Watchful eyes, thoughtful mind: art

Showing posts with label art. Show all posts

23 Jul 2010

Sound of music ... circa 3400 BC

Usually when one thinks of or talks about archaeological discovery the ideas that often come to mind are tombs, graves, foundations of houses, grain houses and temples, roads built, rituals written and pottery shards broken. How many times does one think of musical compositions or instructions for assembling and playing an instrument? Very rarely if not not at all.

In Syria, a musical scholar has done something unusual. Ziad Ajjan has composed eight poetry and musical pieces from the musical archaeological cuneiform tablet known as "Hymn of Supplication". This tablet dating back to 1400 BC was discovered in the ancient town of Ugarit, about 260 kilometers north of Damascus, in the early 20th century. The article reporting this rare act of musical composition tells us,

The tablet contains a complete hymn, both words and music, in addition to detailed performance instructions for a singer accompanied by a harpist as well as instructions on how to tune the harp.

I was not sure if and where I could find the audios of this music tracks. So I Googled "Syria ugarit music" and lo and behold! I actually found something similar but even more interesting. Looks like composer Malek Jandali has beaten Ziad Ajjan to it (assuming that Ajjan's composition is a 2010 feat). He has released an album in 2009 named Echoes from Ugarit which consists of 8 tracks based on the oldest music notation in the world which was discovered in Ugarit dating back to 3400 B.C. I listened to a couple of samples of Malek's compositions. The fact that they were played on a piano with accompaniment of other modern instruments known to us made them sound not-so-mysterious as I had hoped music about 5400 years ago would sound. But may be if I could listen to these notes on the original instruments that played it or in the voice of original singers that sang it I might have a different experience. Hhmmm ... time machine, anyone?

15 Apr 2010

Changent Paul Young

Guest post generously contributed by Changent Paul Young of Craft Village, UK, a Fair Trade Company that has started a unique project in Kenya. It has helped the locals increase their income significantly by selling hand-carved, fabulously crafted statues of various popular Simpsons characters!

Craft Village UK – a member of The World Fair Trade Organisation- have developed an acclaimed, income generating, animation inspired product series.

We launched our Kenyan ‘Simpsons Statues’ in February 2009 after 3 years of development working directly with stone carvers in Kenya. Our unique mix of Fair Trade and animation-art has received great reviews; from CNN, The BBC, The United Nations Development Programme, Sir Bob Geldof, Matt Groening and many happy customers!

Our debut stone product series is hand carved in Tabaka. Like many parts of Kenya, Tabaka suffers high levels of poverty and limited access to basic human needs: clean water; health care; education, sanitation, etc. By harnessing The Simpsons popularity, we are creating vital income for the area. This is trade, not handouts. We provide great products and service at a fair price!

This exciting collection has strong appeal to two specific markets; the growing Fair Trade market, and the massive ‘Simpsons’ collector’s market, -worldwide 60 million people watch The Simpsons each week. If we can sell just 1 statue to 0.01% of regular Simpsons viewers -it will provide 10 years work for our artisans!

Developing such a unique project has been a challenge, with many obstacles and false starts along the way. From product development issues, to obtaining a 20th Century Fox license, to packaging and branding problems, we have met each challenge with competence and confidence, and feel very excited about the impact Craft Village can achieve in Kenya, and elsewhere...

Our unique product concept is transferable to many animation and film properties. To date I have met with Licensor’s for Star Wars, Nickelodeon, Aardman Animations and 4Kids Entertainment, all have expressed interest in working with Craft Village to develop fair trade memorabilia for their brands.

It is Craft Village’s goal to become a genuine innovator within Fair Trade, and attract a new audience to the Fair Trade movement with our contemporary cartoon-inspired statues. We are proud to supply Simpsons’ fans with high quality animation art whilst simultaneously having a positive impact on many families in rural Kenya.

