It always seems like we should show the illustrators and authors of children’s books more love. Personally, I credit folks like Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, Bill Watterson, Maurice Sendak and Shel Silverstein for stretching out my imagination as far as it would go when I was a kid. I suppose what distinguishes the great from good in that category are the books you can flip through fifteen or twenty years later and still be blown away by their creativity or their power to convey complex ideas in deceptively simple ways.
Whether or not it’s intended as a children’s book, in the traditional sense of the word, Rop van Mierlo‘s wordless Wild Animals collection has that same sort of classic feel and elegant simplicity to it. Billed by van Mierlo as “a wild book for civilized people” and “a sophisticated book for wild people”, Wild Animals is a collection of gorgeous watercolors, done in a playful, gestural style that almost recalls Rorschach inkblots. Aside from that, the award-winning work is self-published, and now in its second printing. Read on for a closer look inside, or cop here.
Maybe it’s just the expert work of a few different photographers I’ve seen. Or maybe it’s just that Iceland is so god damn gorgeous that you could show up with a disposable and come out with a phenomenal batch of pictures. Bon Iver’s “Holocene” video, directed by Nabil, definitely seems like a case of the former, and I’d have to say these do too. In any case, it’s pretty cold outside, and coming across these semi-anonymous images, credited only to a Flickr page under Hlaus today, they seemed seasonally appropriate. Shot this past summer, the shots capture the rolling hills, landscapes and mountain ranges of Iceland in a powerful way. If the word “breathtaking” wasn’t so played, it might come in handy here. More from Hlaus here for now. Someday we’ll be out there too.
Sometimes it takes a video like this to remind us how little we know. We humans think we’re so superior, the masters of our domains some would say. But if you put us in the ocean, what would happen? Wrap City Records. That’s why I’ve got love for all the sea creatures out there. The starfish out there shining. The sea otters holding it down. And the mimic octopus, one of the ocean’s greatest magicians. Able to alter its appearance to mimic other animals depending on the situation, it’s hard not to write off the octopus’ abilities as just plain magic. Or maybe that’s evolution.
You have to give it to the artists that go above and beyond. Earlier in the year, for Justin Vernon, that meant giving us one of the year’s coolest albums, a follow up to his debut that wasn’t just self-assured; it was gorgeous on all fronts. Now, as the year’s starting to wrap up, Bon Iver’s Bon Iver will see a deluxe re-release on Jagjaguwar, which naturally, is accompanied by a full-length visual for every song, billed as the “comprehensive vision for the record captured in moving picture”. Like the music its accompanied by, each video focuses on feel and atmosphere, using natural scenery and texture to make its distinct impression. Kaleidoscopic images, flowers blooming, waves crashing, smoky fog — it’s all in the interest of creating an experience. Read on for the rest.
Who knows whether this tumult of triangles inscribed in stone, first brought about by nature and then by art, does not contain one of the secret cyphers of the universe? Sometimes contemplating one artifact or idea about nature can go a long way. For French literary critic and philosopher Roger Caillois, it was the “writing of stones”, the patterns inscribed into ancient stones and minerals, and revealed by polishing their surfaces, that got him going.
Strange and sometimes convoluted, Caillois’ writing still manages to be engrossing and thought-provoking, exploring what the book describes as “the impact these configurations have had upon the human imagination throughout history”. Aside from that though, the images are gorgeous, providing a close up look at the natural beauty of stones. Below are a few selections.
I suppose you never know when you’re going to stumble on an extraordinary place. Luckily for us, members of Vice’s staff seem pretty intent on seeking out some of the strangest places the world has to offer. Perched high on a hillside in the Catalan countryside in Spain lies the life’s work of Josep Pujiula, a giant wooden maze, completely integrated into the natural scenery around it, and peppered with geeked up, psychedelic art.
Trekking out to the labyrinth’s remote location, and even giving it a shot himself (despite some reasonable safety concerns), Vice’s Toni L. Querol got the chance to hang with Pujiula and pick his brain about the strange history of the structure, a piece he’s purportedly destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. Personally, I can’t help but be curious about places like these, and the people who take the time to create and maintain them. A piece of art on a grand scale? An obstacle course? A place to do drugs? Either way, Josep’s labyrinth is worth taking a look at.
All the lights at Coachella were pretty dope. I’m also pretty partial to the fireworks night at the Coliseum in Oakland. Still though, try as we might, time and again, humans just aren’t even close to fucking with nature when it comes to putting on a spectacle. Sometimes it’s on a small scale, and sometimes it’s on the most gigantic one imaginable, but it seems like the natural world is always a source of inspiration if you’re looking hard enough. In her latest project, Belgian photographer Katrien Vermeire took the time to focus on a a heavily populated community of fireflies, capturing them in all their glory. A simple concept executed to perfection, Godspeed is a solid documentation of one of nature’s most impressive displays. Time to find a place like this.
