Tag Archives: art

Are Gaming Reviews Always Reliable? Keep These 4 Things In Mind

October 17, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Much like movies, gaming as an industry has grown to be a robust machine churning out titles, both big and small, at an obliterative pace. Suffice it to say that it is impossible to try and play all games that release every year. Moreover, considering that the price of games has been on the rise for the past few years, partly due to increased production cost and partly due to inflation, it is impossible to purchase and play all games.

So, in order to not get blown away in the confusing hype created by reviewers, here’s what you should keep in mind about gaming reviews.

1. The problem of big titles:

The issue with game reviewers is that they mostly expend time and effort praising AAA titles that release every year instead of lesser known artistic or Indie games. Not everyone likes major titles with repetitive gameplay. You would rarely see any famous gamers play with Online casino, Karamba, an indie mobile game, or let’s say the games that aren’t don’t get into enough limelight. We’re talking about the games that are niche and aren’t very popular in the industry of gaming reviewers.

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2. Appeals vary widely:

The issue with gaming in general is that it is almost impossible to please everyone. In terms of narratives and themes, games tend to include only a limited number in their arsenal. However, with time, the expectation from games increases. It isn’t rare for reviewers to expect deeper political or social commentary from games, after the success of titles like Detroit Become Human.

However, it is impossible for games, like Assassin’s Creed that seek to be historically accurate to both portray the times while tending to demands of politically correctness. Two distinct possibilities arise here: Either the game sticks to its roots, and builds a good gaming but gets scathing reviews for not doing enough or for being problematic. Or, it can fit political pandering in its theme and make itself a terrible game, but get hearty praise from reviewers. An example for this is Assassins Creed: Odyssey, for which Ubisoft got rid of all its Assassins’ roots and made it a messy poor quality RPG, that looks like a poorly made copy of Witcher 3.

3. Mismatch between target audience and reviewers:

A big issue where the premise of reviews falls flat is that hardcore gamers usually do not fit the target audience of reviews. Gamers can be broadly classified into hardcore or serious gamers and causal gamers. And while most games are made with the former in mind, game reviews are made keeping the latter in mind. That’s because game reviews too, are a market that needs to pander to an audience to sell itself. While most reviewers are knowledgeable and competent enough to make detailed reviews, most of their audience wouldn’t consume such reviews.

Face-Off: Batman: Arkham Knight • Eurogamer.net — Batman: Arkham Knight

As sad as it is, most casual gamers just want to play a first person shooter for fun. They do not care about social commentary, or beautifully written characters or aptly composed music scores. When reviews are written keeping them in mind, blissfully average games like Call of Duty keep getting very high reviews. And while playing CoD is definitely fun, it fails to hold its own against impressive games like Witcher 3 or Batman: Arkham Knight.

4. The issue with influence:

A second issue with gaming reviews being a business is that these sites depend on developers for content for their channels. Reviewers that bring out reviews earlier obviously stand to gain since there is a flux of readers to their channels about the exciting new title, which earns them a lot of money. This in turn means review sites depend on developers to send them early and free copies of games for them to try out, and review. For every bad review they give, they turn off the developer from dealing with them in future, which in turn makes competing review channels benefit.

This creates a dangerous nexus between gaming review channels and developers. This in fact harms smaller developers more since they effectively make lesser games than bigger developers. Thus, an Electronics Arts, can utilize this nexus for their benefit much better than a CD: Projekt Red, although the latter is arguably a much better developer. And this means, very average EA games will get much better reviews than a fantastic game developed by CD:PR.

In Conclusion

However, as we know, making video games are one of the most elevated forms of contemporary human art. And art, by virtue of interpretation, is extremely subjective.

Thus, in an effort to pick and choose games that are worth our time and money, we obviously tend to look at gaming reviews. Not only do they offer a valuable insight into what each title is about, but they also explain important details like the brilliance of narratives, character development, gameplay mechanics, multiplayer experience, presence of inhibitive micro transactions, and tend to give an overall suggestion on whether or not they recommend the game.

Therefore, it is foolhardy to expect reviews to do a perfect job in terms of recommending games that you may like. For the Silo, Ritik Pandey.

Vintage

Collecting Videogames Is All About The Hunt

October 9, 2022 The Silo 3 Comments

ArcadeCollectionweb — A sample of Syd’s arcade and home platform collection. Note the original Sega Genesis retail display ‘arcade machine’

Most of us have hobbies.

When I was growing up stamp collecting seemed like it was on the verge of dying out but I started a collection anyway. I had a lot of fun with it and although I no longer have that collection (I really wish I did) it provided many hours of entertainment and gave my brain a chance to think.

Today, I collect video games.

It’s a hobby that is becoming more and more popular as more and more generations are born with gaming as a normal part of everyday life. One of the best things about game collecting as a hobby is that you can diversify your collecting in various ways.

For example, you can be an “everything” collector like I am. You collect all video game systems and games from the mid-1970’s to today. This is the most challenging (and dare I say it, expensive) of the choices but it doesn’t have to be. You could concentrate on the oldies, starting out with a system like the Atari 2600 or you could try to focus on the “16-bit era” and focus on systems like the Super Nintendo which came out in 1991 and produced a great library of titles.

Another great aspect of game collecting is that it can fit any budget. Frugal gamers can find the best of deals at garage sales and far, out of the way retailers or you can loosen your wallet a bit and find easier pickings at the bigger retailers.

With collecting, it’s all about the hunt.

It doesn’t matter where you live. You can take the family for a drive on the weekend while you look for buried treasures. For Canadians, there is even a website dedicated to classic game collectors where you can connect with like-minded individuals. Just head over to Canada’s Classic Game Collectors Website.

I think it’s important to define the parameters of what you are collecting (for example, are you collecting boxed items or “loose”) and so on. It gives you guidance when going shopping. I know some collectors who only buy sealed games (very expensive) and others who only collect certain game series (for example all of the Zelda games or all of the Pokemon titles). The possibilities are quite endless. Regardless of what approach you take, collecting can be almost as much fun as playing. For the Silo, Syd Bolton. Featured image- Commodore Vic-20 computer and modem used by the author to conduct the world’s first tweet from a Vic-20.

Art

Auction House Making News Today Via Asprey Bugatti NFT And Sculpture

June 30, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Today the Phillips auction house will showcase a one-of-a-kind NFT that will certainly appeal to both art and automobile collectors.

As a part of its 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London, Phillips will auction a 1-of-1 Bugatti NFT, with a starting bid of more than 350k. The NFT is paired with a physical, handmade sculpture designed in rose gold by the iconic Asprey brand.

“This is the first masterpiece derived from the Asprey Bugatti partnership, following the hugely successful sell out of the smaller 261 collection, inspired by pop art and the current digital art movement. The NFT enables the artwork to link to two physical sculptures in the blockchain, preserving provenance and authenticity. The NFT is a secondary feature that simply enables the sculpture and artworks to co-exist together in a unique narrative, a moment in history for the art of Asprey and Bugatti.”

Ali Walker, Asprey Studio’s Chief Creative Officer

Raising fascinating questions around ownership and the object, NFTs and blockchain technology have become increasingly prominent aspects of our contemporary landscape.

You can read more about the the auction, which will take place around 2 p.m. ET today by clicking here.

The auction has drawn so much attention that an online sportsbook BetOnline.ag has even created odds for the highest bid, setting the “over/under” at 500k.

Asprey and Bugatti began its digital and physical collaboration more than three months ago when it announced an NFT collection in partnership with Exclusible. That collection consisted of 261 unique tokens with different color combinations.

Like today’s auction, each of the 261 NFTs from the “La Voiture Noire” collection were paired with handmade sculptures redeemable by the holder at a future date. The sterling silver sculptures were handcrafted at Asprey’s London workshop by master silversmiths so no two pieces will be identical.

From the Philips auction page: THIS LOT IS A “NON-FUNGIBLE TOKEN” (NFT)
35
Asprey Bugatti
La Voiture Noire
Token ID: 1
Contract Address: 0x9250…F0c4
Non-Fungible Token: ERC-721
PNG: 1.49 MB (1,565,152 bytes), 2835 x 6803 pixels
Minted on 27 April 2022, this work is unique.

Please note the buyer of this NFT will have the option of ordering up to two physical sculptures, to be created by Asprey London Limited following the Auction.

“This exclusive partnership with Asprey will enable Bugatti customers and enthusiasts to enjoy our design values from a new perspective through this stunning Masterpiece. Featuring a Bugatti masterpiece at a prestigious contemporary art auction using NFT technology to fuse the art and the sculptures, embodies the spirt of innovation at Bugatti”

Wiebke Stahl, Managing Director of Bugatti International

Today’s physical item will be linked to the corresponding NFT via a QR code, serial number and color combination (unique base), and it will also include the Asprey and Bugatti logos. The physicals are expected to be redeemable in three months.

The current floor price on OpenSea is 12 ETH (At time of article, 1 ETHERIUM = $1,312.62 cad / $1,019.75 usd). The sales volume is 693 ETH, with an average sale of 10 ETH.

Asprey Bugatti NFT owners will be whitelisted for the Asprey Studio Club (ASC) Genesis membership in July. Genesis members will receive a physical gold signet ring with a founder edition engraving, along with special benefits such digital airdrops, whitelist for future drops, exclusive event/gallery invitations and more.

ASC members will also be able to display and offer for purchase their Asprey Bugatti NFT/sculpture on the first floor of the Asprey Studio showroom in the affluent Mayfair district of London.

