Japanese photographer Shinchi Maruyama throws water which are then photographed with high speed cameras to create fluid sculptures.
"As a young student, I often wrote Chinese characters in sumi ink. I loved the nervous, precarious feeling of sitting before an empty white page, the moment just before my brush touched the paper. I was always excited to see the unique result of each new brushing." (from artist's statement)
LINK to his homepage with images, videos and articles
Chaos theory has a bad name, conjuring up images of unpredictable weather, economic crashes and science gone wrong. But there is a fascinating and hidden side to Chaos, one that scientists are only now beginning to understand. It turns out that chaos theory answers a question that mankind has asked for millennia - how did we get here? In this documentary, Professor Jim Al-Khalili sets out to uncover one of the great mysteries of science - how does a universe that starts off as dust end up with intelligent life? How does order emerge from disorder? It's a mindbending, counterintuitive and for many people a deeply troubling idea. But Professor Al-Khalili reveals the science behind much of beauty and structure in the natural world and discovers that far from it being magic or an act of God, it is in fact an intrinsic part of the laws of physics. Amazingly, it turns out that the mathematics of chaos can explain how and why the universe creates exquisite order and pattern. And the best thing is that one doesn't need to be a scientist to understand it. The natural world is full of awe-inspiring examples of the way nature transforms simplicity into complexity. From trees to clouds to humans - after watching this film you'll never be able to look at the world in the same way again. Find out more about the secret life of chaos. (from description)
part 1 of 7 from the BBC 4 Series with Jim Al-Khalili
Babelgum has made this full featured film available for streaming on their site (see bottom of this post). You can find Cindy Sherman's work at her website HERE, but the film is more about Paul H-O and his GalleryBeat broadcasts at Manhattan Cable.
Paul H-O became a fixture of the New York art scene in the 1990s with his public access show GalleryBeat. Armed with a video camera, he attended art gallery openings, amusing some with his candid, witty assessments of their work, but also winning many fans. Among the latter was Cindy Sherman, the press-shy artist who is internationally acknowledged as one of the worlds most gifted and significant visual talents. Cindy invites Paul to her studio for a series of exclusive interviews and through these videotaped encounters, he gains unprecedented insight into her artistic process and a romantic relationship blossoms. Their initial bliss ends when Paul finds himself wracked with anxiety about his own personality becoming subsumed by his role as Cindy's guest at the celebrity-studded openings and dinners she regularly attends.
Filmed over 15 years and including interviews with a veritable who's who of the art and entertainment world (including Ingrid Sischy, John Waters, Robert Longo, Carol Kane, David Furnish, Danny DeVito, and Molly Ringwald), the film paints a vivid picture of the New York art scene that is also a witty, illuminating look at celebrity, male anxiety, and art. (source: YouTube byline)
It's an art to live consciously, which becomes a bigger task when it involves learning how to apply love to transform one's life. If you can overlook the ceremonies and the religious notion of the documentation, this film shows a fiercefully honest portrait of life's struggles, and in Ram Dass' case it is done with grace.
YouTube byline to the film: Ram Dass Fierce Grace is a 2002 American biographical film, directed by Mickey Lemle. It tells the story of Dr. Richard Albert's transformation from Harvard psychology professor to spiritual student/devotee and back again to teacher from the perspective of his massive stroke. Named by Newsweek as one of the "Top Five Non-Fiction Films" of 2002, Ram Dass Fierce Grace offers an engrossing, poignant meditation on consciousness, healing and the unexpected grace of aging.
The film begins in the present, as Ram Dass deals with the effects of a massive stroke that left him physically incapacitated, with impaired memory and speech. Interweaving interviews with fellow devotees of Indian guru and saint Neem Karoli Baba archival footage, Lemle looks back at his privileged childhood, the controversy surrounding his research in psychedelics at Harvard, his pilgrimage to India and devotion to Neem Karoli Baba, his work with the Seva Foundation in social action projects dedicated to relieving suffering in the world, and his impact as an author and guru to millions of followers.
An abstract sentence about life and transformation. Nokta . (Dot .) is an abstract short film project which has creative, distinctive style of production and is an improvisation of organic pieces while considering themes like power, control and luck. Using low-budget equipment and with the combination of actual camera shooting, 2d and 3d animation techniques, the film alters the reality and physics of the real world with the help of the liquid and dynamic simulations’ impact.
The making of Nokta . can be seen below:
LINK to Onur Senturk's website with many more videos, or click HERE to go to Vimeo.
