The 72 Hour Cabin

In Dalsland, Sweden five small off-grid cabins are spread out over an island. Each cabin was created specifically for its environment and the design either enhances the experience of the surroundings or shields from it. In September 2017 five people from different countries were each assigned a cabin where they stayed for a 72 hour period and the effect of nature on their stress levels was monitored.

The cabins can be rented for short stays.

Read more: JeanArch

The Canadian Experiment

Toronto-based  Polyester Studio created this colourful animation about what it means to be Canadian for Canada's 150th birthday bash this year.


TIFF: The Canadian Experiment from Polyester Studio on Vimeo.

Via

Swedish Lego Bridge

The Alvsborg Bridge in Gothenburg, Sweden is held up by what appears to be pylons made of giant Legos. Madrid-based artist Christo Guelov's Lego Bridge is part of the Let’s Colour Gothenburg initiative, which recruits unemployed local youths and trains them to become professional painters while completing public art projects around the city.

Via Curbed

Music Video is a Photoshop Editing Timelapse

The new official music video for the song Do I Have to Talk You Into It by Spoon is a Photoshop editing timelapse. Over the course of four and a half minutes, frontman Britt Daniel's face is erased, restored, layered, melted and turned into that of a skeleton.



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The Art of Traditional Japanese Indigo Dyeing

BUAISOU was founded in 2012 by two Japanese indigo farmers and dyers, Kenta Watanabe and Kakuo Kaji, in Tokushima, Japan.  A team of artisans use natural centuries-old Japanese indigo dyeing techniques for their creations today.


BUAISOU. 2014-2015 from BUAISOU. on Vimeo.

Via 

How Vinyl Records Were Made In 1956

How are LPs manufactured today? Pretty much the exact way they’ve been produced for over 50 years. This video from RCA Victor demonstrates how vinyl records were made using step by step examples of the production process.



FYI: I recently visited Jack White's Third Man vinyl pressing plant in Detroit and watched records being manufactured. It's a cool facility. You should visit it if you have the opportunity.

More: Open Culture

Chandeliers Constructed From Recycled Plastic PET Bottles

Czech artist Veronika Richterov has been creating PET-ART(plastic bottle art) since 2004. She has constructed beautiful, fully functioning chandeliers and lamps from recycled plastic bottles that visually mirror the qualities of glass.The works are decorated with tulip-shaped light bulb covers, scalloped edges, and long, twisted segments of recycled bottles that imitate electrical cords.

See more:  Colossal

A New York Tenement Tour

In the nineteenth century many poor immigrants to New York lived in tenement housing. Two historic tenements on Orchard Street, home to an estimated 15,000 people from more than 20 nations between 1863 and 2000, represent the heart of the Tenement Museum. 12 different tours vividly convey immigrant experiences.



Via

Friction Table adapts to different spaces

Sheets of paper set in resin were used to create the Friction Table, a latticed structure by Heatherwick Studio, which "transforms to offer two forms" that can adapt to different spaces and needs.



More here

Richard Twice

This video tells the story of “shoulda-been” Richard Atkinson who learned to play the guitar after being involved in a motorbike accident that left him an amputee. Within two years, Richard released his debut psychedelic folk album but a disastrous gig led him to quit the music industry.


RICHARD TWICE from Matthew Salton on Vimeo.

Via It's Nice That

Giant Skull Chair

Chicsin Design on Etsy makes a skull chair  ($450) for those who like to lounge in the jaws of death.

Via Dangerous Minds

Crochet Tribute To Picasso

Italian yarn arts group Sul filo dell’arte has recreated Picasso's masterpiece, Guernica (above), in yarn.

Central to the painting, the horse dies in chaos and fear, representing an unequal
match between swords/cavary and warplanes/bombs.Created by Sul filo dell’arte

The group has posted a series of short videos about this project on their YouTube channel:



More: KnitHacker

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The Handful Of Tropes Used By Horror Movie Posters

Have you ever looked at a horror movie poster and experienced deja vu?  That's because most have common themes and imagery. Stephen Follows is a writer and producer who researches data and statistics in the film industry. He has posted examples of the most commonly used horror movie poster tropes, along with his findings on each.

More here 

Ladies and Gentlemen Senator Al Franken

If Senator Al Franken ever decides to quit politics he might consider a career in rock and roll. At a concert at Stockton State back in 1983 he showed us he could give Mick Jagger a run for his money.



More: Open Culture

A Carousel Ride Into 'The Twilight Zone'

Walking Distance was considered one of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone. It is the story of an ad executive who returns to his hometown in upstate New York where he encounters his 11-year-old self riding a carousel and realizes he has gone back in time. Now 60 years later carousel makers, Cortlandt Hull and Bill Finkenstein, are restoring the original Binghamton ride complete with paintings based on episodes of The Twilight Zone.

