Archive for September, 2010
Rocked It
September 30th, 2010
The name Jerome always jettisons me back a couple of years, to a London classroom and a cheeky but charming student of mine who kept lessons lively and tempers lightly frayed. Jerome was delighted once when asked to research a painting at the National Gallery: he came back beaming, brandishing a brilliant little piece on a picture of his sainted name-sake. He had hundreds to choose from, to be fair: Jerome is just one of those insanely popular saints: always old, always bearded and usually in a state of consternation, study or undress.
Just an Illusion
September 29th, 2010
It’s official: sometimes you can’t believe your eyes. Take this eye-and-brain-boggling image created by Edward Adelson from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
You might not believe it, but the squares marked A and B are actually the same shade of grey. I know! Here’s how: our eyes and brain are constantly gauging the color of things around us and, in doing so, automatically compensate for shadows. B is in the shadow of the cylinder, while A is not. Our eyes and brain see that the two squares are the same shade of grey, but then think “Hang on… if a square in a shadow reflects the same amount of light as a square outside of the shadow, then in reality it must be a lighter shade of grey.” Then our brain alters our perception of the image so that it corresponds with what it thinks is there in the real world. Mad.
Fashion Forward
September 28th, 2010
Fashion and art have long been BFFs and the relationship won’t be cooling anytime soon. Hot off the catwalk at London’s Fashion Week in September stalked some tremendous “art-dipped” designs for Spring/Summer 2011.
Express Inspiration
September 27th, 2010
It was always going to take a special kind of coercion to free me from the kitchen stupor I was in for the better part of my 20s. I knew how to open a tuna tin and heat some soup, but not much else. In the end it was down to Nigella Lawson who showed me, step-by-step, that even I could cook up more than a hot mess in the kitchen and actually assemble edible and (gasp) enjoyable dishes.
Red Hot
September 26th, 2010
Two weeks ago Red Head Day (Roodharigendag in Dutch) took the city of Breda in the Netherlands by storm, as it has done for years. Attendance is open to anyone who’s hair naturally falls into the right color category, and what a stunning site all that auburn, russet, strawberry and copper creates.
How Do I Look?
September 25th, 2010
It’s Museum Day today, for which participating museums across the country are opening their doors for free to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket. Get in on the culture crush people: it looks like there are places pushing for our attendance all across the States. If you do decide to make for a museum, just be aware that the very way you mosey around that museum will reveal rather a lot about the kind of person you are. Oh yes. Our cultural habits (whether that’s reading, watching TV or a film at the cinema, even the way we store our DVDs) throws a lot of light on our characters and personalities. So for example, if you turn down the corner of the page in a book, you’re one part rebellious and two parts possessive. If on the other hand you keep the spine of said book unbroken, that shows you seek approval from others and are disappointed when they don’t behave in the way you’d like. And if you’re one to totally trash a book you’re reading (by dropping it inadvertently in the bath, let’s say), then your life is focussed around your needs.
Flesh Fest
September 24th, 2010
Come explore the fantastic new show at Hamiltonian Gallery in DC in this week’s video… just be set for the flesh on show.
Join me on this week’s video blog. With special thanks to James Rieck, Jonathan Monaghan and the Hamiltonian Gallery.