Art

How UNESCO Supports Exiled Ukrainian Women Artists

June 9, 2022 The Silo 1 Comment

Paris, 9 June 2022 – UNESCO is launching a scheme to support Ukrainian women artists who have had to flee their country because of the war, in partnership with the NGO Perpetuum Mobile. It will enable them and their children to be hosted and cared for by a cultural institution in the country where they have found refuge.

“The war has driven millions of Ukrainians into exile, the vast majority of whom are women and children. Among these people, women artists who have been forced to suspend their creative activities often lack material and financial resources to resume their work in their host country,” says Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s Director-General.

For this reason, UNESCO decided to launch a programme dedicated to Ukrainian women artists in exile, born of a partnership with the NGO Perpetuum Mobile, initiator of the Artists at Risk platform, which brings together cultural institutions in over 15 countries.

The artists concerned will be supported for a minimum of three months by a cultural institution in their host country.

They will be taken care of with their children in artistic residencies, and will benefit from support in terms of networking, visibility and the conception of new cultural projects.

(Left) Ukraine electro-pop duo Bloom Twins: “It has really affected us,” said singer Anna Kuprienko. “We’re talking to our family, we have a lot of friends and our second manager living there. We go back to the Ukraine quite a lot. We were only there two months ago. We were hopeful that this situation with Russia wouldn’t go where it has and that it would resolve.” (Right) Ukraine singer Khrystyna Soloviy : “We are a generation that has never seen the Soviet Union and was born in a free Ukraine. Ukrainians are not Russians, as said by the Russian government. We have a difficult, depressed history of Russian colonisation.”

The scheme will aim to provide them with the means to become autonomous by the end of their hosting period, whether they then choose to return to live in Ukraine or to settle permanently in their host country. UNESCO has already set aside $140,000 usd (about $177,000 cad at time of this publication) to finance the scheme, which should initially benefit some 30 artists and their children.

A new link in UNESCO’s emergency response

The programme complements the range of emergency measures already deployed by UNESCO since the beginning of the war to safeguard tangible and intangible cultural heritage, secure museum collections and combat illicit trafficking in cultural property.

Moreover, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, UNESCO has been monitoring the situation of artists in close consultation with artists’ networks and cultural actors in the country. This work is also carried out in coordination with international organizations involved in supporting artists at risk: PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection, Perpetuum Mobile/Artists at Risk, ICORN, Freemuse, Prince Claus Fund and the PAUSE programme. For the Silo, Lucía Iglesias Kuntz, UNESCO Press Service.

Featured image: Face of War (Putin in bullets) co-created by Daria Marchenko, 35 now exiled Ukraine woman artist.

Art

20th Century Masters: Picasso’s Guernica

April 27, 2022 The Silo 2 Comments

“Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth” –Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) was one of the most well-known artists of the 20^th century. Throughout his long and prolific career, Picasso both innovated and participated in important artistic movements such as realism, cubism and surrealism. In comparison to Vincent van Gogh, the infamous starving artist, Picasso was one of the first modern artists to achieve great wealth and celebrity in his lifetime.

Possibly the most important work that Picasso produced was Guernica (1937).

This large scale black and white mural (approximately 12 x 26 feet), was commissioned for the Spanish Pavilion in the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris and was completed by Picasso in under a month. In it, the artist depicted a catastrophic incident from the Spanish Civil War, wherein the Nazis conducted carpet bombing experiments on the town of Guernica, in the Basque region of Spain.

Historically, Spain had been ruled by a monarchy up until the 1930s, at which time it was replaced by a republican government that promised social and economic reform and a redistribution of goods and land. Spanish conservatives disliked this idea and headed by General Francisco Franco, they launched an insurrection that led to the Spanish Civil War. Aided by the Fascists and Nazis, General Franco assumed dictatorship of the country and ruled until his death in 1975.

During this time of turmoil, Picasso was not in Spain but working in Paris.

This is important to note when considering his choice of palette. He would have been paying attention to the events taking place in his native country largely through newspapers, transforming the black and white newsreel into a large scale canvas. Also, by choosing a dichromatic colour scheme, Picasso allowed the subject matter to stand out over colour.

Prominently positioned in this work is the Minotaur (a half-bull/half-man monster), an important symbol for Spanish people representing the tyranny of General Franco and his Nazi and Fascist supporters. Picasso used distortion in the imagery and figures to portray the horrors and suffering of innocent civilians massacred by the carpet bombing. This, in combination with the palette, evokes in the viewer the sensation of a stark nightmare, tying the work to the surrealist movement.

On a final note, Picasso was adamant that this work not be displayed in Spain until democracy was restored.

On loan to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Guernica was returned to Spain in 1981. For the Silo, Eve Yantha.

Sci-Tech

Synth Britannia Shows The Future Was In Fact Delivered

April 17, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Come on, you have to admit. It’s a lot of fun to stumble around YouTube with that old pre-internet habit of television channel surfing surprising you with random discoveries.

When I do, I particularly enjoy reading comments left by others who have somehow found their way to whatever it is I happen to be watching. This comforts me because I know that this method of purposeful and accidental consumption of media is not exclusive to me [many comments start with: “Not sure how I ended up at this video but….” or ” __________led me here.”] but perhaps I’m alone in the belief that spontaneous discoveries help connect me better to the production. I think what I’m talking about is called “verisimilitude” and no doubt as I type this out there’s someone trying to figure out how they’ve discovered the same excellent BBC synth documentary that I discovered by chance: Synth Britannia.

Donna Summer's synth programmer in 1977 brought the sounds of the future to disco with I Feel Love — Donna Summer’s synth programmer in 1977 brought the sounds of the future to disco with I Feel Love

A few years ago, I was enjoying reading a guest editorial in Wired by comedy bull Will Ferrell. )

Not one to beat around the bush, Will wanted to know what had happened to the future? Specifically the future suggested if not promised in comic book ads to the then pre-adolescent Will Ferrell. He asked, where were the Jet packs, autopilot-flying cars and robot butlers? It occurred to me that if Will was an electronic musician he would have come to the same conclusion that the producers of Synth Britannia did while they drew up the plans to make their excellent documentary: The future did come, it just wasn’t so literal.

1970's Northern Britain looking like a scene from Blade Runner, one of the birthplaces of future synth music. — 1970’s Northern Britain looking like a scene from Blade Runner, one of the birthplaces of future synth music.

To compound matters this future somehow passed by all of us, unless perhaps you were a student of history or an existentialistic, free-radical electronic acolyte or computer programmer back in the golden age of dystopia vision. I call this era the ‘other’ 1970’s.
I have added the qualifier: ‘other’ 1970’s, because today’s media mistakenly focuses on reinforcing the bell-bottom, disco driven qualities of the 1970’s but there was a much more robust, artistic movement running against the grain in the same way that meaningful art has always done. This movement bridged fashion, art, cinema, sound design and of course music and if you want to learn more while being thoroughly engaged, then spend some time paying attention while you watch Synth Britannia.

You might even find yourself considering an impulse purchase of a mini Korg 700S. I know I did.

Supplemental- While I polished this article, one thing became apparent. New music or to be specific, those new artists that are being profiled on national television as new music agents are all lacking the one thing that characterizes the heroes of this column. Simply put, today’s music heroes are not a unity of ideas and expression. They are not bands. They are performers representing wish fulfillment with no sense of genuine attitude or social commentary and perhaps even worse, no sense of daring inventiveness. So far, most (but not all-there are exceptions) of today’s star performers are ‘safe’, predictable and lacking in terms of communicating their alienation. They have become game show contestants. This is because media business (in other words the television networks) has formulated and created what is palatable to an audience. The home video game market further suggests and reinforces created fantasies with interactive games that essentially boil down to a form of karaoke or twister. Simply put, new consumer habits are being engineered and I’m sure they always will be.

So, as listeners, is it fair to say that we no longer think for ourselves and we no longer question what is ‘good’ or ‘impactful’? With today’s de rigueur promise of dream and wish fulfillment (in terms of television shows that empower an audience with voting privileges to create the next pop star) that most crucial artistic ingredient: “individualized commentary” has been eradicated. Even more alarming is that consumers’ freedom of choice is being challenged.

That’s likely because the major media corporations feel wholly threatened by what the internet promises: a vast sea of content that is discoverable and searchable by desire or by chance.

Vince Clarke- Depeche Mode's keyboard player and future visionary. — Vince Clarke- Depeche Mode’s keyboard player and future visionary.

So-is it fair to say that we have become woefully inadequate in identity and informed choice? If there is art, angst and message, where can we find it? Try channel surfing around YouTube and follow what catches your interest. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

Fashion

The Mullet Dress

April 4, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

mullet_pic — The author’s sister utilizes her mullet dress by “showing off a little leg-party in the front, and keepin’ them guessing with a little train-business in the back.” photo: H. Richards

“Business in the front, party in the back.”

We’ve all heard the mullet mantra. However, I’m pretty sure mullets were only cool for a short period in the 80’s, and that was still only true if you were in a rock or heavy metal garage band. Once the mullets-are-acceptable-period passed, they were never a socially acceptable hairstyle again.

For whatever reason, over the past few years the fashion gods have decided to bring back the mullet, only this time, in a way-cool form. Yep, I’m talking about the mullet shirt, skirt and dress. Instead of a poor choice hairdo, the mullet can now be worn as an article of clothing. And in further ‘good’ news, “mullet wear” is surprisingly figure flattering for all body types, since it can be worn in such a variety of forms.

paulLindamullets — 1973 early mullets for Linda and Paul McCartney in this Japanese TV special.

