paintception

Not only did this “slow meme” phenomenon remind us of the Droste effect (mise en abyme) in Annie Wang’s photography, this recursive challenge strikes us as rather uncharacteristically uplifting and positive, devoting oneself to an undertaking that’s bears our vulnerabilities while at the same time being an enriching exercise—honing goodwill and empathy as well as our painterly skill-set.

timeliness, objectivity, narrative

We enjoyed learning about the career of America’s first credentialed female photojournalist, Jessie Tarbox Beals (*1870 – †1942) through her assiduous documentation of Bohemian Greenwich Village. I especially liked her neatly written captions of the characters and haunts she encountered. The school teacher and hobby photographer got her first professional assignment from the Boston Post to take pictures of the Massachusetts state prison, teaching her husband the basics of the craft and bringing him along as her darkroom assistant, and went on—aside from opening a studio and gallery in the New York neighbourhood—to shoot such events as the Saint Louis World’s Fair and its Louisiana Purchase Exposition, as well as photographing presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, William Howard Taft and celebrities Mark Twain, Emily Post as well as their furry companions.
While earning her bona fides as a night photographer as well, Beals’ breakthrough also reminds us how physically demanding and perilous taking pictures was (and is still a risky business), hauling upwards twenty kilograms of equipment and keeping letter-sized glass plates on hand for each exposure.  Much more to see at Messy Nessy Chic at the link above.

exploratorium

As a celebration and showcase of the port city’s rich history of trade, manufacturing and research, the coastal metropolis of northern China, Tiānjīn (天津 – the delta of the Yellow River and literally meaning the “Ford of Heaven”), commissioned the international architectural studio of Bernard Tschumi to create a huge exhibition and conference space.
The perforated copper façade covered with portholes evokes the smokestacks of industry and will be the focal point of an urban revitalisation project that establishes a cultural centre in the Binhai New Area—just adjacent to the old town—and will be ready to receive its collections and first visitors in the autumn of this year. Learn more and see additional interior and exterior shots at Dezeen at the link above.

my god, it's full of stars

The inestimable Kottke directs our attention to the half hour National Film Board of Canada 1960 documentary “Universe,” which portrays the Cosmos as it would be experienced by a voyager barrelling through time and space, and was a cinematic touchstone for filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, informing the look and tone of his adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey. If the voice of the narrator seems oddly familiar, that’s because it is late actor Douglas Rain, renowned for his role as the voice of HAL 9000.

e mare libertas

We’ve had a passing acquaintance with the Principality of Sealand, one of the constellation of micronations whose territory consists of a disused anti-aircraft platform off of the coast of Suffolk, for a few years and even knew of the coup d’état and the power struggles, but we sorely failed to appreciate the outsized intrigues (recommended by Digg) that this rather long-lived, tiny princely state has experienced—with the overthrow and leadership in exile being a far more dramatic and stranger story than we had supposed.
In addition to this singular offensive, the micronation’s uncertain legal status and sovereignty has been co-opted by a rash of pretenders, including an operation to issue ten of thousands of passports in the name of Sealand, unofficial, unsanctioned internet presences, shell companies and claims of diplomatic immunity by dint of above fabricated associations.
For this dynastic enterprise that began as a pirate radio station to escape the hegemony of the BBC, subsequently proclaiming independence and creating all the trappings of statehood, it’s disheartening that it is yet attended by this persistent and darker, parallel version of itself and we hope that going forward, in keeping with the spirit of staking one’s independence, that the Principality is allowed to tell its own story.