The melancholy mood of Stockholm-based photographer Carl Kleiner’s photography series, Postures, proves that while some of us may be talented in floral arrangement, only Kleiner has the gift of a tulip whisperer. And yes, they’re not actually roses, but using tulips, simple props and splendid lighting, Kleiner has created an eerily human atmosphere that suggests that each pose, in its skill and elegance, is somehow a sad premonition of an ending. A cut flower is doomed to die but in their final moments, these tulips are making art.
Director David Ayer and the cast of Suicide Squad have taken to social media to unveil the first official (and very awesome) posters for the highly anticipated DC Comics adaptation, and they offer up a very unique take on the Task Force X villains. The minimalistic art style lends beautifully to the uniqueness of the film and the characters in it.
In 2014, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant contacted conceptual design studio Lernert & Sander to create a piece for a special documentary photography issue about food. Lernert & Sander responded with this somewhat miraculous photo of 98 unprocessed foods cut into extremely precise 2.5cm cubes aligned on a staggered grid. Looking at the shot it seems practically impossible, but the studio confirms it is indeed the real thing. The photo is available as a limited edition print of 50 copies printed on 40 x 50cm baryta paper signed by the artists for about €500.
In 2010, data journalist and information designer David McCandless published an infographic on his Information is Beautiful website showing how much musicians earned online from sales and streams of their music. It caused quite a stir within the music industry, which even then was debating what the emergence of streaming services like Spotify would mean for artists. In 2015, that debate is still going on, and it’s even more heated. Now McCandless has created a new version of the infographic, updated for 2015.
As before, it digs in to stats from various digital music companies, from the likes of Bandcamp, iTunes and Amazon that sell music, to streaming services: Spotify, Deezer, Apple’s Beats Music, Rhapsody, YouTube and Tidal. Besides calculations for how much an artist can expect to earn from a single sale or stream, the infographic shows how many of those sales or streams they’d need to earn the US monthly minimum wage of $1,260. Some important caveats: these numbers apply to performing musicians, but they do not include publishing royalties for the songwriting. Plus, the most important factor in how much an artist signed to a label earns is the terms of their contract: some have good, fair deals. Others… less so.
Averaging that out is also the reason why the figures here may not match those announced by the streaming services. For example, Spotify says that its average payout for a stream to labels and publishers is between $0.006 and $0.0084 but Information Is Beautiful suggests that the average payment to an artist from the label portion of that is $0.001128 – this being what a signed artist receives after the label’s share. Finally, the per-play figures for streaming service can be misleading, as they depend on how many (or few) users the service has. Beats may pay more per-stream than Spotify, but that’s because it has relatively few users.
In the modern age it’s hard to walk 5 feet on the internet (abstractly speaking) without finding someone showing a bit of skin and calling it art — which it -IS-, whether or not it is also other things as well, but not usually very inspired or well done. “Bad art” exists. Photographer, and model Slawa has a gift. Her photographs are far more sensual (often while showing less), and better cropped and lit, with better poses, and excellent use of color/tone than the average every-girl taking a selfie. Every single shot in her collection is excellently done. It’s definitely several tiers above anything else in the #Selfie genre that’s out right now. Impressively enough, Slawa is more than comfortable while posing for camera the way she does. Check the method below, and click here to see more of her.
Eyeverify’s patented biometric technology ‘eyeprint ID’ eliminates passwords on smart devices by transforming a picture of your eye into the accessing key. By reaching its series A equity funding, the company is gaining interest from the financial services industry as the application protects employees’ and customers’ phones when they conduct mobile banking, and ensures safe and secure mobile mortgage, insurance, card and electronic payments .This accurate process of confirming identities enables secure authentication by using existing cameras on mobile devices to scan and pattern-match the blood vessels in the whites of your eye.
Just like televisions and computer monitors, handset displays are about to get a huge resolution boost. According to the latest forecast from ABI Research, a 4K screen will become a flagship smartphone feature within the next 12 months and within five years, 478 million smartphones a year will ship with a UHD display as standard. However, at the moment there is very little native 4K broadcast content available for either TV or smartphones, meaning that, for the time being, a display with a super resolution could be seen as just a marketing gimmick.
