Tree, Cordoba, Argentina
Photo and caption by Marcos Furer
A lonely tree. Landscape of Northern Cordoba, Argentina. Very few trees are left in an extended area where soybean crops and farming are destroying the natural habitat of the algarrobo tree.
NatGeo’s Best Photos of 2010 are out. This wasn’t one of the winners, but is my favorite. Scroll through to check out the finalists in each category. If you want your mind blown.
I just had an awesome series of discoveries. I’ll take you through my journey..
I had recently stumbled upon and posted photos of Jonathan Safran Foer’s new innovative novel, Tree of Codes. It is innovative because it is basically a novel cut out of another novel. He literally cuts out words from his favorite novel, The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz, thereby creating a new story with those that remain.
Intrigued, I obviously ordered Tree of Codes. But I thought I’d first read The Street of Crocodiles so that I can compare. I picked up a copy at The Strand, and once I accustomed myself to reading prose again (been on a bit of a non-fiction kick lately), fell in love with his writing. It’s beautiful.
I just finished the book, and in seeking to learn a bit more about it and Schulz, I discovered this amazing 20 minute stop-motion video produced by the Brothers Quay in 1987 called “Street of Crocodiles”, inspired by Schulz’s novel. I found it in two parts on YouTube.
It looked too familiar, though I knew I hadn’t seen it before. So I took to researching some more and discovered that I had seen it before - or something like it. In Tool’s music video for Sober (1993), and also in NIN’s music video for Closer (1994), both which were influenced by the “Street of Crocodiles” film.
And then I rediscovered my love for Tool (and Nine Inch Nails).
Fourteen Actors Acting. NYTimes Magazine’s video gallery of classic screen types. Stunning, indeed. (via noraleah)
Woah! Jonathan Safran Foer’s latest looks amazing. He took his favorite book, The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz, and cut through the pages to create a new story. Here’s an interview in Vanity Fair.
The Pratt Institute has this interesting exhibit right now that combines psychology and topography. It’s called “You Are Here: Mapping the Psychogeography of New York City.” Psychogeography, from what I learned, is the study of the effects of geographical setting on the emotions and behavior of individuals. Most interesting were the “Loneliness Map” (pictured above) that shows where most Missed Connections happen in Manhattan (Union Square, on the L, and surprisingly at Terminal 5, which the artist attributed to a recent Daft Punk concert), and the anxiety map of the five boroughs. The exhibit is worth a quick trip but it ends this weekend.
this was cool
(check out their other projects. amazing.)
1978 vs today in Greenpoint. via Brooklyn Based
Want to feel insignificant for about an hour? Go see the Hubble IMAX movie at the American Museum of Natural History. I sat with my mouth agape the whole time. Here’s the trailer.
Watching the aforementioned biology videos brought back faint memories of my mom making me watch art history lectures as a child. They were narrated by Sister Wendy. She arrives on scene at 0:38 and is pictured below. Amazing.