Apparatus for minimal manipulation of photography. It was used in 2008 to project a cross onto the podium where Obama spoke in Berlin and to add Magritt's dove over mao's picture in China.
Video partially in German by Richard Wilhelmer (posted by volker racho) 1: Intro 2: Holy Obama 3: Magritt and Mao 4: Politics powered by O2
Fulgurator in action with unsuspecting tourists:
LINK to von Bismarck's homepage showing other art projects he's working on.
How can one really get to understand language? Stephen Wolfram's aim to understand the universe around us through computation has created some interesting art related themes.
Algeria born French philosopher Jacques Derrida (15 July 1930 – 8 October 2004) is known for his deconstruction technique. Below is an embedded movie by Amy Ziering Kofman.
Some quotes from him: "To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend."
"In Algeria, I had begun to get into literature and philosophy. I dreamed of writing-and already models were instructing the dream, a certain language governed it."
"Every discourse, even a poetic or oracular sentence, carries with it a system of rules for producing analogous things and thus an outline of methodology."
"I have always had trouble recognizing myself in the features of the intellectual playing his political role according to the screenplay that you are familiar with and whose heritage deserves to be questioned."
1:26 hour video in French and English with hardcoded English subs when French is spoken
You can click HERE to the download the calendar. The image is that of Gopal Das, the Living ECK Master in 3000 BC Egypt. It is said that he is the guardian of the fourth section of the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad.
Quote from the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, art by UEK Multimedia Artist.
"Each of my works is an investigation into presentation, composition and perception, not just to be heard, but to be felt. By creating situations the audience can relate to, a hybrid state is created, existing somewhere between my own personal history and that of the audience." --Yann Novak
Yann Novak is a sound artist and composer based in Los Angeles. Homepage MySpace Facebook profile
When the British Prime Minister Cameron visited the White House for the first time as PM, President Obama presented the him with a signed lithograph by US pop artist Ed Rucha. In exchange, Cameron presented Obama with a graffiti canvas painted by UK street artist Ben Eine. With this simple gift, Eine became an instant art celebrity.
"You know, we built relationships with the police who tried to catch us ... we send them postcards when we were traveling ..."
LINK to I Heart Radio which has over 750 radio stations. You can download an app to have it play on your Android, BlackBerry, iTouch/Pod/Pad. Or you can play it on your computer. At the moment it's to only way you can listen to CBGB Radio (see link below)
CBGB's direct LINK since it's not that easy on IHR (click on the arrow in the window on the right to play it) CBGB's bathroom (source: eastvillageradio)
Zs was founded in 2000 and is Sam Hillmer (tenor saxophone), Ben Greenberg (electric guitar), Tony Lowe (electric guitar), and Ian Antonio (drum set). While Zs' music has been variously categorized as no-wave, noise, and post-minimalist, it is primarily concerned with making music that challenges the physical and mental limitations of both performer and listener. Manipulating extended technique, unique instrumental synthesis, and near telepathic communication, Zs aims to create works that envelop the listener and unfold sonically over time, evoking unspoken past, present, and future rites and ritual. (source)
Zs live session recorded Wednesday March 17 2010, in a backyard in Austin, TX
The art activists call this BP sponsorship: Licence to Spill
Statement: "Apart from catastrophic spills like the Deepwater Horizon, there are a whole host of adverse impacts that are associated with the production of oil. On the local level, it often involves extreme forms of pollution for local communities, while regionally oil is frequently associated with greater militarization and conflict. Globally, carbon emissions, oil companies, and our collective dependence on the product they push, are taking us ever closer to the edge of climate catastrophe.
"In order for an oil company to produce oil and transport it to the global market, it needs either the support or the silence of the population in those areas of the world in which this takes place. Where the necessary support - or ‘social licence to operate’ - is not forthcoming, the ability of that company to carry out its business becomes seriously impaired..." Click HERE for the full report
Video performance art only in the video above. Background info, complainers, cleanup and interviews in the video below:
Word cuttings, or speed-reading as it may be, tell the story. Like in times of old when Dada came to the art scene.
Omer Fast works with film, video, and television footage to examine how individuals and histories interact with each other in narrative. He mixes sound and image into stories that often veer between the personal and the media’s account of current events and history. (source)
CNN Concatenated In 2002, Fast released CNN Concatenated, an 18-minute long single-channel video which uses CNN footage. The video is cut so that each word is spoken by a different newsperson. The pieces literally asks the viewers questions about media authenticity and give CNN a distinct voice. Below is a 10 minute sample:
The guy who designed 80% of your record collection:
Storm Thorgerson began his career as part of Hipgnosis before establishing himself in his own right. Creating visually beautiful and thought-provoking art, he is responsible for the iconic images associated with bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Cranberries, Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel, and 10cc, amongst others. As a result, since the 1970s his work has become synonymous with identifying pop culture.
