Design Science

A New Hydroponic Planter Imprints Houseplants with Tessellating Root Systems

Bringing a design-based approach to indoor gardening, Terraplanter ensures that even those lacking green thumbs will be left with a beautiful, minimalist vessel if their plant-care skills aren’t quite adequate. When it’s in use, roots grip the lattice-like outside, which imprints their dense entanglements with a geometric pattern. The vegetation reveals its tessellating design when it’s removed.

The soil-free growing system has four planting methods: rubbing spores onto the surface, germinating seeds in the grooves, wrapping an already blooming vine around the pillar, or propagating a rooted plant by attaching it to the side. Water stored in the center of the vessel then diffuses through the porous material, hydrating the roots and ensuring they require little maintenance.

Because of its unique design, Terraplanter exposes root growth as it occurs, while securing it on the exterior. “We believe in nature-inspired-technology, we love plants, and we see things differently. Bound together with a passion for natural material, plants, and ecological products, we combined our knowledge and experience to create a user-friendly product and an optimal solution for plants to thrive indoors,” the New York-based company said in a statement.

Terraplanter already has raised more than $2,800,000 on Kickstarter, and there are a few rewards still available. To see more examples of the hydroponic propagation, check out Instagram, Facebook, and the video below, which was directed and animated by Kobi Vogman.

 

Photography

Stunning Aerial Photographs by Mitch Rouse Capture the Precise Patterns of Farmland

Before crops are harvested and combine tracks mark the soil, Wyoming-based photographer Mitch Rouse captures the immaculately planted farmland that patterns the western United States. His captivating aerial shots frame the patchwork fields, concentric rows, and land-hugging lines formed with sprouted produce and vibrant trees. Sometimes disrupted by a natural landmark like a small mountain range, the photographer’s images provide a new perspective on the cultivated land.

Rouse tells Colossal that the Palouse—a major agricultural area in the northwest— is one of his favorite regions to visit because it’s often full of luxuriant fields. “This year, it was particularly lush, and I was very surprised getting out there how soft and velvety the green fields looked. Unlike the first photograph (shown above), the shapes in the Palouse are much more organic flowing and curving with the natural form of the hills,” he says. The photographer also has explored Montana, Oregon, Idaho, and California, capturing the precisely placed rows of trees near Bakersfield.

Originally frustrated by the limitations of drone and aircraft techniques, Rouse said he has “now found the sweet spot between the two by developing a system that incorporates a Bell 407 helicopter, with a Shot Over gimbal mounted to the nose, which contains a 150 MP Phase One Industrial camera.” Much of his process consists of spotting land patterns and flying over them.  “A lot of it ends up really just being aware of your surroundings and eventually develop an eye for what will look good, making it pretty easy to pick your targets,” he says. “The key to getting these is timing it right. You want favorable light, whether it’s from clouds or sunrise or sunset.”

For more views of flourishing crops and organic patterns, head to Behance and Instagram, where Rouse catalogs much of his work.

 

Sponsor

RISD Continuing Education Launches 130+ Online Summer Courses

RISD CE Online summer programming includes classes for adults and teens, credit-bearing courses, and the new Advanced Program for High School Students.

No matter where you are, what your skill level, or how much time you have this summer, RISD CE Online has a course for you. Programs include weekend workshops, multi-week sessions, credit-bearing courses, and the new Advanced Program for High School Students. Choose from 130+ online courses with time commitments ranging from three hours to eight weeks.

RISD Summer Programs credit-bearing courses are now online. Students will have access to renowned RISD faculty and the personalized instruction needed to advance their creative practice and create a substantial body of work in a short amount of time. All courses offer three credits and run for six weeks.

Creative adventures in a range of visual arts and design disciplines await adult students at RISD CE Online—from courses and workshops for personal enrichment and professional development to focused certificate programs. For teens interested in art and design, CE is offering online classes in animation, fashion design, and even art school prep. Classes can be taken on an individual basis or as part of a teen certificate program.

The new RISD Advanced Program for High School Students offers high school students the opportunity to access intensive, collegiate-level classes as they work toward a college application portfolio. This online program is offered in two distinct four-week sessions for students completing grades 9-12 and offers an immersive and expressive curriculum informed by our rapidly changing world.

