eMusings

The joy of the Internet is also its drawback: there is simply too much information, much of it excellent, for the mind to absorb. I hope that in making these suggestions for your web surfing I have singled out some of the best.

A new Museum of Latin American art is being opened in Rio de Janeiro. Called Casa Daros, it will begin with 1200 pieces created by over 100 artists, most of whom are still working. The art has been shown previously in Switzerland, where it was stored, but its installation in Rio is meant to awaken the world to a previously unexplored area of rich cultural tradition.

Have you ever wondered what an established moon base might look like? A company called SinterHab has created a 3D printed simulation of their concept. The proposed ingredients contain lunar dust, microwaves, and solar energy. The project is meant to illustrate the potential of 3D printing for architectural use by NASA. 3D printing: it's really happening! (Note: see art to find out what's going on in fine art in the field.)

Take a look at the Blue Brain project which is attempting to recreate the human brain inside of a computer by copying the neurons of our brain. A link is also provided to a project called "Trainblazing the Human Brain", a mapping project that is expected to cost about three billion dollars but has tremendous potential for the field of brain science.

The most stunning rendition I have seen yet on the Internet of the Sistine Chapel is provided by this Vatican site. Use your mouse, trackball, or stylus to zoom in, swing around, change perspective, and otherwise feel as though you are walking around in the actual room.

Blouin Artinfo discusses "Object Lessons", an article on design, proportion, and deeply embedded concepts of beauty in our minds. Included are comments about Jackson Pollock, McDonald's logo, and the symmetry of certain faces.

Jacob Hashimoto has created a piece enticingly titled "Near the Edge of the World - layered kite installation." If this is what the edge of the world looks like, I'm first in line. There is a fine sense of pattern, joy and freedom in this work. You can get a fuller view at "Gas Giant Kite Installation. His is a world of unrestrained exuberance with a delicate sense of proportion and order in the midst of chaos.

NPR tell us that fifty unpublished poems by Rudyard Kipling have been discovered by a Professor Emeritus at Pomona College. Kipling was a controversial writer in his day: he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, but was also called a "jingo imperialist" by George Orwell.

Don't let the title "Snakes in a Frame" turn you off. Mark Laita's photographs of the slithering creatures, set against black velvet backgrounds, may give you a new perspective on nature's ingenuity once again.

Her name was Vivian Maier and she would still be unknown in the annals of photography if it were not for a young Chicagoan who bought the contents of an abandoned storage facility for under $400. What he discovered there were over 100,000 negatives and 700 rolls of undeveloped film taken by a part-time nanny who was fascinated by daily life in Chicago. The result is a new documentary called "Finding Vivian Maier" produced by one of the "Bowling for Columbine" filmmakers, Charlie Siskind. Maier died at age 83 in 2009. She was an intensely private person, whose closest friends were apparently unaware of her interest in street photography. You will see that she had an extraordinary eye.

c.Corinne Whitaker 2013