10-Month Restoration of a 355-Year-Old Painting

Charles Le Brun’s huge portrait of Everhard Jabach and His Family is 355-years-old and was showing its age when it arrived the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was covered in discoloured and uneven varnish, had multiple superficial scratches and structural damage had split the painting nearly in half.

Michael Gallagher, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge in the Department of Paintings Conservation, lead 10 months of  retouching, structural work and re-varnishing that restored the painting to its former glory.



The Met also documented the process in some 20 blog posts  on their website.

More: Colossal

Today's Roses

Canada's First Fabric Stamp

This fabric stamp celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag just in time for Canada Day. Aimed at collectors the stamp was designed by Kosta Tsetsekas and created by applying ink to a satin rayon fabric. The image also honours Joan O’Malley, daughter of a then government official, who sewed prototypes of the flag during Canada’s great flag debate. The back of the souvenir sheet displays Canada’s flag flying.

The fabric stamp is available on a limited basis with only 300,000 for sale.

More: Canada Post

The Comic Book Route in Brussels

Belgium has a long comic book tradition; Tintin, Asterix and The Smurfs are known internationally but there are 700 other comic strip artists in that small country. The Comic Book Route in Brussels began in 1991 in collaboration with the Belgian Comic Strip Centre. The path takes you through the inner city of Brussels as well as the neighborhoods of Laeken and Auderghem, where there are large murals of some of the most popular characters of Franco-Belgian comics.

More: Amusing Planet

Thanks Bruce!

Food Styling Inspired by Kubrick

Photographer Davide Luciano and food stylist Claudia Ficca teamed up to create a series of food images inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.
Their “All Food No Play” series includes “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” cherry pies, a frozen pea Overlook Hotel hedge maze and cupcake versions of the Grady twins. Creepily delicious!

Via The Awesomer

Cold War Doll Houses And Dioramas

This Flickr set by diepuppenstubensammlerin (the name means “the dollhouse collector”) features a series of galleries of German dollhouses from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Link

Via: perfect for roquefort cheese

Wallpaper Cake

Stylist and designer Alana Jones-Mann had a fabulous idea for a tropical print cake series.

If you want to bake it you'll need:

• Illustrator or Photoshop
• Design (in digital format [jpeg, pdf, psd])
• Edible paper + ink or a local edible printer
• Scissors
• Buttercream-frosted cake

Directions here

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The Story Of Dick Grayson

On this date gangsters working for Tony Zucco rubbed out a circus highwire team known as the Flying Graysons, leaving their son Dick (Robin) an orphan.



A similarly orphaned rugged virile older man, Bruce Wayne, took Robin in as a ward and lent him a few pairs of tights.

Via:Dr. Caligari's Cabinet

How to Make a Dandelion Paperweight

Don't spend big bucks on something you can easily make yourself. Here's how to make your own Dandelion Paperweight
How to Make a Dandelion Paperweight from Kirby J on Vimeo.

Thanks Bruce!

The Swiss Army Knife Of Camper Trailers

Like the TARDIS the interior of this camper is much larger than its exterior. Conqueror Australia's UEV-440 offers the ultimate camping experience. It has luxuries such as diesel hot water system, interior heating, air-conditioning, microwave, shower, fridge/freezer, full kitchen complete with cutlery and crockery and even a flat screen DVD player. All of these things are ingeniously packed into this compact and very rugged trailer. It might be just the thing to change my mind about camping.



Link
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Baking Bad and other culinary classics

Strasbourg-based engineer and video games designer Nicolas Knepper quit his day job to become a photographer. He started to take professional promotional shots when his wife, winner of French Masterchef in 2011, opened a macaroon bakery. Knepper then began to set elaborate stories among the pastries, and in his latest series, Hollyfood, combines gastronomy with his favourite films and TV shows.

Baking Bad (Breaking Bad)“In the TV show they sell crystal meth, and we
have these pastries covered in crystal sugar, so I built a story around that.
The liquid being burned in the background is sugar."

Cereal Killer (Friday the 13th)“That’s Jason from Friday the 13th.
This is just a pun on ‘serial’and ‘cereal’. I’ve also seen that in London there’s a shop called Cereal Killer that only sells cereal…”

More: The Guardian

Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends

Fine, keep marriage between a man and a woman. Gay men will marry your girlfriends.

The World Record Limbo Queen Limbos Under A Car

Twenty-two year old Shemika Charles holds the Guinness World Record for limbo dancing and can get down to just 8-1/2 inches from the floor. She trains for up to six hours a day to keep her body in top limbo condition. However the activity has taken a toll on her body and she sees a chiropractor once a week to have her hips realigned.



Link
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Floraform – an exploration of differential growth

Floraform  is inspired by the biomechanics of growing leaves and blooming flowers and explores the development of surfaces through differential growth. It began with an unusual flower, Celosia cristata, aka cockscomb.

Floraform from Nervous System on Vimeo.

The result is a series of 3D-printed sculptures and a jewelry collection generated through a computational process of differential growth.

Lettuce sea slugs use the increased surface area of their ruffles to store
chloroplasts that they steal from algae in order to photosynthesize.
This is called kleptoplasty.

More: Nervous System blog

Breathtaking Photos of China's Rice Field Terraces

French photographer Thierry Bornier's photos of China's landscapes are so spectacular that it is hard to believe his photographic skills are self-taught. His images of China's mountains, rivers, and rice field terraces taken from above look like abstract paintings or modern stained glass pieces.

More:  My Modern Met

North America's Oldest Footprints?

