Neanderthal Sculpture Garden

A mysterious series of rock formations recently discovered in France have been identified as potentially religious or cultural work of Neanderthals from over 175,000 years ago, over four times older than the oldest cave paintings. Inside Bruniquel Cave in southwest France, researchers have found formations of broken stalagmites that appear to have been arranged intentionally, and are scorched in places with fire. These findings suggest that Neanderthals were not the brainless brutes we think of them as, but similar to us in their capacity for culture.

The study, led by Belgium-based scientist Sophie Verheyden, cites, “The regular geometry of the stalagmite circles, the arrangement of broken stalagmites, and several traces of fire,” as well as their location over 1,000′ into the cave to suggest mastery of the environment, “which can be considered a major step in human modernity.” Uranium dating (more accurate than carbon dating) indicates that these rock circles were made 176,600 years ago makes this feat very impressive. We know that Neanderthals could make markings resembling abstract art and use fire, but they’re not known for exploring caves past the reach of sunlight, much less to create works that could be a prehistoric sculpture garden.

Full Story at The Creators Project. Unfortunately, the study is behind a paywall.

Bookicide 2.

This time, a 1982 writing manual is condemned. I barely had to soak this one. A DirecTV manual is still soaking, it’s remarkably water resistant. You’d think they’d know they would come in for abuse or something. As soon as I recover from Fixatif fumes (kidding!), I’ll have fun with paint, always the best part.

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© C. Ford. All rights reserved.

Cool Stuff Friday: A light bulb, pencil sharpener, and a clock.

FLYTE.

 

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Zirconia Sharpener. For drawings and note taking, we always sharpen our pencils. We believe a pencil sharpener made with beautiful and durable material is functional hence leads to desirability. We love the beauty of simplicity, and the magic of analog. It’s honest and thoughtful. We want to reinterpret the analog pencil sharpener that we’re already familiar with, a product that we trust and use everyday. The blade and body are made from zirconia and fused into a single unibody block. By utilizing zirconia’s material property, the blade doesn’t need to be changed and offers a smooth sharpening experience.
Sign up here if you’re interested in Zirconia Sharpener and we’ll let you know when it’s available. (I’m signed up!)

 

Cosmos Clock by Jay Hyun Kim.

Jay Hyun Kim is a second year graduate student pursuing a MDes in Designed Objects at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Jay acquired his BFA in Industrial Design at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2011. Jay has a deep interest in manufacturing and materials, and his work in Venture Studio has focused on developing the Cosmos clock for manufacture in China.

Your Very Own Thundercloud…

Oh man, I want a houseful of these.

Cloud, by Richard Clarkson.

The Cloud is an Arduino-controlled, motion-triggered lightning & thunder performance, as well as a music-activated visualizing speaker. As an interactive lamp and speaker system designed to mimic a thundercloud in appearance, The Cloud employs embedded motion sensors to create unique lightning and thunder shows while providing entertainment value and inspiring awe. This is a kind of magic, not based on illusions and trickery, but on sensors and code. Featuring a powerful speaker system, The Cloud allows its beholder to stream music via any Bluetooth compatible device and can adapt to any desired lighting, color and brightness.

Acting as both an immersive lightning experience and visual feedback integrated speaker, The Cloud introduces innovative physical computing and interaction design hardware by bringing this technology into the home. The Cloud celebrates collaborative code, free-sharing and accessing prototyping information. The code is available to the public to use and improve, to provide blueprints for the next generation of smart objects.

[…]

The Cloud is made by felting hypoallergenic fiberfill to a sponge casing which holds the speakers and componentry within. Users control the functions of The Cloud  through a small, wireless remote.

There’s much more at the site. Via The Creators Project.

Beautiful Salt: Univers’sel

motoi yamamoto's Floating Garden.

Motoi Yamamoto’s Floating Garden. Photos courtesy of the artist.

