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Cyclonic Pictures: Long Exposures Spin Art from Light & Air

29 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

air light stick art

The shots seem impossibly composed, consisting of light that arcs and twists like a tornado in the night skies, but the process of creating them is much simpler than you might first imagine.

air art distance thrown

aerial cyclone light art

Martin Kimbell twirls, tosses and hurls LED sticks then uses long-exposure techniques to capture the twisting, turning and arcing patterns that result from each throw.

air timelapse spinning photos

air tornado light art

Some of the loops look like natural phenomena, swirling dust, stormy cyclones or campfire smoke, for instance, except spun from bright and colorful lights instead of organic materials. Others trajectories are simpler and captured in black-and-white instead.

art art black white

night light aerial art

air art up down

Inspired by Stu Jenks and other light artists, Kimbell is a “freelance photographer based in Nottingham, England, specialising in light painting and action sports photography.” You can see more of his photography beyond this type on Flickr as well, and be sure to check out Diliz who crafts figures from sparklers in a much different style.

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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Sea Fort for Sale: Buy a Massive Maritime Mansion in Britain

29 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Built in the 1860s and now on sale for half a million pounds (under $ 1,000,000) , it is hard to beat what this sea fort offers by way of views, a prestigious address (No 1 Thames) and amazing location (a short commute by speedboat from London).

sea for for sale

sea fort by land

sea fort bbc video

The massive fortified structure (featuring 15-foot-thick walls) can be accessed by boat or walked to when the tide is low, albeit a long and muddy way to go. A BBC interview (screenshots above and below) shows both the problems and potential of this amazing piece of real estate – there are precedents, too, for converting old British army and sea forts as well as harbor bases.

sea fort footage closeup

sea fort entry stone

sea fort ruin interior

The current owner purchased the property from the Crown Estate, which is to say he approach the “Lord High Admiral for Her Most Excellency Majesty Queen Elizabeth”, made an offer and had it accepted.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

However, the buyer-turned-seller, himself a London resident, never found the time or funds to refurbish the place, so it remains in a state of partial decay – a would-be purchaser should expect a significant outlay for renovating the building’s exterior and interior alike.

sea fort vision idea

sea fort design idea

Still, for someone with a fortune as well as a vision, it is hard to imagine a neater place to escape from city life. The firm WT Architecture has already taken a stab at conceptual designs for rehabilitating to structure (renderings shown above and below). As their drawings illustrate, there is a rich variety in terms of materials, shapes and spaces to work with, including a cavernous central stone circle with a tall wood-and-concrete watchtower and an adjacent rectangular brick structure (that could be used for guests).

sea fort section drawing copy

sea fort renovation rendering

As BldgBlog notes, “At first glance, it’s an amazing offshore castle, a fairy tale artificial island of 19th-century military Romanticism roughly an hour’s boat ride east of London. But don’t jump in too quickly, lest you overlook the ruinous state of the place: it needs almost literally everything, from plumbing to electricity, glass windows to the most thorough cleaning you could imagine, having been open to the oceanic elements for decades”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Robotic Printer Creates Artist’s Portrait Using His Blood

28 Aug

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

Robotic Blood Printer 1

Blood streams from Ted Lawson‘s arm into a CNC printer, which uses it like ink or paint to robotically create the Brooklyn-based artist’s image. ‘Ghost in the Machine’ is a life-sized nude self-portrait rendered in just about the most graphic way possible, the whole process captured on video as an alarming amount of blood is applied to a blank white surface.

Robotic Blood Painting 2

Visibly drained by the process, Lawson sits beside the machine as it works, replenishing himself with juice as his blood streams out in little squiggles. At first, the image is abstract, slowly coming together as the robot follows the guidelines of the illustration.

Robotic Blood Painting 3

“I’m generally not into doing selfies, particularly nude ones, but when I came up with the idea to connect my blood directly to the robot (CNC machine), it just made too much sense to not try one as a full nude self-portrait,” Lawson told the Associated Press.

Robotic Blood Painting 4

“In this series I’m really just trying to make a good drawing, which requires a lot of process and spontaneity to achieve. I do consider these works to be drawings and not prints, in that I allow the robot to make certain mistakes or leave in certain glitches on purpose.”

Robotic Blood Painting 5

The final print will be on display at the Joseph Gross Gallery in New York City from September 11th through October 4th as part of Lawson’s solo exhibition, “The Map Is Not the Territory.”

