A breathtaking collection of cloud-images.

The seven deaths of dataclouds by Thomas Traum. Death one out of a series of seven imaginary deaths of Dataclouds with music from Max Richter.

A fantastic collection of old Russian and Soviet propaganda & advert posters.

Initial ideas for a research project…

The very basis, the fundamental ground of being human is surely that we are conscious beings, we are aware first and foremost. Of what, of who, in what way or why we are aware, awake and present is, I would suggest, a secondary fact to the primacy of our own consciousness. In any question or enquiry it seems impossible to negate or relegate this issue to the background, infact it is probably at the least not very self-reflexive (quite literally) and foolhardy if not down right dangerous. Infact it seems that the question of what consciousness is should be at the forefront of any enquiry into what it means to be human and how we relate to the world around us. To deny or forget the ground of human consciousness within which these questions arise is to forget the fundamental space in which we experience reality.

The question of consciousness, what it is, what it’s nature & qualities are, and what relationship it has to the objects of consciousness, are the key questions to address if human knowledge is to proceed on a solid and stable ground? This line of enquiry is of course just another way of addressing that most basic and fundamental of human questions, what am I? A question as old as the hills, or probably more correctly, as old as humans, and one at the forefront of any development in knowledge.

Whether and how this question can be answered are of course key issues and I would like to suggest several key ideas, states and methods to explore this question.

The main premise is that consciousness is the fundamental ground to any experience of ‘reality’, and although in essence entirely beyond a quantifiable linguistic description, it’s nature is best described as primarily field like, infinite, nondual and both immanent and transcendent of any content. And that these being fundamental qualities of consciousness are therefore also the fundamental qualities of human experience and have very real implications in how we relate as humans with ‘life’.

This premise does not in any way to deny or negate the apparent distinctions or divisions in perception, thought and feeling but it acknowledges their proper place within and as an aspect of consciousness.
Fundamentally the content of consciousness is undivided from this ground or field of consciousness, and any sensation, feeling or thought of a separation in one’s own field of awareness is just that a sensation, feeling or thought of separation and not infact a real division in consciousness.

I would also argue that the way to know this is primarily through a state of nondual consciousness. An experiential knowledge of the field-like, nondual nature of consciousness and that the aim of any real development in knowledge should incorporate this form of perception rather than just a dualistic perception of reality. My proposal is that this form of perception (which I suggest is infact a more valid form of perception) should be applied to all questions about the nature of reality, whether it is in the physical or social sciences, culture or politics. I will suggest that this form of knowledge radically transforms our actions and ideas about the world and that if applied on a more global scale could and does bring about a better and more effective society.

An artist statement by Jonah Cacioppe

Natalie Czech, uses vertical aerial photographs that are freely available on the Internet and combines them by multiple superimposition. she concentrates on industrial and railway facilities whose linearity lends itself to suchlike montage.

Acknowledgements to Mooonriver

“I think in every single case, what keeps museums from being remarkable:
a. the curators think the item on display is the whole thing. As a result, they slack off and do less than they should in creating an overall story
b. they assume that visitors are focused, interested and smart. They are rarely any of the three. As a result, the visit tends to be a glossed over one, not a deep one or a transcendent one
c. science museums in particular almost beg people NOT to think.”

A wise advise from Seth Godin

Beautiful large drawings by Renie Spoelstra

Soon with a solo exposition at Ronmandos in Rotterdam

We love Apple. Apple knows more about “clean” design than anybody, right? So why do Macs, iPods, iBooks and the rest of their product range contain hazardous substances that other companies have abandoned? A cutting edge company shouldn’t be cutting lives short by exposing children in China and India to dangerous chemicals. That’s why we Apple fans need to demand a new, cool product: a greener apple.

…the reciprocal relations between idealization and violence. . . idealization as it is projected across check-out line glamour magazines and onto the not-so-big screens of suburban multiplex cinemas. . . and violence as a feeble last attempt to fight downward mobility and the anxieties that accompany dreams which turn into nightmares…

John Paul Ricco on Garfield’s work

The future home of Teardrop Park South, which will sit in building shadows almost year-round and seemed destined to be the darkest of Battery Park City’s urban valleys, might have offered gloomy planting prospects. But tomorrow, there will be sun.

Disc-shaped mirrors, called heliostats, are eight feet in diameter and mounted on top of the 24-story Verdesian building, which is under construction at Murray Street and North End Avenue. The computer-programmed and motorized mirrors, custom-manufactured by Bomin Solar, a German company, track the sun’s movement and reflect its rays like spotlights to the ground below.

