5 things I learned today

Lego Stop-motion Thriller

Ryan Nance — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:58:26 +0000

Truly outstanding use of LEGO stop-motion.

Awesome Animated Nature GIFs

Ryan Nance — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:45:15 +0000

28-year-old Marinus from the Netherlands has been making these animated GIFs, I presume to make the point that animated GIFs are not just awesome and funny, but awesome and more awesome.

"I am bored, therefore I make GIFs" -René Descartes (1596-1650)

These are just a small portion of them. Catch them all on his blog: Head Like an Orange

Song of the Day - Fall Over by Banks

Ryan Nance — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:30:10 +0000

From Banks label's page:

"Effortlessly balancing her gift for honest, poetic perspectives on love and humanity with a voice that gained her overnight attention from the music industry’s most important curators – Banks is poised for massive things in 2013. Drawing from inspirations like Fiona Apple and Miss Lauryn Hill, Banks focuses on the duality of soulful earthly emotion and ethereal atmospheric sounds. The Los Angeles native and self-taught pianist, vocalist, and songwriter will release her debut EP on IAMSOUND in early 2013."

Get the track »

Luminescent Underwater Sea Creatures from Joshua Lambus

Ryan Nance — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:15:56 +0000

Hawaii-based photographer Joshua Lambus has created this collection entitled Blackwater.

Lambus explains:

"Now being underwater I'm inundated with stories, struggles, triumphs. Seeing our fragile ecosystem inch ever closer to the verge of destruction pushes me to continue my work, not only for artistic value, but for a far greater purpose. I hope to tell a story and ask for help for those without a voice."

Also see Gorgeous Underwater Photos of Vibrant Jellyfish

via My Modern Met

Incredible 3D Latte Foam Art by Kazuki Yamamoto

Ryan Nance — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:05:46 +0000

Kazuki Yamamoto creates these astounding piles of foam to make three dimensional designs.

via Visual News

Life on a Bike by Guillaume Blanchet

Ryan Nance — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:08:22 +0000

From the filmmaker, Guillaume Blanchet:

"I love being on a bike, it helps me feel free. I get it from my dad. After days and days of cycling the streets of Montreal, come cold or sun, or even a little frightened, I dedicate this film to him."

via Lost at E Minor

New Geometric Project Mural from Felice Varini

Ryan Nance — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:20:25 +0000

Know for his large scale projections of geometric forms onto rooms and exterior spaces, Swiss artist Felice Varini's latest work at the Grand Palais in Paris went up just last month.

via Feel Desain

Gravitational Radius by David Adey

Ryan Nance — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:18:29 +0000

Digital printouts of fashion imagery from various places online, laser-cut and pinned to a foam panel.

via Faith is Torment

Amazing Symmetrical Trees by Oliver Delgado

Ryan Nance — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:15:08 +0000

Oliver Delgado explains that despite seeming unreal, these are genuine photographs not digital montages.

“all images are real. I only adjusted levels in Lightroom”

via Illusion

Funny and Entertaining Animate GIF movies from Guillaume Kurkdjian

Ryan Nance — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:44:40 +0000

They really do play like little looped movies, these animated GIFs from Guillaume Kurkdjian.

via Bisous Les Copain

Patterns in Urban Spaces in Photos by Jared Lim

Ryan Nance — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:29:36 +0000

Singapore-based Jared Lim on his project:

"Urban Exploration consists of photos I took during the course of my full-time, travel-related career. Since most of the places I travel to are major cities, architecture is the prevailing theme. I have loved geometry since I was a kid. Even when I was young, I loved to create repeated patterns and designs at school."

See also Patterns in Urban Architecture

via My Modern Met

Young Daughter Models for Photographer's Re-creation of Famous Paintings

Ryan Nance — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:10:08 +0000

Melbourne-based photographer Bill Gekas has his young daughter fulfill a lot of roles in this series of photos re-creating these famous paintings.

via Lost at E Minor

A Panoramic Photo Stretching 6,000 miles from Russia to South Africa

Ryan Nance — Mon, 20 May 2013 02:07:29 +0000

6,000 miles in length and 120 miles wide, this panorama stretches from East Russia to Northern South Africa. NASA calls this work of art ‘The Long Swath’, and it comes in at 19.06 gigapixels.

The full 15 min version, if you have the time, is worth it. The continuous shot shows direct and immediate comparisons and changes on the earth's surface.

You can view the full interactive version on Gigapan, watch the tour video, view the entire panorama in 15 minutes, or load it up on Google Earth.

via PetaPixel

The World Seen From Above Captured by Cameron Davidson

Ryan Nance — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:58:34 +0000

Based in Washington D.C., Cameron Davidson is an aerial photographer whose work has been featured in such publications as National Geographic, Vanity Fair and Smithsonian Magazine. To see more of his work, visit camerondavidson.com.