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Containertecture: Shipping Crate-Based Buildings by LOT-EK

28 Aug

[ By Steph in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

LOT-EK C-Home 1

Early explorers in the realm of prefab shipping container-based architecture, design studio LOT-EK stacks these steel crates to create everything from compact homes to massive retail complexes. Making aesthetics and functionality equally important, LOT-EK gives the containers a visual dynamism while keeping its structures economical, portable and easy to assemble.

Sanlitun South

LOT-EK Sanitlun 2

Bright red shipping containers burst out of the facade of the Sanitlun South retail complex in Beijing, “organized like a medieval village with a dense fabric of narrow alleys, low-rise buildings, elevated walkways and bridges connection all levels.” Eight-foot-wide shipping containers inserted randomly throughout the structure determine the rhythm of the whole, functioning as canopies over the retail store entrances on the exterior and functioning as small lobbies for stores on the inside.

Whitney Studio

LOT-EK Whitney Studio 2

Six stacked steel shipping containers form a dense, minimalist cube functioning as an ultra-modern art studio space for the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. The 700-square-foot, 2-story space features a vivid yellow diagonal slice running up to the roof to create a skylight.

PUMA City Shipping Container Store

LOT-EK Puma City 2

LOT-EK Puma City 3

Transported from Spain to Stockholm to Boston, PUMA’s pop-up store had to be highly portable and easy to assemble and disassemble. LOT-EK retrofitted 24 shipping containers to create a retail and event building that could go from one international port to the next, but still feel fresh and dynamic and highly functional. The four-story space features double-height ceilings, a downstairs retail space, upstairs offices and storage, and a bar and open terrace on the top. 40-foot-long shipping containers along the outside join and secure the whole structure both horizontally and vertically.

APAP OpenSchool

LOT-EK APAP 3

LOT-EK APAP 4

The APAP2010 OpenSchool building serves as a recreational space for a public art program at an art school in South Korea, and also as a testing ground for ‘radical container assemblies with high sculptural potential.’ 8 containers are cut along a 45-degree angle and assembled in what LOT-EK describes as “a fishbone pattern generating a large arrow-like volume lifted three meters over the landscape.” The bent container offers access from the pedestrian path outside to the upper levels of the building.

C-Home

LOT-EK C-Home 2.jp

C-Home is a series of pre-fabricated homes upcycling shipping containers to provide anywhere from 300 to 1300 square feet of living space. Since they’re made of recycled materials – and shipping containers are composed of strong Cor-ten steel – they’re both affordable and durable. Folding cut-outs in the facade let in light and provide a terrace when open.

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Containertecture Shipping Crate Based Buildings By Lot Ek

[ By Steph in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Unstealable Bike: Theft-Proof Bicycle Frame Doubles as Lock

27 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

unstealable theft proof bicycle

If you are sick of worrying about your bike being stolen or taking a lock with you wherever you go, this design will solve both of those every problems faced by bicyclists around the world.

unstealable bicycle in action

In less than 20 seconds, the Unstealable Bike‘s locking system can be deployed by unlatching and rotating two pieces of the frame, then sliding out and using the seat bar to connect and secure those two parts.

unstealable bike leaning bridge

Unlike most quick-release seats, the ability to slide out the bar becomes an asset rather than a liability in this case, making it possible to lock up your bicycle with one of its most frequently-stolen pieces.

unstealable cycle prototype design

The scale of the components employed makes it easy to attach the cycle to anything from a slim signpost to a thick tree.

unstealable bike engineering team

Created by a team of three engineers, the bike is currently a prototype and seeking funding for mass-production and sale. Its builders bill it as safe, well-designed and comfortable – a more useful variant of the frequently-seen projects for collapsible bicycles.

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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Forging Fun, Not Profit: Master Copycat Fakes Out 50+ Museums

26 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

fake priest artist copycat

Mark Landis is a US artist and actor of extraordinary ability, having spent decades faking various identities and committing a kind of faux philanthropy, having donated copied artworks he creates to churches and museums for decades.

fake philanthropist copyist artist

Diagnosed schizophrenic and the subject of a new documentary film Art and Craft (preview below), Landis has not been convicted of any crime since his activities were uncovered over five years ago. Primarily, he is protected by the fact that he has never sold (only gifted) his faked paintings, drawings and watercolors.