We recently launched our new website www.craftvillageuk.com which includes a retail platform and lots of images and videos of our producers in Kenya. All enquiries welcome! Contact Paul Young on paul@craftvillageuk.com

30 Mar 2010

TED Tuesday: Exposing invisible

Nick Veasey shows outsized X-ray images that reveal the otherworldly inner workings of familiar objects -- from the geometry of a wildflower to the anatomy of a Boeing 747. Producing these photos is dangerous and painstaking, but the reward is a superpower: looking at what the human eye can't see.

18 Mar 2010

Recycle craft: RetroGrandma Audrey

Guest post generously contributed by Audrey, amazingly talented recycle craftswoman and owner of the RetroGrandma and A blast from the past Etsy stores.

Handmade items have a soul and enrich our lives in a way that mass-produced items simply can’t. Even though I have a professional life and career I value, I love my creative side even more. Crafting for me is not only a hobby, but it’s my relaxation time. My mind is never still. I’m always thinking of what I can recycle and create next.

I’ve been crafting since I was very young. My mother was an amazing crafter and I just followed her great talent. I made most of my gifts and sewed most of my children’s clothing. Now I create unique items and sell them online. Enjoy the slideshow below to see some of the items I create.

I’ve had an ebay store since 2003 with all my collectibles. But then I heard about Etsy “All Things Handmade”. So I decided to open up a shop with just a few of my handmade items in 2007. Etsy is such a friendly community of sellers and buyers.

My husband is a collector of records and it so it all started with the abundance of vinyl in our house and I decided to melt a few to make some bowls, which are quite popular. Then I came up with a pattern to make a handbag out of the covers. I didn’t want to use rivets (that so many use) to cover the great artwork, so I created my own pattern of sewing vinyl around the covers. The handbags are very strong and durable, yet very soft and light. My daughter uses hers as a grocery handbag and carries a lot of weight in it and it’s still holding up very well.

From there I found that books can also be made into handbags. They are much more complicated to make than the record purses, but I never get tired of making them. Extra time is taken to choose the right material and accessories to match each book. Each one is so unique and one-of-a kind. I’m addicted to making these handbags. My most popular handbags sold are the Nancy Drew books. Watch heads turn as you walk down the street with one of these whimsical handbags! You’ll be sure to get noticed!

I have expanded in creating variety unique items by recycling books and records. I make record containers, clocks, and earring holders. From books I create hollow security safes, wallets, and desk clocks. Be sure to spark conversation with any one of these items! They all make such unique gifts. Great for the “hard to buy for” person! One feedback I received from a customer who purchased one of my book handbags was “My mother said this was the best gift she has ever received”. Hearing these comments makes me feel so good inside.

I never thought my hobby would turn out to be a business. Sales grew and I do many custom orders also. Favourite books have been mailed to me to create handbags. I had a magazine cover once mailed to me and I made a handbag from it. The customer’s friend was on the front page of the cover and she thought this would make a unique gift for her. I’ve done wholesale orders for some retailers also. I have customers from all over the world.

Good photos are a must when listing an item. This took some time for me to perfect. You need a good camera, good lighting and then a program to edit each photo. I made it to the Front Page of Etsy on 4 different occasions since I opened up shop. It’s an honor to get chosen for the Front Page, so I was extremely thrilled!

I decided to name myself RetroGrandma because I love the retro era and I’m a grandma of 6 beautiful grandchildren. My family means the world to me. I’m a full time Administrative Assistant at an elementary school, which I’ve worked at for 25 years now. I have four online shops where I sell my items. My husband and I love to seek out treasures at flea markets, garage sales and thrift shops. I also have a vintage shop on etsy – A BLAST FROM THE PAST! Here we share our treasures with the world – toys, games, kitchenware, decorative collectibles, lamps, clocks, & clothing.

I’m a busy RetroGrandma! But I wouldn’t have it any other way as I can never sit idle.

9 Feb 2010

TED Tuesday: Tiding up art

Ursus Wehrli shares his vision for a cleaner, more organized, tidier form of art -- by deconstructing the paintings of modern masters into their component pieces, sorted by color and size.

4 Feb 2010

Recyle craft: Fat Bottom Bags

Guest post generously contributed by Recycle crafter Christi Spangler of FatBottomBags.com (Facebook, Twitter).