See also Kite Aerial Photography

via Visual News

Sunday 2 pm for The Great Beyond @ Beyond Baroque

Ryan Nance — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:39:46 +0000

If you are in the Los Angeles area this Sunday May 19, you should catch my reading at 2pm as a featured poet for the Great Beyond at Beyond Baroque On Venice Blvd in Venice.

Macro Insects by Photographer Nicolas Reusens

Ryan Nance — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:53:24 +0000

Photographer Nicolas Reusens uses a technique known as focus stacking — combining several images taken at different depths of field. These photos are from Costa Rica, Malaysia, South Africa, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico and more.

Post-Punk Superheros by Billy Butcher

Ryan Nance — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:17:13 +0000

There is something so pitch-perfect about this work from mashup artist Butcher Billy that elevates it. Certainly its style and wit help quite a bit, but even more than that, there is some thing about identity and fame here. Just great.

Visit Billy’s Behance for more work.

See also Super Secret Lives & The Justice League of Parks and Rec

via Chome Yellow

Authors' Handwritten Charts and Outlines

Ryan Nance — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:57:22 +0000

Norman Mailer’s character timeline for Harlot’s Ghost.

A lot of the work of novel making is the handling of an immensely complex imaginary system of people, incidents and actions. Not surprising, a lot of writers resort to charts, outlines and graphs to handle it.

See also Harsh First Reviews of Now Cherished Books

Joseph Heller’s chart outline for Catch-22.

J.K Rowling's chart for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

James Salter’s outline for Light Years.

Sylvia Plath’s outline for The Bell Jar.

William Faulkner’s outline for A Fable — written on his office walls.

Part of Jennifer Egan’s plan for her short story “Black Box.”

Henry Miller’s manuscript plan for Tropic of Capricorn.

All the Books Mentioned

The Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath
Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition By Joseph Heller
A Fable (Vintage International) By William Faulkner
Tropic of Capricorn By Henry Miller
A Visit from the Goon Squad By Jennifer Egan
Light Years By James Salter
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix By J.K.: Mary Grandpre (Illustrator) Rowling
Harlot's Ghost: A Novel By Norman Mailer via The Paris Review tumblr

IndieGoGo Projects We Love - W.S. Merwin Doc: EVEN THOUGH THE WHOLE WORLD IS BURNING

Ryan Nance — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:32:26 +0000

See also: Air by W.S. Mervin - Exclusive Video and Photos

From the PROJECT PAGE:

Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin has won almost every major poetry prize that exists, including two Pulitzers. His legacy is based not only upon his writings, however, but also the singular form of environmental activism and land stewardship he embodies.

Now in his 86th year, Merwin has dedicated over three decades to preserving and regenerating native plants and palms on a 19-acre site on the north shore of Maui, Hawaii. Called the Merwin Conservancy, the preserve holds the most comprehensive private collection of palms in the world, with over 800 species. These tangible actions for the environment go hand-in-hand with his poetry, offering important insights for an era marked by environmental degradation, human disconnect with natural processes, and rapid climate change.

Merwin is a vibrant, humorous and challenging subject, and has not been involved in a feature documentary before. EVEN THOUGH THE WHOLE WORLD IS BURNING is an intimate portrait of a man who is often called a “national treasure.”

Contribute now (I just did) »

POTD - On the Coast Near Sausalito by Robert Hass former Poet Laureate

Ryan Nance — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:12:44 +0000

I was made to think of this poem by today's post: Moving Endangered Ecuadorian Frog Portraits by Peter Lipton

On the Coast Near Sausalito

by Robert Hass

1.
I won’t say much for the sea,
except that it was, almost,
the color of sour milk.
The sun in that clear
unmenacing sky was low,
angled off the gray fissure of the cliffs,
hills dark green with manzanita.

Low tide: slimed rocks
mottled brown and thick with kelp
merged with the gray stone
of the breakwater, sliding off
to antediluvian depths.
The old story: here filthy life begins.

2.
Fish-
ing, as Melville said,
“to purge the spleen,”
to put to task my clumsy hands
my hands that bruise by
not touching
pluck the legs from a prawn,
peel the shell off,
and curl the body twice about a hook.

3.
The cabezone is not highly regarded
by fishermen, except Italians
who have the grace
to fry the pale, almost bluish flesh
in olive oil with a sprig
of fresh rosemary.

The cabezone, an ugly atavistic fish,
as old as the coastal shelf
it feeds upon
has fins of duck’s-web thickness,
resembles a prehistoric toad,
and is delicately sweet.

Catching one, the fierce quiver of surprise
and the line’s tension
are a recognition.

4.
But it’s strange to kill
for the sudden feel of life.
The danger is
to moralize
that strangeness.
Holding the spiny monster in my hands
his bulging purple eyes
were eyes and the sun was
almost tangent to the planet
on our uneasy coast.
Creature and creatures,
we stared down centuries.

Hass' clear human voice, full of curiosity and attentiveness, has always been a deep source of inspiration for me. This poem from his first collection was one of the first of his I began to connect with in that way.