Amazingly, it took over twenty years for anyone to work out his ruse – finally, someone noted that not only was a painting he attempted to give previously donated elsewhere, but it was even gifted under the same fake moniker.

The fakes are often painted from catalog photos or over a color-printed copy that he simply creates at a copying shop, takes home and starts working over. Meanwhile, under his real name, he has also sold original paintings for years.

priest copycat artist

No one can be entirely certain of what drives Landis, since honesty and transparency are not his strongest suits, but presumably he enjoys acting the role of a generous donor, tricking the people he dupes, and ultimately seeing his faked works on display in major museums around the United States.

priest fake art

He loves being a prolific philanthropist, real or otherwise, and claims to like his role as faux Jesuit priest as well. In the end, he notes, that it doesn’t really matter to the viewer whether the thing they are seeing is real – so what should they care if the work they see is not original?

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Under London: Disused Tunnel Now a Subterranean Skate Park

26 Aug

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

House of Vans Skate Park 1

The infamous Old Vic Tunnels under London’s Waterloo Station are now home to the city’s first subterranean skate park with the opening of House of Vans, a cultural complex taking up the entire 32,000-square-foot space. In addition to the pool-style bowl, street section and mini-ramp for skaters, the space will offer a music venue, cafe, bar, cinema, artist studios and gallery space.

House of Vans Skate Park 2

House of Vans Skate Park 5

The four massive tunnels were the subject of a bidding war once the Old Vic Theather vacated the underground space, with Vans reportedly beating out Apple and Nike. The skate park is a fitting usage for it, located adjacent to London’s largest legal graffiti wall and another skate park on the Thames River.

House of Vans Skate Park 3

House of Vans Skate Park 4

The smooth new concrete surfaces and black-and-white checkered floors contrast with the centuries-old weathered brick surfaces of the original tunnels, which are still under control of England’s Department of Transport. Before it was taken over by Old Vic, the disused tunnel played host to the premiere of Banksy’s movie Exit Through the Gift Shop.

House of Vans Skate Park 6

House of Vans Skate Park 7

Skate sessions are free, but must be reserved in advance, with time slots getting snapped up as much as a month ahead of time. Artists selected to utilize the studios for free get the opportunity to display their work in the gallery space at the end of their tenancy.

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Transforming Houses: 13 Homes Slide, Unfold, Spin & Expand

26 Aug

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

Rooms rotate, roofs open to the sky, facades slide away to reveal glass walls and interiors literally turn inside out in these 13 transforming, highly customizable home designs. Some close up into impenetrable fortresses for maximum security while others unfold to blur the boundaries between indoors and out.

The Sliding House by DRMM

The outer walls and roof of this house in Suffolk, England by DRMM slide back and forth on rails to reveal a glassed-in static structure, opening the house to the outside world to a highly customizable degree. Deceptively simple-looking when it’s all closed up, the house practically transforms into a greenhouse when the 50-ton mobile roof and wall enclosure is pulled back via electric motors charged by solar panels.

Bedrooms That Can Be Wheeled Outside

Ever wish you could move your bed outside on a particularly nice day? The lucky residents of this house in Sazeau, France by Raum can go one step further, wheeling their entire bedrooms out of the house and onto a wooden terrace to interact with the surrounding landscape. A large doorway makes it easy to move the lightweight wooden cubes outside.

Push a Button, Change Your House Layout

Three wooden boxes within a fixed volume rotate and extend outward with the push of a button at the Sharifi-Ha house in Tehran by nextoffice. The volumes contain a guest room, home office and dining room that can either be aligned flush against the static parts of the home or rotated so the glassed-in ends face a variety of angles.

M-Velope Transformer House

A 230-square-foot mobile living space expands in surprising ways with slatted wood panels that bend and angle in surprising ways. Extending out from a steel frame, the walls fold to reveal interior benches, sleeping platforms, work surfaces and small shaded rooms.

Shed-to-Beach-House

What looks like no more than a wooden shed at first glance is actually a mobile beach house that can be towed off the sand before severe storms. Located on the northern coast of New Zealand, the ‘hut on a sled’ by Crosson Clarke Carnachan features a large wooden shutter facade that opens to reveal a two-story glazed wall facing the sea. The glass is operable, as well, opening the entire interior up to the ocean breezes.

