gods, assembled:
Other metal genres are less ghoulish in their themes and
imagery, but are no less appropriate to this concept. Here is the band SUNN O))), an exemplar of doom and drone
metal, along with other bands like Earth.
While still others are blatant in their Norse, Viking and
Teutonic themes, this Swedish band sings about Valhalla and about having Odin
on their side:
Rammstein, a band composed of
former East Germans, is known for shows featuring amazing pyrotechnics, and for
lyrics that deal with politics, sometimes controversially. As the ring cycle
ends in the destruction of Valhalla and the end of the reign of the Gods, there
are some big metaphors at work that would seem to resonate and run parallel to
what this group is doing already. Here’s a shot from one of their shows.
Many metal musicians possess incredible technical facility. These bands often feature songs in odd time signatures and with complicated
fingerings, and the groups frequently possess a cohesiveness that leaves pop bands
in the dust. Which is to say: they have the chops to handle Dick Wagner’s
scores, no problem. They could probably even find a real dwarf to handle the
Alberich role (the creator of the all-powerful ring) which would mean we
wouldn’t have to imagine that a big actor/singer is actually small.
Has no one done this already? Have I just not heard of it?
Or are some of these bands sort of already doing it (or something very like it)
piecemeal, episodically—picking out random scenes and moments from a parallel
mythology? They’re definitely swimming in the same waters. Many of these groups
place a high value on their integrity; with such non-pop looks and themes they
aren’t about to get radio play, so their “authenticity” and being true to their
genres is of prime importance. That might be why no one has risked the ridicule
of a high-concept piece should it fail or be unpopular with their fans. Or
maybe they feel that tackling an old opera is superfluous, as they are doing
the same thing, but with original music, and updated imagery.
[See also: 12.12.09: Art Funding or Arts Funding]
“
Small World 2010 photomicrography winners: “
Above is a mosquito heart, at a magnification of 100x. Biologist Jonas King, of Vanderbilt University, used fluorescence to make this stunning example of photomicrography. King’s photo landed first place this year in Nikon’s annual Small World competition. All of the winners are absolutely stunning. Small World gallery, 2010
“
Squid suit: “
Flickr user Lucy Lou (AKA cartoonist Lucy Knisley) models the awesomesauce squid suit her roommate, Nora Renick-Rinehart, made.
(via Super Punch)
Update: Thanks to all the commenters who made the Lucy Lou/Lucy Knisley connection for me! Duh!
“
Here’s a nice little collection of rural Norwegian homes whose roofs have been given over to the traditional turf — and even small forests.
Turf roofs in Norway are a tradition and you will see them everywhere. Roofs in Scandinavia have probably been covered with birch bark and sod since prehistory. During the Viking and Middle Ages most houses had sod roofs. In rural areas sod roofs were almost universal until the beginning of the 18th century. Tile roofs, which appeared much earlier in towns and on rural manors, gradually superseded sod roofs except in remote inland areas during the 19th century. Corrugated iron and other industrial materials also became a threat to ancient traditions. But just before extinction, the national romantics proclaimed a revival of vernacular traditions, including sod roofs. A new market was opened by the demand for mountain lodges and holiday homes. At the same time, open air museums and the preservation movement created a reservation for ancient building traditions. From these reservations, sod roofs have begun to reappear as an alternative to modern materials.
Every year, since 2000, an award is also given to the best green roof proje
(via Geisha Asobi)
“
Robotic privacy curtain moves across window to block snoops: “
John Park of MAKE says: ‘Niklas Roy cannot be contained! He’s built a curtain in his shop window that uses machine vision and fast linear positioning to block the view of nosy onlookers.’
My workshop is located in an old storefront with a big window facing towards the street. In an attempt to create more privacy inside, I’ve decided to install a small but smart curtain in that window. The curtain is smaller than the window, but an additional surveillance camera and an old laptop provide it with intelligence: The computer sees the pedestrians and locates them. With a motor attached, it positions the curtain exactly where the pedestrians are.
The whole setup works really well. But in the end, it doesn’t protect my privacy at all. It seems that the existence of my little curtain is leading itself ad absurdum, simply by doing its job very well. My moving curtain attracts the looks of people which usually would never care about my window. It is even the star of the street, now! My curtain is just engaged. And because of that, it fails.
“
Enola Gay co-pilot’s sculpture of mushroom cloud: “
Conelrad is running Bill Geerhart’s fantastic and utterly bizarre article about a mushroom cloud sculpture made by Robert Lewis — the co-pilot of the plane that dropped the a-bomb on Hiroshima. (Lewis named his work ‘God’s Wind,’ but I think he should have called it ‘This is Not a Phallus.’)
Decades ago, Dieter Rosellen dubbed an unusual piece of art acquired by his best friend as “The ‘Shroom.” He still refers to the white Italian marble mushroom cloud sculpture by that nickname.The artist’s more formal (and thought provoking) title for the work is etched into its base: ‘God’s Wind’ at Hiroshima? The sculptor, Robert Lewis—the co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb in warfare—died in 1983 and Rosellen’s pal, author and psychologist Glenn Van Warrebey, passed away twenty-one years later. The ‘Shroom survives both of them.
This is the story of the sculpture’s evolution: From its birth in the tortured imagination of an atomic veteran to its current state—an unsettling curiosity that has to be seen to be believed. It is also a tale of the intersecting lives of the man who created it and the man who exploited it.
Bill Geerhart on The ‘Shroom, a sculpture by Robert Lewis, co-pilot of the Enola Gay
“
Curiosity/taxidermy exhibition in London: “
Morbid Anatomy’s Joanna Ebenstein reports from London where she visited The Museum of Everything’s ‘Exhibition #3,’ ‘a carnivalesque spree exploring all things collectory, side-show, circus, grotto, and taxidermological.’ The show includes a restaging of Victorian taxidermist Walter Potter’s famously strange wunderkammer, the contents of which are now owned by the likes of Damien Hirst and Sir Peter Blake. The Guardian also covered the exhibit with more history of Potter’s collection.
‘Morbid Anatomy on The Museum of Everything, Exhibition # 3 (Morbid Anatomy)
Genius or grotesquery? The arrestingly strange world of Walter Potter (The Guardian)
“
[Sorry, seems to be getting cut off on the page — see it here: http://xkcd.com/806/ ]
Tech Support: “
“
