Alex Dent is an avid crafter with an undergraduate degree in Architecture from the University of Cincinnati. Although he has worked in New York, Copenhagen and Los Angeles, he now spends his days in Guntown, Mississippi working, taking classes, and plotting revenge. He is excited about the future.
I like the idea of outdoor projector art not only because I enjoy the outdoors and projectors, but also because it doesn’t trample on or harm anything. That said, it is unsettling to see a huge pair of cat eyes staring out from murky reeds, but I appreciate the effect. These are accomplished via projections made by artist Ibon Mainar. That’s him working from the back of his very european-looking car in the lowest photo.
Alex
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January 3, 2011 - See more posts by Alex
While visiting Kennedy Space Center I met astronaut Robert Springer. I knew I’d only have time to ask Astronaut Springer one question, so I asked him what surprised him the most the first time he put on a space suit. His answer? “How difficult it is to move.” Suit pressurization and suit mobility often complicate things for the other, but maintaining suit pressure is critical in the vacuum of space and being able to bend your fingers just makes it easier to manipulate tools during spacewalks (one astronaut commented that the limited mobility of pressurized gloves was like trying to perform brain surgery wearing oven mitts.)
The photos above are from tests involving suit mobility. The top picture shows the AX1-A suit in various positions; one of which is reaching for the stars. The lower picture shows a test of a pressurized SPD-143 suit, suspended at an angle so the test subject can walk under gravity conditions similar to the moon’s. Suit engineers used these side-ways puppet experiments to improve the apollo space suit.
Alex
P.S. There was also a great article in the NYT ab0ut space suits. I feel like space suits are starting to pop up everywhere.
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December 31, 2010 - See more posts by Alex
As documentaries age, their meaning becomes more clear… or rather, their intentions do. Out of the convolution of facts and opinions that make up any documentary, facts tend to precipitate away from politically-motivated arguments or persuasions as time continues and the images burned into the film become blurrier. As I watch the above documentary about LSD, I keep distracting myself on a hunt for propaganda hiding behind what is presented as fact, and how these facts are expressed. But mostly I really enjoy the aesthetic and quality of a vintage documentary. The documentary is a bit lengthy, so don’t try to sneak it in at work, but it’s perfect for those of you still stuck in your rural hometowns, trying to fill your time with something other than sitting on the couch, eating leftovers and watching re-runs.
Alex
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December 30, 2010 - See more posts by Alex
Above you can see the entry to the Tellus Nursery School by Tham and Videgård, and how the entry is squeezed into the mass of the building in a kind of programmatic phagocytosis. It is a lovely entrance for a children’s nursery– the building makes an urban-scaled gesture to embrace young Swedes as they come or go. The Nursery also features seemingly random, punched out windows that aren’t necessarily new (in fact, they’re quite trendy) but these windows at varying heights make perfect sense in a nursery. I also really enjoy the effect of some of the windows being partially screened behind wooden slats. While the project description (whick appears toward the end here) talks about screening the sun, this move also keeps kids from climbing out of operable windows while looking fantastic.
Alex
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December 29, 2010 - See more posts by Alex
Although these images are the work of photographer Philipp Schaerer, none of them are actual photographs. Instead, these are renderings of fictional architecture to point out how very tricky photography can really be. In Philipp’s own words “[The series] deals with the effect and the claim to credibility of images of architecture that appear to be photographs. It further questions the medium ‘photograph’ as a documentary piece of evidence depicting reality.” Remind anyone else of Filip Dujardin?
But I wish these image were of something real because they look amazing: confinement and calm instead of being frantic or taken at overly-dramatic angles. Philipp is quite the rendering champ, having created numerous renderings for Herzog & DeMeuron.
Alex
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December 28, 2010 - See more posts by Alex