a goldfinch soars in scampia

via Wooster

and say o.k.

by Maira Kalman (via WeAreTheDigitalKids)

recycled trash robots

Meet enigmatic artist Brandon Jan Blommaert's recycled trash robots:

Inspired by Godzilla, Blommaert created the sculptures from trash he scavenged himself. He placed the sculptures on fantasy backgrounds using Photoshop, creating a series of public artworks for a large recycling center in Edmonton, Alberta. “I think this piece encompasses the contradictions that come with the current green movement, ” says the artist. “At this point we can try to change our habits, but we are more likely going to have to live with the mess we have created.” (source: Inhabitat)

Check out his Flickr page for more and a "making of" series of photos showing the creation process.

via Biophemera

liu ye

Liu Ye via Arrested Motion

profile: li hui

I have recently had the great honor to "chat" with a wonderful photographer: Li Hui, who is, just like her photographs, quite mysterious. She started shooting with her first SLR film camera in 2008 but it wasn‘t until February 2009 that she realized she wanted to take photography seriously: taking pictures on a regular basis, selecting them and uploading them on Flickr. Ever since, her work experienced increasing popularity on the internet and has received amazing feedback, as well as coverage by various blogs (e.g. Feaverish Fotography Blog), websites (e.g. interview on artist's space on Fjord or Color Me In) and ezines (e.g. Carpaccio Magazine).

One of the main sources of inspiration for her photography is music: She likes to listen to freak-folk and ambiental sounds, as it helps her get into a certain state of mind. Equally inspiring are coming-of-age movies: „Innocence, originality, the angles from which they see the world, their natural talent“, is what fascinates her about a child‘s perspective. This is most likely the reason why she tries to keep a childlike heart herself.

Li Hui has spent a great part of her childhood with her grandfather, who was a very quiet and reserved person. On her Flickr page, I have noticed that the very first photograph that she has added, was a landscape picture taken by him. In a comment on that photograph she reveals that he was a poet and writer. „We had a similar personality. He taught me how to focus on my own world.“

Her work is emotional, unsophisticated and sincere. But what I find most intriguing about her photography is the anonymity of her representations of people. Faces are a means of direct communication. Interestingly however, Li Hui manages to convey the inherent beauty of the people portrayed by concealing their identity. „I keep trying to create something new in my work, and I'm really tired of people taking portraits." What I love most about Li Hui's work is that it manages to speak to me in a very intimate fashion, somehow mirroring past and potential experiences.

the xx

I've recently discovered "The XX", a wonderful London quartet:

The reverb-heavy interplay of guitars and harmonies between Romy Madley Croft’s smoldering siren’s call and Oliver Sim’s disaffected croon wonderfully recalled Interpol and Pixies at both bands’ most intimate moments. To me, it's not just the music: It's hard to describe why, but I love the style and honest youthful-but-alienated appearance of the band.

untitled-preview

"Untitled" is an indie movie on the defintion of art, starring Adam Goldberg. It is a satire that pokes fun of the nuanced world of the New York contemporary art scene through a pair of competitive brothers eclectic and self-important music composer Adrian and commercially successful painter Josh. The music was written by Pulitzer Prize winning compose David Lang