Mullet shirts are typically bo-ho style, sometimes with a flowy batwing sleeve, and give you a comfortable look that pairs perfectly with a mid-rise or high-rise pant (which are also coming back in style in every colour known to the human race).

You can also find mullet shirts that are more tailored with a collar, or in the form of a sweater that is longer in the front, and both are work-appropriate looks. Just remember, if you are wearing a loose-fitting top, make sure your bottoms fit well in a straight leg or skinny leg style.

For the younger crowd looking for some extra summer-loving fun, you can also take advantage of mullet crop tops by covering most of your belly with a high-waisted pant, skirt or shorts, and let just a hint of your midriff show, this way you can wear crop tops without showing your whole stomach and saving yourself from potentially looking trashy, like the aforementioned hairstyle. Or, if you’re out on the beach with friends and simply want to make a poutine run, go ahead and rock the crop top however you like. You will find yourself feeling vivaciously vintage, ready for a beach day, relaxing on the weekend or for a fun night out, depending on your choice of footwear and accessories.

But the mullet fun doesn’t stop there!

You will also be seeing skirts and dresses that attest to the mullet mantra, only reversed: Show off a little leg-party in the front, and keep them guessing with a little train-business in the back. Mullet skirts and dresses will give your outfit a unique, fashion-forward twist, and allow for a little behind modesty, yet are still playful and fun. The potential styles are endless, from maxi-mullet dresses for a beachy vay-cay, as well as high-waisted skirts that you can tuck a fitted shirt into and be ready for work. All of these styles will be available to you in a rainbow of bright colors, pastels, floral, and graphic prints. As fashion expert, Carson Kressley says, “If you look like a bag of Skittles, you’re doing it right.”

The moral of this story is, fashion repeats itself, trends come and go, and come back again.

The best part of the cycle is when a style comes back in a new, more polished form. Mullet madness is indeed back again, and you can leave the scissors behind. For the Silo, Hannah Richards.

Fashion

Embrace Your Inner Geek In Style

February 7, 2022 The Silo 1 Comment

This post is dedicated to geeks who want to let their passions shine through their decor.

The graphic below gives cool examples of accessories that you can introduce into your home to give people an idea of the geekier side of your life. Some are subtle, like the equation bookshelf, while others are more in your face, such as the giant rubrics cube coffee tables. What all of these share is how they have incorporated elements considered to be ‘geeky’ into stylish decor. A personal favourite is the wall that has apparently been repaired by Lego bricks. We assume that this isn’t actually the case, but if we were buying a property with that in we’d certainly want a thorough survey done.

Whatever style of decoration you prefer, if you’re looking to add something a little fun and a tad geeky to your home then this piece will help give you some great ideas. Friends of the Silo, Terry’s Fabrics.

Art

Pornhub launches guide to famous museum erotic art

July 19, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

Unbeknownst to many, some of the world’s best pornography doesn’t exist on Pornhub. Rather, it exists in famous museums around the world: The Louvre (France), The MET (New York City), The Prado (Spain), The Uffizi Gallery (Italy), The National Gallery (UK) and Musee d’Orsay (France), to name a few.

And with museums finally reopening around the world as pandemic restrictions are being lifted, Pornhub wanted to do its part to encourage people to enjoy every stroke of erotic art.

Pornhub is launching “Classic Nudes” to provide museum-goers with an interactive oral history of some of the most renowned erotic art in some of the world’s most famous museums. Pornhub is encouraging people to ditch those boring self-tour recordings and enjoy every single brushstroke of these erotic masterpieces with Pornhub Brand Ambassador Asa Akira.

New York – July, 2021 – Pornhub, the premier online destination for adult entertainment, today announced the launch of “Classic Nudes,” an interactive guide to discover and learn more about erotic art in some of the world’s most famous fine art museums – The Louvre (France), The MET (New York City), The Prado (Spain), The Uffizi Gallery (Italy), The National Gallery (UK) and the Musee d’Orsay (France). With museums finally reopening around the world as pandemic restrictions are being lifted, Pornhub wanted to do its part in stimulating the public to visit, explore and fall back in love (or lust) with these cultural institutions.

The public can tour each of the 6 museums – either in person or at home – via the Classic Nudes mobile website. The online portal guides visitors past the SFW masterpieces and gets right to the good stuff: representations of the naked body in all its artistic glory. Simply visit the Classic Nudes website on your device, select your museum, follow the map, locate the artwork, and listen, read, or watch along to its curated content.

Hungarian-Italian artist and porn legend Cicciolina stars in the promotional video for Classic Nudes. Pornhub Brand Ambassador Asa Akira serves as orator for the campaign providing an oral history of 30 erotic art pieces in this curated collection, while Pornhub amateur couple, “MySweetApple” brings 6 iconic artwork to life.

“There’s a treasure trove of erotic art around the world – depicting nudes, orgies, and more – that’s not available on Pornhub. These pre-Internet art pieces are currently sitting in museums, which we are now finally able to start visiting again as covid restrictions are starting to lift ,” said Asa Akira, Pornhub Brand Ambassador. “So as people start to head back to The Louvre or The MET, they can simply open Classic Nudes, and I’ll be their guide. Time to ditch those boring self-tour recordings and enjoy every single brushstroke of these erotic masterpieces with me.”

Classic Nudes follows previous artistic endeavors from Pornhub including the recently launched “Remastured,” an initiative that used modern A.I technology and machine learning to restore century-old erotic films into titillating technicolor.

Previously, the company commissioned contemporary art gallery Maccarone Los Angeles to present a feminist art show entitled ‘The Pleasure Principle,’ a pan-generational, sexually-charged exhibition of female artists whose work centers the erotic and disrupts the processes of content-cleansing that code certain images as profane, abject, or pornographic. Pornhub also hosted the online premier of SHAKEDOWN, the critically-acclaimed documentary art film centered around the Black lesbian stripper scene in early oughts Los Angeles by filmmaker and vanguard artist Leilah Weinraub.

Pornhub’s “Classic Nudes” campaign is a collaborative initiative with creative agency Officer & Gentleman.

For more information about Classic Nudes, please visit http://www.phclassicnudes.com/

About Pornhub:

Founded in 2007, Pornhub is the leading free, ad-supported adult video streaming website, offering viewers the opportunity to upload and share their own videos. With over 3 million videos and over 130 million visitors a day, Pornhub truly is the best adult site in the world. Pornhub has built the largest dedicated membership base in the adult community, averaging over 76 million monthly active members, offering viewers a fun and sophisticated social experience directly insite, complete with messaging, photos, achievement badges, and much more.

Art

finally a Machine will curate an Art exhibit

July 13, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

The Museum of Wild and Newfangled Art (mowna) Announces the Debut of an AI Experiment in Art Curation: “This Show is Curated by a Machine ?”

The free call for international submissions is now open for all to take part in an experiment that defines how we move forward with AI curation in an ethical way

NEW YORK (July, 2021) – The Museum of Wild and Newfangled Art (mowna) is currently designing an artificial intelligence curator for their final show of the year “This Show is Curated by a Machine 🤖” which directly answers the Whitney Museum of American Art’s curatorial question,“The Next Biennial Should Be Curated by a Machine.”

The curator, an AI bot machine, will learn to curate by looking at the data set from the 2021 mowna Biennial, an exhibit of an international pool of artists selected from 44 countries gathered through a free call for submissions process that ran from January through March of 2021.

The Biennial includes all forms of art made from 2019 to 2021. The machine will also learn from other data sets of recently made art. The AI machine will curate the show by looking at the text data of the submissions as well as the artwork files. There will also be human curators, so that a comparison can be made.

The show will be viewable at mowna.org, and a detailed writeup of the process, results, and thoughts about the future of artificial intelligence related to art curation will be made available. Early questions are available here in the mowna blog .

“We are interested in creating a machine that can curate in a diverse and ethical way, that is not founded in white supremacy or structures of inherent racism. Much of the art world is affected and effected by both of these issues. So mowna asks, is it possible to create an AI that looks at the art and curates with diversity, equity and inclusion? It is important to build this machine now, before other big tech companies design algorithms that erase the artist and define AI curation.” ~cari ann shim sham*, Co-founder and Curator of mowna.

“This Show is Curated by a Machine 🤖” marks the third online art experience by mowna, the first being its Opening Show now available to members in the mowna collection, and the second being the current exhibit, the 2021 mowna Biennial. The Biennial is mowna’s direct response to the gap in the art world seen after the coronavirus pandemic, and showcased art of all mediums that otherwise would’ve gone unseen. Tickets to the Biennial will be available until the show closes on September 22nd, and are sliding scale pay what you wish, after which “This Show is Curated by a Machine 🤖” will be installed and available for online viewing.

Artists may submit up to 10 works of art per submission and artists will be paid 70% of ticket and membership sales from the show, with the other 30% paying for the creation of the platform. There is no submission fee to apply, and all mediums of art are welcome. The works must have been completed after January 1, 2020. The deadline for submissions is August 20, 2021 at 12 PM ET. Contact The Silo for more information.

As the global community continually moves further into a multi-faceted technological way of life, the way art, across all mediums, is consumed, has been changing in ways to make art more accessible while remaining true to the integrity of all genres. mowna recognized this growing, transformational need pre-pandemic which catalyzed the formation and birth of the Museum of Wild and Newfangled Art to meet the ever-growing needs of an ever-changing art world.

mowna is at the center of the exponentially changing art world and makes it their priority to showcase art from all walks of life. With a mix of what is familiar and unfamiliar, patrons will see artists who’ve been curated by the Whitney or the MoMA along with artists available only on mowna.

