FineThings60's Blog

Derek Kinzett – Wire Sculptures

2012-03-26T21:10:00.001-04:00

From Colossal: "UK artist Derek Kinzett crafts these amazing figurative sculptures by cutting and forming different kinds of wire."
Above, "The Lady and the Bicycle."
"Spirit of the Road:

"The Wood Cutters Sprite":
"Spirit of Reflection":
"Kinzett closed a solo exhibition yesterday for The National Trust, Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, England but you can see much more in his portfolio."

(Via bookofjoe)

Flying Bird Rings

2012-03-26T20:46:00.001-04:00

Flying Bird Rings:

From Colossal:
"Kansas-based metalsmith and jeweler Dukno Yoon creates rings, bracelets, and other devices that mimic the movements of birds by harnessing the motion caused by a flick of the wrist or the flexing of fingers."
"Yoon received his BFA from Kookmin University, Seoul and a MFA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio,
and most recently has been working on a series of metronomes [below] that also explore the movement of birds."
"Head over to his Wings gallery to see many more devices in action,
the bracelets in particular are really fun to watch."

(Via bookofjoe)

Miniature Scupltures by Takanori Aiba

2012-03-04T18:54:00.001-05:00

Miniature Scupltures by Takanori Aiba:

Japanese artist Takanori Aiba merged the two different crafts – the design of physical space and the drawing of labyrinths – into these incredibly detailed miniature sculptures. Using craft paper, plastic, plaster, acrylic resin, paint and other materials Aiba constructs sprawling miniature communities that wrap around bonsai trees, lighthouses, and amongst the cliffs of nearly [...]

(Via Beautiful Life)

Renaissance Portraits by Christian Tagliavini

2012-02-12T19:28:00.001-05:00

Renaissance Portraits by Christian Tagliavini:

These Renaissance nine portraits are parts of photo project called “1503″ created by by Swiss/Italian photographer Christian Tagliavini. Taking 13 months to complete this project was inspired by the masters of the Renaissance, notably Agnolo di Cosimo ( known as “Il Bronzino”) who was born in the same year as the title. All characters are [...]

(Via Beautiful Life)

Gibraltar Airport, where planes and cars meet daily

2012-01-29T23:01:00.001-05:00

Gibraltar Airport, where planes and cars meet daily:

From slightlywarped.com:
"Gibraltar is the only major airport where the runway actually intersects with a major highway. When a plane has to take off or land,car traffic is shut down."
Anyone reading this ever flown into or out of Gibralter Airport? Or driven across it?
If so, tell us about it.

(Via bookofjoe)

Limited-Edition Octopus Chair

2012-01-29T22:59:00.003-05:00

Limited-Edition Octopus Chair:

Created by Spanish artist Maximo Riera.
"The octopus sculpture is created from compressed foam sections that are then attached and painted by hand to create the intricate details. Upholstered in black leather, the tentacles extend 1.5 meters."
"Each chair is hand-built by a team of over thirty professionals, overseen by Riera himself."
$53,900.
[via LikeCool]

(Via bookofjoe)

Our lady of the bugs

2012-01-29T22:59:00.001-05:00

Our lady of the bugs:

"Lady Bug" is a 2010 creation
by Hungarian sculptor Gábor Fülöp.
I don't know
whether these bugs were once alive
or were made from scratch by the artist.
Perhaps my Hungarian posse will fill me in.
Of course, I could email the artist and ask
but what fun would that be?
[via Neatorama, My Modern Metropolis and alecshao]

(Via bookofjoe)

High-Speed Water Drop Photography by Heinz Maier

2012-01-10T10:45:00.001-05:00

High-Speed Water Drop Photography by Heinz Maier:

From DeMilked:
"Heinz Maier started photography only about a year ago,
but his high-speed water drop photos
have already become an sensation."
For more,
visit the photographer's flickr and website,
which has details about the equipment he uses.

(Via bookofjoe)

Oh, the Places You'll Go at Burning Man!

