Arts
One of the more scary things I’ve seen on the Net can be found at Access Project, an initiative of a graduate student at NYU. Just look in the archive and click on Ars Electronica 2003 for an alarming demonstration of something like Big Brother watching you in a public place, constantly following you, and sending you messages, including instructions. “There is no escape…” This may be only a test demo, but there is enough here that could be exploited to make us feel that some day there will no longer be any privacy at all. You’ll need the QuickTime video viewer. (Netsurfer Digest)
Julian Beever is an artist who doesn’t seem to have a personal website; he knows there are numerous sites that reproduce his pavement art, for which he is something of a celebrity around the world. When he has finished a pavement drawing, and it is viewed from a certain angle, you would swear you are looking at a solid, three-dimensional object. The resemblance to, for example, a giant coke bottle lying on the ground is uncanny. The technical term for this is called an isomorphic view; anyway, I urge you to take a look at examples of his remarkable work at this mirror site.
Geoffrey Hiller is a photo artist with a mission: to open our eyes to different cultures and, yes, injustices through his multimedia photo essays. They are technically much more than a mere collection of photos from around the world; together with his writing and design collaborators, he has produced several visually compelling projects that deserve our thoughtful attention. Take your time in viewing Burma: Grace Under Pressure or my favorite, Canto do Brasil with its haunting background music. Navigation between projects may prove tricky; be prepared to adjust the URL to get home again. (Netsurfer Digest)
Worlds apart artistically from Geoffrey Hiller, Paul Smith is a remarkable artist who creates his images using nothing but an old typewriter. Paul suffers from severe cerebral palsy and has to steady his one usable hand with the other as he searches for and punches a key. Despite this huge handicap, a lifetime’s laborious work has resulted in over 300 pieces of typed art more or less indistinguishable from typical quality artist drawings. In case that is not enough, he is a first-class chess player, too. You’ve got to hand it to a guy like this. (Netsurfer Digest)
Are those who do industrial design for a living considered to be artists? I think so, especially after browsing through IDEA, the website for Business Week’s 2004 Industrial Design Excellence Awards, where there’s a lot of originality on display. One hundred thirty awards were given in twelve categories of which my favorite was Design Explorations. There I found Samsung’s Circular Printer (brilliant!), the Devo Underwear and Packaging (throw it into the wash where the package part dissolves and is rinsed away, a great idea), and Intel’s Florence Concept that might represent the future of the laptop. (Netsurfer Digest)
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