How many of you have I pressured to read “Perdido Street Station,” by China Miéville? It’s been more than a few of you and everyone I know of has dug it, some as much as I did. Artist Gordillo has taken a stab at a new visualization of the titular station. If you haven’t read the book yet, consider this artwork a reminder that you should.

>> View a larger version here

A beautiful BMW commercial featuring sculptor/engineer Theo Jansen.

• Quiet Please: Architectural Representations of City in Science Fiction Cinema – It is exactly what it says it is, a wonderful collection of science fiction cinematic analysis pertaining to representations of cities.
• This Dilbert Blog post discusses the possibility that economists are immune to cognitive dissonance and explores a particular issue on the Bill Maher show, “Real Time” where economist Bjorn Lumberg spoke about global warming. I too watched that interview but I thought Bjorn Lumberg laid out his case clearly and beautifully. Bill Maher and the panel didn’t come to the same conclusion. Rob Thomas said the interview “…confused the shit out of me” and they all took turns taking pot shots at a guy who had just agreed that global warming was occurring but had a different, non-histrionic approach to prioritizing the issues that the others could not hear.
  

  The primary skill of an economist is identifying all of the explanations for various phenomena. Cognitive dissonance is, at its core, the inability to recognize and accept other explanations. I’m oversimplifying, but you get the point. The more your brain is trained for economics, the less it is susceptible to cognitive dissonance, or so it seems.

• Wired has a great interview with Ridley Scott where they speak about the evolution of Blade Runner and the forthcoming 5-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition (which is on my Wish List btw!). [Tip to Bookninja]
  

  When you see an explosion that no one could have survived and the person is still running, then it’s bullshit. And that’s frequently why digital effects are not as good. Whereas when you do it physically, you’ve got to be careful — like, really careful. With digital, the painting book is unlimited; the world in, say, Lord of the Rings would not have been nearly as impressive 30 years ago as it is today.

Wall animation worth viewing. Let me know what you think. It’s a “poor man’s Plimpton” but one which crosses over into the real world in ways that leave you scratching your head in wonder.

We all know that Moleskine brands their notebooks as the choice of literati and artists. Every time you shop for a new one, the labels recite famous personages who have used them before you. An example of their effusive copy is found on their website:

MOLESKINE IS THE LEGENDARY NOTEBOOK,
USED BY EUROPEAN ARTISTS AND THINKERS
FOR THE PAST TWO CENTURIES.

THIS SILENT AND DISCREET KEEPER
OF AN EXTRAORDINARY TRADITION, WHICH
HAS BEEN MISSING FOR YEARS, HAS BEEN
REPRODUCED BY THE ITALIAN COMPANY MODO
& MODO SINCE 1998. WITH ITS VARIOUS
DIFFERENT PAGE STYLES IT ACCOMPANIES
THE CREATIVE PROFESSIONS AND HAS BECOME
A SYMBOL OF CONTEMPORARY NOMADISM.

MOLESKINE IS A FAMILY OF NOTEBOOKS
FOR DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS, ACCORDING
WITH A FREE MINDSTYLE, BOTH BASIC
AND EMOTIONAL.

This block of text is associated with an image of Van Gogh’s image sketchbook if that “artist / cool kid vibe” wasn’t clear enough for you. The underlying message is, you too can be hailed as the next [insert artist name or author name here] if you use our notebooks to further your creativity.

Furthering that allure, Moleskine has gone even deeper and created a separate site called DETOUR aimed at exhibiting all the ways that creative people (they highlight architects, artists, designers, illustrators and writers) use their products.

I admire how Moleskine has been able to associate and brand something so mundane as being something high-end and inspirational. Even though I know what they’re doing with their branding, I still have a hard time disassociating the powerful feelings that it conjures. Moleskine is the beneficiary of a huge number of positive associations for me because they draft of the success of so many powerful visionaries.

Eventually, I buy another one. It’s my kryptonite. I have to. I am powerless. You had me at Hemingway you bastards! Now leave me alone!

The following video is a demonstration of how artist Paula Scher used a Moleskine to explore some quirky fonts:

It’s impossible for me to comprehend a personality like Paula Scher that can fill an entire notebook of doodles without any apparent mistakes. I look at that video and that’s what I’m dazzled by.

Now back to my mantra of “it’s just a notebook, it’s just a notebook, it’s just a notebook…”

[discovered via a post on 37signals]

Photo from the New York Times Article

Adobe has placed an engaging interactive wall advertisement for their Creative Suite 3 in New York’s Union Square. The ad wall is 7 feet tall, 15 feet long, and tracks human movement, animating a sequence of visual effects based on where the passerby happens to be located. You can see a photo and read more about the ad on the TED Blog here. You can also view a video of people interacting with the display on Gizmodo’s AdWatch here.

While the movement recognition appears like it could take a bit more work, what this ad points to is either amazing or downright chilling.

How long will it be before ads are able to recognize biometric information in the targeting of their ads? At one personalization extreme, you get something like the “Minority Report,” where you are individually recognized and marketed to. “Hello, Eric Franklin. Have you thought about using the Adobe Creative Suite as a means of designing your monthly newsletter?”

There are a whole host of in-between options, however, that privacy advocates may not be able to fend off as directly as the full-on personalization (which I expect a significant number of people will resist). What if an ad could merely answer the question of whether it is targeting a male or female? I have to assume that that could be done with a some degree of accuracy based on facial structure, build, etc. What if an ad could target your demographic by looking at social cues such as clothing and jewelry? Is the only way to market more effectively to delve further and further into stereotyping (er, I mean “demographics”)?

Antony Gormley made 100 cast-iron sculptures of himself and put them on the beach. The effect as the tide moves in and out is a bit eery. I’d hate to be the lifeguard!

More Antony Gormley information:

Aesthetic Grounds: Gormley’s Lonely Men over London

Pogo Furniture is an idea whose time has come.

Discovered via this post at the Signal vs. Noise blog.

At 8,000 euros I’m going to have to call this one “unnecessary.”

Ross is a friend who has frequently helped me work on this blog (for which I am indebted). While I’ve always known he was in the Pacific Northwest Ballet, I had no idea you could buy a DVD performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream issued by the BBC. How cool is that?

Anyone want to have a Ross Yearsley party at my house? We can invite him and make fun of his tights (I always assume there are tights involved in ballet but perhaps that’s not the case).