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13 Transforming Houses Slide Unfold Spin And Expand

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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See-Through Solar: Crystal Clear Panels Are 100% Transparent

25 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

clear transparent solar energy

Applied to anything from the surface of your smartphone to the the sides of a skyscraper, the possible uses of this innovation for everyday surfaces are incredibly wide-ranging.

clear solar material scientists

Developed by a team of chemical engineers and material scientists from the University of Michigan’s School of Engineering, this solar concentrator leaves a clear surface while collecting energy.

clear solar power panel

Unlike similar previous attempts, this project avoids coloration and distortion entirely behind: “The solar harvesting system uses small organic molecules developed by Lunt and his team to absorb specific nonvisible wavelengths of sunlight.” The goal now is to iterate on the design, continuing to improve its efficiency, scale and cost-effectiveness toward eventual mass-production on surfaces both small and large.

solar energy see through

Operating out of the normally-visible spectrum, they look effectively transparent to a human viewer. The captured power is redirected to and collected at the edges of the panel, out of sight and out of mind, leaving in the center a transparent surface that could cover (or even replace) windows on a building or the surfaces of smartphones. The goal is for energy generation to disappear entirely – in the near future, you might never know that homes and phones are creating, collecting and deploying clean power passively all around you.

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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The Bucks Stop Here: 9 Closed & Abandoned Dollar Stores

25 Aug

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned closed Big Lots dollar store
Dollar Stores may be the new face of retail in post-9/11 America but when they close or are abandoned, that’s change we don’t want to believe in.

Big Lots? More like Big Lost, know what I’m sayin’? A big lot of credit goes out to Flickr user Andrew T…has left the building for capturing the forlorn state of the above former Green Bay, WI, Big Lots store in August of 2011. Good thing he did – by December of the same year, the store had been demolished and all that was left was an open field.

General Retreat

abandoned closed Dollar General Columbia dollar store 1a

abandoned closed Dollar General Columbia dollar store 1b

abandoned closed Dollar General Columbia dollar store 1c

abandoned closed Dollar General Columbia dollar store Radio Shack

It’s getting to the point where not much remains open in Columbia, SC… Columbia Closings’ alphabetical list goes on and on and on. Very few failed local businesses are dollar stores, however, which may say something about the city’s economy. Here’s a Dollar General that just couldn’t cut the mustard in early 2012 but if the strip mall’s landlord thinks he’s getting the last laugh, they’d best think again: the store re-opened as a Radio Shack.

Detroit Buck City

abandoned closed Detroit dollar store 2

abandoned closed Detroit dollar store 1

You know the neighborhood’s going downhill fast when the local dollar store accepts food stamps… and then closes… and then gets tagged. Such is the sad case of Y OLLAR TORE (formerly MY DOLLAR STORE), not part of a chain though it’s doubtful that would have helped save them. If you haven’t already guessed, this post-apocalyptic ex-business is located on Detroit’s east side, which is definitely not its best side.

360Photography

Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Cyclonic Pictures: Long Exposures Spin Art from Light & Air

Sea Fort for Sale: Buy a Massive Maritime Mansion in Britain

Robotic Printer Creates Artist’s Portrait Using His Blood

Containertecture: Shipping Crate-Based Buildings by LOT-EK

Sanlitun South

Whitney Studio

PUMA City Shipping Container Store

APAP OpenSchool

C-Home

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Containertecture Shipping Crate Based Buildings By Lot Ek

Unstealable Bike: Theft-Proof Bicycle Frame Doubles as Lock

Forging Fun, Not Profit: Master Copycat Fakes Out 50+ Museums

Under London: Disused Tunnel Now a Subterranean Skate Park

Transforming Houses: 13 Homes Slide, Unfold, Spin & Expand

The Sliding House by DRMM

Bedrooms That Can Be Wheeled Outside

Push a Button, Change Your House Layout

M-Velope Transformer House

Shed-to-Beach-House

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
13 Transforming Houses Slide Unfold Spin And Expand

See-Through Solar: Crystal Clear Panels Are 100% Transparent

The Bucks Stop Here: 9 Closed & Abandoned Dollar Stores

General Retreat

Detroit Buck City

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
The Bucks Stop Here 9 Closed Abandoned Dollar Stores

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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

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Invisible Apparel: Material-Free Dresses Made of Light

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Sanlitun South

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C-Home

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Push a Button, Change Your House Layout

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Lunar Power: Solar Spheres Energized by Both Sun & Moon

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General Retreat

Detroit Buck City

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The Bucks Stop Here 9 Closed Abandoned Dollar Stores