Flora’s mallewagen, Allegory of the Tulip Mania, by Hendrik Gerritsz Pot:

The goddess of flowers is riding along with three drinking and money weighing men and two women on a car. Weavers from Haarlem have thrown away their equipment and are following the car. The destiny of the car is shown in the background: it will disappear in the sea.

(hat tip: Walter Russell Mead)

This is a fine example of technology effectively used to clearly demonstrate an intricate artistic process. It’s the combination of the digital imagery with the live footage of an artist that makes this video exciting and fascinating for all kinds of audiences

The MUSE awards are presented annually by the American Association of Museums’ Media and Technology committee. They recognize “institutions or independent producers which use digital media to enhance the museum experience and engage new audiences.” We are proud to work with The Getty on projects of such scope and distinction.

The cabinet features many panels and doors beyond those opened for display. To give visitors a look inside the cabinet and help them understand the details of its decoration and construction, The Getty asked Dynamic Diagrams to create an interactive 3D model of the artifact.

Working closely with Getty curators and media professionals, we used a comprehensive set of photographs to build the model and apply surface details. We then coded our application to import text and zoomable images from an external source, allowing Getty staff full control over the descriptions and detail views that accompany the model.  

Our application is presented in the gallery on a touchscreen display, as seen at right in this photo from the Daily News of Los Angeles.

The Getty has also placed the application on its web site allowing you to explore the wonders of the Augsburg Cabinet on your own computer.

Read more about Lederer’s project: http://www.industriepalast.com/

[via Flowing Data]

While director Tim Burton is perhaps best known for fantastical movies like Edward Scissorhands and his upcoming version of Alice in Wonderland, his creative output is actually quite broad, and includes paintings, photography, sculpture, and writing.  Burton’s body of work is the focus of a new exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art.  Sketchbooks and drawings figure prominently in the show, and represent not a final product as much as a way to explore and share ideas.  Says Burton:

[Drawing] has always been an important part of my life….I haven’t really shown any of this stuff.  I never considered it art or artwork, mainly because it was not meant to be seen, really.  It was all sort of the process I was doing when I was thinking of ideas or helping my own mental process.  All these kinds of things, whether photographs, or little writings, or sketches, for me, are THE most important part of any project.  I mean, because once I’m doing it, like when I have to communicate with people, it’s not easy for me.  So the important work has to be done in these little private projects.

The exhibition runs through April 26, 2010.

Niemann’s iconic images reference specific events and larger ideas. One image shows an East German border guard hurdling barbed wire to escape into the West. Other images remind me of M.C. Escher’s tessellated patterns, reduced to elemental form. Niemann’s underlying theme is the transformation of a city, history as augury and echo.

Cell Tango is an evolving digital installation that dynamically organizes images transmitted by cellphone based on cellphones’ area codes, carriers, time and date of transmission, and participants’ contributed categories and descriptive tags.  Created by artists George Legrady and Angus Forbes, the exhibit is not so much an artist’s vision as it is an audience vision–one that suggests that everyday images taken with your cellphone camera could, in fact, mean something more.  Legrady suggests:

Will cellphone technology transform how we create/use images produced “on the fly”? In what ways do online visual databanks such as Flickr recontextualize the images we create and share? Can such online images be used creatively as components in artistic works that explore the construction of visual narratives through the juxtaposition of sequenced images? What may be relevant implementation of voice annotation to add metadata to images?

Cell Tango will be on display at Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA, through December 13.

See also:

George Legrady’s web site

Review of Cell Tango in The Boston Globe

At the National Geographic, the map is presented in a “Zoomify” Flash object.

Better is the full size image placed by Adam Crowe on Flickr.

What I really need is a wall-sized print.

It’s a perfect day for a trip to Malibu.