Illustrations by Simon Prades Entangle Human Emotions with the Natural World

Simon Prades (previously) uses muted color palettes to convey feelings of introspection, inquisitiveness, and even rage in his editorial illustrations. His work often features human portraits interwoven with natural elements such as coiling snakes and growing plants which combine detailed realism with abstracted and surreal environments. The German-Spanish artist and designer currently lives and works in Saarbrücken, Germany, and is regularly commissioned by a wide variety of publications—from Rolling Stone to Outside Magazine. You can see more from the artist on his website, where he sells select artworks as prints, and on Behance.

Around the World in 80 Ways: Infinitely Arrangeable Earth and Moon Puzzles

Puzzle wizards Nervous System (previously) explore the expansive qualities of earth and space in two new mind-boggling puzzles. The Infinite Earth puzzle includes 442 pieces, and the Infinite Moon has 186. Each can be rearranged in virtually an unlimited number of times. The math behind the magic is an icosahedral map projection, which applies the topology of a sphere without the traditional boundaries. Nervous System individually prints and laser cuts each puzzle on birch plywood in their Somerville workshop. You can find the Infinite Earth and Infinite Moon puzzles in The Colossal Shop!

Headlights Cut Through Dense Fog in Moody Images of Cars at Night by Henri Prestes

They Drive by Night is an ongoing series by photographer Henri Prestes that captures the unsettling feeling of driving through the dim and deserted countryside at night. His darkened landscapes are lit almost exclusively by headlights, and are shrouded in dense fog. The series was photographed near remote villages and forests throughout Portugal and Spain, where the photographer was raised and explored at a young age.

“I started thinking about putting this project together during some night traveling, thinking about how exciting and scary it is traveling alone in secluded places with only the headlights to guide us through the immense darkness ahead,” Prestes tells Colossal. “At the same time I was trying to come up with a cinematic series about exploring the narrative possibilities of a single still frame, using weather conditions as a way to affect the emotional state of a photograph.” You can see more of his night-based images on his website and Instagram. (via Faith is Torment)

An Appliqued Solar System Quilt Used as a Teaching Aide in the Late 19th-Century

1876 Ellen Harding Baker’s “Solar System” Quilt, via The Smithsonian National Museum of American History

In the late 1800’s, teacher and astronomer Sarah Ellen Harding Baker spent seven years embroidering a star-covered quilt for her classroom in Cedar County, Iowa. In lieu of satellite images, the wool appliquéd quilt was created as a visual aid for her classroom to try to visualize the broad expanse of the universe. The design of the quilt is similar to illustrations in astronomy books of the time. It features a bright sun at its center, with several planets moving around the large star with their own orbiting moons, and Halley’s Comet streaking into the upper lefthand corner.

The piece was finished in 1876, a time when astronomy was presented as an “acceptable” interest for a women. This might have been the reason it was a popular theme for quilts of the time according to The Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where the quilt is currently stored. You can find several celestial examples in quilt historian Barbara Brackman’s Solar System Quilt post on her blog Material Culture. (via Open Culture)

Changing My Tune: How I Learned to Love L.A.

Posted: 11/29/18 | November 29th, 2018

Maybe it was the traffic. Maybe the smog. Maybe it was the apparent vanity of everyone I met. Or the hippie-dippie way of life (I’ve seen people pick meals by using a crystals). I know it was definitely in part the lack of public transportation.

While I could never really put my finger on it, there was just something about Los Angeles that just always rubbed me the wrong way.

I’d go to see friends or attend conferences and, while I enjoyed that fun, I hated the city itself.

Whenever I had to go visit, I’d just think to myself “Ugh, another trip to L.A.!”

I just never got the city.

After each visit, I always felt that if I never returned, I wouldn’t be missing anything.

Heck, I even wrote a blog post about my disdain for LA!

And then one day while I was ivisitng, I woke up and I really liked — nay, LOVED — Los Angeles.

I don’t know when it happened.

I can’t pinpoint one precise moment or event.

After all, my routine in LA has always been the same: see a few attractions, eat and drink lots, catch up with friends, maybe head to the beach, some work at WeWork, and host a meet-up.

But, one day, I just woke up, looked around, and said, “Ya know, I really like it here. I think I’ll extend my stay a bit longer.”

The more I visited, the more interesting places I discovered or was taken to, the more offbeat sights I saw, and the more I got to know the city. I learned its history. I learned how to get around, when to brave the traffic and when not to. I found markets and hole-in-the-wall taquerias and noodle shops. I had too many martinis at the historic Musso & Frank’s.

And then, when I was there last week, it hit me.

I realized I hated LA for the same reason I originally hated Bangkok.

And now love LA for the same reasons I fell in love with Bangkok.

Los Angeles isn’t built for tourists.

Yes, tourists go there. Yes, there are a lot of touristy things to do there.

But it’s not like Hong Kong, Paris, Buenos Aires, London, Sydney, or other places where you can go down a long list of attractions, drink in the culture, get around easily, and get a feel for the city in a short period of time.

No, the sprawling nature of Los Angeles, the traffic and cost of getting around, the lack of a city center, and the transient nature of its inhabitants makes it a bad “tourist” city.

To get to know Los Angeles, you have to live there. Just like Bangkok.

Like Bangkok, L.A. is requires you to stay awhile. It’s an onion with layers you need to peel back over time.