“This Show is Curated by a Machine 🤖” will run from September 23, 2021 through January 31, 2022 at mowna.org. mowna exists to provide an international online platform for the most timely, diverse, and preeminent artists.

Art

LGBTQIE And Ecosexuality

June 17, 2021 The Silo 1 Comment

Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” -Anais Nin

Nature is born of sexuality.

The two are inextricable and inevitable partners. Where humans find fault with sex that does not suit their particular beliefs in what is right or wrong, nature transcends. There is no taboo in the natural world, there is no polite side-stepping of the rawness of nature. Nature simply is, in all its sensual glory.

Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle have collaborated for 17 years.

They recently showcased their film Water Makes Us Wet at Documenta 14. They were one of just 180 artists at the exhibition which takes place only every five years and draws in a million people. In conjunction with the film they exhibited visual art, performed Ecosex Walking Tours, and facilitated “sidewalk sex clinics.” Their film premier at the Gloria Theater was the only one to completely pack the house. For their Documenta Ecosex Walking Tour, Stephens & Sprinkle consciously began at the site of the first tree planted in Joseph Beuys’ 1982 Documenta project 7,000 Trees.

Their film is part art, part activism, a call to action, and a vision of how the future may look if we are careful with the earth as opposed to how it could look if we continue our ecologically destructive behaviors. Within the environmental activist movement, the two always felt a bit out of place. They felt the need to hide their flamboyance, their sexuality, and some of the details of their pasts. Because of this they began their own movement, an all inclusive environmental activism that encourages people to be themselves.

By allowing people to embrace their own identities and to infuse a little fun, they hope to create a movement that is sustainable and perhaps avoids some of the activist burnout that frequently effects those constantly fighting for the future of a healthy planet.

For the film, and throughout their work, Stephens & Sprinkle have unabashedly embraced and exposed their own bodies. In so doing, they show both their vulnerability and their strength as well as embrace their advancing age. Sprinkle, who is now 63, was once a pornographic film actress. She finds that showing her 63 year old body has pushed more limits than anything she’s ever done. “I think that taboo does need fixing,” she says.

During the making of the film, Stephens & Sprinkle were in a serious auto accident which features in the documentary. The two were seriously injured and hospitalized but eventually walked away. The wreck served as a metaphor for the universality of “eco-sinners” in that even the filmmakers were driving around in an old, polluting van.

The two describe the incident as romantic and remarkable and say it has given them a new lease on life. The accident was a result of another driver’s distracted driving. The film as a whole is a look at the issues facing the planet, some of those perpetrating them, and ways to think about the problem. “What we really hope with our film is that people leave the film thinking about the issues we’ve presented but also feeling like well, there is something I can do in my personal life.”

The term “eco-sexual” was originally used by dating sites and subsequently in a book titled Eco-sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable by Stephanie Iris Weiss. Stephens & Sprinkle took the term and created an art movement around it. “We like to think that all sex is eco-sex including human on human because we are the earth, we’re not separate from the earth…we acknowledge all the sexuality that is going on around us.” At UC Santa Cruz where Stephens is a professor, the two established E.A.R.T.H Lab which stands for Environmental Art Theory & Happenings. There they incorporate some of the principles of ecosexuality in the programs they run. For the Silo, Brainard Carey.

Art

Beautiful Minecraft Coffee Table Book Features Stunning In Game Built Art

May 17, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

Twelve years ago to the day, back in the year 2009 – a Video game called #Minecraft was unassumingly released. The sandbox video game became the second best selling PC-based game in history and was bought by Microsoft for $2.5B usd in 2014.

In keeping with our look back celebration, let’s check out this wonderful book for Minecraft lovers everywhere: Beautiful Minecraft ($19.95, 112 pp., 4C, hardcover).

As they pore over the pages in this remarkable collection, Minecraft lovers of all stripes will find themselves immersed in a world of astonishing creations like floating steampunk cities, massive alien worlds, detailed classical sculptures, fantastical landscapes, and architectural marvels. The sculptures and scenes throughout the book are built from thousands to millions of blocks and represent months and even years of design work on the part of their creators.

I wanted to show how a video game can become a true artistic medium…how players can become artists.

“Beautiful Minecraft is the sort of thing that fans of the game are sure to love because it brings them even closer to the game they love,” said No Starch Press founder Bill Pollock. “Since my first visit to MineCon in 2011, I’ve been inspired by the passion Minecraft fans have for something that is much more than a game. Beautiful Minecraft shows us how in game creations can be high art, and the results are nothing less than amazing.”

For the Silo, James Delaney-author, managing director of BlockWorks: a team of Minecraft artists from around the world. BlockWorks has created artwork for companies like Disney, Microsoft, Warner Brothers, and The Guardian.

Publisher: No Starch Press
Author: James Delaney
Print ISBN: 978-1-59327-765-9
Price: $19.95
Specs: 112 pp., 4C, Hardcover

You Might Also Be Interested In:

The Game Console by Evan Amos
The Arduino Inventor’s Guide by Derek Runberg and Brian Huang
The Hardware Hacker by Andrew “bunnie” Huang

Available in fine bookstores everywhere and from http://www.oreilly.com/nostarch, or by contacting [email protected]

About No Starch Press
No Starch Press has published the finest in geek entertainment since 1994, covering topics like LEGO, hacking, science, math, and programming for all ages. Our titles have personality, our authors are passionate, and our books tackle topics that people care about.

Art

Worlds Leading Architects Include Sir Norman Foster

May 13, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

Who is Sir Norman Foster? A British born architect world renowned for his ground-breaking interpretations of neo futuristic and post-modern design, that’s who.

Perhaps most famously known for designing and constructing “The Gherkin” tower in London, England at a cost of 138 million pounds. This office building is sure to turn the heads of tourists and Londoners alike.

Gaming, Reviews

Ten years ago- Batman Arkham City released

May 6, 2021 The Silo 2 Comments

batmanarkhamweb1 — **In this game, has The Dark Knight become (dare we say it) too dark?**

Batman: Arkham City Review – Rated T (for Xbox and Play Station)

Welcome ! I am going to begin this review with a confession: I am a retro gaming fan and somehow have missed out on a number of wonderfully aging titles. In fact, I had never played Batman: Arkham Asylum. It’s not that I was never interested, in fact quite the opposite, but our paths just never seemed to cross. Before beginning Batman: Arkham City I figured it was best to equip myself with some knowledge of its precursor. With an effortless search of Google I quickly found myself lowering my head in shame for all that I had missed out on. Nevertheless, I managed to convince myself that this was an opportunity to go against the grain, travel the road less traveled and yes, play out of sequence!

And so begins the adventure and the review. . .

After reading the necessary details and other reviews for Batman: Arkham Asylum I had a pretty good hunch that it’s follow up, Batman: Arkham City would be nothing short of fantastic. This game is a true indication of how far video games and their technology have come and the possibilities that still remain. Now, I could dive in to the guts of the game and discuss graphics, weaponry and overall gameplay but that would be jumping on the band wagon (which I’ve already determined is not my game plan). Instead, I feel there is something else that stands out above all other criteria: the theme of filth and decay. Darkness and death consumes Arkham City, its people and even Batman himself.

From the game’s beginning we are placed in a world that is full of shadows, crime in every dark corner, filth and grime smeared on every surface yet somewhere, within this dismal world, an intricate story unfolds.

A section of Gotham city has been walled off and is home to some of the city’s worst criminals and madmen, each of whom are fighting for power and fighting each other for it. With only a few far fetches Batman: Arkham City represents a world not unlike our own.

Take Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, for example.

It has its own areas of the city that are run down, considered ‘ghetto’ and known for acts of crime. Imagine if the mayor decided to build a wall around these areas and seclude them. The people within those walls are now left to fend for themselves – finding their own food, shelter, warmth and safety. It is only a matter of time before those communities begin to deteriorate more and more in to a state of delusional chaos. Stores shut down and become abandoned, buildings are neglected and covered in graffiti, and even the weeds are breathing new life now that there is no city maintenance.

If you can imagine such a scenario and the feeling that one might experience living in such a place, then you now know what playing Batman: Arkham City is like. I think that’s part of the reason why I enjoyed this game so much. Unlike almost every other video game, I could actually see Arkham city as a feasible scenario within our own world, hell, our own city! Furthermore, this allowed me to really sink my gaming fingers into Batman’s character and get a feel for what it might be like to be the cape crusader of Steel Town.

Some of the greatest things about Batman are his gizmos and gadgets which I used religiously throughout the game.

Soaring high above the city and the smog I could see crimes happening and swoop in on un-expecting villains and their goons. Whether I was using my trusty zip line to quietly whiz from point A to point B or using the cover of darkness to conceal my presence, I was using my surroundings, my city – my home. Or perhaps I should say what was my city and what used to be my home. Like the city of Arkham, Batman too deteriorates as the game goes on. His suit and cape become more battered and torn the more fights he’s in and the more evil he defeats. Once again I can only draw on the parallels of our own local cities and communities. Living within the confines of a dying city is a great recipe self-deterioration both physically and mentally.

When it comes to villains, enemies and ‘bad guys’, Batman: Arkham City I applaud you.

I was happy to see appearances by the Joker, Penguin and even the Mad Hatter! However, these guys are not quite how I remember them to be from the cartoons as a kid. No, no – these ugly, vile villains are far more disturbing. Each character that we encounter looks as though they are decaying in some way, shape or form. Some have cuts and scars all over their bodies, while others are losing their minds with insanity. Some just visually look broken down, worn out and even dead (much like the city they are trying to run). Each character has their own story to tell adding to your understanding of the plot and overall game.