The summer term starts June 22, 2020.

For more information on RISD CE Online Summer Courses, visit ce.risd.edu.

Art

A Three-Story Tree Acts as a Scaffold for a Growing Community in a Mural by Ethan Murrow

In a 53-foot mural of exposed roots and tangled branches, Boston-based artist Ethan Murrow (previously) situates an energetic construction site manned by human workers, who heave their materials and balance across taught ropes. “The Garden” is replete with scaffolding, small tool sheds, and suspended orbs of sod and lumber among the sturdy boughs. With flags staked on its top, the tree serves as an organic backdrop for the humans’ manufactured expansion. Evidenced by the figure raising a tree branch to the sky in the top left corner, though, the workers’ actions often appear peculiar and inconsequential.

In a statement, Murrow explains that his scenic works are rooted in United States history and culture. Whereas traditional narratives are founded on the idea that progress and human superiority are natural, the artist works to subvert those assumptions.

As our world leaks and creaks forward, landscape can act as the ultimate term and representation of the joys and foibles of our actions. Landscape is an aesthetic ideal, an edited view of reality that suits the maker—in essence, a fiction. For me, the word has come to define our use of images and stories to convince ourselves of who we are, what we know to be true, and what we wish was fact.

Rendered in high flow acrylic and paint pens, “The Garden” is installed at Expedia Group headquarters in Seattle. Many of Murrow’s projects that are concerned with historical narratives and human progress can be found on Instagram.

 

Art

Tuxedoed Penguins Plunge into A Private Tour of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

On a recent trip to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, three penguins from the Kansas City Zoo were keen to ruffle some feathers. As they waddled along their private tour— the museum currently is closed to humans due to COVID-19—Bubbles, Maggie, and Berkley served some polarizing opinions. Executive director and CEO Julián Zugazagoitia said the tuxedoed guests “seemed to react much better to Caravaggio than Monet,” whose work they only glance at in a video of their trip.

Despite the cold shoulders that they gave the French painter, zoo officials said the penguins enjoyed interacting with some new faces. “Unfortunately, our penguins can’t speak for themselves, but we think they found the experience at the museum very enriching.”

Zugazagoitia also noted that he spoke Spanish to the three birds, who are native to Chile and Peru, in order to break the ice and make them feel a little bit more comfortable in the space. All three are Humboldt penguins under eight years old, meaning that they’ve got more time to refine their tastes. The South American birds generally live more than 30 years.

The museum’s resident photographer Gabe Hopkins captured much of the sophisticated guest’s visit, which he’s shared on Flickr. (via ArtNet News)

 

Science

Explore 30 Years of Arresting Images Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in a New Book

It’s the 30th anniversary of the first launch of the Hubble Space Telescope—the first major instrument to be placed in outer space and arguably one of the greatest inventions in the history of scientific discovery. The newly released book, Expanding Universe: The Hubble Space Telescope, is a celebration of this milestone, in which readers come face-to-face with some of the most unimaginable images that the telescope has captured. It also features 30 new snapshots on wide glossy pages. 

Launched in April 1990, the telescope sits above the Earth’s rainclouds and polluted skies, which allows it to capture an unobstructed view of distant stars, galaxies, and planets that make up the rich tapestry of our solar system. Alongside the arresting images, the book features texts that unravel some of the most compelling questions of space and time, including words by photography critic Owen Edwards, Hubble astronauts Charles F. Bolden, Jr., John Mace Grunsfeld, and Zoltan Levay.

Dive into the galactical explorations by picking up a copy of Expanding Universe from Taschen or Bookshop.

 

Art Colossal

Interview: Artist Lola Dupré Discusses Change, Technology, and the Financial Pressures of Creative Work

Artist Lola Dupré (previously) is devoted to the tangible, a dedication that anchors her practice of physically cutting and pasting paper and photographs into surreal collages.

I think people become so fixated on a rigid belief that they refuse to discuss other ideas. It makes them angry. I think one of the best things you can do, one of the most powerful things you can do, is change your mind about something. Let go of your belief in being correct and accept that everything can be done better, said better.

She recently discussed her earliest influences, how she’s coping in the current moment, and her fascination with algorithms and data in the latest interview for Colossal Members.