BEAUTY: Sculpture and Photography--Aki Inomata

Sculpture. Photography. Hermit crabs. Nature.

From artist Aki Inomata's website:
"In this piece I gave hermit crabs shelters that I had made for them, and if they liked my shelters, I got them to use them as their shell. I overheard that the land of the former French Embassy in Japan had been French until October 2009; that it was to become Japanese for the following fifty years, and then be returned to France. This concept made me think of hermit crabs, which change their shells. The same piece of land is peacefully transferred from one country to the other. These kinds of things take place without our being aware of it. On the other hand, similar events are not unrelated to us as individuals. For example acquiring nationality, moving, and migration. The hermit crabs wearing the shelters I built for them, which imitate the architecture of various countries, appeared to be crossing various national borders. Though the body of the hermit crab is the same, according to the shell it is wearing, its appearance changes completely. It’s as if they were asking, 'Who are you?'"

http://www.aki-inomata.com/

BEAUTY: Photography--Erik Ravelo

"BEAUTY" might not be the right heading for this, but it is too meaningful and honest not to share. In Erik Ravelo's new raw photographic series Intocables (Untouchables), he accurately depicts the ways in which we as a species consume and destroy our weakest and most helpless members: our young. And that is not meant to be a facile comment; the ramifications and weight of all the conditions and issues that contribute toward this indirect--and in some cases very direct and quit deliberate--slaughter are in each photo. Ravelo's site says, "The Right to Childhood Should be Protected."

http://erikravelo.info/897/#more

Summer 2013

Peek-a-boo, peek-a-boo, little Earth...

From NASA:

View of Earth From Saturn
In this rare image taken on July 19, 2013, the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame...
Earth, which is 898 million miles (1.44 billion kilometers) away in this image, appears as a blue dot at center right; the moon can be seen as a fainter protrusion off its right side. An arrow indicates their location in the annotated version...
This is only the third time ever that Earth has been imaged from the outer solar system. The acquisition of this image, along with the accompanying composite narrow- and wide-angle image of Earth and the moon and the full mosaic from which both are taken, marked the first time that inhabitants of Earth knew in advance that their planet was being imaged.

Hello, earth.
Hello, earth.
With just one hand held up high
I can blot you out,
Out of sight.
--Kate Bush, "Hello Earth"

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/main/index.html#.UfCkx_XaIyb

BEAUTY: Painting--Paul Reid

Scottish painter Paul Reid infuses classicism and Greek mythology with a subtle contemporary sensibility that is hard to define. I love these images of humans with animal heads. There are many myths of humans with animal heads like the Minotaur, or humans turning into animals, such as Actaeon, both seen below.

Top to bottom: Actaeon; Lion Figure; Minotaur 2; Minotaur; Portrait of the God Pan

http://108fineart.com/paul-reid/

BEAUTY: Painting--Anita Arliss

It is late afternoon or sunset. It has been a very warm day. You are hot. You are sleepy. You are a passenger in a car. And you gaze out the window. You are lulled.

You are more of a place than a person at this moment.

Anita Arliss captures this magical moment in her "Passenger Series" using oil on canvas.
*sigh*
So lovely.

Top to bottom: Helicon; Kithairon; Nox; Olympos; Parnassus

http://www.anitaarliss.com/

The Healing Power of Cat Purrs

Alpha Scarf

This is fantastic!
Artists Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet along with MTG researcher Sebastian Mealla use Knitic, an open hardware knitting machine to translate brain waves into wearable art.
I want a scarf with my brain waves in an Alpha state!

http://www.knitic.com/neuro/

Currently listening to...

...the miraculous "Satellite Anthem Icarus" by the amazing Boards of Canada. Wow...

http://www.boardsofcanada.com/

BEAUTY: Installation--Henrique Oliveira

Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira just unveiled his most recent installation at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Structural columns and supports morph into organic gnarled tree trunks and roots, as if the wood it was made out of could not keep itself from yearning and reverting to its original form. It's massive in scale but actually quite poetical in its sensibility.
On view through September 9th, 2013

His installations are quite spectacular. Look at these other projects he has mounted. Again, they all involve his chosen material breaking out, escaping the confines of what humans have imposed upon it... as if the wood has a mind of its own, or a life force that cannot be quelled.

Top to bottom: The Origin of the Third World; Tapumes - Casa dos Leões; Desnatureza; Bololô

http://www.henriqueoliveira.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--Victoria Horkan

British artist Victoria Horkan uses the patterns and textures from butterfly wings for her riotous bursts of exciting abstract color.

Top to bottom: Dream Time With No Story; Paris Cameo Role; Princess Everything; Queen Elizabeth Forgetting To Curtsey; 1001 Pieced Intervention

http://www.victoriahorkan.com/