Now, if we take a minute, once again this is not unlike the people within our own communities. Okay, we may not have a Riddler running around town leaving giant green question marks on things or gigantic science experiments who can shoot lightning bolts at us but every person has their own background and a story. All these details help explain why they are the way they are and why they live their lives the way they do. For all we know, there are Jokers and Penguins living amongst us, walking our streets and plotting their victories. Scary thought.

Another great addition to the game is the inclusion of Cat Woman and Robin characters.

Each character has their own missions and side tasks to complete apart from Batman. The world still stays the same but the stories become completely different. For example, if you are playing as Cat Woman the side missions that the Riddler has littered all over Arkham are different yet unique to your character in comparison to the tasks given to Batman. Inevitably, you are playing an entirely different game depending on the character you choose. The upside to this is being able to play as a character that you yourself might have a better connection with. Personally, I loved playing as Batman but Cat Woman did connect with my female side and added a certain finesse to my gameplay.

batmanarkhamweb2 — Besides Catwoman, another of The Bat’s fem fatale nemesis makes an appearance in Arkham City- the lovely Harley Quinn

So, I find myself with yet another finished game to add to the shelf however, there still remains a vacant slot for which to place the predecessor of this game. Playing out sequence and blazing my own trail did not seem to hinder how I played Batman: Arkham City, in fact I was able to grab the concept of Batman: Arkham Asylum quite well with help from various hints and stories provided by characters throughout the game.

Not every video game you partake in has the ability to draw you in and allow you to become immersed in its world. Batman: Arkham City however, does just this. Every aspect within this game from the setting, the characters and the missions themselves all have incredible attention to detail, making its world more realistic.

Don’t get me wrong, I love burrowing into the world of fantasy every once and a while. I love being taken into a world where there is no comparison to the world outside my window and furthermore, fantasy worlds require you to play with a different type of gameplay and mindset. But then again, those games don’t necessarily evoke the same response or feelings that a gamer might experience while playing a game that’s hits a little closer to home. The realistic components to Batman: Arkham City is what did it for me. The frightening parallels, the visuals and the overall story within this game gave me goose bumps.

If there are two pieces of advice I can give to my fellow retro gamers it is this: I encourage you to do as I did and every once in a while throw caution to the wind. Play to the tune of your own gamer heart and don’t be afraid to start in act three in a five act play. Also, don’t hesitate to drench yourself in all that an old video game has to offer. Take your time, smell the fumes of sewer smog and embrace the dark shadows that lurk in every corner. After all, you’re Batman – you laugh in the face of danger.
For the Silo, Holly LaRue.

Comics

No Wonder Thor Is Smiling In Vintage Comics

February 5, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

This time around in comic news we are looking back at the Journey into Mystery comic auction from Heritage Auctions.

What made this auction particularly interesting is the fact that pricing was reasonable and grading conditions were meticulous. Not always the case on other online auction sites (E-something, Kiji-something), Heritage Auctions or “HA” take great pride in the fact that their faculty includes not only comic fanatics but also experts in antique books and printing. It’s safe to say that ‘what you see and what you read’ here is ‘what you get’.

What about the comics?

In my opinion, Tales of Mystery starring the Marvel character Thor is still an undervalued comic book, even with all of the Marvel movie appearances. Consider that the first run Thor series was benefited by the pencil skills of Mr. Jack Kirby. Jack is an icon in the comic book collector world. Unique style? Check. Quality character poses? Check.

Sure, we all know the main reason for the comic was to set the stage for Thor (introduced by the way in 1962’s Tales of Mystery #83) but there’s also the less considered crossover appeal of major stories (and covers) utilizing such Marvel characters as Magneto , The Incredible Hulk and even Hercules.

Tales of Mystery, like other comics from the early 1960’s, has a naivete and a simple message: Good guy half-god deals with life and an identity crisis. And that’s the fun factor.

It’s been almost sixty years since Marvel introduced the comic character Thor.

That’s a long time. Thor is still around, starring in major motion pictures and wielding the mighty mjolnir. He’s not going away. So if you have the money, investing in one or more of these books is not only a fun move, it’s a wise move. Sure to increase in value. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

Vintage

Warhol, Lichtenstein Art Auction look back

January 11, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

Almost one decade ago: Andy Warhol’s “Endangered Species and Ads” prints bring a combined $677,000 USD alone at this notable Modern and Contemporary Art event.

Two complete portfolios by Andy Warhol, Endangered Species, 1983 and Ads, 1985, sold for $338,500 USD each to far exceed their estimates among a field of fresh-to-market iconic works during Heritage Auctions’ $2.9 million USD Modern and Contemporary Art Signature® Auction, May 22 in Dallas.

The auction sold 90% by value and 78% by lot.

Close up of one of the ten screenprints up for auction by ANDY WARHOL (American, 1928-1987)
Ads, 1985
Portfolio of ten screenprints on Lenox Museum Board
38 x 38 inches (96.5 x 96.5 cm)
Ed. 50/190
Each signed and numbered in pencil
Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York
Published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York
PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Texas
LITERATURE:
Feldman & Schellmann, II.350-359
Warhol, Andy:. American painter, photographer, filmaker and publisher, 1928-1987

ANDY WARHOL (American, 1928-1987)

Ads, 1985

Portfolio of ten screenprints on Lenox Museum Board

38 x 38 inches (96.5 x 96.5 cm)

Ed. 50/190

Each signed and numbered in pencil

Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York

Published by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York

PROVENANCE:

Private collection, Texas

LITERATURE:

Feldman & Schellmann, II.350-359

Warhol, Andy: American painter, photographer, filmaker and publisher, 1928-1987

Condition Report*:

With original Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc. cardboard portfolio box and index print. All screenprints unframed and in good condition with specifics listed below. Mobil: Minor rubbing 3/8″ in due to former frame. A few incidental surface scratches and rubs. One 5/8″ abrasion, resulting in very minor loss. Paramount: Minor rubbing 3/8′ to 1/2″ due to former frame. Very minor bumping to bottom right corner. Chanel: 1/2″ to 1″ light rubbing due to former frame. Slate purple backgrund has hazy toning, beginning about 1/4″ in. Apple: Very minor incidental rubbing to edge. Rebel Without A Cause (James Dean); Van Heusen (Ronald Reagan); Blackglama (Judy Garland): All have only very minor edgewear. Volkswagen; Life Savers: Very minor surface rubbing and edgewear. Donald Duck: Very minor edgewear. Top corners have minor wear. Light handling creases. Some wrinkling and an indentation at end of signature. Left side center shows some moderate wrinkling and creases with some minor loss, beginning at 11″ from the bottom up to 24″, and affecting 3″ into the work. The face and body of Donald Duck is affected somewhat, as well as the background near edge. Light wear in top left corner and a small abrasion on middle right side. Unframed

Two works by Ed Ruscha responded well among buyers as his gunpowder on paper titled Rustic Pines, 1967, realized $290,500 USD and a color screenprint, Double Standard, 1969, sold for $182,500 USD , setting a record for the work. Mel Ramos’ Georgia Peach, 1964, fresh from a Texas collection, sold for $158,500 USD.

“The market for good contemporary art doesn’t seem to have hit any ceiling,” said Frank Hettig, Director of Modern and Contemporary Art at Heritage. “Our focus is presenting fantastic, fresh-to-market discoveries and bidders certainly responded in kind. It gives us high expectations for our November 2 Modern and Contemporary auction in Dallas.”

Among the modern masterpieces in the auction, the magnificent, 7-foot Cobalt Chandelier, 2003, by Dale Chihuly reached $158,500 USD. It is the largest Chihuly chandelier to appear on the secondary market and was offered through a federal court-appointed receivership overseeing the sale of assets previously owned by R. Allen Stanford of Stanford Financial Group.

Forms in Space by Lichtenstein earned $53,125.

Roy Lichtenstein’s Forms in Space, 1985, a screenprint published by the artist for the Institute of Contemporary Art’s Rally round the Flag benefit, achieved $53,125 USD and Georges Rouault’s Chemineau, 1937, realized $40,625 USD.

Here’s a look at what some Lichtenstein’s other pieces sold for.

Sculptural art performed well as Étienne Hajdu’s La Mer, 1964, sold for $35,000 USD and Pablo Picasso’s Vase deux anses hautes, 1953, sold for $30,000 USD while Robert Graham’s Frieze Figure I-G, 1989/1990, brought $21,250 USD.

So what is that Volkswagen Warhol worth today in 2021? It’s hard to pen the value but in Spring 2019 one single print ad brought 30,000 UK Pounds ( 52,000 $ CAD) in a Christie’s auction.

ROY LICHTENSTEIN (American, 1923-1997)

Forms in Space, 1985

Screenprint in colors on Rives BFK paper

31 x 47-1/2 inches (78.7 x 120.7 cm)

Ed. 35/125

Signed, dated and numbered in pencil

LITERATURE:

Corlett, 217

NOTE:

Published by the artist for the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Forms in Space has been created especially in honor of ICA’s benefit, Rally round the Flag (label on frame verso) .

Lichtenstein, Roy:. American painter, printmaker; born 1923 in New York City, died 1997 in New York City

Condition Report*:

Sheet: 35.75 x 51.5 A crease in upper center at extreme sheet edge; small pressure mark at lower right corner; lower right corner lightly bumped; paper lightly undulates; framed. Framed Dimensions 36.25 X 52.5 Inches

Supplemental- Apple logo designer dishes on history http://www.macworld.com/article/1142322/logo_design.html

Culture

Being In Canada 54 Years And Involved In Social Change

January 2, 2021 The Silo Leave a comment

This year, I have been in Canada 54 years. It is difficult to define what I need to do but I have to be more active, more involved in positive social change…….The state of Trumpism gnaws at me.