The mirrors, though, will reflect enough of the sun’s rays to keep the park in sunlight year-round, he said, and in some ways will be more effective than broad daylight since the rays can be directed to different spots at different times of the day or season, as needed. The light will shine in large pools or in well-defined spotlights, but will not be concentrated enough to blind or burn, he said. “It’s nothing more than once-reflected sunlight, somewhere on the order of 70 to 80 percent of the power,” he said.

Acknowledgements to Tribecatrib

Impressive pictures of the Lost City of Chernobyl
And another abandoned city

“Liquidation”, a series of photographs, was created in the course of a journey into the past, the lost past, the past that once was so tangible and real, the past that evaporated and disappeared. This journey back to the southwest region of the Ukraine was a journey into the darkest times, the time of Nazi occupation and the brutal elimination of the entire Jewish community. The landscape is there, unchanged, the villages are there as ever before, but simultaneously all has gone, evaporated from the surface. Ghost, traces but mainly voids.

Ori Gersht

Bridge is a spectacular new site-specific design commission for Dilston Grove by Michael Cross. Housed in a former church, (one of the earliest examples of poured concrete construction and a Grade II listed building), the piece comprises submerging two thirds of the inside of the church in water, and producing a series of steps which rise out of the apparently empty man-made ‘lake’ as you walk across them. Each step emerges one step in front of you and disappears back underneath behind you as you go. This ‘bridge’ is purely mechanical, the weight of the person on it depresses each step a little, this force activates a submerged mechanism which raises the next step.

The public are invited to walk out on it as if walking on water, eventually reaching the middle of the lake, thirty steps and twelve meters from the shore. There they will stand alone and detached, stranded in the middle of a plane of water until they choose to return the way they came. For some people this experience of being cut off and surrounded by water will be peaceful, for others terrifying. For some walking across the water will be pure childish joy, whilst others will be too scared to try. Continue reading>>

Acknowledgements to Pixelsumo

Is it possible for a piece of paper to tear down a wall?

Much of the world’s violence springs from cultural (religious, ethnic, racial or political) prejudice. Prejudice is based on misperception, misinformation and a lack of understanding or tolerance.

We believe designers have the power to change perception.

How could your design prevent violence? How can design shift perception to end a cultural bias or prejudice?

“Recombinant Place: Cloaked Mirror Body is a bench derivative of a u-shaped amphi theatre. The piece was commissioned by the Norwegian Fund for Art in Public Buildings. The bench is sunk down in the grass hill at the intersection between the public parkland along the Akerselva River and the park landscape that forms an integral part of the new building for The School of Architecture in the center of Oslo.”
By Knut Åsdam

Acknowledgements to VVORK

Beautiful light by Ida Borg

You can change someone forever with just a few words. We’re all creating transformational experiences everyday—at work, at home, with friends, or at school. The only question is—do you leave people the same or do you change them forever?

by Change this

Mac fans are crowing about Apple’s current success–that they have a market cap 20% higher than Dell’s. The lesson, other than the fact that pundits and the media are wrong 11 times out of every 9 predictions, is that Apple didn’t succeed by digging in, working all night and doing more of what they’d been doing. They succeeded because they willfully changed the game. And then changed it again.

by Seth Godin

This volume, the fourth in the series, covers Social Responsibility.

The 40-page PDF explores the big picture issues that are driving social responsibility, looks at how big companies like (Wal-Mart, Levi’s, etc) are focusing on CSR efforts and showcases the efforts of smaller companies (Howies, Honest Tea, Rogan Gregory, etc), for whom, social responsibility is the primary driver.

It’s compiled from the best articles on the topic that have been posted on Influx Insights over the last three years.

Estelle Hanania

These images are islands, indepedent territories, lost in the middle of the ocean. On our solitary discovery voyage, without a guide, we might think we lose our way. We approach a material, both soft and rough, we hesitate, velvet or mosscovered tin? We perceive iridescent grass, followed by rosy, ater-beaded-cheeks.
Across, a faded cloth marinates in a bathroom sink. Between the two, it seems we can recognize the outline of a constellation, guess at the direction, then the mirage disappears once again, and the already loose thread of the story escapes us completly. There is no truth to seek, no more than wrong path to follow : there is only suggestion. Small autarchic worlds, ready to shelter our own purpose.
Raphaëlle Stopin