The distinctive and edgy style of Thorgerson’s art has an element of "performance" to it. In essence, he visualizes his concept, creates the imaginative scene, and then captures it through the use of photography. In other words, his ‘temporary installation’ is caught on camera and then it is gone, leaving behind a photograph as the only evidence of its occurrence. It is these images that have graced album covers by the likes of Pink Floyd (Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon, Division Bell), The Cranberries (Bury the Hatchet), and Led Zeppelin (Houses of the Holy).
Thorgerson seems to take joy in engaging his audience and provoking a reaction — is it reality or is it fantasy? — and though many come to know his images before they know the artist, his work consistently strikes a chord in its viewers. In an age of digital technology, it is hard to believe that the metal heads featured on Division Bell were physically produced and not computer generated, or that the man in Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here was actually set alight.
Thorgerson has said, "I like photography because it is a reality medium, unlike drawing which is unreal. I like to mess with reality...to bend reality. Some of my works beg the question of is it real or not? I use real elements in unreal ways. Is the man really on fire? Why would he just be standing there? Who put the beds on the beach? Why? Why is there a cow on the cover? It doesn’t have anything to do with the album, or does it? A boxer dog in designer boxer shorts on a beach."
The exhibition is a retrospective of Thorgerson’s art, the beauty of which is realized with maximum impact due to the spaciousness of the gallery in which it is being shown. In addition to the limited edition signed prints, the original stain glass window with the Dark Side of the Moon image is also featured as are the spheres that were designed specifically for last year’s Pink Floyd-themed exhibition in Paris. In fact, this is Thorgerson’s first public appearance and showing of his work since suffering a stroke shortly after that event, and despite his ill health, he has continued to create interesting images. In essence, Thorgerson is a character who demands nothing but the best in his work and in those who work alongside him. The results speak for themselves. (source)
James Whitney with his brother John altered analogue computer equipment to give John the opportunity to create Lapis in 1966. James drew dot patterns for this film, but the camera was controlled by computer, allowing the images to be overlaid in multiple forms. The algorithmic, kaleidoscope like patterns, in combination with the sitar music, are mesmerizing and trance-full.
"In the early 1960s digital computers became available to artists for the first time (although they cost from $100,000 to several millions, required air conditioning, and therefore located in separate computer rooms, uninhabitable ‘studios’; programs and data had to be prepared with the keypunch, punch cards then fed into the computer; systems were not interactive and could produce only still images). The output medium was usually a pen plotter, microfilm plotter (hybrid bwn vector CRT and a raster image device), line printer or an alphanumeric printout, which was then manually transferred into a visual medium." (source)
HU Art Sound is an open-minded art group relating to the full spectrum of inspirational artistic expression aiming at encouraging and expanding our consciousness.
Paul H-O became a fixture of the New York art scene in the 1990s with his public access show GalleryBeat. Armed with a video camera, he attended art gallery openings, amusing some with his candid, witty assessments of their work, but also winning many fans. Among the latter was Cindy Sherman, the press-shy artist who is internationally acknowledged as one of the worlds most gifted and significant visual talents. Cindy invites Paul to her studio for a series of exclusive interviews and through these videotaped encounters, he gains unprecedented insight into her artistic process and a romantic relationship blossoms. Their initial bliss ends when Paul finds himself wracked with anxiety about his own personality becoming subsumed by his role as Cindy's guest at the celebrity-studded openings and dinners she regularly attends.
The film begins in the present, as Ram Dass deals with the effects of a massive stroke that left him physically incapacitated, with impaired memory and speech. Interweaving interviews with fellow devotees of Indian guru and saint Neem Karoli Baba archival footage, Lemle looks back at his privileged childhood, the controversy surrounding his research in psychedelics at Harvard, his pilgrimage to India and devotion to Neem Karoli Baba, his work with the Seva Foundation in social action projects dedicated to relieving suffering in the world, and his impact as an author and guru to millions of followers.
Click HERE to the download the calendar.
Click HERE to the download the calendar. 
Some quotes from him:
LINK to I Heart Radio which has over 750 radio stations. You can download an app to have it play on your Android, BlackBerry, iTouch/Pod/Pad. Or you can play it on your computer. At the moment it's to only way you can listen to CBGB Radio (see link below)
Picture source
Picture source
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