Three pretty amazing videos of our home, all in HD. Enjoy!
Masterpiece of Video Editing
No long introductions this time. The following video is nothing short of a masterpiece in video editing.
Getting an Education
Interpreting Art
After the previously addressed measuring of art and its value, the next artistic topic is interpreting art and nothing sums up the subjectivity and snobbishness of this sphere as well as the following joke.
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You are not stuck in Traffic
You wanna see something brilliant?
There is this poster ad… it goes like this:
YOU ARE NOT STUCK IN TRAFFIC.
YOU ARE TRAFFIC.
Brilliant, right? Makes perfect sense too. Anytime anyone is “stuck in traffic” and uses that phrase they are externalizing the problem, like it is something outside of them, something that has nothing to do with them, when it is actually quite the other way around. You, and others like you, are traffic.
But it gets better!
Starfish Umbrella
What would be the point of this? I have no idea… but it’s kind of cute, in a bizarre and slightly mischievous sort of way.
The artist is Patryk Habryn. This digital artwork was created with Maya, Mental Ray, ZBrush and Photoshop.
Perception of Beauty
A society’s view and understanding of beauty tells us a lot about that society.
“Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction.”
(Wikipedia)
Discovering what it is that brings “pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction” to
is an important aspect in understanding our society and, through that, our roles in it.
is an important aspect in understanding our society and, through that, our roles in it.
Strange to some, beautiful to others: The ancient practice of blackening one's teeth, Ohaguro.
Weird? Or beautiful?
We know that the portrayal of beauty varies from culture to culture, as well as changes throughout time. And so, in Japan, there is an ancient custom of dyeing one’s teeth black. The practice is called Ohaguro, which is an aristocratic term, and it was most popular during the later 19th century, however the practice itself still exists even today in various parts of Southeast Asia. At least Ohaguro is beneficial to the teeth’s health as well, which cannot be said of many other practices which serve to make us more beautiful or attractive.
In another corner of the world a different concept of beauty developed.
Cheap? Or beautiful?
In the 1940s and 1950s the Western perception of beauty was dominated by pin-up art. And while pin-up artworks and pin-up girls started in France, towards the end of the 19th century, they reached their full potential and glory in the USA, especially during World War II.
One of the rather famous artists of the genre was Gil Elvgren. Artworks were drawn based on actual models and his motto for a perfect model was “a fifteen-year-old-face on a twenty-year-old-body”. And then comes “the artist’s touch” to create a classic of pin-up art. Have a look at the original photograph and the finished result and see what kind of differences you can notice.
See if you can not only see the differences but also understand them. See if you can figure out what these differences mean, and how these beauty standards of then have affected the time we live in today.
The Status Quo of Beauty Today
A quick Google image search reveals our society’s perception of beauty today. You will see make-up photographs, bleached teeth, cosmetic product advertisements and a vast number of semi-mysteriously gazing young females. Women are being molded to fit a certain idea and standard of beauty. It is not only women of course, even if the search results imply just that. Since the general trend moves more and more towards synthesized and manufactured beauty, both genders are being “motivated” to conform. Motivated or brain-washed, call it what you will.
Imaginism
Imaginism Studios is an extra-ordinarily creative team of two: Kei Acedera and Bobby Chiu.
Here are several of their artworks, I call this The Green Collection.
Looks like these two have been interrupted in the middle of a very important conversation….
Ancient Calligraphy
In the West calligraphy is traditionally considered penmanship, however in Islamic countries it is an art. Persian (ancient Iranian) calligraphers are among the most sought out practitioners of this ancient form of art.
Most of us are familiar with the famous quote “The pen is mightier than the sword”, coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, but an ancient Persian proverb of a similar meaning precedes it:
“A pen and a drop of ink
Makes the whole world think.”
Calligraphy has become the most venerated form of Islamic art and it is seen, by Muslims, as the art of the spiritual world.
The Adjustment Bureau
So far, one of the best movies I have watched this year is “The Adjustment Bureau“. It fantastically explores the idea of fate. What is it, does it exist, and can it be changed?
The 106 minute short movie stars Matt Damon and Emily Blunt and is littered throughout with numerous politically involved personalities that play themselves which help give this movie a more realistic feel (a nice touch). It’s rated PG-13, and while I believe a 13 year old would find the movie enjoyable and entertaining, I am not sure the average 13 year old would grasp, or appreciate, the deeper realms this movie attempts to touch and therefore might not be as interesting.
To talk deeply about this movie without giving too much away is rather difficult and the best I can come up with is:
If you have ever contemplated fate, coincidence, soul mates , and the meaning of life you will probably enjoy “The Adjustment Bureau“! If you haven’t seen it, check it out, but don’t find out too much about it before you watch it… you’ll enjoy the ride that much more.