To die by your side…

and if a double-decker bus /crashes into us /to die by your side /is such a heavenly way to die /and if a ten-ton truck /kills the both of us /to die by your side /well, the pleasure – the privilege is mine

Especially when you are a fictional character popping out from the illustrated first-edition covers of Macbeth and Dracula.

Mourir Auprès de Toi (To Die by Your Side) is a short animation film made of 3,000 pieces of felt, all cut by hand by
Olympia Le-Tan and directed by Spike Jonze and Simon Cahn.

The story is set on a bookshelf of the famous Parisian bookstore, Shakespeare and Company and displays the encounter of two cut out figures wanting to be together.

See also:

• Your best bits
• A love story: cut in two
• The quest of an artist

Follow @itsasmallweb

A love story: cut in two

Whether you are in Paris or New York, love can always find you. In London. Beautiful video splitting the screen in two by JW Griffiths.

via Fubiz

See also:

• Just symmetry
• Good morning!
• Une promenade  à New York

Beauty is in the street

More than 40 years have passed since the French students occupied the streets of Paris, triggering one of the most important social revolts of recent history. I do not know what remains still alive from this era, except these beautifully designed posters, landmarks of political art and graphic design.

A group of art students, who called themselves the Atelier Populaire, produced hundreds of posters to encourage the protestors and to report on police brutality.

Beauty is in the Street is a visual record from May ’68 Paris uprising edited by Johan Kugelberf with Philippe Vermes (Four Corner Books).

via the Guardian

See also:

• The world, what a bloody place!
• The world is not a peaceful place
• People are open books: the Human Library project

10 + 1 ways to visualize lyrics

Really good songs have usually really good lyrics. And good lyrics stay with you. When we were at school we doodled them on our books and carved them into the desks. What do the digital natives do? Here are the best ideas (and, incidentally, really good songs for the most part) we found around the web:

1. Pick a photo, apply a vintage effect and write the lyrics in helvetica

Paris by the Friendly Fires (the Aeroplane version featuring Au Revoir Simone  kicks major ass, too)
(visual first seen at letlooselove, our title inspired by this)

2. Make a flowchart*

Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash
(visual first seen at Urlesque)
*but be careful not to be trapped on an infinite loop

See 9 more ways after the jump

Une promenade à New York

Voudriez-vous se promener dans les rues de Paris? Or would you prefer to walk on downtown Manhattan?  A lover of Paris wandering through New York, Vahram Muratyan, draws in his blog Paris vs New York, a tally of two cities parallel lines and challenges visually the clichés and contradictions of both cities.

See more after the jump

Naked in the city

Each city has its ruins and its deserted spots. Manhattan, Paris, Berlin, Philadelphia, Seoul. Istanbul.  New York-based artist Miru Kim wanders around abandoned tunnels, catacombs, factories, shipyards and hospitals to feel the skin of the city. She climbs on top of bridges and, in her photographic series Naked City Spleen, she reinvigorates the romantic notion of spleen by pointing out the feelings of depression and isolation that reside in each big city.

See more photos after the jump

Pieces in the air

In his Tronified series, Paris based editorial and fashion photographer Khuong Nguyen shatters all sort of appliances and let them float in the air.

I have nothing else to say but enjoy!

More photos after the jump

Read it elsewhere

This is an unnecessary introduction to a bunch of (interesting) links:

• A working place that inspires innovation and creativity: Pixar Studios (video) – devour
• Perhaps we should reconsider our food blog promise because foodies are the new hipsters – lost at E minor
• When we saw the Pixies live two years ago, we could feel the tension of them not getting along in the air; but could they be working on a new album after all? – New York Magazine
• Did you understand the end of Lost? Can you tie the loose ends? This guy will buy you breakfast if you do – Craigslist via movieline
• Buy Lars Von Trier’s camper on e-bay (he’s selling  it because he can’t stand the smell of diesel anymore) – ebay via vulture
• Stream PJ Harvey’s concert in Paris online (70 min video) – 24bit
• Eszter Burghardt’s edible landscapes - Eszter Burghardt via shortlist

Read it elsewhere

Tuesday links:

• Double meanings: the egyptian presidency website is under construction – egyptian presidency via boingboing
• Knowledge is not dead: global data are more than 295 billion gigabytes – bbc
• Facebook pretty much owns all the photos in the universe (ah! and women upload twice as many photos as men) – mashable
• Play the Great Gatsby but mind the waiters – great Gatsby game
• Paris, London, Beijing, and Barcelona through typefaces (videos) – albin holmovist
• Ridley Scott and 9 other directors who sold out – flavorwire
• 20 years since Twin Peaks: the exhibition – in the trees art preview

French baguette’s carrier

If by any chance you are wandering around Quartier Latin and you are passing by a ‘petite boulangerie’, do stop to buy a freshly baked baguette.  Now you can be sure that it will arrive in one piece at your table, thanks to Bag-ette, a bag made of a durable paper sac, designed by Neil Poulton.

via Design TAXI

We float

Franck Bohbot is a Paris based photographer. In his series levitation he puts everyday people, in urban settings, a few inches above the ground. Without any photoshoping, that is. He captures people as they jump, but the effect is that of an etherial stability.

tip: the photos must be viewed while listening to this (one of my favorite songs of all time):

See more photos after the jump

When stuck in an airport just sing

Mareva Galanter, currently on tour with Nouvelle Vague, sings an impromptu Mala Vida while stuck on a Paris airport.