The disappearing artist act

I am ambivalent about this. Is it ironic or moronic? Is it a critique of celebrity image, in this paparazzi infested world? Or is it a strained attempt to be the next meme? Here is the concept and you’ll be the judge:

Photographer Chris Buck had a side project. Once a photo shoot with an artist was completed, he would ask them to hide somewhere inside the frame and then he would take a photograph. The series is appropriately called “Presence“. Cleverly enough he asked witnesses to sign an affidavit affirming the presence of the artist. In the monograph of the series, this signed document is displayed across the photograph itself. An empty photograph and a legal document. What do you think?

Let’s do an experiment. Can you tell which artist hides in which photo? Do you feel their “presence”? (answers on hover).

Admittedly, Buck seems interested in the concept of the public image of the celebrity. In another of his series, named ISNT, he explores Alison Jackson-esque scenes with celebrity look-alikes. By the way, if you haven’t already, you should visit Jackson’s faux celebrity blog.

via Vulture

See also:

• The dark side of a fairy tale
• Behind closed windows
• Cinemagraphs: the art of the animated gif

Watching from above

Watching the city from above: “the constant flow of taxis, the merging of traffic, the waves of pedestrians crossing at the change of traffic lights, and the sounds of honking horns and sirens”. That is what fascinates New York-based photographer Navid Baraty in his amazing series of photos of New York City.

See more photos after the jump

Attention please!

via Care daily

London diorama

File this under: incredibly amazing.

Sohei Nishino is a very persistent photographer, to say the least. He roamed the streets of London by foot, took 4000 photographs printed them in his dark room and created this collage by hand (with a little help of the old scissors and glue). The end result looks like an aerial view of London, faithful to its topography, although it is made up from street view snapshots.

And I repeat: incredibly amazing.

Part of the Guardian Eyewitness Series

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

Hiding in front of the camera

What you’re looking for is often right in front of your eyes. And the best way to hide is to become one with the background.

Liu Bolin’s case is like that, but also totally different. He started painting himself as an act of resistance after the Chinese government shut down his business. Having lost his job, income and social status, he uses these magnificent camouflage portraits as a means to restore his strength and protect himself.

Liu Bolin paints himself and his clothes according to the chosen backdrop and then spends even 10 hours with his two assistants positioning himself in the right stance, until he becomes (virtually) invisible.

See more camouflage art 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

The neatness effect

In a world defined by entropy I can sense a trend of organizing things neatly. We saw maps that have been tidied up, we saw the insides of a typing machine aligned perfectly and now more things get organized neatly.

Things organized neatly is a tumblr blog with, well, things organized neatly:

Read it elsewhere

To sum things up:

• We’ve recently seen footage of an Amazonian uncontacted tribe what other uncontacted tribes are there, though? – wired
• The most influential twitter users in the arab world – Kovas Boguta
• 10 best film noir posters – where danger lives
• The many faces of Woody Allen – FlowingData
• Lazy archaeologists now use Google Maps – boingboing
• We’ve seen what goes in our favorite cocktails, now we’ve put them under the microscope, only to discover a beautiful, psychedelic microcosmos – bevshots via  npr

Arcade characters invade urban landscapes

Merging the digital with the real always captures our attention – as on this quirky video.

Illustrator Jamie Sneddon and photographer Kevin Rozario-Johnson do exactly that, in their series 8-bitscapes. They put iconic arcade characters in urban and other familiar landscapes. The end result is not simply a nerd’s delight. Their images have a sense of emergency and a haunting beauty.

The big apple

Imagine if the world could fit in just one apple.

via designboom

Read it elsewhere

Some laughs, some art, some beautiful Polaroids:

• Clean. Simple. Wet. Water by Apple – scoopertino
• Arrested Development paper dolls. LOL – flannel animal
• Most Wikipedia contributors are men – ny mag
• Van Gogh’s paintings as pie-charts – boing boing
• Francis Ford Coppola and the death of copyright: “Art will be free” – 99%
• Academic overachiever and notorious multitasker James Franco has his own college course – movieline
• Your favorite color is actually determined by whether you are near-sighted or far-sighted – design taxi
• Nostalgia. Tarkovsky’s Polaroids – riowang (thanks go to our friend George S. for the tip)

Almond blossoms are the new cherry blossoms

It’s time to lift your head from your computer and look outside your window. Almond blossom time is here!

We just love these precocious stubborn little flowers and, you’ve guessed it, their fragile, ephemeral beauty. So this is the theme of our February background.

We used MaLGusTo‘s wonderful photograph to create our background. You can download it here. You can enjoy more of MaLGusTo’s photography here.

The portrait of a blogger

What is your idea of blogging and of bloggers, in particular? Do you often imagine them in small and dark rooms, where they just sit and write their posts? Well, perhaps you are right, but you should definitively check Gabriella Herman‘s series of photographs,  Bloggers. She has managed to capture the moment of creation, where the only light of inspiration is the one that comes from the computer screen.

More portraits after the jump

Read it elsewhere

It’s link time, again.

• Egypt initially blocks Twitter and Facebook and now cuts off all access to internet but Egyptians are still tweeting for freedom –guardian/bbc
• it has happened. During the holidays kindle books outsold paperback books on Amazon – dvice
• 15 free, non-pirate, Hitchcock movies online – openculture
• you already knew that the Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech was brilliant, but now there is the infogram to prove it – fastcodesign
• apparently you can now earn a degree at The Beatles – ctv
• this, below, is a photograph (of soap bubbles), not an illustration; see more psychedelic images in science – discover

Etsy finds: snap it in an instance

Our obsession with the ephemeral is going strong. And nothing captures the trivial and the ephemeral better than an instant snapshot from a Polaroid camera.

Snap it in an instance etsy treasury list:

1. Polaroid Camera vintage style brass cuff bracelet by uniqueartpendants
2. Polaroid Coaster – Pink Monsta by justnoey
3. remember this album by OneFineDae
4. Aqua Polaroid Plush Camera by onelatenight
5. Polaroid Wood Brooch by craftyfolk
6. We Belong – Polaroid Love Card by lilyjanestationery
7. Polaroid SX-70 ring (Pick Your Color) by cbtscloset
8. Snapshot Necklace – Small by amybsjewelry
9. Snapshot Earrings by amybsjewelry
10. Polaroid postcard by GrandmaAndTheGnome
11. embroidered polaroid pocket journal by nowvember
12. Polaroid Camera Brooch by pannikin
13. Polaroid – iPhone 4 Decor Decal Skin Sticker by decalsworldofapple
14. Giant Coaster Table & Wall Art . Polaroid Camera by blueorder
15. polaroid camera stud earrings by wishbowl
16. Once Upon A Polaroid Brooch by TillyBloom

Classic photographs: the LEGO edition

I have a weak spot in my heart for LEGO. You understand then that I was thrilled to discover these amazing recreations of classic photographs by UK based programmer-turned-photographer Balakov.

Balakov's LEGO reconstruction of the famous 1932 photograph "Lunch atop a skyscraper" taken by Charles Ebbets