L.A. is found in the restaurants, markets, ethnic enclaves, offbeat bars, and coffee shops. It is found on hiking trails and beaches. In art and music shows.

It’s found in the vibe and the people, not in the sights.

I began to love Bangkok when I got know it beyond the temples and the tourist trail. When I found hidden markets and amazing street stalls frequented only by locals, became friends with residents, and understood how it operated, I knew why people loved Bangkok so much.

Bangkok is not a city for tourists.

It’s for residents.

Just like Los Angeles.

When I realized that, I stopped looking at Los Angeles through the lens of a tourist. When I began to look at through the eyes of the people who lived there, suddenly the city becomes alive with things to do, coffeeshops to sit in, and places to explore.

It turns out L.A. is an awesome city if you know where to look.

I just never knew where to look before.

Book Your Trip to Los Angeles: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time. Here are suggested places to stay in Los Angeles:

• USA Hostels – Located right between Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Strip, this spot is awesome with privacy pods and ensuite dorms.
• HI Los Angeles Santa Monica – A comfortable hostel where all the beach action is in Santa Monica.
• Banana Bungalow – A social hostel in Hollywood with a great outdoor courtyard area (and regular BBQs!).

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

• World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
• Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and I think will help you too!

Looking for more information on visiting Los Angeles?
Check out my in-depth destination guide to LA with more tips on what to see, do, costs, ways to save, and much, much more!

The post Changing My Tune: How I Learned to Love L.A. appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

New Gear-Operated Koi Fish and Shark LEGO Sets Aim to Decrease Stress in Adults

LEGO has been known for their small stackable bricks for over eighty years, as each new generation uses the brightly-colored blocks to build forts, towers, and other imaginative structures big and small. Although adults have also been interested in new sets throughout the years, LEGO is often associated with children’s play. The toy company aims to change this perception with a new line of interactive objects aimed at adults. LEGO FORMA doesn’t contain any bricks, but rather gears, rods, and customizable skins which assemble to create your own moveable koi fish or shark.

By cranking the completed work, the fish has a lifelike movement— swimming through the air as it turns side-to-side on its stand. The completely new format is designed to be a relaxing, creative challenge that satisfy the human desire to build something with our hands. Each piece takes a few hours to assemble in full. LEGO just wrapped up a campaign to judge feedback on the new line on Indiegogo. You can read more about the LEGO FORMA pilot program on their website. (via My Modern Met)

 

Strange Leaves: An Imagined Future Filled With Bizarrely-Toned Plant Life by Al Mefer

In his new series Strange Leaves, photographer Al Mefer (previously) creates an atmosphere of post-disaster biodiversity by shifting the hues of tropical plants to bizarre and even unsettling color palettes. Mefer shares with Colossal that his body of work, including Alien Architecture and Deserts of the Future, aims to “develop a kind of pseudodocumentary in which humans have left Earth because of the current environmental and social issues we’re facing.” The series is comprised of serene scenes, with the visual field filled entirely by monstera leaves, ferns, and palm branches tinted to intense—almost luminescent—reds, purples, and blues.

“In this landscape,” the artist explains, “the grotesque aspect of mutated plants is commonplace in a world where the bizarre is the only beauty to be experienced.” You can see more of Mefer’s manipulated photography on his website and Instagram. (via Fubiz)

Rusted Gears and Tools Combine to Create Figural Sculptures That Address Human Emotions

Sculptor Penny Hardy combines discarded metal items to create three-dimensional figures based on her body’s own dimensions. Although physique has the same core reference, each sculpture is a unique creation based on the varied assortment of rusted gears, bolts, and screws used in its composition. In display, the works are either presented alone or in pairs of two, and express fundamental emotions through their relationship to the environment or each other.

“Through using my body frame as a canvas I wish to communicate some of these effects through the medium of sculpture,” she tells Colossal. “By using discarded man-made metal items, which have been so skillfully made and used to create their own mechanical energy, I hope to extend their life in another form, re-use that energy for a different purpose and exchange their function to create a new entity.” You can see more of Hardy’s sculptures based on her own form on her website.

Chain Reaction: An International Print Show Featuring Two-Wheeled Artwork

On Your Bike by Daniel Jamie Williams

Without further ado, the second half of Chain Reaction, an international print show featuring artists, designers, and printmakers from all over the world. Chain Reaction includes works by seventeen artists, including many previously featured on Colossal: Daniel Jamie Williams, Rafael Esquer (previously), Little Friends of Printmaking, Janice Chang, Ovadia Benishu, Jay Ryan (previously), Mara Piccione, Lisa Congdon, and Tanner Woodford.

Each piece included in Chain Reaction was made exclusively for the exhibition and will be available in person at the Design Museum of Chicago, as well as online in The Colossal Shop. 10% of each print sale will benefit the non-profit organization Blackstone Bicycle Works. Chain Reaction is part of the Design Museum’s winter exhibition, Keep Moving, which explores the history and culture of bicycles in Chicago. Find the full collection in The Colossal Shop.

East LA Lowrider Bike by Rafael Esquer

The Great Hall of All City Bikes by Ovadia Benishu

Lat-Long 52038038 / 5654577 – 53322491 / 6854337 by Mara Piccione

Exploded Weekender by Jay Ryan

On Your Left! by Lisa Congdon

Keep Riding by Janice Chang

Cycle Cat by Little Friends of Printmaking

Chain Reaction by Tanner Woodford