Danbusha

You’ll do

"So cute, sport is great."

Roger Federer on Canada’s Dufour-Lapointe sisters whom struck gold and silver in the moguls yesterday.

Oh Rog. 

Get psyched.

Meet me here. 

Let the Games Begin

El Claustro, 2011. Querétaro, México. 10 x 10 x 11m

El Claustro, 2011. Querétaro, México. 10 x 10 x 11m

El Claustro, 2011. Querétaro, México. 10 x 10 x 11m

El Claustro, 2011. Querétaro, México. 10 x 10 x 11m

El Claustro, 2011. Querétaro, México. 10 x 10 x 11m

La Capella, 2009. Piera, Spain. 5.5 x 6 x 15m.

El Sótano de la Tabacalera, 2011. Madrid, Spain. 13 x 15 x 7m.

Sala Buit, 2011. Barcelona, Spain. 12.5 x 5 x 2.5m.

Palazzo Ducale, 2011. Genova, Italy.
15.5 x 12 x 4m

Espaço 180, 2013. Lisbon, Portugal. 18 x 15 x 8m.

Cerveira Creative Camp, 2012. Vilanova de Cerveira, Portugal. 13.2 x 9.5 x 7.7m.

Barcelona-based Penique Productions is an artist collective founded in 2007 that creates transformative installations in public spaces. To do this the group utilizes massive plastic balloons that are inflated inside buildings and other interior areas. Coupled with exterior lighting that illuminates the colored plastic, the results can be beautifully dramatic, making the new environment almost unrecognizable from the actual space.

You can see many more views of several installations on their website, and almost all of them are accompanied by videos that document the process. Penrique has upcoming projects next month at both the UB University in Barcelona, and at Galeria N2.

I forgive you

A brief history of cool

Illogical

While attending the Setouchi International Art Festival in Japan, photographer Kurt Gledhill snapped some beautiful abstract shots of several artworks on display. My favorite is the top piece, a view from inside an installation by Chiharu Shiota. The 2013 Setouchi Triennale involved 200 individual artworks spread over 12 islands in the Seto sea and lasted 108 days. Spoon and Tamago has a nice recap. All photos courtesy Kurt Gledhill.

Anyone who follows Colossal knows that digital animation and motion graphics are a rarity here, but this clip is a solid exception. Created by Universal Everything, Walking City is a slowly evolving video sculpture that gradually changes form through dozens of permutations while the core motion, the act of walking, remains the same. Via Universal Everything:

Referencing the utopian visions of 1960’s architecture practice Archigram, Walking City is a slowly evolving video sculpture. The language of materials and patterns seen in radical architecture transform as the nomadic city walks endlessly, adapting to the environments she encounters.

At almost 8 minutes long it’s a captivating view for such a simple premise, it’s fun to imagine the buildings and architectural designs that inspire each step. (via Colossal Submissions)

Pet your cat

Up Next: Snow

“Wednesday Night A slight chance of snow before midnight. A slight chance of snow after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. North wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is supposedly 20%, but who are we kidding, if it can snow, it will snow. It will continue to snow forever. You feel angry most of the time but you don’t think you have the energy to act on it anymore.

Thursday High near 31. West wind 9 to 13 mph and a brief appearance of sun that will serve mostly to raise what few hopes you have remaining, only to dash them to the cold, hard ground when darkening skies are followed by a snow so fierce that it blots out what little light there is left. The animals will stop making noises, and the only sounds you will hear are car alarms and the plaintive cries of elderly men who are trapped in the mounting, impermeable snow.

Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 17. You will probably not notice the snow because by now your brain will have assimilated it as permanent background, but boy will it ever be there, falling, falling, falling. Your hands are placed instinctively on your head, and every few moments you utter the word “why” in a voice that is frightening in its intensity.

Friday Partly cloudy, with a high near 32. Remember when the children used to smile? Now if you see a child outdoors—an event that has become rare enough that you will try to remember to tell someone else about it later, but of course you’ll forget because your only memory now is a dull, gray mass mirroring the ground on which you walk—its looks back at you with an impassive stare and a disturbing countenance that makes you fear for your safety.

Friday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. Giant icicles will plummet from the sky at random and unpredictable intervals, but they only stoke the envy of those who are not struck by them and must continue to live on through this perpetual season of darkness.

Saturday Dank. Cold. Snow. The longing for death will be difficult to deny.”

