Link Round-Up: April 24, 2013

Penscapes Steampunk Collection from Penopoly

Can fountain pens be art? If you have something set aside for a rainy day,
like for a new SUV, why not buy yourself a pen instead?

Commenting on the Museum of Modern Art’s recent acquisition of Dwarf Fortress, Bill Coberly muses how the game might function as spectator sport.

Cubify Wants To Domesticate The 3-D Printer: Cubify's colorful 3D printers look like coffee makers, and that's exactly the point—they're a natural fit for your home. And they might be just the ticket to making this 3D printing thing stick with normal people. In addition to a personal printer that costs less than $1,300, Cubify runs a cloud printing service, an e-commerce site where you can buy items, and recently launched an open API for developers who want to build Cubify-based web apps. Still on the fence about 3D printers? Check out these 9 Incredible Objects That Prove 3D Printers Are Totally Worth it.

"Each prime number is represented by a bright, white square, whereas a non-prime ("composite") is grey. Visitors can select difference spatial arrangements of these numbers, ranging from several variants of the well-known Ulam Spiral, over the Archimedian spiral, to the more sophisticated 3D Hilbert curves." Prime Explorer, via the generally-quite-nifty Information Aesthetics.  If you like this, watch this video of the Ulam Spiral Visualization.

Hanksy, underground street fartist.

Short Film: A Little Bit Behind

"A Little Bit Behind" directed by Paul Slater

Shot as part of the 48 Hour Film Project back in 2011, director Paul Slater and his team were given the topic of ‘time travel’ at 7pm on Friday night, then proceeded to shoot and edit this short film in just two days. Their efforts were rewarded not only with Best Script, but also the awards for Best Film and Best Actor.  Watching the whole thing years later, it comes off a little rough, but you'd never guess it was made with such haste without being told.

In this short film, part-time chef Steve Palmer finds himself 3 seconds out of sync with the universe after he attempts to travel through time with somewhat hilarious results.
 

Electronic Art: for(){};

“for(){};” by Brent Watanabe

Projection mapped video game on canvas.

“In for(){};, there is no beginning or end to the game, just collecting and wandering, birthing and consuming, an arbitrary point system rising until your inevitable death and the birth of another generation. It is a game mechanism without the game. An addictive but essentially aimless experience.

The piece is a triptych of playable acrylic paintings, controlled by the viewer using a NES controller. Programmer/artist Brent Watanabe worked with painter Cable Griffith to create an interactive landscape painting influenced by Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, merging traditional materials and new technology.

for(){}; is a custom computer application with sound, projection mapped onto three wall mounted paintings.”

Electronic Art: 3D-Printed Music

"3D-printed Music" by Rickard Dahlstrand

"At art hack day in Stockholm 2013 and using a Lulzbot 3D-printer I tried to visualize different classical musical pieces.

Installation: Digital Frescos

"RGB Fabulous Landscapes" by Carnovsky (Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla)
Photos by Alvise Vivenza

Fresh Take: Steampunk Portal

"The Gentlemanly Escort Cube"

Steampunk Portal by Lisa Rye

"The patented Gentlemanly Escort Cube is a must for all unchaperoned Victorian ladies finding themselves in indelicate situations that might upset their fragile constitutions.

The Cube excels particularly in warding off the untoward advances of stray turrets and politely holding down buttons for her as she proceeds along her way.

The Aperture Institute of Natural Philosophy reminds you that the Cube does not initiate conversation, and certainly not if you have not yet been formally introduced."

Illustration: Silhouette Super Kids

Silhouette Super Kids by Andy Fairhurst

Created in Photoshop CS4 with a water color texture.

[Previously: Silhouette Super Kids]