Inside the medieval castle tower at aigues-mortes, a 13th century walled city in southern france, japanese artist motoi yamamoto has completed two monumental installations made of salt. ‘Floating garden’ and ‘labyrinth’ form part of the exhibition ‘univers’ sel‘ on from now until november 30, 2016, which celebrates creative interpretations of the natural element.

‘Floating garden’ comprises a circular form filled with a lacework of carefully-placed grains of salt. The installation is housed within the castle tower at Aigues-Mortes. In its realization, the artist sits down in a small space where no particles are laid, simultaneously moving a container of salt in a particular rhythm, a subtle movement which creates tiny cells that mimic bubble-like patterns. Each of these thin salt ribbons symbolizes pieces of memories and fragments of time. The swirling, hurricane-like pattern is used as a motif used throughout East Asia to represent life and death, resurrection, rebirth and vitality. The ephemeral artwork was realized in 45 hours over the course of five days.

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The installation ‘labyrinth’ is housed within the castle’s ramparts.

The installation ‘labyrinth’ is housed within the castle’s ramparts.

Via Designboom, where there are many more photos.

Jesus Tree Giving Up The Ghost.

The tree that hides Jesus in better days.

The tree that hides Jesus in better days.

The Jesus in question exposed.

The Jesus in question exposed.

SOUTH PORTLAND — The pine tree planted to hide what some call the googly-eyed Jesus may be dying.

The long, green needles of the Austrian pine, which obscures a controversial mural of Jesus Christ on the bell tower of Holy Cross Catholic Church on Cottage Road, have mysteriously turned brown in recent weeks.

[…]

“I think pollution is doing a number on it,” Roberts said Tuesday. “It’s got something going on.”

Roberts, who is a church member, said the tree also appeared to be dead a couple of years ago, but it rebounded after he applied a fertilizer and insecticide. Now, road salt and other pollution may be taking a toll once again.

“This time it may be gone,” Roberts said. “It may have to come out.”

[…]

On April 17, the Maine Sunday Telegram published a story about the tree and its strategic placement in front of the mural. At that time, the needles on the tree were green. In that story, Henchal said parishioners didn’t talk much about the mural, though the hidden Jesus is something of a legend among children who attend the parochial school next door.

At the high-traffic intersection of Broadway and Cottage Road, the enamel-on-steel mural was installed in 1980 to replace a deteriorating tile facade on the church, which was built in 1950. Titled “Spirit of the Matter: A Christian Triptych,” the mural was designed by Damariscotta artist John Janii Laberge at the direction of a church committee.

In the April story, Laberge admitted that he has often thought of cutting the tree down with a chainsaw to expose his artwork. On Monday, Laberge said he had noticed the tree’s failing condition last week when he was dog-sitting for a friend in South Portland, but he was quick to deflect any suspicion that he is responsible.

“I didn’t poison it,” Laberge volunteered. “It may not be dead. I’ve seen it that way before and it came back. It’s probably just going through its seasonal changes.”

The response to the mural has been mixed from the start, especially to the whites of the eyes, which stare woefully toward heaven in a pose suggesting medieval religious art. While some say it’s an apt representation of pain and suffering, others say it’s creepy or scary. Laberge says he delivered on the church committee’s request to depict a “powerful, working-class Christ.”

“I wanted a strong, drive-by presence,” Laberge said. “I made something bold and big that tells something about the crucifixion and what came after. I warned them that depictions of Christ are a touchy thing.”

When Laberge drives past the mural today, he questions the negative reaction.

“It’s not that bad,” Laberge said. “A person who died on the cross is not going to look pretty.”

[…]

The mural became the subject of community controversy in 2001, when church officials considered making changes to the artwork as part of building renovations. The renovations ran over budget, however, so the idea of altering the mural was dropped, church members said. Soon after, someone suggested planting a tree in front of the mural as a way to take care of the problem.

The plan seemed to be working until the tree started showing signs of stress in recent years. Whether it can be brought back from the brink a second time is unclear.

Full Story Here. So, no one suggested praying the tree back to life? I’m shocked, after all, it’s not a fig tree. After staring at that art work for what is probably too long, I think they need a much bigger tree. Much bigger.