ongoing · What

What
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North Korean Art · There are a few feeds I subscribe to that I almost never read; they’re just there for when I’m stuck on a boring con call or I’m really tired late at night. One of them is North Korea Zone; I have a sick fascination with North Korea, the fact such a place can still exist in the 21st Century is mind-boggling. Anyhow, late last night I ran across some online North Korean Art, which I entirely lack words to describe. To get warmed up, check out these Film Posters. Then there are shots of Kim Il-Sung with children and burning books and documents. Finally, I’m not sure why this one of Kim Jeong-Sook (whom I assume is the same person as Kim Jong-Suk) appealed to me, but it did. [Update: Some of the captions, translated, worth reading.] ...

On Selling Art · Increasingly, the products of artists are digital; thus subject to essentially-free copying and sharing. Artists, just like accountants and ambassadors, need to get paid. How best to arrange this? (Provoked by a long talk with Cory Doctorow at ApacheCon; my thanks to him, but the fallacies are my own.) ...

$10,000 · Some art remains material, resists the pull of the digital. This week, we paid a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery; one contemporary work on display comprised a pile of one million pennies; newer and shinier at the center and thus the top of the pile. It caught and pleased the eye; and tickled the mind too. It wouldn’t have come close on a screen.

Drawing Drama · David Weinberger pointed out this (warning, very slightly not-work-safe) and I found it compelling, hypnotic; I have no idea what the site, fcmx.net, is about, but the the page called “Flash Cards II” in English, Виртуальные открытки II - Вся коллекция in Russian, has lots and lots more of these, and I’m not even sure David picked the best; they are elegant, erotic, witty, dramatic; well worth a visit. You probably want to turn the speed up to 8× or 16× for most of these or you’ll end up watching them all day. I suppose this has long been prefigured in the work of sidewalk caricaturists and the like, but still, I think it’s a new thing in the world.

Flower Mandalas · The name alone should be enough to compel excitement and support; the Flower Mandalas Project (via Botany Photo of the Day) is looking for contributions from you; not of money but of words, and maybe not even your own words. Check it out, and also the botany-photo background write-up is worth reading.

Cabinet · This is about a magazine that you’ve probably never read, but might want to have a look at ...

One Corner of a Cat · Previously I wrote in One Corner of a Cube about an Asian sage, name unremembered, who said that if you’re painting a cube, you need only get one corner right. In this follow-up we identify the sage and include lots of pointers and two samples of the “One Corner” school, one by its founder ...

One Corner of a Cube · I recall a Confucian thinker (or Kongfuzi himself? or a Taoist? or a Buddhist? I can’t find the reference) arguing that if you are painting a picture of a cube, you really only need to paint one corner and do it right ...

Edward Tufte · This gentleman has a Web site, but he is famous for his very beautiful and influential books; three of them as of this writing, visible at the web site. At Antarctica we claim Tufte as a major influence, and we usually (I think) live up to that claim pretty well. Tufte's thinking has influenced mine as much as that of any other living human being ...

What · Arts