eye-dropper

The Arts & Culture department of Google has an interesting, intuitive and playful experimental application to play around with called Art Palette. The colour scheme of billions of paintings and other artefacts have been analysed and users can either browse serendipitously or submit images for comparison to find complimentary compositions.

taiyō no tō

Spoon & Tamago report that after months of repairs and renovations to redress years of neglect and to bring the structure up to earthquake code, the Tower of the Sun (太陽の塔) created by abstract artist Tarō Okamoto as the symbol of Expo ’70—the first world’s fair held in Asia, has been reopened to the public after a lengthy hiatus. The tower is located just outside of Tokyo on the grounds of a purpose-built park, and the interior houses a monumental art and educational display called “The Tree of Life” (which is particularly psychedelic and mind-expanding as well) and educates visitors on evolution and ecology. Be sure to visit the link up top to find out more and arrange a visit.

noreply

Our gratitude to Kottke who rummaged up this heartening article from the archives of the Atlantic regarding a municipal project in Melbourne that had some unexpectedly touching outcomes.
The superintendent of the city’s parks and gardens assigned individual, monitored email addresses to every tree on public and private land so that residents could report potential problems—like an errant branch threatening to snap a power line.  Instead, however, Melbourne was rather overwhelmed with affectionate and appreciative correspondence from humans to their arboreal neighbours. Most of the messages were one way, but city officials took the time to answer some of the senders’ inquiries, especially when there was a teachable moment—such as explaining the concept of gender in trees. I wonder if this initiative continues, and it is also positive to note that the interconnected Internet of Things is not just potentially paternalistic and judgmental but can also elicit notice, empathy and protective instincts and elevate things above their utility.

yōshoku

Via Hyperallergic’s required reading, we discover that though overshadowed by other culinary influences presently that Portugal has played an outsized role in world gastronomy. Dishes that we consider a tradition staple of Japanese dining—fried vegetables or tempura (天ぷら)—was introduced by Portuguese traders who had a presence in Japan for about a century until being banished in 1639 for proselytizing, the ruling shogunate believing that Christianity was a threat to a stable society.
The recipe adapted from peixnhos da horta (little fish of the garden) for battered and fried green beans came to be known as tempura is etymologically tied to Christianity, being a Lenten substitute for a filling meal for those too poor to afford actual fish as a break from fasting, coming from the Latin tempora which indicated the time for abstaining. Improvising Portuguese canteen operators also whipped up a spicy, wine marinated pork dish called carne de vinha d’alhos, which in the former colonial outpost of Goa in India informed the reimport vindaloo. Be sure and visit BBC Travel at the link up top for recipes and to learn more.