Although UHD displays aren’t expected to arrive until next year, the ability to use a smartphone to create 4K content is already here. The latest Samsung and LG flagship handsets both record video in 4K and as such join a growing list of UHD devices, such as the GoPro action cam. However, even with more user-generated UHD content, disseminating it among friends or even hosting it to sites like YouTube is still an issue in terms of streaming or downloading due to the size of the file involved and consumers’ hatred of videos that buffer. “Over The Top (OTT) video services will carefully weigh the costs of 4K delivery, the impact on viewing on mobile devices, and the brand halo high resolution services can bring,” said practice director Sam Rosen.
Rosen believes companies that use the internet to deliver content will initially focus on bringing UHD to televisions but there are emerging connection technologies that could mean that smartphones become a hub for streaming rich content to other devices around the home.
“New connections like wired MHL 3.0 and wireless 802.11ad can help position mobile devices as a hub for streaming high quality video and gaming to TVs. Qualcomm’s acquisition of Wilocity and push of 802.11ad could further encourage OTT companies and TV manufacturers to embrace the technology and bring high resolution video to TVs via mobile devices,” he adds.
Yana Terekhova likes to work with black and white colors and manage to get the perfect angle to highlight the subject of the picture. She shoots in fact beautiful portraits and nature photographs.
There haven’t been many cult classics that have disturbed youth and humored 80’s adults since Joe Dante’s ‘Gremlins’. The odd tale of a little creature who lives a life by very specific rules has become a small staple in American culture since 1984. 30 years later in 2014, digital artist Patrick Seymour has used his skills to re-invent the protagonist and antagonist of the film. Check out his visualizations of Gizmo and Stripe below.
Thomas Barbèy grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, across the street from the “Caran D’ache” factory, the largest manufacturer of art supplies. He started drawing seriously at the age of 13, using black “encre de Chine” and gouaches for color. His influences were Philippe Druillet, Roger Dean and H.R. Giger. Today, he resides in Las Vegas and travels the world, taking his camera wherever he goes. Thomas has been a photographer for over twenty years now and prefers to use his old Canon AE1s when he shoots in 35mm or his RB67 when he shoots in medium format. More recently, he has been doing Black and White Photomontages for the sole purpose of doing Fine Art, without working for a specific client. He has combined several images taken over a period of twenty years to create surreal situations with the help of the enlarger in a dark room. His work has a specific style and is very characteristic. He only works with Black and White, including Sepia toning at times.
The picture takes you into an imaginary world where you can see the captain telling the passengers to fasten their safety belts and get prepared for the descent, and so on. At times Thomas comes up with ideas beforehand, try to materialize them and it works. At other times, it comes as an accident, where the ideas come afterwards, when the image is already finished and the concept has yet to be understood. Thomas claims he is learning constantly through the process of creation. Thomas travels 2-3 times a year to take photographs of different things and places. Sometimes he uses an image several years later, but only when it fits, like the perfect piece in a puzzle, and completes his latest project. Some images are composed of negatives that are separated by a decade in the actual time that he has taken them and only come to life when they found their perfect match. It’s the combination of two or more negatives that give birth to a completely unusual vision, but most of all, the title he gives the final image is the glue and the substance of the piece.
International practice UNstudio was commissioned by ferris wheel investment to develop a giant observation wheel in Japan, an amusement structure that is widely popular as a form of entertainment for the island nation. ‘Nippon moon’ has been envisioned to differ from existing ones of its kind with a comprehensive interactive system, developed in partnership with experientia who assisted in providing research on how behaviour could influence user’s interaction with the architectural and digital infrastructure. One’s all-encompassing experience is largely influenced by an accompanying augmented reality app which focuses on three main areas: discovery, the ride and the return. Upon reservation, one must choose the type of virtual journey they wish to take, as each single or double-story capsule has a different theme relating to history, culture, or the environment. From the moment you buy your ticket, the interaction begins. The digital AR platform allows users to see how many seconds are left until their departure. Upon arrival, participants have the freedom to view the welcome area and facilities in ‘active queuing’, instead of waiting in a traditional line for their turn. Upon embarking, the app which works for smartphones and tablets also functions intuitively with each of the pod’s transparent technological skin, becoming a communication device between cars. this kind of information tailors a one-of-a-kind experience, enhancing one’s perception of their chosen topic. One’s senses are further heightened through the integration of augmented animations and sounds. Afterward pictures taken by visitors are posted to the hall of fame in the lobby, becoming a continuous part of the journey after disembarking. Thus, the design creates an active learning environment for riders with the hope to create a significant memory and impact on japanese culture. The concept of observation wheels is not new, but UNstudio’s concept combines design, with engineering to create a fully integrated virtual world.
