Our Art Art Hour

Ze Frank is awesome.

A small world (beyond imagine)

I was doing a presentation the other day, and was talking about how modern technology and communication has made the world a much smaller place - and how basically this is a good thing. Not exactly a revolutionary thought, I know - but I'm constantly amazed by the inspiration that's all around us. And today, I stumbled across this remarkable video. By giving context to the numbers, it does a wonderful job of demonstrating just how truly tiny we are when compared to the universe. Humbling.



Thanks to Bad Astronomy for the link

Apollo 11 owner's manual

This might have to be an early birthday request. It's apparently presented like a real owner's manual, so will go nicely with my 2004 Toyota Corolla booklet. Thanks to the always entertaining Bad Astronomy for posting.

The start of a beautiful friendship

I seem to be on a bit of an animal theme of late, but this is wonderful. I love the last image of the little critter following his new "dad". Thanks to @JulieMa for sharing.

Andy & Mearl: Best friends from Tim Brown on Vimeo.

Our laughing cousins

This amazing study mapped the similarities of laughs across five species by tickling young gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans. They found that not only do they all laugh, but they share acoustic similarities with humans, especially babies (check out the audio samples). And just like humans, gorillas and bonobos laugh only when exhaling - just another example of how much we have in common with our closest cousins.

All of this reminds me of how sad I feel whenever I see an image of a chimp or an ape behind bars. It's not only because of the mental pain we are inflicting by isolating such a social creature (just like we are). But I think it's also because I feel that if we can't feel empathy for these animals, what hope do the rest have.

Found via Boing Boing

I shot the serif

How smart. Found on the always inspiring Swissmiss, via ffffound - by Tom Gabor.

We all just wanna be social

Image source

This video from the Sasquatch Music Festival just makes me smile. I find it fascinating watching the tipping point (at the 1.20 minute mark), when this guys spontaneity spreads and is embraced by an ever expanding group. The desire to want to be a part of something is ultimately irresistible.