prosthetic knowledge
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Brave New Old by Adam Wells
Computer animated short tells a non-verbal story with geometric characters in a revolving three dimensional frame:
Brave New Old from Adam Wells on Vimeo.
Brave New Old is my attempt to make something over ten minuets long, trying to use a different kind of story telling. It runs at 9.30 (disappointing). Its about all kinds of things. It is now available online. I completed work in march 2012 and have been sending it to festivals all summer. Its been in a few and its been a pleasure to watch a live audience react and meet other film makers, but the films spiritual home is the web. Hopefully it will like it back.
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On Journalism #2 Typewriter
Installation piece connects computer to typewriter that generates stories about journalists who have died since 1992. By Julian Koschwitz:
The typewriter installation «On Journalism #2 Typewriter» writes generatively constructed stories about all journalist who have been killed worldwide between 1992 and today based on the existing data of their lives as well as their published work. The individual stories are connected through common fields of coverage, places, professions and many other aspects. Besides the text the typewriter creates also images e.g. flags which are heavier distorted the more journalists got killed in that particular country.
The story is written endlessly on one endless piece of paper.
More about the project can be found here
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Dramatic Pixels
An experiment in dramatic storytelling using only three big pixels, built as a demo on the Commodore 64 in 2010 as a 4K demo.
It was developed by VIznut, and he posted some thoughts and background on the piece:
For quite some time already, I have been on a philosophical excursion to the nature of “hard-core” digital creativity, especially the deep essences of the demoscene and the “8-bit” culture. The so far biggest visible result of this excursion has been my recent essay about Computationally Minimal Art, which, among all, separates the ideas of “optimalism” and “reductivism”. I have noticed that the audiovisual digital culture (including the demoscene) has traditionally been very optimalist in nature, aiming at fitting as much complexity as possible within given boundaries. The opposite approach, reductivism, which embraces minimal complexity itself as an esthetic goal, is very seldom used by the demoscene, however.
You can read the whole piece here
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Jiraiya the Brave
A Japanese silent movie from 1921, about a ninja who can transform into a frog. It definitely has a charm - when you get to about 3 minutes 40 seconds into the film, you will see a fight scene, with plenty “special effects” (jump cuts, ‘morphing’ and others):
Jiraiya (literally “Young Thunder”), the title character of the Japanese folktale Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari (“The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya”), is a ninja who uses shapeshifting magic to morph into a gigantic toad. The heir of a powerful clan in Kyūshū of the same name, Jiraiya fell in love with Tsunade, a beautiful young princess who masters slug magic. His arch-enemy was his one-time follower, Orochimaru, who mastered snake magic.
You can read a rendition of the folk tale in English here:
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/61726/
Though the headings to the major scene changes are subtitled. I believe this might have had “benshi” narration when it was played in theaters. Benshi is a professional narrator who tells the story and does voice overs while the film is played. This may be why there are some talking scenes with no intertitles, as it was left to the benshi to narrate the story.You can read more information about the piece on it’s YouTube page. Music was created and added by incompetech
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Timeline Movie Creator
Project created with both Facebook and Definition 6, taking your photos and other shares and putting them into a visual moving archive.
You need to have activated the Timeline feature (and at least 75 photos uploaded).
http://www.timelinemoviemaker.com/
UPDATE
The Next Web has a better analysis of the app, which you can read here
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BASIC
Online web-comic about a nerdy young boy who discovers a robot who can only speak in the BASIC programming language.
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Memory Beach by Ashley Anderson
In the words of the artist:
A series of digital collages about a heartbroken octopus who drives to the beach to forget about his girlfriend.
You can read more about the production of these prints at Ashley’s Press Start To Begin blog, buy a print at his Etsy Store, and follow him on his Tumblr blog.
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![One Page Graphic Novel: The Thames Megalodon
The above image appears to be some kind of map, but is actually an attempt to tell a big story within one frame. In a way, it is a game of narrative, as there is a list of important points to make as you guide yourself through it.
From the creaor, Henry Flint:
Welcome to a new story telling medium… the One Page Graphic Novel. Is this a gimmick? Yes, probably.
Keith is a dustman who is shot into the future by a Time Vortex. He meets three companions and they start an epic adventure and It’s up to you to fill in the gaps.
