Opinion
An Ephemeral Cloud You Will Never See Live
LOS ANGELES — Olafur Eliasson turned the Tate's Turbine Hall into a cloud. Doug Wheeler made it feel like we're in a cloud. And now one artist, Berndaut Smilde, is putting a cloud in the gallery.
AX Mina
AX Mina is an artist and culture writer exploring contemporary spirituality, technology and other sundry topics. She co-produces Five and Nine, a podcast about magic, work, and economic justice, and serves on the board of the Rabkin Foundation.
Opinion
What If Our Clothes Mimicked Animals?
LOS ANGELES — I recently stumbled across the work of Los Angeles artist Amisha Gadani, an artist-in-residence at a science lab in UCLA. Gadani has created a series of "interactive wearables" that mimic the protective features of animals in a fun way, marrying fashion with science.
Opinion
Covering Geopolitical Tensions with Bedcovers
LOS ANGELES — Tucked away in a small corner at LACMA is a new show: Common Places: Printing, Embroidery and the Art of Global Mapping. Culled together from the museum's permanent collection, the works consist of embroidery inspired by printed paper works.
News
MFA Boston Rolls Out New iPad Catalogue of American Collection
LOS ANGELES — The iPad catalogue trend continues, this time with a gorgeous new digital catalogue released by the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. Celebrating their Paintings of the Americas collection, the catalogue offers a timeline of American history through painting, with chapters like "The Coloni
News
Advice from an Artist: Steal Like an Artist
LOS ANGELES —What are the rules of creativity? How can we unlock it? This is a question nagging all artists, because we all know the experience of sitting in our studios, staring at a blank canvas or a piece of paper or what-have-you, and not quite knowing what to do.
Art
Historic Protest from 1960s and 1970s California
LOS ANGELES — West Hollywood, known popularly today for its thriving design culture and LGBT community. During the day, you can visit any number of design studios and the sprawling Pacific Design Center complex. At night, Santa Monica Blvd. lights up with raucous bars and bouncing clubs catering to
Art
New Project to Help Citizens Document Themselves on Satellites
LOS ANGELES — They fly over us everyday, photographing and documenting us with startling regularity. We've seen our homes and some of us have spotted our cars, but only rarely are we able to get enough detail that we can see ourselves. Bemysatellite.net, a new initiative from Los Angeles artist and
Opinion
Smithsonian Channel Unveils a Great New iPad App
LOS ANGELES — New in the Apple Store this month is the Smithsonian Channel's iPad app, which lets you play videos from the Channel's extensive programming. It includes short clips for a quick burst of knowledge during the day, as well as longer documentaries for an extended viewing.
Opinion
Artist Visualizes the Waves from Thousands of Miles Away
LOS ANGELES — We have so many ways of remotely viewing the world. From webcams of zoo animals to data sets about weather, it's so easy these days to take a peek at what's happening somewhere else. I recently came across "Tele-Present Water," an installation by artist David Bowen that taps into data
Opinion
Flapping Wings Perched on Your Finger
LOS ANGELES — Most of us want to fly. And while we've generally figured out that human beings best fly through a gliding mechanism, Leonardo Da Vinci famously tried to mimic the way so many other animals fly but he never did get off the ground.
Art
New Card System Helps You Learn Art History
LOS ANGELES — Masterpiece Cards are a new art learning system from Susan Benford, who heads up the company. Benford developed the cards as a learning tool of those studying art history.
Opinion
¬_¬ A New Emojicon Library! ( ˘ ³˘)♥
LOS ANGELES — I don't know about you, but sometimes :) and :( just don't cut it. Happy and sad? That's it? There are so many more human emotions, with nuances between anger and frustration, surprise and elation. Perhaps this is what's behind the hype around emoji for iPhone: finally, a better way to