Found this gem at newscientist.

Alternative propulsion methods are always interesting just because our lives our dominated by so very few.  If anything just sit and watch the beauty in it’s movements.

From NewScientist:

It’s not a bird or a plane: it’s an unusual flying object that propels itself by flipping inside out. Created by engineers at Festo in Esslingen, Germany, the floating band filled with helium takes on different shapes while expanding and contracting to generate thrust and move through the air.

The design is based on the inverted cube shape discovered by inventor and mathematician Paul Schatz. By dissecting a cube into three parts, two star-shaped units can be produced at either end with an invertible belt in the middle section which is the same shape as the flying band. The system reproduces the entire structure: it opens to release the band while the ends remain on the ground as a docking station.

The flying object itself is made up of six identical prisms filled with helium, held together by a carbon-fibre framework. Three motors drive the motion coordinated by a tiny onboard computer, pre-programmed to replicate the inversion sequence. Using a smartphone, a person on the ground can guide the object around a room, which will be demonstrated on Monday at a trade show in Hanover, Germany.

The firm still hasn’t come up with a specific use for inversion-driven propulsion. The mechanics of automated systems are typically based on rotational or linear motion to drive, for example, motors or grippers, but inversion is seldom used in designs. The company has now launched a competition challenging students in Germany to suggest a functional idea that could be implemented in an industrial environment.

I guess sometimes yay for corporate overlords?

Interview by @bjones21 for @social8gency

I came across Sagaki Keita’s work and thought it was some of the most amazingly psychedelic art I’d seen in some time.  The precision on the macro scale down to the seemingly haphazard and spontaneous nature of the micro is amazing.  I’m always a bit taken a back that he doesn’t lose his way when creating these pieces.

The interview was done via email.  Sagaki speaks little english and thus the text has some hiccups here and there.  I’ve kept it as is, with little alteration as not to misconstrue or misrepresent Mr. Keita’s words.

Mr. Keita where are you originally from?

I‘m from Japan. I was born in the place called Ishikawa. I lived in Fukushima to18-24 years old. I live in Tokyo now

Has your location and how you grew up influenced your work at all?

I do not think that the location influences my work.
But, as child, I was affected by one thing; it was Mandara. Mandara is the religious painting of the esoteric Buddhism that I was very interested in at first.

At the age of 10 years old, I was with by father and saw a mandara. It is very minute, richly colored, and psychedelic. And it expresses a human being and the universe that they are both the whole and the part. I was strongly charmed by Mandara.
In addition, comics were the most imminent thing since I was young. I wrote/drew comics from my younger years.

“It is my roots.”

What can you say about your style?

I draw a picture to a concept in both the part and the whole of the art. My work is made with a pen mainly. I draw a picture of the macro image and spend most time on the minute mainly. My works is comprised of accumulation of many characters. It may look like a masterpiece and a city or a monster from a distance. However, it is really the accumulation of the picture such as comics and strange motifs.

What are the characters that you draw? There is seemingly a usual style to them, but always a few changes to each?

I do not understand it well myself.  I draw the thing which flashes, impromptu.
They are my other self and are a part of the world and the space at the same time.
I think that characters are continually changing.

Were there any artists that inspired your work?

One that I was performed inspire of is a mandara as expressed earlier.
In addition, the favorite painter is Hieronymus Bosch.

Do you work in any other mediums, or purely pen & ink?

The art supplies are ball-point pens (Gel ink 0.38mm) mainly.
In addition, the gray tone draws India ink with the thing which I weakened with water.

Where did you develop your style?

This style came out naturally.
My style drawing little by little from the corner. This style fits me. Then gradually erode over the whole canvas.

I don’t draw a draft. I draw it in pen from the beginning.
The style to repeat several levels like oil painting, and make a screen, this is not suitable to me. The place where I drew on doesn’t want to be touched anymore.

Where did you go to school?

I went to the Fukushima University graduate school.
Fukushima University is not University of Arts, It is a pedagogic university.
I majored in art in the education.

Fukushima is a prefecture with a nuclear power plant becoming the problem in the world now, and of course, it is the land which there was for very heavy damage by an earthquake.

What was the experience for you during the earthquake?

It is a difficult question.
My feelings probably have not yet come, it is difficult to regard it with objectivity.
Probably I think that outwardly the picture [myself] has not changed immediately. However, I may be unconsciously changed by this earthquake.

“I was able to reconfirm that I will draw a picture all the time from now on.”

Fukushima has a lot of friends and acquaintances. I worried very much.
There was not much room to think about oneself.
However, I make use of this experience and think that it is necessary to change it into a positive thing from now on.

“One way is through art.”

Where were you at the time?

I was in Tokyo. It was just the day of the graduation ceremony of the high school where I work. Tokyo shook very much, too. I remember that I was very much surprised.

Is art our full time job?

I draw, work, and sell.
I work as a teacher of the art in a high school

I don’t post much electronic on here, I don’t know why not, but just haven’t I’m definitely a fan of the genre. One of the guys who always wow me with each successive album is Amon Tobin (I even went on a purchase spree to fill gaps in my catalog). Found sound paired with his ingenuity behind the boards makes an Amon Tobin something else to experience.