Hi everyone! First off, I'm so honored to be guest posting today on Watchful Eyes Thoughtful Mind. Thanks for the invite Radiance!

My name is Christi Spangler and I'm an evironmentally concious recycle crafter and founder of FatBottomBags.com a plastic bag recycling project.

FatBottomBags.com was born from my dream of a better world and my desire to find a way to repurpose those problematic plastic carrier bags. My goal was to find some way to utilize this wasted resource while raising awareness about the importance of recycling and the harm that these bags and other plastic debris is doing to our environment.

A few years ago I began making these reusable bags from "disposables" and selling them locally. After talking with many other concerned people in my area, I was encouraged to bring the message and these great bags to the internet in order to reach out globally. So here I am!

I quickly recycled through all of the bags I had collected on my own, so I put the call out to friends, family and other locals to gather up and recycle the plastic bags they might have stashed in drawers and closets. Now I'm up to 23 families for whom I recycle on a regular basis. In addition to the locals, I've started a couple of recycling exchanges online. Through the website, I'm collecting colored plastic bags and mesh produce bags for recycling too!

So far at FatBottomBags.com our efforts have kept over 5000 (and counting) plastic bags from becoming part of the problem in our wastestream. And that's just what I've recycled from my kitchen table! In addition, I'm encouraging others to take an active role in recycling too! I've shared my secret with a DIY video to make your own mesh sided FatBottomBag and I'm blogging about other ways you can make a difference too!

I love recycling and I love to make a difference in the world. What I started as a simple closet cleaning has grown into a recycling phenomenon! Proving my favorite quote, "When we all do our small part, we can (and do) change the BIG picture!"

***Learn more about plastic bags harming the marine environment through these sources:

Disturbing video of whale dying from ingesting plastic bags:

Read about the 7 sperm whales that died in Foggia, Italy from ingesting plastic bags.

Turtle eating plastic debris:

5 Nov 2009

9 types of intelligence

[Image source]

When we talk about someone intelligent, we usually mean it in a way that the person has done well in studies, academics or some such intellectual faculty. Would you call someone who has great sense of direction and never needs a GPS, intelligent? Would you call someone with a great ear for music and composition, intelligent? Or how about a hiker with incredible stamina? I'm sure most of you would go, "What? No! These things have got nothing to do with intelligence." Well, think again.

Melissa Breyer writes in Care2's 'Healthy and green living' section about 9 types of intelligence. Dr. Howard Gardner is the Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has developed the theory of multiple intelligences, going beyond the IQ test to discover the many ways humans are smart. He identified intelligent abilities including language, music, spatial reference, kinesthesia, naturalistic, and possibly existential intelligence.

Once you read this article and Dr. Gardner's theory (and may be even more depending on how interested you get) I am sure you're way of judging someone as 'not intelligent' will change. I also think knowing that we possess different kind of intelligences which are not necessarily reflected on our marksheets is important. So many people would realise that they have at least one, if not more, kind of intelligence in them. You would think yourself much more worthy than you did till now. And more importantly, I hope, you will stop making your kids slog insane hours to get that A grade in academic subjects. And would appriciate their A grade in sports equally.

29 Sept 2009

TED Tuesday: Origami using maths

Robert Lang is a pioneer of the newest kind of origami -- using math and engineering principles to fold mind-blowingly intricate designs that are beautiful and, sometimes, very useful.

1 Sept 2009

TED Tuesday: Art that looks back at you

Golan Levin, an artist and engineer, uses modern tools -- robotics, new software, cognitive research -- to make artworks that surprise and delight. Watch as sounds become shapes, bodies create paintings, and a curious eye looks back at the curious viewer.

11 Jun 2009

Sci-tech goes arty

I have written quite a few posts before which showcase the merger of science/technology and art. The endeavours have ranged from fascinating micro-photography to Frizions to high-speed captures of shattering objects. Today I'm sharing with you one more spectacular example of science/technology and artistic inspiration combining. The source of this art-work is the 'Glowing animals: Pictures of Beasts Shining for Science' photogallery.

