The fabulous art of fake tilt-shifting
As a child, I visited the Miniature World Museum in Victoria, British Columbia where I remember being completely blown away by the fabulous sprawl of mini-scapes, a giant Gulliver in the land of Lilliput.
Over the last year or so I have seen more and more people posting their experiments with fake tilt-shift photography. The resulting images are just so cool, a great bit of brain trickery, imitating those mini worlds that I loved so much as a kid.
A great fake miniature photo of a resort in Key West, Florida by Bob Reck
Check out this “doll house” kitchen by philipyk and gas station by John Ehmann
For a couple of Photoshop tutorials on faking miniatures check here and here.
Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter!
This wonderful etching, Lepus timidus, is from a collection of magical work by Italian artist Eric Ailcane. More of his work can be found on his website.
Always dreamed of having C-3P0, Bender Rodriguez, or Robby the Robot serve hors d’oeuvres at your birthday party? stand in for you in biology class? oversee the vows at your wedding? Well now you can have the next best thing…
At Florida Robotics you can rent or purchase a robot from their large collection. All their bots have the ability to walk, talk, play music or audio samples and interact with your guests, as well as having the always cool, very essential, pitch-altered voice transmitter.
Prof R. O. Bots and Jay Peg
Optional add-ons include: water squirters, video monitor/ camera, scrolling display, sound effects, holiday decorations, two-way audio, and of course fiber optic hair.
Unfortunately, you might have some difficulty getting them across the border!
Filed under: Steampunk | Tags: Bioshock, fountain, steam punk, Steampunk, Tesla
As the signature water feature at Niagara Fallsview Casino, it houses more than 760,000 integrated LEDs and two million feet of fiber-optics.
After dark, the Hydro-Teslatron surges to life putting on an eight-minute water and light show simulating an “electrical disaster of epic proportions.”
Sparks, lasers, ominous glowing lights and 7,000 gallons of frothing churning water… Now that’s my kind of entertainment!
A true tribute to the dawn of hydroelectric power, and it looks damn cool.
There are more pictures and a 360° walkthrough on Fairview Casino’s site. Unfortunately there don’t seem to be any videos around of the fountain in full action but here are a few in regular mode: one and two and three. Check out the Bioshock website at 2K Games.
Filed under: Oddities
Truthfully, I had intended to start posting on a lighter note but I had to share this project, it can be found at The Willard Suitcase Exhibit. I highly recommend that you check it out.
During the 1995 closure of New York’s 120-plus-year-old Willard Psychiatric Center, workers discovered 427 suitcases covered in dust and set in rows in the rafters of one of the attics. The bags contained the most meaningful (and in many cases only) possessions of hundreds of former inmates: photographs, letters, paintings, journals, clothes and other personal items, all with different stories to tell.
Darby Penny (editor and leading advocate of patients rights) and Peter Stastny (psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker) wanted to share these stories, to remember those who had been admitted to the institution, mistreated, untreated and in many cases forgotten by the outside world, to live an entire life and die within the walls (most were admitted involuntarily or under court order the many staying for several decades -the average stay was more than 30 years.)
Referencing the suitcase contents and institutional records, (including histories and session notes) and direct research with former staff etc, the two profiled 10 inmates, painting a picture of who they were and who they became in their time at Willard. These profiles were first exhibited in 2004 at the New York State Museum. The show was so powerful that its nine month run saw over 600,000 visitors. Penny and Stastny along with photographer Lisa Rinzler published a book with the 10 profiles. As well, The Exhibition Alliance has created a traveling exhibition titled The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic.
The exhibition has dates posted for New York, Maryland, W. Virginia, N. Carolina and Michigan, if you are in the area.