A few years ago, during March 2017, about 40 of my photographs (1967 – 1974) of Toronto’s Baldwin St. were exhibited at the Toronto Arts & Letters Club. I recently spoke at the Club about my experience as an immigrant in 1967 with a draft dodger avoiding the Vietnam War.

In Feb. of that same year, I was fortunate enough to have exhibited photographs at Unlovable Gallery that John Phillips (my ex-husband and late husband) and I took of the American Civil Rights Movement. Last year, I gave a slide presentation at the Women’s Art Association on Canadian women photographers who worked between 1865 -1915. Three projects – war resisters, civil rights, and feminism.

My son, Bennett Jones Phillips, and his partner, Lisa Pereira are in the process of creating a record store on Baldwin St. and I am going to have an exhibition space- provided the current Covid epidemic is managed, controlled and finally defeated. (I had a gallery in the past on Baldwin). Here is a chance to be more active and socially involved. My plan includes an expanded “coming to Canada” exhibit with blow ups of my and John’s photos and some pages of John’s FBI file and underground papers. It looks like the space will be a shipping container. The opening event will likely include having a tent in the former Silverstein Bakery parking lot and having music, poetry, and a 60’s feel with Baldwin Street history – Irish, Jewish, Chinese, and American immigration being part of the opening focus.

There are lots of possibilities. I am very open to ideas and involvement of other people. So what do you think? Cheers, Laura Jones.

Art

Electronic Opera Uses Physical Spaces To Connect Narrative With Sound

October 28, 2020 The Silo Leave a comment

Pullitzer Prize winning composer Lewis Spratlan.

Back in 2005, composer Lewis Spratlan and I began work on an opera inspired by Louis Kahn. Kahn, who excelled in music and once considered becoming a composer, was especially cognizant of how sound works in a physical space. “Space has tonality,” he often said. Kallick, a professor of music at Amherst College, made recordings of the “acoustic envelope” at several Kahn buildings, which were employed in composing the work’s prelude and interludes.

Key elements from Spratlan’s music were integrated into this electro-acoustic music, creating a seamless connection between the narrative world of the characters and the sounding spaces that ﬁlled their dreams. Opening in the ruins of Rome and ending with the healing waters at Kahn’s Salk Institute, ARCHITECT: A Chamber Opera narrates the dramatic arc of Kahn’s journey from dreamer to master builder.

Click the link below to read about Spratlan discussing the project with Frederick Peters, board chairman of New Music USA, which supports composers, performers, and audiences of new American music. For the Silo, Jenny Kallick- Amherst College.

Click here to read the full PDF article.

Art

Coffee Table Book Expands Art Collecting By Including Original Works of Art

October 17, 2020 The Silo Leave a comment

Vivant Books brings to the world a very exclusive breed of coffee table book. Their Deluxe Editions are not only fine art coffee table books, but also include collectible works of art at a price most art lovers can afford. A select number of Deluxe Editions contain original artwork by the artist that is featured. Not only does this component differentiate VivantBooks amongst other publishing companies, but it also enables expansion of an art collecting demographic.

“We found that sold separately, an original piece by the artists we feature in our deluxe packages could range anywhere from $3000 to over $100,000,” says Mia Benenate “What we want to do and what the artists are really interested in, is broadening the audience that is able to acquire a piece of their work.”

Vivant’s book features internationally renowned artist Brett Amory. Amory has gained extensive acclaim for his haunting, mesmerizing series, Waiting. His work is often depicted as architectural and structurally elegant, stark and emotive. Waiting focuses on the transition of individuals in precise moments of existing. The lush book, which contains a collected array of work which includes the Waiting series, was first offered earlier this year by a release party at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco. Deluxe Editions includes the collected works, a biography, excellent essays by luminaries such as Gwynn Vitello and an original piece of artwork by Amory himself.

In this age of digitalization Vivant Books presents fine art in a way that’s both elegant, stylish and inventive. Upcoming Vivant Books will feature such artists as Kimberly Brooks and Gottfried Helnwein.

Brett Amory — Limited Edition

95.00USD

Brett Amory, the American artist who rose to international acclaim for his “Waiting” series is featured in this deluxe coffee table edition. Alongside four-color reproductions of the artwork, the book includes a biography and selected essays from art world luminaries and patrons. Hardcover book housed in a full-color protective sleeve.

Deluxe Edition with original artwork also available.

You can learn more at: book at http://www.vivantbooks.com/ or email: [email protected] for ordering and price information.

Fashion

Celebrity Homes: Andy Warhol Home Sold For $50 Million USD

October 9, 2020 The Silo Leave a comment

Montauk, New York was celebrating its biggest estate sale ever after the closing on the 5.7-acre beachfront estate at $50 million USD that pop artist Andy Warhol bought in 1972 for $225,000 USD.

The most recent owner of the compound was CEO of J. Crew, Mickey Drexler, who bought it in 2007 for $27 million USD. He listed it in 2015 for $85 millionUSD that included a 24-acre horse farm and equine center, which the buyer, Adam Lindemann, opted out of the purchase. Lindemann is the founder of the Venus Over Manhattan Gallery and a major collector of Warhol’s works making the property’s history especially significant for him.

Warhol’s first gig out of art school was as a fashion illustrator for several of the top women’s magazines. With the money acquired from his illustrations, he purchased a large loft on New York’s West Side and opened the Factory, where he turned toward creating industrial art. It wasn’t long before the Factory and Andy were attracting like-minded modernists from hippies to wannabe journalists and actors to drag queens and drug addicts. It was the start of New York’s avant-garde scene where Warhol held court. In addition to his painting, he branched out into music, film and journalism where he met Paul Morrissey who became the director of some of Warhol’s early films.

In 1972 when Warhol’s popularity and success were peaking, he and Morrissey decided to invest in property in the Hamptons and purchased the family fishing camp of the Church family of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda fame. The estate includes a 3,800-square-foot main house and five cottages completely hidden from public view with wide beaches and ocean views. Totaling almost 15,000 square feet with nine bedrooms and twelve baths, Drexler had it all meticulously restored by architect Thierry Despont.

Warhol’s stream of celebrity guests and renters put Montauk on the international map. Frequent guests included Liza Minnelli, Liz Taylor, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Jackie Kennedy and Lee Radziwill. The parties were legendary and stories of happy days idled away on the Hamptons’ beach are recounted in many celebrity biographies.

Even though the Warhol home sale set a record at $50 million USD, his most famous paintings such as “Eight Elvises” and “Silver Car Crash” have sold for $100 million USD and higher. The listing agent was Paul Brennan of Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Montauk, New York. Visit here for more information.

Supplemental– David Bowie as Andy Warhol in Basquiat

Culture

British MPs Say Government Too Slow To Help These At Risk Arts

August 20, 2020 The Silo Leave a comment

A friend of mine from Europe sent me this news story a couple of weeks ago about how the cultural landscape is facing its biggest threat in a generation.

It says the UK government was too slow to provide support for the arts industry, and that without more help, many parts of Britain could become “cultural wastelands”:

https://youtu.be/pPw8na16nuk

This should be a crude wake-up call for artists.

Realistically, governments around the world will NOT make it a priority to save art businesses. Why? Because governments care most about issues that will get them votes.

And, sadly, most of the public simply does not care about the arts the way artists do.

Want proof?

Check out the comments on that BBC video:

Then if you go down the rabbit hole and dig deep into the replies to these comments, you find a lot of artists desperately trying to show these people that the arts, and theatres, and galleries are very much “essential” to artists who rely on them to provide for their families:

The take-home lesson here?

Artists are on our own.

It’s unrealistic – unwise, even – to wait for the government to swoop in and rescue the arts industry.

In times like these individual initiative is more important than ever.

Artists must redouble their efforts to connect with curators, build a list of collectors, find patrons for their studio, maybe even transition to showing (and selling) some work online.

It is difficult, but it is not impossible. For the Silo, Brainard Carey.

Featured image- www.theatlantic.com

Art

Philadelphia Artist Goes To Space With Augmented Reality Artwork Initiative

August 12, 2020 The Silo Leave a comment

Hello Siloites (Siloers?) my name is David Bradford and I would like to share my art story with you, one involving augmented reality artwork that I have recently activated on the International Space Station and Mars as part of my Go Love Universally initiative. This is the first fine art activation of its kind in terms of distance (62,368,540 miles, to be exact) is aptly called Future. In case you were wondering, Yes there will be a Guiness World Record attempt based on this achievement.

A picture containing outdoor, motorcycle, water, bicycle

Description automatically generated

A look to the stars. My next (virtual) canvas with new augmented reality fine art activation, titled, Go Love Universally.

This art initiative comes at a time in which much of the world is still under travel restrictions due to COVID-19 and was designed to include everyone around the planet and those orbiting, watching from above. Born out of exploring a way to express and distribute fine art to the public while using consumer technology, I started with using bus stops as fiducial markers (QR codes) in Philadelphia, New York City, San Francisco, and London.

When I was asked to initially introduce my augmented art initiative in the Philadelphia Weekly, I said that while I’ve been social distancing, I came up with a way to share positive messages with people using AR and recognizable visual triggers found easily around Philly.