How does it glow?

Multiple colors of fluorescent protein, introduced into its DNA (2008)

What can we learn?

One of the team of scientists that won a 2008 Nobel Prize for green fluorescent protein--Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Y. Tsien--couldn't resist showing off their creation a bit. From Tsien's lab comes this artful plate with selectively swabbed fluorescent bacteria. The discovery of green fluorescent protein by Shimomura in 1956 was the result of crushing countless jellyfish. After publishing his findings in 1962, Shimomura studied GFP in detail and realized that no extra fuel was needed to make it glow--other glowing substances need chemical additives to shine. GFP, by contrast, just needed to be exposed to ultraviolet light.Chalfie, the third of the GFP Nobel winners, realized the maintenance-free protein could be used to literally watch how creatures work. He proved with the intestinal bacterium E.
coli that GFP alone--with no fuel--glowed, and promptly started putting it into roundworms.Roger Tsien kicked it up a notch by reengineering GFP to be cyan, blue, and yellow. Yet more colors were found in fluorescent coral. He remixed these materials into glowing proteins such as "mPlum," "mStrawberry," and "mOrange."Though their inventions may have revolutionized the fields of medicine, biology, and chemistry, the fluorescent proteins also have creative applications, as shown above. Fluorescent proteins have also been used in the name of art to make sculptures out of glowing beakers and live glowing rabbits.
— Photograph courtesy UC San Diego via AP

7 Jun 2009

Sunday Spotlight: Earthlings

Nature, animals, humankind ... make the connection. That is the tagline of this award-winning documentary film (@EarthlingsMovie on Twitter) about the suffering of animals for food, fashion, pets, entertainment and medical research. I would like to share a few lines from their homepage that describe the documentary, its impact and its making.

“Considered the most persuasive documentary ever made, EARTHLINGS is nicknamed “the Vegan maker” for its sensitive footage shot at animal shelters, pet stores, puppy mills, factory farms, slaughterhouses, the leather and fur trades, sporting events, circuses and research labs. The film is narrated by Academy Award® nominee Joaquin Phoenix and features music by platinum-selling recording artist Moby. Initially ignored by distributors, today EARTHLINGS is considered the definitive animal rights film by organizations around the world. ..... Nation Earth was established to produce documentary films on socially urgent issues. EARTHLINGS, released in 2005, was the company's first feature film and is the first of a documentary trilogy. The company is currently at work on the second instalment, UNITY, which will explore the unifying force of consciousness found in nature, animals and humankind. UNITY is scheduled to be completed in 2009.”

Now I must warn my readers, as does the trailer of the documentary at the start, the footage in the documentary is very graphic. I had to stop watching the trailer half way through. But that is exactly the kind of “shock treatment” impact needed to get anything past our thick skulls. I’d say it is appropriately named “the Vegan maker” as it will not be surprising if you feel squeamish eating any kind of meat after you’ve watched this documentary. However, my view about this whole issue is very different from most people (as it is on many other topics like human history).

If we look around, we see that food chains exist on our planet, one species being dependent on the other for their dietary needs. Plants don’t consume any other species but simply CO2 and use sunlight. But from there upwards, someone consumes someone else, be it the herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. Nature has designed us all to consume one or the other of our fellow earthlings. So then how are us humans different? We should not feel bad about eating other earthlings for our nutrition. However, there IS a difference between us and all the other species that we have morals. The lion doesn’t think of the deer’s suffering before digging his sharp teeth into its tender flesh. But nature has given the ability to understand other earthlings’ suffering. Shouldn’t we be using that ability when dealing with other earthlings?

