This video directed by Brent Hoff (who edits Wholphin, a quarterly DVD magazine published by McSweeney’s. You can subscribe to it here) the video documents a love competition. The contestants are strapped into an MRI machine and asked to think about love. Scans of the contestants’s brains track activity in the brain, with special interest in a specific region called the nucleus accumbens, where three neurological pathways associated with love converge. The video briefly introduces the contestants, who explain their strategies for winning while Dr. Melina Uncapher prepares each for their scans. The results are… lovely, and so are Brent’s other videos (my two favorites are Walleyball and Drunk Bees).
Some of you may remember from a while back the series of videos created by Albin Holmqvist for the EF International Language Centers, a series of stunning shorts that were told through language and beautiful imagery. I figured it would be a perfect time to revisit the Beijing centered episode, a really fun, romanticized view of a foreigner’s journey to Beijing. The series is so well done that they make any place in the world seem like the perfect spot for your next vacation, especially China.
Nicholas Hanna seems like he gets bored easily. With a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from McGill University and a Master of Architecture from Yale, the guy has the knowledge and curiosity to make some really cool stuff, like the Water Calligraphy Device. Water calligraphy is a thing in China, where old guys chill out in parks with brushes on poles, writing beautiful marks onto the ground.
Nicholas has created the modern day equivalent. Rigging up a trike with a computer and some water jets, he rolls around the city writing bits of propaganda like, “Civilization comes from every individual, to contribute from every little thing.” It’s a really amazing idea, and it’s cool to see how people react as he passes them by. Although, I feel like if this sort of concept was brought to America it would be abused and used for evil purposes like Burger King advertisements.
To see the rest of the messages he writes, click here.
It’s hard not to love tilt-shift, and this video of Beijing by Pixcube Animation Studio is a perfect example. When I watch videos like this they make me think of moving postcards, like something you might see out of Harry Potter. The imagery tends to be pretty picturesque and the fact that you can’t really make anyone out adds to the iconic feeling of the images. I have no idea where any of these locations are, though. Can anyone help us figure out what we’re looking at exactly?
I’m really curious and excited to see this new documentary by Alison Klayman about Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and the repercussions that his outspoken life has caused. You may remember his work most recently from the field of hand-painted sunflower seeds he exhibited at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall in London. The documentary follows the artist, exploring his life and motives in order to dig deeper to see the life behind one of the most liberal men in China.
From 2008 to 2010, Beijing-based journalist and filmmaker Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai Weiwei. Klayman documented Ai’s artistic process in preparation for major museum exhibitions, his intimate exchanges with family members and his increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government. Klayman’s detailed portrait of the artist provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.
For more information about the documentary, click here.
Before watching this video, I had no idea what it was about. After watching this video, I still don’t think I have any idea what it was about. The only things I know for sure is that it’s crazy, and I love it.
Entitled My…My…, it’s the work of 26-year-old Chinese animation artist Lei Lei. In 2005, Lei founded his own animation group called Raydesign and ever since he’s been producing some pretty far-out animated shorts. I’m particularly taken by the great colors and textures in this video, as well as the terrific soundtrack that accompanies it. They really come together to form a truly psychedelic experience. As for what it’s all about, I’m still not really sure! Maybe it’s best to just leave you with the set-up that Lei includes with the film: “One day. I found my naked. Where is my clothes?”