That’s dance. © Hasan Baglar, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards

Lightsnake. © Holger Schmidtke, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards

In your youth, nothing can stop you from enjoying time with your friends, especially not a simple matter of rain during summer fun. You may grow up and forget the names, but you’ll always remember the moments, the time on the dock with your friends during a surprise shower. © Samantha Fortenberry, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

A baby Orangutan peeking out from his mother’s embrace. © Chin Boon Leng, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

Homebound. © Ata Mohammad Adnan, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

In July each year, this heart-pounding scene of wildebeests migration repeats itself in Kenya. © Bonnie Cheung, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

Aerial image of river delta in Iceland. © Emmanuel Coupe, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

Pilgrims and devotees cross pontoon bridges at the Maha Kumbh Mela – the largest spiritual gathering on the planet, held every 12 years in India. © Wolfgang Weinhardt, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

An overhead view, from the skies above Poland. © Kacper Kowalski, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

Interior of an abandoned cooling tower. © Jan Stel, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

China, Jiangyin, Jiangsu. Rows of identical houses with a playground seen in the middle in the city of Jiangyin. © Kacper Kowalski, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

A muddy face from the mud bath, going into the lake. © Alpay Erdem, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

The knight and his steed, a tropical capture in Costa Rica. © Nicolas Reusens, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

Disaster Zone. © Alison Crea, 2014 Sony World Photography Awards.

The World Photography Organization just announced the shortlist for the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards. This year’s contest received more than 140,000 entries from 166 countries. The judges will announce the final winners in March and April of this year, but for now here are a selection of highlights from the shortlist courtesy the World Photography Organization. (via Next Draft)

Home sick

Sasha Unisex

caramichele:

Galileo Galilei - Sidereus Nuncius Magna, Longeque Admirabilia Spectacula Pandens, Suspiciendaque Proponens Unicuique [The great starry messenger], 1610 (via)

Magnum Photos’ 30 Under 30: The Shortlist

Your science halftime

Design Crush

It’s science

It doesn’t take much.

This upcoming Sunday is the biggest sports day of the year in the United States: The championship game for the professional American Football league. The entire country grinds to a halt.

The most famous secondary effect of the game is the commercials. So many people watch the game that television advertisement costs are the highest for the Super Bowl, which means that companies will produce spectacular ads specifically for the Super Bowl, which means that more people watch the Super Bowl just for the ads.

Another secondary effect of the Super Bowl is the spike in chicken wing sales. The United States chicken industry even issues an Annual Chicken Wing Report. NPR explains how the chicken wing became the dominant snack food for the Super Bowl.

Bonus viewing: A Guide to American Football.

Sheryl Canter extensively researched the best way to season a cast iron pan and here is what she recommends you do. (Because science.)

I've read dozens of Web pages on how to season cast iron, and there is no consensus in the advice. Some say vegetable oils leave a sticky surface and to only use lard. Some say animal fat gives a surface that is too soft and to only use vegetable oils. Some say corn oil is the only fat to use, or Crisco, or olive oil. Some recommend bacon drippings since lard is no longer readily available. Some say you must use a saturated fat -- that is, a fat that is solid at room temperature, whether it's animal or vegetable (palm oil, coconut oil, Crisco, lard). Some say never use butter. Some say butter is fine. Some swear by Pam (spray-on canola oil with additives). Some say the additives in Pam leave a residue at high temperatures and pure canola oil is best. Some say it doesn't matter what oil you use.

They are all wrong. It does matter what oil you use, and the oil that gives the best results is not in this list. So what is it? Here are some hints: What oil do artists mix with pigment for a high quality oil paint that dries hard and glassy on the canvas? What oil is commonly used by woodturners to give their sculptures a protective, soft-sheen finish? It's the same oil. Now what is the food-grade equivalent of this oil?

The oil used by artists and woodturners is linseed oil. The food-grade equivalent is called flaxseed oil. This oil is ideal for seasoning cast iron for the same reason it's an ideal base for oil paint and wood finishes. It's a "drying oil", which means it can transform into a hard, tough film. This doesn't happen through "drying" in the sense of losing moisture through evaporation. The term is actually a misnomer. The transformation is through a chemical process called "polymerization".

Those before and after photos are hard to argue with. (via @akuban)

Update: Canter wrote a bit more about seasoning and added an extra step to the process. (via @_Atticus)

Mostly because of jet aircraft, there are very few places in the world free of man-made noise.

For the past 30 years, Hempton has made it his mission to discover what he calls the last great quiet places, areas that clock in at audible human noise-free intervals of 15 minutes or more. He only counts areas of around 3,100 square kilometres (1,200 square miles) or larger -- enough to create a sound buffer around a central point of absolute quiet. Over the years, his list has shrunk as he returns to a previously quiet spot, only to find it now polluted by noise. Still, he says 12 such quiet places exist in the US, with more found around the world. A spot in the Hoh Rainforest in Washington is one, as are places in Grasslands National Park in Canada, Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota and Haleakala National Park in Hawaii. The others, however, he keeps confidential.

(via @bobulate)

Modern Toss

“Like many people who have nothing to do, he was very resentful of any claims on his time.”
— William S. Burroughs