It is a way for a mass amount of people to interact with their surroundings in a safe way that also creates positive feelings through the messages being communicated.

Within two weeks of launching Go Love Universally, I took my art initiative into space, bringing the art from Philadelphia to Mars. For curious consumers of this activation, all pieces can be viewed at select locations using the Artivive app, a free augmented reality fine art app available for iOS and Android.

Steve Morrison, co-host of Philadelphia morning show Preston & Steve (93.3 WMMR), said to me: “Hey, this is pretty cool! What if the aliens in They Live just wanted to spread positive messages? Well, you have a potential answer with this project. Kudos to you, Sir!”

Go Love Universally is an ongoing project, as future collaborations with artists are to be announced.

Fashion

Human Consciousness & Artificial Intelligence Meet In Designer’s Fabrics

April 1, 2020 The Silo 1 Comment

Featured Designer Brian Swift used PAOM to print fabric for his latest collection inspired by the Technological Singularity: a theoretical time in which human consciousness and Artificial Intelligence merge and become a new, unrecognizable species.

Brian collaborated with a machine learning algorithm to imbibe his photographs with a psychedelic quality. These computer generated compositions were then printed onto fabric and used throughout his latest collection.

For more work check out Brian’s site brianswift.com

Supplemental- MONA the world’s first artificial intelligence clothing designer

Vintage

Prix d’Ami -Discovering Antique Pickers Barns

January 18, 2020 The Silo Leave a comment

kojakshelper — Kojak’s young helper. image: courtesy of P. Ross

Discovering the Picker’s barns…after visiting Marcel Gosselin [last issue- http://tinyurl.com/7g4oxnk CP ] we went on to a large picker’s barn we had noticed on the way into Victoriaville which is where we met Jean (Kojak) Deshaies. As we arrived, the place was buzzing with activity as several pickers clamored for the attention of a completely bald man; pointing at, and demanding prices of items still being unloaded from his pickup truck. Not being used to this type of “pressure” buying we went inside and started to peruse the rows of furniture and items there.

Nothing was priced. We made note of several things of interest, and waited.

After several minutes the bald man came in and approached us introducing himself in a distinctive, low raspy voice as Kojak, and started simply “how can I help you?”. I was slightly taken aback by the intensity of his voice, abrupt manner, powerful short build, and the fact that he had absolutely no facial hair including eyebrows. He seemed….slightly hostile. We explained that we were dealers from Ontario, and that this was our first trip to Quebec. He immediately broke into a big smile and grabbed my hand and gave it a firm shake, and after introductions asked us what we found interesting. As we pointed out several pieces of early furniture, rugs, carvings, etc., he would offer a short description and then bark out the prices. As we said yes to an item, a young helper would grab the piece and haul it off to a place by the entrance where he started to make a pile. Kojak wrote the prices on a piece of scrap paper. He warmed with every item chosen and before long would sometimes follow the price quoted with a second lower price he called “prix d’ami” or “friend’s price”.

After awhile I noticed the large pile we had accumulated. I expressed my concern that I might not have enough cash for everything, but he said not to worry because a cheque would be fine. I was surprised at this sign of trust but he joked that he knew I would be back, and besides if the cheque was not good he would soon be at my door to collect, and I wouldn’t want that to happen.

He told us that he and a few of the other local dealers were just back from New York City where they had marched unannounced into the office of a downtown lawyer who had bought several items in the area with bad cheques, and had not answered their calls. “We just walked into his office, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and told him we wanted our stuff back. We didn’t have to do more. He took us right to the warehouse. We were back home ten hours later.”If you had trouble covering a cheque it was fine as longs as you were up front about it, and made it right. No problem.”

Getting all of the stuff we bought into the truck was another thing but we managed. For the Silo, Phil Ross. Visit Phil’s blog at www.shadflyguy.com

Culture

Human Face Carved On Pebble 15000 Years Ago

December 28, 2019 The Silo Leave a comment

There is a paucity of Palaeolithic art in the southern Levant prior to 15000 years ago. The Natuﬁan culture (15000–11500 BP; Grosman 2013) marks a threshold in the magnitude and diversity of artistic manifestations (Bar-Yosef 1997). Nevertheless, depictions of the human form remain rare—only a few representations of the human face have been reported to date. This PDF article presents a 12000-year-old example unearthed at the Late Natuﬁan site of Nahal Ein Gev II (NEGII), just east of the Sea of Galilee, Israel (see Figure 1 PDF link below). The object provides a glimpse into Natuﬁan conventions of human representation, and opens a rare opportunity for deeper understanding of the Natuﬁan symbolic system.
The NEGII face is carved from a limestone pebble measuring 90×60mm.

Minimalistic manipulation of the pebble’s surface creates a simple but realistic human expression. The artist used the natural form of the pebble to represent the outline of a human head, and slightly modiﬁed the stone’s perimeter with a ﬂat band to shape the contours of the face(see Figure 2a PDF link below). The main modiﬁcation engraved on the front of the pebble consists of a T-shaped linear relief that emphasizes an eyebrow ridge and nose; two low arcs that meet at the centre of the pebble form the eyebrow ridge and then turn downward to depict a straight, elongated nose.

By skillful play with line depth and curvature,the artist has achieved a soft depiction of the cheeks and deep, shaded eye sockets (see Figure 3 PDF link below). The artistic qualities of the representation are schematic, but they present a realistic and uniquely expressive human face.

The back of the pebble is not carved but is lightly modiﬁed at the edges. Microscopic analysis shows a few small, smooth and shiny areas that may have been created by gentle polishing of the surface with a soft material such as skin or fabric, or by…… continue reading this article by clicking here. For the Silo by Leore Grosman, with Natalie Munro and Hadas Goldgeier/ academia.eu. Feature image photo by Dana Shaham.

Art

Armstrong’s Heartbeat As Merged Artwork Beamed To Moon

July 20, 2019 The Silo 2 Comments

“For me It was an incredible feeling to use this 120 ton radio dish, capable of peering into the far reaches of the universe, to create an artwork focusing on one of the greatest achievements in human history” Richard Clar image: space.com

Los Angeles, CA, – Richard Clar using an earth-moon-earth (EME), or moon bounce as it is also called, radioed two very special signals off the surface of the moon where their return was received at Dwingeloo Radio Observatory in the Netherlands.

Clar’s extraordinary two-part project, Giant Step and Lune sur la Lune, paid tribute respectively to Apollo Astronaut pioneer Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon on July 20, 1969 and to the far side of the moon itself, something witnessed only by a rare group of individuals, the Apollo Astronauts. The two radio transmissions to the moon and back emanated from a radio dish in Italy.

Giant Step is a personal response to an event Clar personally witnessed back in 1969, and he wanted to use his creativity to pay tribute to those who took part in the Apollo program, and especially Neil Armstrong for what he did on that momentous day.

He wanted this work to say something about the moon itself, using the moon.

His interest was piqued after hearing about an earth-moon-earth bounce (EME) from Italian artist and colleague, Daniela de Paulis, who together with radio specialist Jan van Muijlwijk developed the process of using EME to send images to the moon and back in 2009. As he researched the Apollo Archives, he came across an Electrocardiogram (EKG) of Neil Armstrong as he took the first step on the moon on July 20, 1969 – and Richard found his inspiration!

While data scientist Dr. Ryan Compton created the sonification tone from Armstrong’s actual EKG graph, prominent Los Angeles-based double-bass jazz performer and composer Roberto Miranda used the tone to create compelling sounds that have been called “edgy and hauntingly beautiful.”

In addition, an image of the first footprint on the moon was transmitted and bounced back to Dwingeloo. [Listen to Neil Armstrong’s heartbeat beginning at the 2:10 mark here Ed.]

“I wanted the art to say something about the first humans to set foot on the moon. Think how many living beings have observed the moon for eons…and now we have made a number of trips to the moon and back. I want people to have new experiences through my artwork,” says Clar.

Lune sur la Lune, an image of the far side of the moon, was transmitted in a poetic gesture onto the earth facing side of the moon. Since only the Apollo astronauts have seen the far side of the moon, using the radio-reflective surface of the moon to produce a site-specific artwork makes the moon a unique part of the process rather than just a subject matter ─ and also gives people on earth an opportunity to witness this phenomenal event and experience the moon in a new and different way. Shortly after the sound and image from Giant Step and Lune sur la Lune were received and processed at Dwingeloo, and will soon be accessible to the world at www.rockthemoon.com.

There was considerable excitement at the Dwingeloo Radio Dish on September 26th by those who witnessed the sound signal and image signals being received from the surface of the moon after the moon bounce. All in all, the art mission was a great success.

“For me It was an incredible feeling to use this 120 ton radio dish, capable of peering into the far reaches of the universe, to create an artwork focusing on one of the greatest achievements in human history,” stated Clar.

Richard Clar’s timeless work has been exhibited in museums, galleries and universities throughout the United States and Europe. His visionary ‘art in space’ began in 1982 with a NASA-approved concept for an art-payload for the U.S. Space Shuttle. Philosophical in nature, many of Clar’s themes originate in space environment issues, such as orbital debris, war and peace, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), and water management on earth.