Read More: The Atlantic

London From The Sky

London is my favourite city and it's beautiful when shot from above.


London, 2017 aerial footage shot in 5K. Helicopter AS355 from JasonHawkes on Vimeo.

Via Londonist

Sunday Links

Hand-colored photograph of a tattooed Japanese laborer by Felice Beato, circa 1880s.Via Wikimedia

Epic Ink: How Japanese Warrior Prints Popularized the Full-Body Tattoo 

The Qhapaq Ñan road network: A 30,000km road network from the Andes to the Amazon

Bill Callahan, the only sad man worth loving Kottke has written this post about his favourite living, active musical artist with lots of tunes that make for perfect Sunday listening.

The Fies Files: A Fire Story A cartoonist responds—with art—to losing his home in the Northern California fires.

Valerie Stivers writes a column called Eat Your Words for The Paris Review where she creates menus inspired by literature. I enjoy it.

São Tomé and Príncipe: a travel adventure that's great, green and diverse I'd never heard of these islands off the coast of West Africa. They're nicknamed the African Galapagos and they sound like paradise. Pics here

Candy Corn Hasn't Changed Since the 19th Century

Elaborate Halloween Costume Tips from a 19th-Century Guide to Fancy Dress: Here’s a 19th-century guide to dressing for fancy balls, with costumes for witches, carrier pigeons, glowworms, and air.

Did you know that all British tanks since 1945 have included equipment to make tea? 55 Interesting History Facts You Won't Learn Anywhere Else. Fascinating.

How Does It Feel? An Alternative American History, Told With Folk Music: On Guthrie, Robeson, Seeger, Lomax, Dylan, the Red Scare, the fall of labour, and what folk music had to do with it.

Reason # 84 Why writing takes so long

‘Reality shrivels. This is your life now’: 88 days trapped in bed to save a pregnancy

Remembering Basquiat through stories from those who knew him Via

The Seventy-Four Best Entries in the Devil's Dictionary

The Rise and Fall of the Viking "Allah" Textile: Why should we care about whether a 10th-century textile says “Allah” or not?

7 Hotels Straight Out of a Wes Anderson Movie 

The Ghosts of the Tsunami: The 2011 earthquake and tsunami killed thousands in Japan. But the pain did not announce itself. Instead, it began to haunt those left behind.

Ernst Haeckel’s Trip to South Asia and Its Aftermath  A trip to Sri Lanka sowed the seeds for not only Haeckel’s majestic illustrations from his Art Forms in Nature, for which he is perhaps best known today, but also his disturbing ideas on race and eugenics.

15 of the World’s Scariest Travel Destinations

Here's What My Parents' 1974 Wedding Would Cost In 2017 Dollars Is the wedding industry a racket or have people's expectations become unrealistic? Via

Where Priests Get Their Clothes  Via

Suitcase Dioramas Of Homes Refugees Left Behind

UNPACKED: Refugee Baggage is a project created by Syrian artist Mohamad Hafez in collaboration with student and former Iraqi refugee Ahmed Badr. It consists of miniature, three-dimensional dioramas protruding from open suitcases that recreate the homes 10 refugee families were forced to leave behind.

More here

Matt Surelee Charts

Matt Shirley (@mattsurely) makes a chart a day which he posts on Instagram and they are brilliant. He has totally captured my feelings about running.

Junk Head

Here's a a trailer for Junk Head, a stop-motion animated film by first-time filmmaker Takahide Hori.



Via

Link to the 30 min film

Analyzing Time Travel in Fiction

Via Miss Cellania

If Stranger Things was Scottish

Beyond

This trippy viddy is a self-directed project by Vienna-based EGYD Studio that uses bold graphic design combined with cinematic 3D imagery.

BEYOND from EGYD on Vimeo.

Via Kuriositas

Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts

James and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour take turns choosing between answering very personal questions or eating items like deep-fried butter and bull penis. To my embarrassment I have to admit I found this entertaining.

Oh My Gourd!

This Halloween effort by Sean Ohlenkamp and Rob Popkin required carving hundreds of designs in order to pull off its stop-motion effect. Read about the process here.



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Tinder for Policymakers

Political Blind Date is a new TV show that sends Canadian politicians — who are at odds over issues such as marijuana or transit — out on a ‘date’ to see if they can find common ground.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, a cycling enthusiast, and Doug Ford, 2018 mayoral candidate, are definitely not two peas in a pod. Above they take to the streets over the issue of transit.
See the trailer here

Engare

Engare is a game about motion and geometry inspired by Islamic art and architectural forms.



Via

Photos of Monsters Straight Out Of Japanese Folklore

Biccharu: Ogawaji, Uozu, Toyama Prefecture © 2016 Charles Fréger

In Japanese folklore, yōkai are usually malevolent supernatural beings. French photographer Charles Fréger traveled to remote Japanese villages to document the kinds of yōkai portrayed in local rituals and festivals.