Stained blue through photo enhancement, one of the human footprints
emerges from the waterlogged gray clay.
Photo by Joanne McSporran

Archaeologists on Calvert Island in British Columbia have uncovered twelve human footprints that may be the oldest found in North America. The prints are at least 2,000 years old, but a piece of charcoal found in the first footprint yielded a radiocarbon date of 13,200 years before present. It's like taking a step back in time.

  A STEP BACK IN TIME from Hakai Magazine on Vimeo.

More: Hakai Magazine

Thanks Bruce!

What Happened To The 9-Year-Old Smoking In Mary Ellen Mark's Photo?

In 1990, photographer Mary Ellen Mark was sent to rural North Carolina by Life magazine to cover a school for "problem children." One of the most memorable shots was  "Amanda and her cousin Amy." "She's my favourite," Mark told British Vogue in 1993. "She was so bad she was wonderful, she had a really vulgar mouth, she was brilliant." The photograph recently made the social media rounds when Mark died last month.

Twenty-five years later NPR gives us an update on the disturbingly precocious Amanda.

Via

Ripples Coffee Art Printer

Have an emotionally caffeinated experience!

In less than 10 seconds Ripples puts incredibly detailed images on your cappuccino. Using cartridges filled with natural coffee extract instead of ink the machine borrows techniques from both 3D and inkjet printers.

Ripples will ship in September at a price of US$1000.



More: Gizmodo

GROWbag

GROWbag upcycles old billboard vinyl material into unique great looking planters. They are hand-made in Cape Town.

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Cross-Stitch Tatts

Turkish tattoo artist Eva Krbdk creates pretty tattoos that resemble cross-stitch embroidery.

More:  My Modern Met

Watermelon Toast

“Watermelon Toast” got its start at a Taiwanese establishment called Jimmy’s Bakery. It is made using green tea, strawberry, bamboo charcoal and food colouring. The bakery makes 100 loaves a day, which makes 1500 slices of watermelon toast.

If you'd like to make your own Watermelon Look-a-like Raisin Bread you can find instructions at No Frills Recipes.

More: Kotaku 

Thanks Bruce!

Rice Ball Kitties

Who says omusubi (rice balls) have to be round? This kit called Omusubi Nyan (nyan being the sound of a cat meowing in Japanese) lets you make adorable rice ball kitties.

Just US$7 at Amazon Japan



More:RocketNews24

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Three Schoolchildren Invent Condom That Changes Colors When STDs Are Detected

A thirteen year old and two fourteen year olds in England just won a prize for best health innovation for designing a condom that changes colors when it comes in contact with sexually transmitted infections. It turns green when it detects chlamydia, blue for syphilis and a yellow when it detects herpes.



More: Geekologie

The Corset Work By Tamar Stone

New York based visual artist Tamar Stone has a history of spinal curvature and from the ages of 13-18 was forced to wear a brace 23 hours a day; some years later a herniated disk found her wearing a corset again. Her own experience with physical restrictions inspired The Corset Work series which addresses issues of body image and self esteem.

 

The untitled Pink Corset Book, 2000

What to Wear, Vol. 1: The Cultured Waist (Her Valiant Fight Against Time)

Health, Strength, Grace and Symmetry, Vol 1: Muscular Symmetry
and Fine Condition...

Via Blort

The Polaroids of Andrei Tarkovsky

The late Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) was as adept with still Polaroids as he was with film.  His haunting and evocative photos taken in Russia and Italy between 1979 and 1984 have been compiled in the book Instant Light: Tarkovsky Polaroids published by Thames and Hudson. 

More: Gwarlingo 
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New PBS Documentary About The Infamous 1977 Blackout

Blackout is a new American Experience feature, with archival photographs and footage of the blackout in New York City in 1977. Here's the trailer:

Executive producer Mark Samels says, "The 1977 blackout reminds us of how easily we take things for granted. We expect the lights to turn on, the garbage to be picked up, and the trains to run — all these systems keep our daily lives going. But when a city is plagued by crime, unemployment, reduced services, and growing anger, an event like a blackout can be the spark that ignites a fire. The thin crust of civilization is suddenly gone and we discover that urban life is much more fragile than we thought."

More: Gothamist

Siri Explains The Art Of Voiceover

What does Siri really sound like? Susan Bennett, the original voice behind Siri, explains voice acting in 4 voices.

Asian Super-Girls

Yuko Shimizu  is an award-winning Japanese illustrator based in New York City. Her Asian Super-Girls series features kick-ass Asian heroines.

You can purchase her DJ Geisha iPhone Case to fund one year of clean, safe water access for someone in need.

Unravel

"When people in the West throw their clothes away, their cast-offs often go on a journey east, across the oceans, to India’s industrial interior.
In her film Unravel, Meghna Gupta traces a humanising path through this little-known phase of the global supply chain." 

Here is a trailer for the film:
Unravel - Trailer from Aeon Video on Vimeo.

Unravel won awards at the Brief Encounters Short Film Festival, RiverRun International Film Festival and Women’s Independent Film Festival, among many others.
Full video: Aeon
Via: Unconsumption

'Jellyfish-lamb' Eaten By Mistake

This lamb is not Ruby the Jellyfish lamb. Photo: Marc@s/Flickr

Ruby, a fluorescent lamb that had been genetically modified with jellyfish protein to give it transparent skin, ended up mistakenly being eaten in France, even though it was only meant to be used in research, reports said on Tuesday.
Disgruntled employees are believed to be responsible for Ruby ending up on someone's plate.
More: The Local

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