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POPSOn Architecture and Elegance bridge is endowed with a subcategory of beauty we can refer to as elegance, a quality present whenever a work of architecture succeeds in carrying out an act of resistance—holding, spanning, sheltering—with grace and economy as well as strength; when it has the modesty not to draw attention to the difficulties it has surmounted. From philosophical historian Alain de Botton's inimitable The Architecture of Happiness , itself a paradigmatic illustration of the aesthetic elegance of well-engineered minimalism (be it architectural or textual). The NYRB's synopsis of de Botton's work makes note of this: The simplicity of his writing is not the product of a simple mind.... In The Consolations of Philosophy (2000) he remarked that "there are...no legitimate reasons why books in the humanities should be difficult or boring; wisdom does not require a specialized vocabulary or syntax."
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POPSGIANT Crystals! Uh, yeah, I know, it's a stupid title and I normally have something more cerebral to say, but this is just plain cool. I wonder what could possibly explain my fascination with these crystals?
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POPSA poem. the poem is here thanx to Jorge Luis Borges. the anticipation of Love is here because of human's desire. the Gangas river delta is here 10x to Aribeth clip..-) Our Earth as Art is a site with views on earth through the eyes of the Landsat-7 satellite. Both-to my eyes- Lansat-7 and Borges are working from space ...... ))
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POPSMarvelous Mysteries of Cartography As a huge fan of Martin Waldseemuller, I'm glad to see his work in the news. Cartography used to be a really cool job, requiering research and interviews, and a healthy dose of speculation. The great thing is that history is so much more complex than the writing of it, and this map is a perfect example of that. Maps were very cloak and dagger stuff back in their day. Although the story comes down that Columbus discovered America and Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean. But a clever sleuth could have figured out that there must have been something dividing the eastern coast of China from the eastern coast of the new continent. Also, there is the very sexy possibility that other unknown explorers had already made forays into the Pacific before Balboa got the credit. I think its great when history starts to sound like an Arturo Perez Reverte novel!
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POPSFrench Atomic Bomb Test Photos from 1968 Never-before-seen 40-year-old pictures of French atomic bomb tests have surfaced on the internet and they are simultaneously beautiful and terrifying. The epitome of historical human achievement and wanton destruction combined in one split-second. These are four scanned pictures of hardcopies I possess of the French nuclear test codenamed Canopus, which was fired on 24th August 1968 in the Fangataufa Atoll. The French army had those pictures taken on site. Full-size links: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 .
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POPSThe Haunting Artistic Genius of Martin Ramirez The second article is well worth reading in its entirety to see how Ramirez destabilizes our expectations and categorizations. He is a hauntingly phantasmagoria artist. He is visually accessible yet emotionally elusive. We can see the beauty in the world of his art, but it is mysterious. His art seems to have the melancholy peacefulness and yet haunting menace of De Chirico. The fact that a full 1/3rd of his oeuvre, representing his late style and artistic evolution have just recently been discovered is a staggering windfall.
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POPSArchitectual Interface between Modernity and Antiquity I think that the narative aspect of architecture is often overlooked. Here it is brought inescapably yet eloquently to life. There is a narrative in the reflection of the Parthenon in the glass of the new museum, the interplay between the ancient past and the approaching future. In both ancient cities and modern museums, we navigate history and culture, spatially arranged and physically enclosing us, and it is the architect who controls the course of this narrative.
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POPSDark horse nomination for most beautiful beach in the world... Third Beach, La Push, Washington, USA Now this is what I call a beach! No sand. No palm trees. No sunshine. Pure restless brooding, shaped by the fierce creative energies bursting out of the natural world. It is a the beach of the soul, it is a mirror of the human condition. Among these rocks, I find the entire world, gestating, being carved anew. If you're on facebook you can check out more pictures...
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