Saotome: Ayashi, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture © 2016 Charles Fréger

Kasedori: Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture © 2016 Charles Fréger

Link

Via

2 Sentence Horror Stories

New York-based artist and CollegeHumor head illustrator Jacob Andrews has plucked some of the most spine-tingling two-sentence horror stories from Reddit, and turned them into a short series of chilling comics.

More:  Bored Panda

Happy International Black Cat Appreciation Day!

Mark Twain's beloved cat Bambino

Here are a couple of links to help you celebrate:

Mark Twain's Cats  The cranky American writer kept as many as 19 cats at a time. Read the story of Bambino and others. Via Mr. Nag

History a la Carte for Black Cat Appreciation Day 2017 A collection of articles featuring cats in history, including Samuel Johnson's Hodge.

A Bike You Can Ride On Water

Manta5, a New Zealand-based company, is developing a hydrofoil e-bike called Hydrofoiler XE-1 that is designed to glide across any body of water. I want one!



Link

Kung fu Kitties

Japanese photographer Hisakata Hiroyuki takes action photos of cats that make them look like they’re doing martial arts.

More here 

The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception

I'm posting this for others like me who missed it in 2009.

In the 1950s the CIA hired magician, John Mulholland, to write a manual of sleight-of-hand and surreptitious signalling for agents to use in the field. Mulholland shared techniques of stealth and misdirection used by the professional conjuror that could be applied to espionage and was paid $3000 for his work.The manual was supposed to have been destroyed in 1973, but was recovered, declassified, and reprinted as The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception.

It is unlikely that either John Mulholland or Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA officer who authorized the creation of "Some Operational Applications of the Art of Deception" and "Recognition Signals," ever anticipated their manuals would become available to anyone without security clearances. Both men understood that their respective professions, as magician or CIA officer, required oaths of secrecy.

All images courtesy of The Boston Globe

Thanks to my FB friend Jennifer!

Spectacular Snakes

Photographer Mark Laita's Serpentine collection highlights the beautiful colours and textures of snakes. I admit to being an ophidiophobe but even I found these photos mesmerizing.

More here
Via

Toronto's Kensington Market Gets Its Own Heritage Minute

Neighbourhoods like Toronto’s Kensington Market have helped shape our country by providing newcomers a first stop in Canada. In the first animated Heritage Minute new arrivals transform a single store as it passes from generation to generation and culture to culture.

Futuristic Car Had Huge Spheres Instead of Wheels

Automobile design in the early part of the 20th century was inspired by the streamlined style of the Italian/Russian Futurist art movement. The September 1935 issue of Popular Science included the illustration above, showing off the car of tomorrow.

"A motor car that runs on air-filled spheres, instead of wheels and tires of conventional form, is the invention of a German designer. All parts of the new vehicle, he maintains, merge into a highly streamlined shape, thus minimizing air resistance. The globe-shaped tires require no mudguards, and dispense with the need of springs to absorb road shocks, also reducing skidding and serving as bumpers in the event of collision. Multiple air chambers prevent sudden deflation, with its attendant dangers, if a puncture should occur. In the proposed design, the car runs on a pair of pneumatic spheres at front and rear, and the driver balances it like a motor cycle by manipulating a steering wheel. Small auxiliary spheres may be extended to hold the car upright while it is standing still or getting under way."

 Via 

Technology and Typography Unite

Brazil-based graphic and motion designer Vinicius Araujo has envisioned an alphabet based on electronic brands from Apple to Zenith with each letter reflecting the best known characteristics of each company.

More here

Domino Tricks

Domino artists Hevesh5 and Kaplamino created this domino "screenlink" where each clip is built separately, then edited together to make it appear like one continuous chain reaction.



Thanks Bruce!

Lovely Pop-Up Cards

Pop-Up Cards by designer and paper artist Peter Dahmen



Thanks Bruce!

Britain's Toughest Girl Gangs

Livvy Haydock explores the secretive world of gang girls.

Via Holy Kaw!

Trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson's new film "Phantom Thread"

Set in the glamour of 1950’s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the centre of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock.



This looks fabulous. I'd like to see it when I'm in London in the new year.

Under Celebrates Marine Diversity And Serves Dinner

Snøhetta architectural firm has designed Europe’s first underwater restaurant on the southern Norwegian shoreline. Called "Under" (which also means "wonder" in Norwegian), it will rest directly on the sea bed five meters below the water’s surface and is built to withstand pressure and shock from the rugged sea conditions. The restaurant’s massive windows will offer a view of the seabed as it changes throughout the seasons and varying weather conditions.

Outside opening hours, parts of the restaurant will be dedicated to a marine biology research center. The building itself will become an artificial mussel reef as mollusks cling to it.

Read More

Via PfRC