A little perspective goes a long way. And as is usually the case when I run into something that reminds the vastness of the universe, I’m also reminded that it’s bigger than just me. Aside from being a leading proponent of the turtleneck, Carl Sagan was also one of the wisest, most insightful minds in popular science over the last century or so, and valuable perspective oozed out of just about every segment of Cosmos, his now-legendary 1980 PBS series. Looking back from 2011, it’s easy to be cynical about Sagan’s wide-eyed wonder, or his idealistic tone. It can’t all be as simple as he made it sound…can it? On the other hand, it’s just as easy to be inspired by his radical curiosity, imagination and vision. Like perspective, there’s no telling where a little of each of those might take you.
I’m not always sure what to make of animals in captivity. On one hand, there are some obvious reasons to be conflicted about commodifying and organizing nature for our own purposes. On the other hand, it has its perks. Speaking from personal experience, I know having firsthand access to the wonders of the world at places like the Oakland Zoo or the Monterrey Bay Aquarium had to have an impact on my imagination as a kid. Tiny Oceans, a photo essay by photographer and graphic designer Ashley Oostdyck captures that phenomenon taking place, while also offering an objective, yet original perspective on one of our culture’s more peculiar institutions.
It’s hard not to be impressed with Nabil Elderkin. One moment, it’s a high profile video for Yeezy or Frank Ocean. The next, it’s a foray into international photojournalism in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. Over the past few years, few visual artists have had such consistently imaginative output. So given the fact that both he and Justin Vernon are coming off such impressive creative periods (not to mention their mutual ties to Mr. West), it only makes sense that Nabil would tackle the visuals for “Holocene”, one of the more evocative songs from Bon Iver’s self-titled opus.
“I could see for miles, miles miles”, Vernon tells us. So what better place to film a piece than the Icelandic wilderness? Capturing icy mountain ranges, rolling clouds and green fields, Nabil’s sense of scenery is nothing short of breathtaking, providing the song with a backdrop just as expressive, and just as gorgeous.
There’s something vaguely inspiring about these images. Maybe it’s the mere fact that an entire solar system, nine light years long, can be reduced in our visual field to resemble a necklace. Maybe it’s something about the vastness of human potential, and how the Hubble Telescope, a human invention can give us a glimpse at something so far away. Or maybe it’s that cliche saying that looking into the sky is like hopping into a time machine, replaying events that unfolded thousands of years ago. All my Sagan-inspired, amateurish description aside, the Necklace Nebula, recently captured in all its glory by the Hubble Telescope, is a pretty extraordinary sight. Read on for some more official insight.
Where do we draw the line between human and animal? For anyone who’s ever felt they connected, communicated with, or understood a pet or another animal, it’s a question you’ve probably explored before. For Nim Chimpsky, exploring the complexities of that question shaped every aspect of his life. Originally conceived by Columbia professor Herbert S. Terrace in 1973, Project Nim placed Nim, a chimpanzee, in a human family, raising him in many ways as a child, in an attempt to refute linguistics expert Noam Chomsky’s theory that language was inherent only to humans.
Project Nim, released just a few weeks ago in select theaters traces the story of Nim, his family, and the pseudo-scientific research that came to characterize the study as a whole. That Nim had an lasting, immense emotional impact on the people around him makes his story powerful. The impact the study had on Nim, on the other hand, make his story disturbing, a testament to the limits of scientific inquiry, or simply a cautionary tale about the implications of truly delving into such a complex question. Either way, this is looking like a must see. Hit MORE if you need more convincing though.
Jellyfish Lake is located on Eli Malk island in the Republic of Palau. Twelve thousand years ago these jellyfish became trapped in a natural basin on the island when the ocean receded. With no predators amongst them for thousands of years, they evolved into a new species that lost most of their stinging ability as they no longer had to protect themselves. They are pretty much harmless to humans although some people with very sensitive skin may get a minor sting from them. If you are allergic to jellyfish you should wear a wetsuit or protective clothing.
These fascinating creatures survive by sharing a symbiotic relationship with algae that live inside of them. At night, the jellyfish go down to the depths of the lake where the algae feed on nutrients. During the day, the jellyfish come back to the surface and follow the sun across the lake in a massive migration. The algae convert the energy of the sun via photosynthesis into a sugar that feeds the jellyfish.
Looking at the way most of us were educated, it seems like the rigid boundaries between art, science, religion and philosophy we grew up with were pretty arbitrary. Granted, each one has its relative strengths. But in examining the ways in which ancient cultures understood the world around them, it’s pretty clear that the most powerful works managed to combine all of those elements. Explaining and Ordering the Heavens, an online exhibition made available by The Library of Congress, is a great way to explore the diverse history of theories at hand. Collecting various maps, charts and other documents from eras and regions as diverse as Renaissance Italy, the Aztec empire and Ancient China, the exhibit is a fascinating look at the wide variety of ways in which humans have represented the universe visually.
Sometimes the coolest art isn’t completely the artist’s doing. There’s a certain beauty and humility in letting nature or the universe create something for you, simply by running its own course. That’s definitely the case with Lakes and Reservoirs, a recent project from photographer and visual artist Matthew Brandt. The collection features photographs of bodies of water, which after being taken, were dipped by Brandt into those very same bodies of water. The result is a group of images twisted, distorted and discolored by water, which interestingly enough, came out visually stunning. I suppose all you need to get started is an idea. You never know what you might end up with.
