I’ve always wanted to explore the possibility of living in the Bay area, and seeing this sunset…which aesthetically falls somewhere between the background of a motivational poster and a supernatural thriller where the sky rains blood…certainly sweetened the deal. Throw in a little ethereal Brian Eno, and you’ve got a great soundtrack, too.
Category: nature
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Real Monstrosities recently had a post that reminded me of a small collection of Blue Ringed Octopus photos I’ve had floating around in my “Sea Creature” folder for years now.
These tiny cephalopods are actually among the most venomous, possessing enough poison to kill up to a couple dozen humans.
Since Real Monstrosities did such stellar job of giving the scoop on these beauties, rather than repeat the info I’ll guide you to that post.
PS. Don’t the rings remind you of an even more hypnotic version of Hypnotoad?
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Seung-Hwan Oh is a South Korean experimental photographer and microbiologist. In the series Impermanence, he creates thought provoking abstract portraits at the intersection of art and organic decay. They are ethereal, electric, psychedelic, and in some ways almost spiritual…but always intriguing.
In the artist’s own words:
This project is about the superimposition of a moment in microbial growth upon a moment in the life of a person through the projection of one spatial-temporal reality onto another.
This captures the evanescence of film photography, the transiency of life, and the continual entangled creative and destructive processes; a millisecond of an expression, an instance of an autonomous geometric evisceration of film, an exploitation of chemical materiality, a vestige composed of millions of pixels, and a complete obliteration into intangible atoms that dissipate into something else.
The process involves the cultivation of chemical consuming microbes on a visual environment created through portraits and a physical environment composed of developed film immersed in water. As the microbes consume the emulsion over the course of months, the silver halides destabilize, obfuscating the legibility of foreground, background, and scale.
This creates an aesthetic of entangled creation and destruction that inevitably is ephemeral, and results in complete disintegration of the film so that it can only be delicately digitized before it is consumed.
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Short post today due to bad virus…
Julia Vysotskaya draws luscious images at the intersection of nature and fantasy art.
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This was one of the creepier offerings I came across: a 3D printed model of the deceased from Cremation Solutions to serve as an urn.
Here’s a model of Obama, to show the “perfect likeness” (which to me, registers way more as uncanny valley):
Life size models are also available.
According to the site:
One benefit to these personalized urns is that there will never be a doubt about what they are. With a regular urn, you are undoubtedly asked questions about what it’s for, and that leads to a conversation about the deceased. People who are unfamiliar with the urn might mistake it for a vase or some other container and try to open it. With these urns, you can avoid those questions.You may not, however, be able to avoid the question “WHY?”
A less jarring option is is the eco friendly textile coffin from Natural Legacy.
This is an innovative coffin and something completely new for the alternative coffin market, but the use of wool in burials is nothing new. The Burial in Wool Act of 1667 made it a legal requirement for the dead to be buried in woollen shrouds in an attempt to boost the struggling woollen industry of the time. With the current social eco agenda, rising concerns on the environmental impact of burials and this innovative product, the industry has come full circle.
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I got in a little over my head committing to Strange Remains Week, because I have over 20 links to modern fringe postmortem preferences. Perhaps I will have to combine a few of them in each post. But let’s start with my favorite: the Burial Pod.
The Capsula Mundi concept, from designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel, uses an egg-shaped burial pod made from biodegradable starch plastic as the coffin, in which the body is placed in a fetal position and buried under the ground. A tree (or tree seed) is then planted over the top of the pod, which will use the nutrients from the decomposing body as fertilizer for its growth.
I personally feel that a “sacred forest” of trees honoring the deceased, each one unique, growing, giving life, is far superior to boxes and stones that just SIT there in traditional cemeteries. I’m in favor of personal markers by each tree to commemorate the (former) person helping it thrive. Apparently there are legal regulation issues with implementing this sort of green burial.
How do you feel about this idea? Would you like to return to nature?
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I have a shirt with this design, but I absolutely love this Fibonacci Sequence necklace from Boutique Academia (wow, do I want this!).
The shop has some fabulous offerings for us geeky folks! My three other favorites from the site are the Neurons:
The Pleiades:
Tree Ring:
Great Stuff!
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PetitBeast invented a brilliant houseplant display using sea urchin shells to mimic the body of a jellyfish and growing plants as tentacles.
These little sweeties hang in the air and give the illusion of floating/swimming through space. Each one is entirely unique as, with minimal care, it grows in its own fashion, delicately swirling and curling.
Some versions come in kits of 3, which I think would look extra amazing.
Would you hang this in your home? I give it two thumbs, um…eight tentacles up!
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How NOT to decorate your lobster. I call this Stairway to Hell.
Gorgeous carving work.
Enchanting…
Intriguing…
If only humans could leave behind the tangible structure of their own transformations to look back on.
I love how one happy consumer claims that a tablet of soap whittled her waist from 62 to 48 inches.
But some old ads EMBRACED a little junk in the trunk (how anyone thought the name “CHUBETTES” was a winner for a clothing line, I do not know).
Tick tock…
Adorable little skelly and her pet!
This is amazing in so many ways. Was this mushroom an official mascot of some sort, or just a damn fine costume?
This looks like something a child would paint in art class.
Everybody dance now!
Best search query of the week: “Why is Nicholas Cage on the cover of a Serbian Biology textbook?”
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I recently came across a post showcasing 17 incredible flowers that look like other things. Isn’t it lovely how nature throws these little gifts at the human tendency to anthropomorphize?
Many of them are variations of orchids, which I will be researching more from this point forward, as I’m sure there are wonders to behold in the world of Orchidaceae.
We have a delicate flying friend…
A ballerina…
A happy alien…
Non-human primates…
Isn’t this the most stunning image?
See more here.
And many amazing plants populate my Evil Garden Pinterest page.
SheWalksSoftly 