Whether it’s in black and white, or with a little bit of colors, Silvia Grav’s pictures have a glimpse of darkness. A mix between a cold winter afternoon & a depression storm. Here’s a selection of her portraits and other captured instants.
Photographer Ben Franke took parkour art to another level with this serie of photography entitled Parkour in Motion.
Shooting in NYC with a Canon 5D Mark II & a 24-80mm lens, he tried to capture what Parkour looks like when it’s seen in stop motion. The images are quite bluffing, picture an authentic moment of effort in what is considered as an impressive sport and an amazing art.
The Ferrari Millenio, as the name might allude, is a futuristic super-car concept that features a complex combination of materials and technologies that we can hope will become a serious reality before the end of the next millennium. The two-seater includes a buckypaper reinforced body that is stronger than steel and lighter than carbon fiber as well as dual electric engines that can be recharged via solar panels or through an inductive power transfer system.
Diznee came into this world 20 years ago, born and raised on the beautiful coast of California in San Diego. She is a mix of African American, Russian and French Canadian. Growing up she was active in many sports such as volleyball, basketball, track, gymnastics, and cheer leading. A future in sports seemed to be calling her name until the world of modeling took flight.
After graduated from high school she moved to New York to attend college and cheer for the university. A trip back to Los Angeles, California would be the turning point of her modeling career. Diznee’s first SHOW Magazine debut was in the Black Lingerie Issue, August 2007. Ever since that magazine hit news stands across the nation she has built a fan base of men and woman young and old. The high cost of school in New York and rising level of opportunity in Los Angeles made me put away her cheer uniform forever and head to the “City of Angels.”
Ever since her move to LA she has been blessed with endless opportunities. In June 2008 her first cover came out and she knew that was only the beginning. She now has her own website and has appeared in various music videos including Day 26 “Since You’ve Been Gone”, David Banner ft. Lil Wayne “Shawty Say”, and Colby Odonnis “Don’t Turn Back”.
2009 World Auto Design Contest Winner; The “Audi Shark”. Shark would have been the perfect car of the future. That’s why Shark has been designed in the future of technology without leaving today’s conditions. Shark shows difference from today’s cars in terms of its own design and technology. It carries the qualifications of today’s technology and at the same time it takes the attention about its structure of plane and motorcycle like details.
Speed which all sports cars have quite affects the design of Shark. This effect is seen first on auto’s outside part. Shark has no vehicle unlike other classical cars. While this qualification increases the quality of drive, speed and control, it diminishes the risk of accident on the road. With Shark people can feel the flying, excitement and comfort. Outside the car what attracts people is the system of paddles. These paddles are designed by the effect of a shark and it provides the car to speed up with a balance and control and complete the concept of the car.
Shark’s fore and back head lights are designed like big cylinder to fit the design of Audi. The last difference of Shark is seen with the design of seats. These seats that are like motorcycle seat and thought for maximum comfort of the drivers. Shark’s out design details and the design of the seats satisfy the driver who like speed. Can be seen as the car of the future with its own technology and different details. That’ s why Shark is a auto which reflects both today and future.
“Hova’s newest business enterprise is soon to become the “other” New York team, and he’s making sure that people recognize that these Nets are a world apart from the team that made New Jersey home for almost 30 years. With a new color scheme to complement a minimal logo, Jay and his partners have created what he describes as, “the new badge for Brooklyn.” Brooklyn finally has a sports franchise after a long dry spell, and Jay-Z has invigorated his hometown neighborhood with a bold statement. The simple combination of black and white for the Net’s color scheme is a powerful message that will register across the Five Burroughs. Jay-Z was ,”instrumental” in the new logo design, which “demonstrate the confidence we have in our new direction … The new colors and logos are examples of our commitment to update and refine all aspects of the team.”