I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking, “So you’re telling me, it is OK to kill the animals only if we do it in a way that they don’t suffer?” Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying. One species killing and consuming the other is a law of nature. Because if you say I don’t want any killing to be done at all for my needs, then you’d have to stop eating! Now you’ll say, “I’ll turn vegan/vegetarian/herbivore.” So my question is, just because you don’t see blood pouring out of a tomato or a banana doesn’t scream and protest when you detach them from the plant, you categorise that as “not killing” them? Think about it. Aren’t we being biased in our definition of violence and killing? So I don’t get this whole point of being Vegan. You are still eating someone ... they’re just not as animate as some others whom us omnivores eat. Being herbivore or carnivore or omnivore is everyone’s choice. But no one should fool themselves in thinking they’re helping the planet by choosing to be herbivores. You're still using plants and animals for other purposes than food. If you really want to help the planet, strike a balance. Us humans have made this mistake too many times. We go all out in doing something and then when the ecosystem is out of balance due to it, we chose to completely stop doing it and feel proud of ourselves for stopping. No, that’s not how the Earth works. She wants a balance of everything. And all we’ve given here over and over again are extremes.

Because of our inherent intelligence, we have worked out ways of using our fellow earthlings for more than just nutrition. We make everything, from all sorts of basic commodities to absolutely unnecessary embellishments out of these species, plants and animals. So using these earthlings for food is only a part of our reckless consumption. What needs to stop is being reckless, not the consumption. What needs to stop is cramming of cows and pigs and chickens into “inhumanly” small spaces because we just need more of them. What needs to stop is making their life hell when they’re alive even if we are eventually going to kill them. What needs to stop is killing of snakes and seals and whales and tigers for the use of their respective body parts till only the last few of them remain on this planet. What needs to stop is capturing of animals from the wild and their confinement into cages for our entertainment, their abuse while being trained to do “acts” that nature never intended them to do. We need to acknowledge the right of other species to flourish on this planet and be able to live a good life. There are 6 billion of us on this planet. That’s a big number when it comes to making a difference ... only if we chose the right direction.

Update (12 Jun '09): Two of my blogger friends, Linda MB Hughes and Sandip Sen, got inspired by my blog post and have written their own posts about the movie and their feelings after watching it. Must reads!

19 Apr 2009

Susan Boyle, my hero!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

This woman is fabulous! I love her because she has shattered all the the preconceptions we modern humans hold about who should make to the top ..... which have nothing to do with the real talent of the person but their appearence! GO SUSAN!!!

18 Apr 2009

Facial touch-up Egyptian style?

[Image source: USA Today On Deadline blog]

As if the tonnes of make up the models wear for photoshoots are not enough, the pictures are then digitally touched up to make the faces and bodies even more (unrealistically) perfect before they go onto the glossy pages of glam mags or billboards. But, looks like our obsession with perfect looks is not so modern after all. German scientists that used CT scan to study a 3,300 year old bust of queen Nefertiti have found a hidden face beneath the one visible to the observer. The findings are reported in the Radiology journal. They are not sure at this point about why the original face was not left untouched and why some changes were made in the angles of the eyelids, creases around the corners of the mouth and a slight bump on the ridge of the nose.

From the few books I have read about Egypt, Egyptology and archaeology, I seem to remember that Nefertiti was one of the few queens renowned for their looks. So then, was this a case of ancient touch-up sculpting? Was Nefertiti's face "modified" to conform to her reputation? Who knows, but its an interesting food for thought.

10 Apr 2009

Making science fun

This is going to be a quick little post about something interesting I found on Twitter. Spangler Science's Twitter profile describes itself as "The coolest educational toys, science kits and hands-on science activities that make learning science fun." It is an endeavour started by Steve Spangler from Englewood, CO in the US that is a great resource of apparatus and ideas for kids to perform some really cool science experiments. Spangler takes the science out of the confines of a lab and makes in outdoor, fun activity. There are even field trips arranged such as 'Science at the sea'. Steve also has a blog that keeps his fans / users updated with new ideas. There is even an "experiment of the week" widget that anyone can install. The blog also gives links to his presence on other social networks, fun videos of experiments amongst other things. A website/service that has won the 2008 award from Edublog for 'best use of video/visual' is definitely worth a look. Whether you do or do not have kids, it is bound to make science fun for you!

