How do you advertise a life drawing course? You could photocopy posters from the last session for the umpteenth time and hang them on a wall, or maybe take out a tiny ad in the local paper and hope some people show up. Except that’s what we’ve been doing for decades. Creative duo Wriggles & Robbins decided to take a new approach in this brief clip advertising drawing courses at The Book Club in London. Using photographed stills of the students’ work-in-progress the team created this lovely stop motion video the that does an extraordinary job of capturing the energy, perspective and fun of a life-drawing class. Really cool, I wish it went on for another minute or so. (via it’s nice that)
What!? How is this even possible? Because science, my friends. Brusspup’s (previously) latest video explores what happens when a stream of water is exposed to an audio speaker producing a loud 24hz sine wave. If I understand correctly the camera frame rate has been adjusted to the match the vibration of the air (so, 24fps) thus creating … magic zigzagging water. Or something. Here’s a little more detail:
Run the rubber hose down past the speaker so that the hose touches the speaker. Leave about 1 or 2 inches of the hose hanging past the bottom of the speaker. Secure the hose to the speaker with tape or whatever works best for you. The goal is to make sure the hose is touching the actual speaker so that when the speaker produces sound (vibrates) it will vibrate the hose.
Set up your camera and switch it to 24 fps. The higher the shutter speed the better the results. But also keep in the mind that the higher your shutter speed, the more light you need. Run an audio cable from your computer to the speaker. Set your tone generating software to 24hz and hit play. Turn on the water. Now look through the camera and watch the magic begin. If you want the water to look like it’s moving backward set the frequency to 23hz. If you want to look like it’s moving forward in slow motion set it to 25hz.
Brusspup did a similar experiment last year where it looked as if the water was flowing in reverse. Can somebody please make a water fountain that does this or would we all be deaf? (via stellar)
The Top Secret Drum Corps is a 25-person drum corps and colorguard group from Basel, Switzerland who display incredible precision and choreography despite being comprised of performers who have separate day jobs. Formed in 1990 the group rose quickly to fame after being the fist non-military, non-British acts to perform at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which they have now performed at four times (see their 2009 performance). I’m no drum expert but this is some of the best drumming I’ve ever seen. (via laughing squid)
Pratt student Melanie Hoff connected cables carrying 15,000 volts of electricity to a large plank of wood and then documented the results. Surprisingly the areas around each contact point don’t simply catch on fire or burn in a circle, but rather traverse outward in a fractal-like pattern, like lighting in slow motion. Watch it all unfold above. (via colossal submissions)
Released three weeks ago after a year on tour at various film festivals, Choros is the latest experimental art film from director Michael Langan the explores the movement of the human body, specifically the motion of dancer Terah Maher. Choros follows in the steps of Eadweard Muybridge, Etienne-Jules Marey, and Norman McLaren, all of whom spent years studying the physical moment of animals and humans through film. Langan takes the next step using new digital innovations to layer some 32 sequential instances of a single movement and then stretch it out over time. Set to Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, the 13-minute video is pulsating, hypnotic, and flat out lovely to watch. You can read more about it over at Short of the Week.
In this brief video graphic designer and illustrator Seb Lester demonstrates a form of Medieval blackletter typography that was used commonly in Europe from 1150 to around the 17th century. From a person whose handwriting is almost completely illegible, almost every stroke of his pen looks like a complete miracle. (via vimeo)
This is a fun clip by Berlin-based animator Annette Jung of Talking Animals that captures a sizeable repertoire of Michael Jackson’s dance moves using only pixelated Lego bricks. The sound really adds to the experience, headphones/speakers recommended. (via laughing squid)
It’s not everyday you discover what could be your new favorite blog, but lucky for me that day was today. A Netherlands-based visual artist named Marinus has been at the helm of his blog Head Like an Orange since October 2011. He takes short excerpts of wildlife footage and crops, loops and times them to create mesmerizing moments of life. What you see here is just from the last few days, there are literally hundreds of these and they are well worth a few minutes of your day. Go now! (via jessica olin)