Check out his track by track commentary on ISAM here.

I’m a bit of an inforgraphic nut, so when these came on my radar I knew I had to repost these.  These must have been a painstaking endeavor to complete, but they turned out better than the creator could have hoped.  To see more head over to Pattern Matters.

About Pattern Matters:

AUGMENTING THE ROLE OF PATTERN IN GRAPHIC DESIGN THROUGH TACTILE EXPLORATION
Pattern Matters is a graphic design-based project inquiring on possible ways to augment the role of pattern by looking into the design process and tactile exploration through pattern making. It demonstrates the way of how this design element of pattern can be adopted differently on various platforms in graphic design. The main objective of this project is to inspire designers to look at pattern in every possible angles. Pattern Matters also aims to demonstrate that pattern is a crucial form of design element in graphic design which eventually evident that pattern is not merely a decorating tool.

by @bjones21

Found at Creative Review

Stanley Donwood, who has been at the helm of every Radiohead cover to date, linked up with @creativereview to explain the art and concepts behind Radiohead’s latest King Of Limbs Newspaper Album.  I’ve provided some choice pieces and quotes; you can grab the full piece here.

The artwork is designed in the guise of a Sunday newspaper, complete with plastic packaging printed with the album name and imagery. It contains two 10-inch clear vinyl records in a sleeve, a CD of the album, a perforated blotting-sheet artwork, and a newspaper containing art and texts by Donwood.

The newspaper was printed in the US, and uses a standard US newspaper format, which conveniently folds down to approximately album size.

“In Rainbows was a great big, solid cardboard thing, if you were determined you could probably kill somebody with it, it was very heavy, and almost like a definitive statement,”

The King Of Limbs artwork is to be in complete contrast to that of In Rainbows, a figure that’s not rigid and finalized just as the news is; as Donwood says:

“It’s not like the news stops when a newspaper comes out,” he continues. “It’s just ‘this is what’s happening today’. So this is released into the world on this day, and this is where this band are right now… it is a continuing thing.”

Donwood on the CD Packaging: ”If it could have been any worse, it would have been . . .” Meanwhile the vinyl sleeve is made up of a series of oil paintings by Donwood and the band.

Head to Creative Review for more pics & info.

When I saw this I could think of only three things: it opens a portal to hell, its used as next millennia social experiment, or it signals aliens. I still wouldn’t doubt that one of those is still an option. Either way it’s now on my list of sites to see. Architecturally awe inspiring.

From Rocco Architects:

Guangdong Museum is one of the four cultural landmarks for Zhujiang New Town of Guangzhou. Conceived as an Objet d’Art in a monumental scale, it is an allegory to the impeccably and intricately sculpted antique Chinese artifacts of a lacquer box, which collects and reflects treasures of the times. The museum is designed to house objects of treasure, and is also a treasured object of fascination. It is an identifiable cultural icon, giving visitors a memorable experience on the traditional wisdoms as well as the appreciation of the cultural identity of the city.

by @bjones21

This is one of the most awe inspiring thing I’ve seen in a minute.  I”m not a overtly religious, but I can see finding God being relatively easy in a place like this.

ABOUT St. Mary’s Cathedral:

The plan of the building is in the form of a cross, from which eight hyperbolic parabolas rise in a manner similar to a contemporary (but slightly later) landmark cathedral in San Francisco, also known as St. Mary’s Cathedral. These open upwards to form a cross of light which continues vertically the length of the four facades. To this rhomboid volume other secondary constructions are added, including the baptistry and the baptismal font. Their rectangular volumes contrast with the symbolic character of the cathedral. The bell tower is 60 m in height and stands at a little distance from the main building of the cathedral. The exterior surfaces are clad in stainless steel, which gives them a special radiance in keeping with the religious character of the building. Since 2004 he has a large organ built by the Italian Mascioni. (via Wikipedia)

*Note the Hyperbolic Parabolas; this was done in 1964.  An age before computers and design & architectural ‘CAD programs.  A fact like that takes a structure of this magnitude to another level.

** Note that will probably be the first time i’ve used ‘hyperbolic parabola’ since highschool & the last time ever again

I ran across Scott Campbell’s work and thought it was definitely worth sharing.  The intricacies of the work and the steady hand it must have taken to create them is astounding.

Head to Scott Campbell’s official page for more awesome work.  Would love to get him in for an interview.

Found @StupidDope

Found this gem of design and functionality over at DesignMilk.  Pretty much speaks for itself as a slick interpretation of the classic game. From the designer Andrew Clifford Capener:

The purpose of this project was to revive an old, but loved game. The idea was to excite people about typography by giving them the ability to choose what font their scrabble set would come in. The set would be available in the font of your choice or with an assorted font pack. Additional font packs (including your favorite font) could be ordered through Scrabble’s website. The scrabble board and interior box are made out of solid walnut, and the exterior box is made from birch. Each of the 6 board pieces is magnetized to fit together perfectly and each piece slides nicely into its respective slot in the box and is secured by interior magnets as well. The interior of the exterior box as well as the bottoms of the 6 board pieces are lined with cork, to protect them while in use.

Slide on over to Andrew’s page to find out how you may be able to lock down your own.