“ When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.
Then I realised God doesn't work that way,
so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness. ”

BANKSY

“ The Blascka glass flower collection at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, over 3,000 models were created by glass artisans Leopold Blaschka and his son, Rudolph began in 1886, continuing for five decades. The collection represents more than 830 plant species. ”

Glass Flowers at the HMNH via this post on Curious Expeditions: Fragile Flora

“ Pablo Picasso's monochrome painting of the 1937 bombing of the town of Guernica remains one of his more famous works. The tapestry version just unveiled at London's Whitechapel Gallery usually sits at the UN, acting as a powerful visual statement against the horrors of war. But there is much meaning beneath this famous work, writes Picasso expert Gijs van Hensbergen. ”

Piecing together Guernica

In his 2-volume work, 'Décorations Polychromes', artist Ernst Ewald assembles what amounts to a grand tour through some of the most important elements from the decorative arts output of the Renaissance, found in buildings from Europe (and North Africa).

Décorations Polychromes

On The Nonist:

Hsueh Shao-Tang, Stamp Connector

Beautiful.

'skine art:

moleskine art

“ That Diego de Velazquez is the greatest of painters has never been in doubt. Anyone who has seen Las Meninas, that stupendous vision of the artist at his easel among the children, dogs and courtiers of the Spanish palace, glimmering like a mirror, the size of life and fully as profound, knows it at once. What Velazquez could achieve with the tip of his brush, all the way from literal to philosophical truth, remains astonishing to the mind and eye, even though every one of his marks is laid in plain sight.”

A feast for both mind and eye

“ Visitors to the new exhibition - twice the size of the original 1977 exhibition - will view stunning artifacts that portray the splendors of life and death in the 18th Dynasty, the Era in which King Tutankhamun and his family ruled. Called the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, this period produced some of Egypt's most famous rulers and most exquisite works of art.”

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs

Pictures of amazing Egyptian artifacts on the Field Museum web site for the upcoming exhibition. I have seen them many times but they are still just incredibly beautiful.

“ Physicists in Italy are developing a new device for assessing the condition of some of the country's most valuable fresco paintings. The tool can reveal information about the condition of a wall painting without ever touching its surface, making the device a potentially valuable aid to restoration and preservation efforts.”

Tool to diagnose Italian frescoes

A few days ago I was browsing the web looking for books-related articles. I came across The Nonist post on libraries' photos
( me and another million people, apparently ), found it beautiful and interesting and posted about it. Then I went back to The Nonist site and started looking around. There are MANY interesting posts. Actually, too many...So I decided to link to some of the articles I found through The Nonist' posts here, mostly as reminders for myself:

• The nature of human beings
• The Paleo-Camera Theory
• Himalayan art
• Smithsonian Photography Initiative
• The Secret Life of Ants
• Ferocious ants bite like a bullet

“ Fine and rare Audemars Piguet Grand Complication perpetual calendar minute repeater split second chronograph with register antique pocket watch circa 1910. White enamel dial (hairlines and crack) with red and black markings, subsidiary dials for month with elapsed time, day of the week, day of the month, and running seconds with aperture for moon age. Heavy plain polish case with chronograph button and recessed repeat slide in the band. The dust cover signed Golay Fills & Stahl, Geneva. First quality 34 jewel movement jeweled to the center and the hammers, marked Adjusted and with precision regulator. When activated this watch chimes the exact time using different chime tones to designate the hours, quarter hours, and minutes. Loud, clear tone.”

Audemars Piguet Grand Complication

Patience, attention, skills:

A watch story by Ron DeCorte

ILLUSTRATED GLOSSARY OF WATCH PARTS

Making a watch by hand by Don Corson

Time Zone watch information resource

Rembrandt was born in 1606, four hundred years ago

“ East Art Map Online is a tool that will lead you through the last 50 years of the history of visual arts in Eastern Europe. You will get to know 250 artists/events/projects that are considered of major importance by the 24 art critics, curators and artists from the different ex-socialist Central, Eastern and South-Eastern countries invited to make an initial selection for the EAM.”

East Art Map

Stunned Net Art Open 2006

“ The Net Art Open takes a different approach to the curation of Net Art online. Rather then present a single event based exhibition selected by a curator or panel of selectors the Net Art Open is an ongoing blog based process delivered by RSS feed. Curatorial bias has been removed by accepting all work which meets the criteria The result is a true reflection of the state of Net Art now.”

An Interactive Text Messaging Enabled Public Performance: TXTual healing

“ TXTual healing uses a cell phone a computer and a projector to create a mobile public performance by posting a person's text messages into speech bubbles that are strategically placed on the facades of buildings ”

On the New York Times: when Venice shook the world

On Collision Detection: "The Fib"

An urban, itinerant and adaptive art exhibit:

container art

“ Installations, sculptures, and paintings of the most innovative talents of the local and global artscape in 20 containers spread around town. A different work of contemporary art in each container, a different mix of artists in each city.”

Design in-flight:

" Design In-Flight (DiF) is an online magazine devoted to art and design, be it graphic design, web design, illustration or architecture. Our mission is to entertain and inform, while encouraging dialogue with our readers and the design community. "

Also, check out Glen Murphy and Jeff Han.

Even if I have visited Jon Hicks 's portfolio many times, it is always a pleasure to look at his work and Denis Radenkovic 's.

I haven't been able to watch it because I have a poor-man dial-up connection but , if you have a high speed machine, go ahead and then let me know: the unseen video