2012-01-09T14:29:00.001-05:00

Oh, the Places You'll Go at Burning Man!:

Based on Dr. Seuss's final book before his death, this is a story about life's ups and downs, told b..(Read...)

(Via Likecool)

Pelicans and Flying Rays

2012-01-09T14:18:00.001-05:00

Pelicans and Flying Rays:

Pelicans and the incredible flying Devil Rays in the Sea of Cortez...(Read...)

(Via Likecool)

New York City in 1938

2012-01-09T14:11:00.001-05:00

New York City in 1938:

Take a tour of New York City in 1938...(Read...)

(Via Likecool)

Sunken Bridge

2012-01-05T19:07:00.001-05:00

Sunken Bridge:

From DeMilked:
"Ro Koster and Ad Kil Architects built this amazing sunken bridge for crossing the defensive fortress in Halsteren, The Netherlands."
"The bridge sits within the water and slope surrounding the 17th Century Dutch fort
and gives visitors a unique opportunity to walk through parted waters like Moses."
"The so-called 'Moses Bridge' was made from Accsys Technologies' Accoya wood sheet piling on either side with a hardwood deck and stairs in between."
"Accoya wood was chosen for its durability, stability and sustainable benefits."

(Via bookofjoe)

Best optical illusion ever?

2011-11-22T13:12:00.001-05:00

Best optical illusion ever?:

Wrote Kathryn Schulz, "Maybe the best optical illusion I've ever seen; definitely the one most likely to make you queasy."
I won't argue.
Note that it's not an animated GIF; whatever appears to be happening on the screen is, in fact, happening inside your head.
Gives pause for thought about whether there is, in fact, a world outside the one each of us creates for ourselves.
[via @bengoldacre]

(Via bookofjoe)

Free-running sled dogs.

2011-11-13T23:28:00.001-05:00

Glass Master

2011-11-13T23:22:00.001-05:00

Wisteria Tunnel

2011-11-07T00:55:00.001-05:00

Wisteria Tunnel:

Located in Japan's
Kawachi Fuji Garden.
[via Fancy and stomaster]

(Via bookofjoe)

Murmuration

2011-11-07T00:49:00.001-05:00

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

"All My Children" — The complete history

2011-10-08T00:21:00.001-04:00

"All My Children" — The complete history:

The final episode aired Friday, September 23, 2011, ending a 41 year-long run.
Everything of importance that's ever happened since the show's 1970 debut is here.
Fair warning: there goes the day.
[via New York Magazine and @caitlinroper]

(Via bookofjoe)

Thank You Steve.

2011-10-06T00:09:00.001-04:00

Thank You Steve.

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

- Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

Experts' Expert: How to fold fitted sheets

2011-10-02T23:00:00.003-04:00

Experts' Expert: How to fold fitted sheets:

[via Jennifer Leigh Design and Richard Kashdan]

(Via bookofjoe)

Opening a time capsule in El Paso County, Colorado

2011-10-02T23:00:00.001-04:00

Opening a time capsule in El Paso County, Colorado:

Wrote reader yogahz, "I was doing some research on El Paso County in Colorado and found this link that I thought was interesting:
http://www2.coloradocollege.edu/Library/SpecialCollections/CenturyChest/Appdx.html
It's to a time capsule that was buried in 1901 and then opened on January 1, 2001. The site has both images and transcripts of the letters with accompanying images of the items that were also included. It's a comprehensive and well-documented look at late 19th/(really) early 20th-century life in Colorado Springs. One of those '...there's goes the day...' kind of links."
Hey, she said it, not me.

