Top 10 Jan 15

Welcome back viewers for another Top 10: List by Jon aka Best of the Web aka Things i found while browsing the web aka Apple C Apple V.

Feels like the internet train is back on track after a slow start from the holidays, so i'm happy to announce a reasonably awesome list for this week.
I hope you enjoy it.

Mr. J

1. Cal Lane

Cal Lane is an internationally acclaimed sculptor having won prestigious awards, media accolades and extensive curatorial attention over the past decade. She was the subject of a full-length New York Times article in December 2007 – one among many other articles that ran in publications such as: Art Forum International, American Craft Magazine, The Village Voice and The New Yorker, to name a few. This past year, Lane’s work has been mounted in seven exhibitions including the show at New York’s Museum of Art and Design, Lace and Subversive Knitting. Lane was recently awarded the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize and the Canadian Council for the Arts award. Lane is intrigued by contrasts in feminine and male conventions, and uses her welding torch to cut doilies and baroque patterns into mundane objects such as wheel barrows, I-beams, dumpsters and shovels. These objects, once relied upon for their durability, are transformed via oxyacetylene torch into delicate and decorative skeletons. In another process, Lane borrows a tradition from her grandmother who sifted powdered sugar through a stencil to create a powdered print on cakes. Lane adapted this domestic technique to her industrial art form by sifting soil and other medium through large pieces of her torched metal lace stencils to create graphic patterns that can recall the Indian tradition of henna painting.

Lane holds a MFA in sculpture from State University of New York, Purchase. In 2005, during her final year at SUNY Purchase, Lane taught Sculpture for non-majors, as well as an Introduction to Materials and an Introduction to Contemporary Practices and Theory. She received her BFA in 2001 from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and her Diploma in Fine Arts at Victoria College of Art in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1994. Lane resides in Putnam Valley, New York.

See Cal's Portfolio HERE

2. First Person Tetris

54Share email share One of the most venerable classic games just got a clever remake with an interesting twist. In First-Person Tetris, the simple act of rotating a block actually rotates the entire screen, shifting your perspective 90 degrees and adding a whole new dimension of challenge to the 1984 puzzler by Russian engineer Alexey Pajitnov.

The game is free to play and all you need is a web browser to take up the new challenge. The simplicity of the concept and style fit very well with the minimalist aesthetic of the original game, yet cleverly extends it to present a whole new take on the classic.

And if your mind isn’t scrambled enough by the regular First-Person version, check out the even tougher “Night Mode” and let us know how long you can keep playing. Because in Soviet Russia, Tetris rotates you!

Play the game HERE

3. Puma - The Game We Play

See the whole spot HERE

4. Elene Usdin

Elene Usdin is a paris based artist who works primarily in photography. She is part of the creative collective heartland villa that also includes art directors lionel avignon and stefan de vivies. Usdin’s work is very diverse and includes work for commercial clients, fashion publications and herself. Many of her pieces are seemingly candid often featuring the artist herself as the subject. She also integrates lots of props and masks into her works giving them a surreal touch.

Check out more work by Elene HERE

5. Ville Savimaa

Illustrator Ville Savimaa has a style pretty unlike anything I’ve seen. Love the Easter-ish colours in this first one.

Check out Ville's Portfolio HERE

Ville is also represented by Pekka

6. Erin Mulvehill

Erin About Erin.

Born 1988, currently living in new york city. Holds a bs degree in photography from syracuse university.

By work aims to explore the human connections and subtle nuances that whisper into the ear of our every day. much of my work is rooted in the ideas of mind, body, seamlessness and time. This is largely because my deepest beliefs lie in the principles of buddhism, the integration of art and life, and the preservation of beautiful moments. I am nomadic by nature and am inspired each day by the nothingness that resides in all things.

See more work by Erin HERE

7. Augmented Reality Structures

A structure “NR Building” located near the station of Tachikawa and in the middle of a commercial district. Being a commercial building, signs or billboards are typically attached to its facade which undermines the structures’ identity. As a solution QR Code was used as the facade itself. By reading the QR Code with your mobile device you will be taken to a site which includes up to date shop information. In this manner we envision a cityscape unhindered by ubiquitous signage and also an improvement to the quality and accuracy of the information itself.

December 15th, 2009 they held an opening which included the limited release of an iPhone application made specifically for N Building. If a QR Code is static, what could we do with a dynamic device like the iPhone? The vision of the future is one where the facade of the building disappears, showing those inside who want to be seen. As you press on the characters their comments made on online appear in speech bubbles. You can also browse shop information, make reservations and download coupons. Rather than broadly tagging, they display information specific to the building in a manner in which the virtual (iPhone) serves to enhance the physical (N Building). The goal is to provide an incentive to visit the space and a virtual connection to space without necessarily being present. I guess this is a start, the building looks cool but the augmented reality still looks like shit.

(Stolen from weloveviral.blogspot.com)

8. Trivial Pursuit - Who's Smarter Than Who?

A fun and addictive game that reveals your inner genius by pitting Men Vs Women across the world to discover once and for all, who is the smartest sex!

Play the game HERE

9. Nina Chakrabarti

About Nina.

Nina was born and spent her early life in Calcutta, India. She moved to the UK in her teens carrying her stamp collection under her arm and little else. She studied illustration at Central St. Martins, and many years later, at The Royal College of Art.

Her work is often concerned with collections and the composition of objects. She works using Rotring pens, felt tips, biros, pencils, inks and the Apple Macintosh. She enjoys using different technologies and mediums and collaborating with others when the opportunity arises.

She lives and works in London, England.

See more of Ninas portfolio HERE

10. Light Writing Proposal

This long exposure, and the making of footage, were shot over three nights in Raleigh, North Carolina as a proposal to Emily Kern.

The words "Emily, will you marry me?" Were spelled out in light writing. The final image is made up of approximately 800 individual 10 second exposures.

Both the Time lapse and video were shot with Canon 7Ds.

See a description of the process HERE