Friday, August 29, 2008

August 29, 1958 - Gary, Indiana



"I love manequins. I want to bring them to life. I give mine names. I feel as if I know them. I'll often talk to them in my living room." Wikiquote

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Sub-realismo criollo


Martyr, Buenos Aires, Argentine, 2002

"… Moisture. The gray Santa Fe. Resentment that
Cause loves not reciprocated. In addition, forgive the
Clarification: Argentina is not Mexico. Argentina are
Pastures to the south by the gauchaje laughing at fart
Never heard joke …"


Roast in Mendiolaza, Córdoba, Argentine, 2001
Il Piccolo Vapore, La Boca, Bs As, Argentine, 2007

" Red Ink
(A mock pain)

Where will my suburb? Who stole my childhood?
What corner, my moon, vocals, as then, clear your joy?...’(*)

Whit red ink paint the bodies of my models to make a mockery of the blood.
Whit the same ink, stressed the blood on the hand-painted copies.
Work at the junction of analogue, digital, documentary, drama and pictorial.
Put on stage images that are the product of my own pain rework,
My own melancholy, giving them how the texture and color of the periphery.
Recycle influences from the South. Being the South. Allow expression miscegenation.
That resentment is transformed into a poetic. The irony is not tarnished
Tenderness.

(*) Red Ink tango, lyrics by Cátulo Castillo and music by Sebastian Piana, Argentine 1941"


mexican fighters, D.F, México, 2003

by Marcos López                                                                                      via Coisas

Friday, August 15, 2008

Pinguin Ice Cream

A Soviet-era Estonian commercial by Harry Egipt

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory


"A.C. Gilbert was a man of true inspiration, often compared to Walt Disney for his creative genius. [...] Interested in the joy of science more than remuneration, Gilbert created the Atomic Energy Lab U-238 -- with the help of MIT's able faculty. The toy was made to de-mystify the perils of nuclear energy and to encourage the understanding of chemistry, physics and nuclear science -- ultimately helping kids (and adults) become more open to the possibilities these disciplines offer."
American Memorabilia

The set originally sold for $49.50 and contained the following:

U-239 Geiger radiation counter;
Electroscope to measure radioactivity of different substances;
Spinthariscope to watch "live" radioactive disintegration;
Wilson Cloud Chamber to see paths of electrons & alpha particles at 10k mps;
Three very low-level radioactive sources (Alpha, Beta, Gamma);
Four samples of Uranium-bearing ores;
Nuclear Spheres (used to visual build models of molecules);
The book "Prospecting for Uranium";
The "Gilbert Atomic Energy Manual";
The comic book "Learn How Dagwood Splits the Atom";
Three "Winchester" Batteries (size "C").


"And what nuclear lab for kids would be complete without an Atomic Energy Manual and Learn How Dagwood Splits the Atom comic book? (The latter was written with the help of General Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project.)

Kids do the darndest things, but not, apparently, nuclear physics. The toy was only sold for one year. It's unclear what effects the uranium-bearing ores might have had on those few lucky children who received the set, but exposure to the same isotope—U-238—has been linked to Gulf War syndrome, cancer, leukemia, and lymphoma, among other serious ailments. Even more uncertain is the long-term impact of being raised by the kind of nerds who would give their kid an Atomic Energy Lab."
Radar Online

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Terminal


Justine Cooper                                                                                     Charles, 2008

"
The title of the current show refers to her new series of large format photographs depicting medical robots and manikins. These sophisticated manikins, typically connected up to computers, simulate living situations from crisis to childbirth. At once alien and familiar, they represent the feats of modern medical technology.



Far from the public dissections of the 17th century, these private theaters play out imagined traumas for the benefit of doctors and surgeons honing their skills. In this landscape, the abject body of the patient is dispensed with and supplanted by creations that are neither virtual, nor real. At a time when medical intervention can be so de-humanizing, when technology is criticized for removing us from reality, these images create a perverse inversion. The artist found that the personnel charged with the care of the manikins had humanized these objects into subjects by naming them, dressing them in holiday attire and constructing a narrative through their care. These million dollar manikins embody memories of daily life, offering up their injuries and procedures as rather austere visual diaries in the era of Second Life and the blogosphere."

via Hugo Strikes Back!