A higher resolution version of the image can be found at Henry’s site here [click on the map]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly4gh4wm081qav3uso1_1280.jpg)
One Page Graphic Novel: The Thames Megalodon
The above image appears to be some kind of map, but is actually an attempt to tell a big story within one frame. In a way, it is a game of narrative, as there is a list of important points to make as you guide yourself through it.
From the creaor, Henry Flint:
Welcome to a new story telling medium… the One Page Graphic Novel. Is this a gimmick? Yes, probably.
Keith is a dustman who is shot into the future by a Time Vortex. He meets three companions and they start an epic adventure and It’s up to you to fill in the gaps.
A higher resolution version of the image can be found at Henry’s site here [click on the map]
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Well Known Anti Piracy Advert Uses Music Without Permission
Irony. From TorrentFreak:
A story currently unfolding in the Netherlands painfully exposes the double standards and corruption that can be found in some parts of the copyright industry.
It all started back in 2006, when the Hollywood-funded anti-piracy group BREIN reportedly asked musician Melchior Rietveldt to compose music for an anti-piracy video. The video in question was to be shown at a local film festival, and under these strict conditions the composer accepted the job.
However, according to a report from Pownews the anti-piracy ad was recycled for various other purposes without the composer’s permission. When Rietveldt bought a Harry Potter DVD early 2007, he noticed that the campaign video with his music was on it. And this was no isolated incident.
The composer now claims that his work has been used on tens of millions of Dutch DVDs, without him receiving any compensation for it. According to Rietveldt’s financial advisor, the total sum in missed revenue amounts to at least a million euros ($1,300,000).
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The only living master of a dying martial art (via BBC News Magazine)
A former factory worker from the British Midlands may be the last living master of the centuries-old Sikh battlefield art of shastar vidya. The father of four is now engaged in a full-time search for a successor.
The basis of shastar vidya, the “science of weapons” is a five-step movement: advance on the opponent, hit his flank, deflect incoming blows, take a commanding position and strike.
It was developed by Sikhs in the 17th Century as the young religion came under attack from hostile Muslim and Hindu neighbours, and has been known to a dwindling band since the British forced Sikhs to give up arms in the 19th Century.
Nidar Singh, a 44-year-old former food packer from Wolverhampton, is now thought to be the only remaining master. He has many students, but shastar vidya takes years to learn and a commitment in time and energy that doesn’t suit modern lifestyles.
“I’ve travelled all over India and I have spoken to many elders, this is basically a last-ditch attempt to flush someone out because if I die with it, it is all gone.”
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Adventures In Depression by Hyperbole and a Half
An account of what depression is like in the only way Hyperbole and a Half could do - honestly and incredibly charming.
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The Hackney Heroine tells why she confronted rioters from The Guardian
Charming interview with the YouTube-famous woman who shouted at the rioters in London
Pauline Pearce – the woman with a walking stick – became a YouTube sensation after tackling looters in the street. Now she fears there’s more trouble ahead
It was on her return from her last radio appearance that she was caught up in the riot. “One man got physical with me, and that’s why I started ranting. There was a burnt-out car, and I said: ‘What is the point of that? It’s ridiculous, they’re our neighbours’ vehicles, and they’re trying to make a living just like you.’ And this big burly black man goes up against me, and really gives me intimidation. And I’m like, ‘Go for it, I’m ready to go, I’m at peace with the Lord.’ And that’s when I started to go off on one. I was ranting for a good 15 minutes before the clip started.”
Some people cheered, and the arsonist walked off “kissing his teeth”. But while the video of her took Twitter by storm, Pearce was still on the streets, involved in another altercation. “People were charging after this poor man, pulling him from all angles. And I’m like, ‘Get off him’, trying to get their hands off of him. And then they gave us both a shove, and I fell against this car that was burning. The flames were down by the handbrake, and my bum was stuck in the window! Ha ha ha! I have to laugh. My bum was stuck in a burning car.”
Pearce was eventually saved by a pair of vigilantes “who were out there trying to keep it less than it could have been … They were trying to stop scuffles. People were charging around burning vehicles, and they would step in and say: ‘Well, why are you burning it? What’s the point?’”