The ‘Tree of Life’ poster, looks (when seen from far away), like a typical cross section of a tree stump. However, when a closer look is taken, you can see that the black circles aren’t wood rings, they are hundreds of different silhouettes from the animal kingdom. The project was intended to draw attention to the destruction of the rainforest and the subsequent destruction of animal habitats.
Graffiti is often misunderstood, and it is difficult for a graffiti writer to explain what he feels about it. Writer Benoit Ollive decided to do something a bit more interesting when asked to write about it.
I have been asked by a book publisher to write few pages to explain to teenagers how to practice graffiti. After hours and hours I came to the conclusion there was nothing to teach about it except providing the tool to do it. The new generation needs to discover it by practising it instead of reading lessons. Rather than a long sterile speech debating on the good or bad vertues I created my own book to share my point of view through a conceptual message.
Yesterday was father’s day, and I spent the day talking to a few of my friends lucky enough to be proud parents. One of the complaints I heard from a homegirl of mine was that her son was being an “asshole-ish version of Satan himself” because his adult teeth were growing in. I don’t remember all of what it was like going through the process (cept for realizing the tooth fairy was my mom noisily shoving a dollar under my pillow every other month while she thought I was asleep), but coincidentally I came across a scientific art piece that helped me shed some light on her predicament. Below is a REAL skull of a human child with their adult teeth growing in. Seeing it made me understand that sometimes kids go through things I’m happy I don’t have to. So if you have a little one who’s adult teeth are coming in, cut them some slack. It can be a painful process.
The incredible illustrator Randy Atwood has a portfolio full of treasures. But a series of his hyper-realistic pieces are all celebrity portraits are what really blew me away while looking at his collections. This artwork is extremely detailed, (and his focus on hair totally blows my mind). But out of all the illustrators I’ve seen who’s aim is to replicate photo-realism, Atwood is the only artist comparable to the also ridiculously talented Juan Francisco.
If you want to see what Earth looks like from space, become an astronaut (or, barring that, a space tourist). For the next best view, pay a visit to Tokyo’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation where a massive, nearly 20-foot spherical OLED orb–the world’s first large scale spherical OLED–offers a satellite’s-eye view of the planet in super high resolution.
“Geo-Cosmos” is made up of 10,362 OLED panels that display continuously-updating satellite footage of our tiny blue marble, representing what our planet looks like from space in something close to realtime. It replaces an earlier model covered in LED panels, offering museum-goers a full 10 million pixels, a resolution 10 times greater than its predecessor.
And like any good museum exhibit, Geo-Cosmos is interactive. Touchscreens surrounding the globe allow viewers to tap all kinds of earth science data streaming in from all over the world, like simulations showing the origin of the March 11 earthquake that devastated Japan and the dispersion of all of that energy via tsunamis that reached all the way around the Pacific. See it for yourself below.
Nicki Minaj became principal for a day when she visited Chicago’s Collins Academy on Thursday. The school won the ‘Get MotivatED Challenge,’ a six-week competition to improve daily attendance rates at schools nationwide, scoring a visit from the hip-hop star.
Throughout the day, Nicki, who graduated from LaGuardia High School in New York City, stressed the importance of education. “I am a young, female mogul before I am an artist,” she said. “As a business woman there isn’t a single day where I don’t use my education or acquire new knowledge to ensure my success.”
She continued, “Regardless of where you are today, with education you can take yourself where you want to be. That’s why I am working with the Get Schooled Foundation. They are finding innovative and exciting ways to bring that message to schools like the Collins Academy.”
In an all-school assembly, the rapper presented three exemplary students — Amanda Chaney, Rachael Pillot and Japone Johnson — with $10,000 college scholarships, courtesy of Comcast. The singer also took over a freshman English class and helped teach a lesson.
According to Get Schooled, if students have more than 10 absences in a year, their likelihood of graduating on time drops significantly. On the other hand, students who are more involved in school activities, are more likely to attend school regularly and graduate on time. In the case of Collins Academy, the 400-student school saw an almost 7 percent increase in attendance over the course of the last six weeks, making it the winner of the challenge.
