roomthily

thefiftyeight:

Alighiero e Boetti - Mappa (planisphère), 1983

McKnight Artist Fellows: State of the Artist

above: cumulative path of an artist’s career

artandsciencejournal:

Mark Nystrom’s Wind Drawings

Inspired by the simple sight of a leaf dancing across snow, American artist Mark Nystrom created his elegant Wind Drawings series in which a pen equipped with sails records one day’s wind conditions. Visual interpretations of wind and other invisible natural phenomena are always fascinating, and Nystrom’s drawings are no exception as they begin to characterize, even humanize the wind. While some drawings show clear patterns — implying a strong wind from a consistent direction — others are erratic and confused. One drawing from a very calm day only registers a tiny, barely visible, speck of movement.

You can look at more of Nystrom’s wind explorations and other projects at his website here. 

- Erin Saunders

i would like a pen attached to sails.

Ocular Revision (Paul Vanouse)

The first images that I am creating with the circular DNA electrophoresis rigs are based upon hemispherical maps of the world.
These “Genetic Maps” could be interpreted as simplistic form-based puns in which the circle is a visual metaphor for a heavenly body like the earth.  But at a deeper level they call attention to ingrained metaphors such as “genetic mapping”, which are problematic because “mapping” implies (distanced) simplification, abstraction, and exploitation (i.e. political, and economic maps of the world).

unproductive:

Cartogram #2 by valbritton on Flickr.

The Daily Dish (Klari Reis) - 365 hand painted petri dishes

Protista Imperialis (Byron Rich) - 

The highly symbolical work of art encloses an algal world map, which is extremely sensitive to user’s engagement. Viewer (curator) is supposed to keep a close check on algal growth. However, if user shifts his priority and starts neglecting it, the sculpture decays into nothingness in few days. For recording user interaction, the sculpture relies on motion-sensing technology. If a user is not actively involved, the contraption generates high frequency tone that mitigates “algal growth on a molecular level”.

via Gizmo Chunk

Theo Jansen’s Rhinoceros Strandbeest

via The Brothers Brick

it walks

Meeting Points

A study of escape routes by foot, in all directions. Up to an hour. Wintertime. Moving discreet, not getting noticed, not running, staying cool. No trespassing. Keeping outdoors, avoiding ski tracks, deep snow, thin ice.

[…]

The coloured circles show how far the protagonist have walked from his starting point after 1 minute (small red circles), 5 minutes (orange), 15 (yellow), 30 (green) and 60 minutes (blue), on each of 32 routes.

by Torgeir Husevaag