And now I like you even less

Stik map

Jules — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:53:05 +0000

I’ve seen a couple of these around. Nice map of where Stik has improved the walls of London.

Yayoi Kusama’s Obliteration Room

Jules — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:52:00 +0000

Over the course of the exhibition, visitors to Yayoi Kusama’s “Obliteration Room” were given coloured stickers and effectively told to go into a plain white room and go nuts with them. The result really does look like an explosion in a paint factory.

The best way to get an idea for ~~his~~ her (edit -sorry!) work overall in all its colour and craziness is probably just to have a look through google images.. I like ‘Dots Obsession – Infinity Mirrored Room‘ (we’re supposed to be picking out a new bathroom tonight – don’t think this is helping)

[UPDATE - Turns out there's actually going to be a Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the Tate Modern starting in February. Looking forward to that!]

Metropolis II by Chris Burden

Jules — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:48:10 +0000

This actually featured on the Oddbox section on BBC News, but I think this much better than just odd. It’s brilliant. Every nine year old boy’s dream train set and model car track rolled in to one. Oh, and it’s art too. Four years in the making, the toy city has 1,100 cars travelling at speeds which, scaled up to real size cars, would equate to 230mph and even has it’s own traffic flow system to avoid crashes. The link is to an excellent article on the (rather fantastic) FastCo.Design site. Great pictures but do take time to watch the film clip.

Search better on Google

Jules — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:47:16 +0000

That’s not grammatical is it? Search better…search more well…search betterly….Better Thy Searching….

Sure I’ve posted something along these lines before but this is a nice infographic with some tips on how to get the most out of Google. It’s a good reminder actually. I must waste quite a lot of time lazily searching just on keywords when a few simple operators would really narrow things down quickly.

Terrence McKenna – Culture is Not Your Friend

Jules — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:46:27 +0000

Can’t really say too much about Terrence McKenna, who you might call a bit of a Free Thinker, as I’ve only just come across him on Charles Frith’s excellent blog Punk Planning. McKenna seems, from a cursory skim, to have specialised in an odd mix of psychadelics, philosophy, cultural commentary and cosmology (leading to theories like “the Stoned Ape” explanation of the evolution of consciousness). Should make for some interesting listening.

Delgon meeting knife set

Jules — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:45:22 +0000

Yes, yes. Silly reviews on Amazon are nothing new, but this is a worthy target. $1000 for four knives?

What the hell is Dubstep.

Jules — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:06:21 +0000

I like this video much much more than dubstep itself, but there you go. Nice animation and actually a very clear explanation of what dubstep is. Very handy for the next time you want to patronise a young person by being “down” with them as a healthy alternative to slapping them about a bit and packing them off to borstal where they all belong.

(via Koettke.org)

Primary elections explained

Jules — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:04:53 +0000

We’ve been taking a bit more of an interest in US politics since we acquired some lovely American family. It’s often pretty hard to reconcile the fact that every time we visit them in the States everyone we meet is unfailingly friendly, welcoming, well informed – the list of nice things goes on – and the complete circus-weirdness that you constantly come across when reading about the policies of mainstram politicians. I mean, who dreamt up Rick Santorum? (or is that what is Santorum? That link is pretty disgusting even though it’s on wikipedia, hope you’ve got a strong stomach). Perhaps my view’s a bit biased because I’ve only been to States with wiggly edges.

Anyway, if you’re interested in the process that’s going on at the moment of selecting the Republican candidate but don’t know where to start, this is a pretty good intro to the Primary elections. Done with friendly stick men to take your mind off that Santorum link.

Cinemagraphs

Jules — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:04:10 +0000

Oddly spooky animated gifs. Love the one of the subway train.

Trousers

Jules — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:01:32 +0000

Behold! My excellent flares.