Clar studied at the Chouinard Art Institute (now Cal-Arts). In 2001 and 2002, he coordinated the Leonardo/OLATS/IAA Space Art Workshops in Paris. Clar is the Director of Art Technologies; a Member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA); a Member of the IAA SETI Permanent Study Group; a Member of Women in Aerospace, and a Member of the Leonardo Space Art Working Group. He was the Secretary of the former Art and Literature Subcommittee of the International Academy of Astronautics, and a past Member of the Executive Board, Graphic Arts Council, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

An early example of Richard Clar's Space Art — An early example of Richard Clar’s Space Art

Clar founded Art Technologies in 1987 as a liaison between the worlds of art and technology. By collaborating with such partners as the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Boeing Aerospace Corporation, and contemporary composers, Clar generates high-visibility art works that transform state-of-the-art technology and highly-engineered materials into evocative contemporary art. His work is found in many corporate collections, including JBL Sound, Home Savings of America, and the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

After spending the last fourteen years in Paris, Richard Clar now resides in Northern California. For more information on his extraordinary artwork, please visit:

http://arttechnologies.com
http://rockthemoon.com
https://www.facebook.com/RichardClar.ArtTechnologies

Culture

Model Building Led To Canadian Titanic Society Founding

June 24, 2019 The Silo Leave a comment

Model of the Titanic. — Norm Lewis and his model of the RMS Titanic.

titanic_model_detailWEB — Detail of Norm’s Titanic model.

Norm Lewis was just twelve years old in 1958, a student at the old South Public School, when he saw the film A Night To Remember, a straight forward rendering of the Titanic disaster based on the book by Walter Lord. The film was a pivotal experience for Norm, and the beginning of a life-long fascination with this most infamous nautical event.

In 1993 Norm attended a Boston conference of The Titanic Historical Society, meeting enthusiasts from all over the world. He began polling Canadian delegates on the idea of starting their own group and got an overwhelming response. In 1998, this former locksmith and transport driver became the President, Founder and CEO of the Canadian group. Radio stations from Calgary, Kitchener and Toronto all called for an interview, and within a week The Canadian Titanic Society was receiving more letters than Norm could carry.

Norm has collected a great deal of Titanic memorabilia over the years, including 110 underwater photographs taken by Ralph White, the Society’s official “Explorer in Residence” and 2^nd Vice-President, who at the time of his death in 2008 had made more dives to the wreck than anyone else in the world. A pioneer in deep sea photography and cinematography, Ralph was the expedition leader for James Cameron’s 1997 epic movie. And you know the name of that one.

With the help of some volunteers, Norm also researched Norfolk County connections to the disaster, finding Titanic crew members, survivors and passengers from the rescue ship Carpathia living like Norm, in Simcoe Ontario though all have now passed away.

But perhaps most impressive, Norm Lewis is the sole architect of a twenty-foot scale model of R.M.S Titanic that has appeared in parades and exhibitions all over the province. Detailed, historically accurate, and made almost entirely out of wood, the model is the only one of its kind. It has working propellers, smoking funnels and a truly impressive digital recording of the actual titanic whistles. It took him eight years. You might call that obsession, but if you think of a twelve year old boy, rapt in fascination at one of the most spectacular and terrible stories in nautical history, you might just call it a labor of love. For the Silo, Alan Gibson.

Culture

Luxury Villas Offering Guests Oil Paintings of Themselves

June 10, 2019 The Silo Leave a comment

Nobilified and Villa de Campo have partnered up to offer their customers a unique art and hospitality experience. A selection of luxurious villas offered by Villa de Campo for rent come with hand-painted portraits of each guest, which are hung throughout the Villa during their stay.

Located in La Romana, Dominican Republic; Casa de Campo is no stranger to luxury. This prestigious Resort spreads over 7,000 acres, featuring three award-winning golf courses, a clay pigeon shooting center, an equestrian center, tennis courts, pools, and restaurants, as well as 1,700 private villas populating the resort, some of which are available for rent. Villa de Campo specializes in giving customers prompt and personalized service for vacation rentals in the resort. Whether it’s understanding your needs and recommending homes to stay in or helping you book a personal chef or schedule your activities, Villa de Campo is stepping up the meaning of the saying “the customer is king”.

With this partnership with Nobilified, Villa de Campo adds an extra touch of personalization to one’s holiday—and we aren’t talking about personal chefs or yacht rentals. Nobilified, which creates hand-painted oil portraits of its customers as royalty will be using its inspiration to paint memories of holidays for guests to keep. The paintings will be inspired by the nature of the trip, whether a romantic couple retreat, a golf trip with boys, or a family holiday; Nobilified’s classically trained artists will paint the guests prior to their arrival, according a certain theme, and have the pieces hung throughout the villa during their stay. Guest then get to take the pieces home after their stay.

The Nobilified special aims capture memories in the world of art. Chris Jensen, the founder of Nobilified, says, “Our aim is to capture one’s memories in art. We want guests of the villas to remember all the small things that made their holiday one to remember. When they get home, they will hang the piece, and each time they look at the piece, they will remember their holiday. We think that is special.”

Villa de Campo

Villa de Campo offers a selection of luxury villas in which to spend your next activity-filled holiday in the Dominican Republic. Spread over 7000 acres, the Casa de Campo resort is home to over 1700 private villas of which around 100 are available for rent on villadecampo.com.

Punta Aguila #57 is true Casa de Campo villa. The beautiful five bedroom villa was built right in the middle of a beautiful bamboo forest, palms and Embauba trees in a five thousand square meter homesite.

Booking a Villa has become the perfect way to spend a holiday whether with family, friends or as a couple. Our selection of luxury villas are located throughout the entire resort and cater to various tastes and needs. Villa de Campo also includes additional amenities such as complimentary golf carts, private chefs and a holiday concierge to help you book and plan your dream stay. Casa de Campo possesses a variety of restaurants, private beach clubs, a Marina, 3 golf courses, a tennis center, an equestrian center, a spa, and much more.

Nobilified

Nobilified is dedicated to revolutionizing the art world. Nobilified believes that while not everyone may have the artistic skills required to paint a masterpiece, everyone possesses an intuitively creative mind. At Nobilified, customer dreams and fantasies are transformed into actual works of art, which can proudly displayed in any home, dorm, office, cabin, yacht, or even a swanky Chateau. Everyone has an artistic side, and everyone sees the world in their own unique way. Nobilified wants this diversity to make an imprint on the course of art history by immortalizing customers’ wildest dreams.

In addition to providing high quality oil paintings, Nobilified wants to change the way people perceive art, by making it fun and accessible, thus giving customers the opportunity to share or gift a unique custom made oil painting with friends and family. No longer will having an oil painting of oneself hanging above the chimney be out-of-reach. This privilege used to be reserved for the upper tiers of society, but, now, it is shared with everyone, even if they are not knighted. A unique, hand-painted, oil-on-canvas work of art can add a touch of grandeur to any living quarters.

Featured image: Cupid and Psyche by Jacques Louis David

1. The problem of big titles:

2. Appeals vary widely:

3. Mismatch between target audience and reviewers:

4. The issue with influence:

In Conclusion

Most of us have hobbies.

Today, I collect video games.

With collecting, it’s all about the hunt.

Today the Phillips auction house will showcase a one-of-a-kind NFT that will certainly appeal to both art and automobile collectors.

Raising fascinating questions around ownership and the object, NFTs and blockchain technology have become increasingly prominent aspects of our contemporary landscape.

The auction has drawn so much attention that an online sportsbook BetOnline.ag has even created odds for the highest bid, setting the “over/under” at 500k.

The artists concerned will be supported for a minimum of three months by a cultural institution in their host country.

A new link in UNESCO’s emergency response

“Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth” –Pablo Picasso

Possibly the most important work that Picasso produced was Guernica (1937).

During this time of turmoil, Picasso was not in Spain but working in Paris.

On a final note, Picasso was adamant that this work not be displayed in Spain until democracy was restored.

Come on, you have to admit. It’s a lot of fun to stumble around YouTube with that old pre-internet habit of television channel surfing surprising you with random discoveries.

A few years ago, I was enjoying reading a guest editorial in Wired by comedy bull Will Ferrell. )

You might even find yourself considering an impulse purchase of a mini Korg 700S. I know I did.

That’s likely because the major media corporations feel wholly threatened by what the internet promises: a vast sea of content that is discoverable and searchable by desire or by chance.

“Business in the front, party in the back.”

Mullet shirts are typically bo-ho style, sometimes with a flowy batwing sleeve, and give you a comfortable look that pairs perfectly with a mid-rise or high-rise pant (which are also coming back in style in every colour known to the human race).

But the mullet fun doesn’t stop there!

The moral of this story is, fashion repeats itself, trends come and go, and come back again.

This post is dedicated to geeks who want to let their passions shine through their decor.

The Museum of Wild and Newfangled Art (mowna) Announces the Debut of an AI Experiment in Art Curation: “This Show is Curated by a Machine ?”

The free call for international submissions is now open for all to take part in an experiment that defines how we move forward with AI curation in an ethical way

Nature is born of sexuality.

Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle have collaborated for 17 years.

I wanted to show how a video game can become a true artistic medium…how players can become artists.

And so begins the adventure and the review. . .

From the game’s beginning we are placed in a world that is full of shadows, crime in every dark corner, filth and grime smeared on every surface yet somewhere, within this dismal world, an intricate story unfolds.

Take Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, for example.

Some of the greatest things about Batman are his gizmos and gadgets which I used religiously throughout the game.

When it comes to villains, enemies and ‘bad guys’, Batman: Arkham City I applaud you.

Another great addition to the game is the inclusion of Cat Woman and Robin characters.

This time around in comic news we are looking back at the Journey into Mystery comic auction from Heritage Auctions.

What about the comics?

It’s been almost sixty years since Marvel introduced the comic character Thor.

This should be a crude wake-up call for artists.

Want proof?

The take-home lesson here?

Canada's 'biggest little blogspace'