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99 Year Old Japanese woman plays Nintendo NES everyday to stay mentally sharp. Her favourite game is Bomberman! :D
Narisawa’s game of choice is Bomberman for the original NES. She started playing it 26 years ago, after noticing how much fun her grandchildren were having when they played it. Playing Bomberman for a couple hours a day soon became part of her daily routine.
Her years of bombering have made her an expert at the game; she’s cleared all 50 levels of the game countless times. Some days she beats the game twice.
Playing Bomberman every day helps keep her mind sharp. Pressing all those buttons has also kept her fingers nimble (and capable of threading a needle). -
The Downfall of a Press Baron by Adam Curtis
Documentary maker Adam Curtis, known for his works for the BBC ‘The Power of Nightmares’ and, most recently, ‘All Watched Over By The Machines of Loving Grace’, has put together an account of the fall of Cecil King.
As we wait to see whether Rupert Murdoch will fall from power and lose control of News International, I thought I would tell the extraordinary and forgotten story of the dramatic downfall of the newspaper mogul who used to dominate Britain before Rupert Murdoch arrived.
Cecil King ran the Daily Mirror - along with over two hundred other papers and magazines - and was as powerful and influential in 1960s Britain as Murdoch would become in the 1980s. The Daily Mirror dominated Fleet Street - and politicians bowed down to its power and influence.
But in 1968 Cecil King became convinced that Britain was heading for disaster - and he decided to engineer what in effect would be a political coup. He was going to use the Daily Mirror to try and bring down the Labour government.
Included is a 45 minute documentary which tells the story, as well as some facinating archive footage of the UK newsrooms of the 1960s, almost fly-on-the-wall. Unfortunately, this video isn’t embeddable, but can be watched on Adam Curtis’ blog.
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The Unlikely Making of the Google ‘Doodle’ - Excerpted from “I’m Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59” by Douglas Edwards. (via Wall Street Journal)
![[GoogleSide1]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/RV-AD593_Google_OR_20110715003201.jpg)
LEGO anniversary, 2008
One of the convictions that I brought with me to Google was that you needed to present your company’s graphic signature in a monomaniacally consistent manner; to pound it into the public consciousness with a thousand tiny taps, each one exactly the same as the one before.
So when Sergey reminded me that he wanted us to play with Google’s signature home-page graphic in 1999, I put my foot down. This was not only the most prominent placement of our logo; it was the only placement of our logo. We weren’t advertising on TV or on billboards or in print. The logo floating in all that white space was it.
Sergey didn’t see the big deal. He had changed the logo twice during Google’s infancy, adding a clip-art turkey on Thanksgiving in 1998 and putting up a Burning Man cartoon when the staff took off to explore nakedness in the Nevada desert. But now Google was a real company, I told him. Real companies don’t do that.
Even as we argued, Sergey enlisted webmaster Karen White to resurrect the turkey for Thanksgiving, create a holiday snowman in December and festoon the logo with a hat and confetti for New Year’s 2000.
“What about aliens?” he asked. “Let’s put aliens on the home page. We’ll change it every day. It will be like a comic strip that people come back to read.”
I tried not to be condescending. I gave him my spiel about consistency of messaging and uniform touchpoints and assured him that it wasn’t just my opinion; it was the consensus of marketing professionals world-wide. I knew I had finally convinced him when he stopped asking me about it.
![[GOOGLESide3]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/RV-AD603_GOOGLE_OR_20110715003757.jpg)
Michael Jackson’s birthday, 2009
I was wrong. Sergey wasn’t convinced; he just didn’t like repeating himself. So he turned to marketing manager Susan Wojcicki, who found illustrator Ian Marsden and put him to work. In May 2000, Ian created the first Google doodle. It featured—surprise, surprise—aliens making off with our logo.
Our users loved the randomness of the logo artwork and sent us dozens of appreciative emails. Google’s brilliant strategy of humanizing an otherwise sterile interface with cute little cartoon creatures was an enormous hit.
It was so blindingly obvious that I was right, yet I was so clearly wrong. Google did that to you—it made you challenge all your assumptions and experience-based ideas until you began to wonder if up was really up, or if it might not actually be a different kind of down.
More here, including an account of the early interview process, and Google’s first April Fools Day prank.