And just as I finished writing this post, I came across this blog post by BadAstronomer Phil Plait about an artist who incorporates science in her paintings for kids! Tiffany Ard had been an artist and an award-winning designer for over 14 years, mostly creating corporate web sites and print pieces for giant faceless corporations. But now she draws pictures of microscopes and laws of planetary motion, to name only few, and conveys scientific concepts through them. They're sold to parents all over the world who want to make education of their kids creative and entertaining. Besides 'science art', she also does some other art work like Plexiglass paintings. Check her out!

4 Apr 2009

Within a blink of an eye

[Image source: Alan Sailer's flickr]

A few days back I posted about some really cool time-lapse videos on the internet. Today's post is about the kind of photography exactly opposite to that, the high-speed photography. Time-lapse photography squishes very slow processes into a smaller time-scale and make them interesting to watch. The high-speed photography captures the fleeting moments of a very quick process by using high shutter speeds that make some fabulous visuals. A friend shared this link with me a few days back that shows some impressive shots taken by Alan Sailer. He uses an interrupted laser beam to trigger the camera at the precise moment when a bullet passes out of a given object and captures that "fragile" moment just before the object is blown to pieces. As destructive as it sounds, when you see his pictures, you will be left with a sense of awe and respect for his work! I'm sharing just one of many such fantastic images of his which I'm sure will more than whet your visual appetite :).

24 Jan 2009

Frizions: Art emerging from science

Just yesterday I wrote about the polarised light in the context of how the artificial polarised light causes ecological pollution. However, today while browsing the New Scientist website I came across an article that portrays polarised light as an art tool! NASA scientist and artist Peter Wasilewski creates stunningly beautiful images with polarised light and ice in the process of freezing. And he calls them “frizions”. The article gives details of the process along with the link to a slideshow that showcases some of the magnificent pieces of art produced and to the website of the artists himself. One of the very few examples where art and science meet, it makes for a pleasurable viewing.

9 Jan 2009

World’s first animation!

Iran's 'Burnt City', called Shahr-e-Sookhteh, sits on the banks of the Helmand river along the Zahedan-Zabol road in the southeast province of Sistan va Baluchestan. A Bronze Age archaeological treasure trove, it was one of the world's largest communities about 4800 years ago, at the dawn of urban settlement. Based on more than 3 decades of excavation and analysis by the Iranian archaeologists, the city was built around 3200 BC, covering an area of 151 hectares, and abandoned over a millennium later in 2100 BC. The city experienced four stages of civilization and was burnt down three times. It took its eventual name because it was never rebuilt after the last fire.

This archaeological find is especially made interesting by the discoveries such as the oldest game of backgammon, metallurgical finds, world’s earliest artificial eyeball, human skulls showing signs of brain surgery, only to name a few. Information about each of these can be found online as well as in documents for those interested. However, the artifact that I found most interesting is an earthen goblet, with a diameter of 8 cm and height of 10 cm, which can be classified as “world’s oldest animation”. The images painted around the outer surface of the goblet, when it is turned around, portray a goat that jumps towards a tree and eats its leaves!!! The archaeologists have managed to make an animated piece on the basis of these images in the form of a 20-second film. This film is available for download. The images show movement in an intricate way that is an unprecedented discovery.

7 Dec 2008

Sharing the creativity: Gary Reef

image source: http://www.garyreef.com/

Even though my blog is usually about "sciencey" stuff, I thought of sharing some artsy stuff today. Gary Reef is an Australian contemporary artist who lives in Norway. I absolutely love his artwork! Its so original and creative that his videos do not fail to amaze its viewers even once. And what impressed me most about this person is his willingness to openly share his talent, knowledge and expertise with others! Very few people give so freely. I hope you enjoy watching his videos as much as do and get some creative satisfaction out of them :).

PS: I originally wanted to share a video of his, Wood art transfer, from YouTube but for some reason it wasn't posting to my blog. So the link to his channel is in the text.

5 Dec 2008

Awesome Christmas Light Show!

In keeping with the festive spirit of the Christmas season, I thought of sharing this AWESOMELY creative video :). Hope everyone who visits my blog enjoys it!