Photographer Todd McLellan has been on my mind ever since I saw this post on making an Inventor’s Box: a collection of tools and second-hand electronics for kids to disassemble, organize, wreck, rebuild, or reinvent into something completely different… you name it!
In this time-lapse video (or this one), watch Todd disassemble different kinds of machines so that they can be meticulously arranged and photographed. Here are two examples of the final product:
Then view his project, Things Come Apart, where he’s also photographed the same parts “flying” through the air.
McLellan’s photographs seek to challenge our disposable culture by making transparent all the things that we regularly throw away. He said he wanted to get inside the older objects to show the quality, beauty and care that went into the original manufacturing process.
“I hope people think a little bit more about the things they use. Not that people should have feelings for objects, but instead think about ‘reuse and recycle,’ not just ‘use and discard.’ “
The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry is featuring Things Come Apart until May 19th, 2013, or check out McLellen’s new book available for pre-order on Amazon: Things Come Apart: A Teardown Manual for Modern Living.
via NPR.
Related art from parts: One Plastic Beach.
In this beautifully illustrated lesson from TED Ed, science writer and educator Carl Zimmer explains some answers to the question, How did feathers evolve?
From his article in National Geographic:
Most of us will never get to see nature’s greatest marvels in person. We won’t get a glimpse of a colossal squid’s eye, as big as a basketball. The closest we’ll get to a narwhal’s unicornlike tusk is a photograph. But there is one natural wonder that just about all of us can see, simply by stepping outside: dinosaurs using their feathers to fly.
With animation by Armella Leung, see how today’s birds are related to the dinosaurs of the past, and how fossils with feathers have helped us understand that connection.
Related viewing: evolution, dinosaurs, birds, flying, and a robot that flies like a bird.
Watch Festo HQ team’s new dragonfly-inspired BionicOpter:
With the BionicOpter, Festo has technically mastered the highly complex flight characteristics of the dragonfly. Just like its model in nature, this ultralight flying object can fly in all directions, hover in mid-air and glide without beating its wings.
In addition to control of the shared flapping frequency and twisting of the individual wings, each of the four wings also features an amplitude controller. The tilt of the wings determines the direction of thrust. Amplitude control allows the intensity of the thrust to be regulated. When combined, the remote-controlled dragonfly can assume almost any position in space.
There are more videos and explanation here. And if you haven’t seen them yet, there are more great videos to check out from Festo: AirRay, AirPenguin, AirJelly, AquaRay, and from the archives, AquaPenguin and AquaJellyfish, and the TEDTalk, A robot that flies like a bird.
via Colossal.
A character in a moment, one created each day for 30 consecutive days, animated as an exercise of skill and imagination by UK-based animator Geoff King. He writes:
It was difficult to even think of what to animate most days. I spent a few hours on average for each day, sometimes it felt like all day. I originally intended to do them quicker but they usually didn’t get going till the late evening. This also meant all the days where only ‘first passes’ or ‘straight aheads’. After the first 5 days I realised I should try to maintain a reasonable quality. It wasn’t easy, a lot of time was spent hitting a wall but I had fun trying something different everyday.
30 Days is also a nice example of how a sketch can connect with its audience with motion and emotion in only a few seconds. No dialog required. Music: Le bal de Rémy by Circus Marcus.
Related watching: One second (or so) per day for a 2-months in Asia.
via The Curious Brain.
