“…an exemplary marriage of information, art and design.”

Speaking of maps…this is an interesting article in the New York Times about books that explore cartography as an art.  The article goes on to say how these map art books can have more conceptual ideas; he even refers to how the concept trumps the actual quality of the book.  Some of the books he mentions include: MAPPING THE WORLD: Stories of Geography by Caroline and Martine Laffon; THE MAP AS ART: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography by Katharine Harmon; PARIS UNDERGROUND: The Maps, Stations, and Design of the Métro by Mark Ovenden.  Basically the article goes into indepth reviews of the books.  There’s an almost ethereal quality to the concepts of these “Map” books.  They all have a particular nostalgic feel (considering that they are maps of locations, of which can tell a story or narrative) to them.  I thought this was a great article that relates to our current project.  I definitely think I can draw inspiration from some of the images provided by the article.  They have some humorous maps, like the one of

“An imagined train route from Oslo to Pyongyang, from STRANGE MAPS: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities.”

This is such an interesting map to try and follow.  The author of this article puts it best:

“So what makes a map strange? Total mistakes, for one thing. “One of the most famous misconceptions in cartographic history is of California as an island,” Jacobs writes. This error derives from a romantic novel written in 1510 that ­stated, “There is an island called California very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise.” Though it is possible, Jacobs adds, given the activity of tectonic plates, that California may someday become an ­island.

And what makes a map surprising? When it sets out to record a real world, but in doing so has to go beyond reality. The artist Chris Wayan created an (almost) entirely new world. “Welcome to planet Dubia, a strangely familiar place,” Jacobs notes. “It’s what our planet could look like if you add a millennium’s worth of global warming.”

Finally, what makes a map funny? Let’s cite an example. My favorite is the urban rail map that shows how you can get from Oslo to Pyongyang “without changing trains.” (That map, incidentally, served as a promotion piece for Ovenden’s “Transit Maps of the World.”)”

This is an absolutely great article and it is certainly a good read for “map geeks”.  I’ve actually never been interested in cartography, but after having looked at this article and working on the assignment currently in progress, I’ve developed a fancy for the conceptual ideas behind maps.  However, I would like to see a further development in the visual side; although it is tough to get fancy with a map without cluttering or detracting from the fundamental use of it.

(article via: The New York Times)
(image via: The New York Times)

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but in cyberspace it might be.”

The article from The New York Times discusses the endeavors of computer science researchers from University of Washington and Cornell University.  Basically, through collaboration, they are working on a graphics algorithm to build  ”three-dimensional renderings of buildings, neighborhoods and potentially even entire cities.”

It’s called Photocity; it develops a set of algorithms that generats three-dimensional models from unstructured collections of two-dimensional photos.

“The original project was dubbed Photo Tourism and it has since been commercialized asMicrosoft’s Photosynth service, making it possible for users to upload collections of photos that can then be viewed in a quasi three-dimensional montage with a Web browser.”

This is certainly quite amazing because it’s using programming to design structures such as buildings.  It’s kind of beautiful seeing the structure of the 3D modeling and it reminds me of what we will be working with in our next project. 

(image via: The New York Times)
(article via: The New York Times)

“Right by the train station in Croton Falls is an old factory that once serviced forklifts and trucks. Today it houses artists’ studios and an exhibition space — not so much a gallery as a place where artists and independent curators can put up temporary exhibits. It is called Lift Trucks Project.”

Artist Tom Christopher owns the space that puts up the temporary exhibits; these exhibits have a reputation for being somewhat out of the ordinary. 

His goal: ” …not to sell artwork to promote the creators’ careers but to “encourage people to look at art from a fresh perspective.””

The latest project he’s working on is called “Ek-fre-ses” (In English: Ekphrasis).  Basically, each work in the show is presented with text. The show doesn’t really have a theme, and is better described as a “series of individual artist-writer collaborations”.  There are some crazy pieces, according to the article, especially those of underground artists.  Cowboy paintings and lime green gnome sculptures (inspired the writer to create an imaginary conversation between the ghosts of Hitler and Joseph Goebbels) are just a few of the stranger artworks/collaborations.  

I think this show has potential to change conceptual art, however, the idea of something as kitschy as gnomes in an art show is bizarre. 

(image and article via: the New York Times)

The Academy Awards, AKA Oscars, are drawing nearer, and I have found another interesting article about a “Best Animated Feature”.

“This film is really small compared to American features, so even just being nominated means a huge amount.”

“The Secret of Kells” is a movie directed by an Irish Filmmaker, Tomm Moore. The small film recently got an Oscar nod, and the even the movie maker is stunned.

“They’re all going, ‘What the hell is this film that got nominated?’” the director joked via telephone from Ireland, where he was en route to tape an interview for a local television station.”

The movie has been out for almost a year now in Ireland, just to give you an idea of the obscurity of this film. It was given a screening at the New York International Children’s Film Festival and the crowd was impressed. In particular, Director and Founder of the festival, Eric Beckman.

“Eric Beckman, founder and director of the children’s film festival, said he fell in love with the movie when it premiered at his event. The company the film was licensed to at the time went out of business, presenting an opportunity for the festival’s distribution arm, GKIDS, to pick it up.”

He ended up submitting the film for an Oscar Nomination three days before the deadline, realizing the urgency of the situation, he started a grass-roots campaign for the movie via e-mail and facebook and the work payed off. 

I personally have not seen it yet, but I plan on doing so soon.  The animated feature is completely hand-drawn and having seen some screenshots of the movie, the backgrounds and characters are beautifully drawn and colored.  The quality of this movie is spectacular as well as stunning. 