(Via bookofjoe)

Experts' Expert: How to peel a head of garlic in under 10 seconds

2011-09-30T23:39:00.001-04:00

Experts' Expert: How to peel a head of garlic in under 10 seconds:

[via my Los Angeles correspondent and Saveur]

(Via bookofjoe)

Giant panda cubs nap at a nursery in Chengdu

2011-09-30T23:35:00.001-04:00

Giant panda cubs nap at a nursery in Chengdu:

The photo above appeared on page A5 of yesterday's Washington Post.
The caption: "This photo taken on September 26, 2011 shows a group of giant panda cubs napping at a nursery in the research base of the Giant Panda Breeding Centre in Chengdu, in southwest China's Sichuan province. China has launched its once-a-decade panda census, trying to determine how many of the endangered animals live in the wild amid efforts to boost numbers. The census — the fourth since it was first launched in the 1970s — is also expected to ascertain pandas' living conditions, ages and any change in habitat. According to the count a decade ago, there are 1,596 pandas left in the wild in China, with 1,206 of them living in Sichuan."

(Via bookofjoe)

"Saints and Scholars" — County Offaly, Ireland

2011-09-30T23:30:00.001-04:00

"Saints and Scholars" — County Offaly, Ireland:

From Broadsheet.ie:
"Stop the car."
"The N52 Tullamore Bypass in County Offaly this afternoon."
"The 25-foot-high steel figures were created by artist Maurice Harron
and entitled "Saints and Scholars."

(Via bookofjoe)

"The Game of Kings: Medieval Ivory Chessmen From the Isle of Lewis"

2011-09-30T23:11:00.001-04:00

"The Game of Kings: Medieval Ivory Chessmen From the Isle of Lewis":

The above-titled show opens November 15, 2011 in The Cloisters Museum and Gardens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
From the top down: Bishop, King, Warder, group portrait.
The Met's description of the show follows.
In 1831, a hoard of luxury goods—including more than seventy chess pieces and several other objects, all made of carved walrus ivory and dating from the twelfth century—was unearthed on the Isle of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland. The chess pieces (thereafter known as the Lewis Chessmen), which come from at least four distinct, but incomplete sets, are arguably the most famous chess pieces in the world today, and are among the icons of the collections of the British Museum in London and the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. For this exhibition, more than thirty chessmen from the collection of the British Museum will be shown at The Cloisters, the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. This represents the first time such a large ensemble of the chessmen has traveled outside the United Kingdom. After the showing in New York, they will return to London.
The Lewis chessmen are generally believed to have been made in Norway. Stylistic similarities to sculpture point specifically to the Norwegian city of Trondheim, as does archaeological evidence of workshops for the carving of walrus ivory. At the time that the chessmen were carved, the seat of political and ecclesiastical control of the Isle of Lewis was in Norway, and shipping lanes from Norway to Ireland went past the Outer Hebrides. The Lewis hoard may represent a merchant's wares, lost or abandoned on the isle in the twelfth century.

Each of the pieces is a delightful sculpture in miniature, with a specific, individualized character. The kings all sit with their swords on their laps, but some have long hair and beards, and others are clean shaven. The knights wear distinct headgear, carry different shields, and ride different shaggy ponies. Among the warders (rooks) in the exhibition, who are represented as foot soldiers, one bites the top of his shield, barely containing his frenzied eagerness for battle. Scholars have identified such figures as berserkers (the soldiers of Odin from Norse mythology), known from the Heimskringla—the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway—of the poet Snorri Sturluson (ca. 1179–1241).
The exhibition at The Cloisters, in the center of the Romanesque Hall, will take the form of the endgame of a famous chess match. The fallen pieces, organized by type, will be displayed in auxiliary cases along the edges of the room. Examples of medieval chessmen from the Metropolitan's main building will also be displayed nearby.

The game of chess is believed to have originated in India in the sixth century A.D., and to have spread west first through Persia, and then through the Islamic territories, until it reached Europe. As played today, chess is an important legacy of the Middle Ages. The piece in the form of an elephant in Indian chess was transformed into a bishop of the church in medieval Europe. And the piece that accompanied the king—his advisor or vizier—became the queen. The Lewis Chessmen are among the earliest examples in which both bishops and queens are found. Although they are now all white, some of the Lewis Chessmen were stained red, according to an early report. (The use of black and white chess pieces did not become standard until later.)
More about the Lewis Chessmen here and here.

(Via bookofjoe)