Trailer Below.

(image via: Blendernation)
(video via: You Tube)
(article via: Miami Herald)

“No one thinks the Academy Awards are perfect. Except maybe the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; they probably think they do a bang-up job year after year. Every now and then, however, they do end up throwing the right kind of love to the right kind of movie, and this year’s unquestionably worthy tip-of-the-hat went to Pixar’s Up by way of a nomination for Best Picture.”

Pixar is my favorite animation studio of all time, and this article caught my attention. Basically, the animated feature “Up” by Pixar is being nominated for Best Picture by the Academy as well as Best Animated Feature.  

The article goes on to explain that it if the movie is being nominated for Best Picture, which is a large, encompassing category, then it should automatically receive the Best Animated Feature as well.  They describe the Two Awards like a Venn Diagram, in which the “Best Picture” engulfs “Best Animated Feature”.  

“Now, it’s obviously deserving of the Best Animated Feature nomination as it was indeed one of the best animated features of 2009. But doesn’t its contention for one award render the other a done deal? If Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frogand The Secret of Kells were all found to lack the mettle for a Best Picture slot, of which there are now 10 vacancies, is it not a forgone conclusion that Up is the winner of the Animated Feature category?”

I agree with the article because the chances of “Up” actually getting the award are very slim; especially in the “Best Picture” category, while I’m sure it could easily win “Best Animated Feature”.  It is quite an honor for the Studio, considering that “Up” is only the second Animated film to be nominated “Best Picture” (the first was “Beauty and the Beast”).  However, like the article mentions, they probably aren’t going to get the award of “Best Picture” …it is a large, competitive category.  

(image via: CBC News)
(article via: Hollywood.com)

“From the Roman Codex to the iPad”

Basically, this article discusses how the book is being replaced by electronic devices that are slimmer, sleeker, and a lot less weight to carry around…especially with a library of a books at your fingers.  It’s interesting to see how the iPad, now the Kindle’s main competitor is changing our accessibility to information. 

“How’s this for human progress? It took about 4,000 years from the invention of writing to the Roman-era codex of bound pages replacing scrolls, 1,000 years from the codex to movable type creating printed books, 500 years from the printing press to the Internet—and only 25 years to the launch of the iPad.”

The article goes through how technology is “rewritting” the books. Information is being shared and distributed by more efficient means.  While this article doesn’t really critique the iPad product itself, (rather, it discusses it’s role in a larger scope) I personally feel like the iPad is a bit overhyped.  I mean, it’s definitely an appealing and interactive product, but I don’t see the practicality it brings quite yet…especially now, with a $500 price tag.  

The article explains that technology will continue to raise the bar for information exchange.  I definitely agree with this sentiment. 

“As technology rewrites what it means to be a book, we will raise our expectations for our information experiences, with implications potentially as significant as the move to printed books from scrolls.”

(Article via: The Wall Street Journal)
(Image via: Apple iPad Website)

…today Studio Ghibli made the official announcement of their new full length feature film titled Karigurashi no Arrietty (The Borrower Arrietty). The film will be an adaptation of Mary Norton’s Carnegie Medal winning novel The Borrowers and, as hinted earlier on GhibliWorld, will be directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. 

One of my favorite animation studios of all time is coming out with a new movie titled “Karigurashi no Arrietty”.  I’m very excited for this release because Studio Ghibli’s track record of amazing animated films is remarkable.  I have deeply admired each work created by the studio and am expecting no less admiration for this next and newest release.

Unlike the original novel, which tells a story about tiny people who “borrow” things from normal humans during the 1950′s in Enland, Studio Ghibli have transferred their version to Tokyo Koganei in 2010 (Koganei is where Studio Ghibli is settled) and tell the story of 14-year-old little Arrietty (Chiisana Arriety was the films original title). 

Basically, this movie will be directed by Hiromasa, which is interesting because Miyazaki is normally the director for Studio Ghibli fims.  This adaptation of the story “The Borrowers” by Mary Norton will be very different and almost uses the story as an inspiration for their own version of it.  This movie will be Hiromasa’s directing debut; he worked as a key animator for the studio previously.  Another change will be the musical theme will be written by Cécile Corbel, rather than Joe Hisaishi who has written the music for many of the previous films. Karigurashi no Arrietty is expected to be released summer 2010 and will have a length of about 80 minutes. I definitely think that this will be an interesting adaptation…Hopefully it’ll be like Howl’s Moving Castle (Also an adaptation) and be just as appealing. 

(image and article via: TwitchFilm.net )

Tim Burton is one of my favorite movie directors.  When I first heard about this movie last year and then saw the trailer and released pictures, I was absolutely floored.  Tim Burton has an amazing way of sharing his imaginative world through a visually appetizing creation consisting of quirky characters and design and, of course, animation techniques.  Being interested in animation and digital media, I was definitely inspired by Burton’s creative flair in this upcoming movie.

Video via: YouTube

Although this movie is not recent and is fairly exposed, I still enjoy taking in all the musical numbers, which involve quite a bit of CG.  It’s interesting to see how Julie Taymor (director) interprets the Beatles’ music and incorporate the themes within the movie into the musical numbers through digital technology.  I especially enjoyed the “I want you” musical scene.  I am curious about animation and digital effects so this movie certainly satisfied my curiosity towards that subject.

Video via: YouTube

I found this particular “movie” by Alex Roman incredibly well done.  There is a meticulous eye for detail in this fully CG animation; I especially love the effect of the textures.  I’ve actually been very interested in and curious about animation and this piece certainly shows the challenges and the beauty of computer generated animation.

Video via: YouTube