Monday, February 9, 2009

Bioluminescence

Part of the raison d'être of Magpie&Whiskeyjack is to preserve and re-invent the old PF blog, so today, I bring you an anthology of sorts on the topic of bioluminescence.




[via Pink Tentacle]
The clip features the:
3. Firefly squid: This blue-glowing squid, Japan’s most famous bioluminescent creature, measures 5 to 7 centimeters long and is often found at depths greater than 200 meters. In spring, when firefly squid rise to the surface to spawn en masse, they become Toyama’s great tourist attraction and end up on dinner plates nationwide. One reason the firefly squid glows is to hide itself from predatory fish swimming below. When the squid lights up its bottom surface, fish looking up have a hard time seeing it because it blends with the sky above.

2. Bioluminescent plankton: Measuring 0.1 centimeter long and found in oceans around the world, this type of dinoflagellate glows blue when disturbed. Professor Omiya keeps a flask of the light-emitting plankton in his fridge, because just looking at the cool blue glow helps him relax when he’s feeling stressed. While bioluminescent creatures are generally believed to emit light in order to intimidate their enemies, attract mates or defend themselves from predators, it is not entirely clear why this plankton glows.

1. Bioluminescent comb jelly: This 10 to 15 centimeter long gelatinous deep-sea creature, found at dark ocean depths of more than 200 meters, glows seven different colors in an otherworldly display of light. Many questions remain unanswered about why this comb jelly glows, making it a fantastic rainbow-colored mystery.


I have seen the bioluminescent comb jelly when using an Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) off Vancouver Island and it made me think of strings of multi-coloured LEDs. I have also seen seals coated in bioluminescent plankton, which is rather nifty.

Foxfire is the term for the bioluminescence created by a fungus that can grow on decaying wood in the right conditions. It is often attributed to members of the genus Armillaria, though others are reported, and as many as 40 individual species have been identified. On the suggestion of Benjamin Franklin it was used for light in the Turtle, an early submarine. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the characters of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer use foxfire as a source of light in order to dig a tunnel.
[Wikipedia]
Foxfire is a natural phenomenon sometimes visible at night in forests. It's caused by bioluminescent fungi in special conditions—usually on rotting bark. Foxfire is caused by a range of different species of fungi, though Armillaria mellea appears to be the most common source. This particular species emits a bluish-green glow, like glow in the dark toys. ...
Recorded observations of fungal luminescence date back to Aristotle and Pliny the Elder. Pliny identified an "Agaricke" that "grows on the tops of trees and shines at night." Renaissance philosophers wrote of `"Fungus igneus, which shines like stars with a bluish light." In folklore, "Fairy sparks" in decaying wood indicated the place where fairies held their nightly revels.


—BIOLUMINESCENCE FUNGI: LIVING LIGHT, Spores Illustrated, Conn.-Westchester Myco. Assoc., Summer 1999, via Boston Mycological Club Bulletin, Sept. 1999
...
People from many parts of the world have found uses for these natural lanterns. The Swedish historian Olaus Magnus wrote in 1652 that people in the far north of Scandinavia would place pieces of rotten oak bark at intervals when venturing into the forest. They could then find their way back by following the light.


—Elio Schaechter, from his book In the Company of Mushrooms
...

"In an episode of Lassie, Timmy and Boomer hunt for foxfire so as to scare the girls into not kissing them at the Hallowe'en party." [Sean B. Palmer]

(Foxfire is also apparently the name of two films, several books, a play, a town, a botanical garden, dog breeders, a bluegrass band, comic books and software- not to be confused with Firefox).

And these cats, they be glowin':

Thursday, February 5, 2009

zombie time

So, I was thinking about zombies. Why? Don't ask why. Perhaps it was the delightful photos posted by the Wooster Collective last week. A couple of city construction road signs were hacked near UT Austin, warning residents, "Caution! Zombies Ahead!!!", "Nazi Zombies! Run!!!" and so forth. A great hack. Anyway, this gives me an excuse to recommend that you check out the portfolio of Mike Bertino (and blog here). He seems to love a good monster scene:



A lot of his work is layered, with great lines and vibrant colours.

Clearly zombies have a great deal of presence in popular culture - in visual arts, be it film, comics, or illustration, as well as a recent upswing in zombie self-help guides. What about literature? Well, for the Jane Austen fan (if not too precious), I read on bioephemera about an upcoming book project billed as "The Classic Regency Romance—Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!" The author, Seth Grahame-Smith, might be on to something. I think of my friends and ask, "Do they love Jane Austen? Are they obsessed with zombies?" and I must answer both of these queries in the affirmative. The blurb says:

Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers--and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

contemporary embroidered life

Today Modish pointed out the delights of artist and illustrator Kate O'Connor's embroidered artwork. {Modish cites dear ada, one fo my favorite art blogs, but somehow, I missed this.} I could go on about the green-ness of using found vintage materials, about the DIY movement and the resurgence of interest in old-fashioned crafts, about reclaiming 'women's work' and textiles, about high and low culture and needlework as art, about beauty in imperfections, about handwriting and typography... but more than anything, this is clearly a woman with an insightful, au courrant, kick-ass sense of humour.




Her work is more varied than what I have shown, so check out her site for more and works in other media.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A Genius is the one most like himself.


Thelonius Monk’s advice to saxophonist Steve Lacy (1960) via swissmiss.

The irony of Monk, of all people, writing, "Stop playing {all that bullshit /those wierd [sic] notes, play the melody!" really amuses me. Mixed in with such simple basic advice as tapping the rhythm are some gems. Back in the olden days, when I played saxophone in a jazz band, my neighbour used to tap out some other rhythm, utterly disconnected to the rhythm at hand (or, at foot, as the case may be). Used to fascinate and irritate me in equal measures. I can only think the cliched but true "takes one to know one" at Monk's insight "a genius is the one most like himself". And the final line made me laugh.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Groundhog Day

In honour of Groundhog Day, I am posting a PF favorite, Swedish ceramic/multimedia artist Frida Fjellman and her magical, whimsical creations involving some other rodents. This might me my favorite lighting implement I have ever encountered. Behold the plasma lemming!

More lemmings:


If beavers are more your style:

Go check out her site already!


She's got a fascinating collection of media, creatures, lighting, sculpture and a nice pair of boots.

Friday, January 30, 2009

It's all fun and games, until...

Check out the darkly beautiful work of Ericailcane.

Lepus timidus- puntasecca 35x50 cm, black ink on 320 gm, magnani avana paper,ed.ltd to 21, 2007




Funny games- puntasecca 25x35cm, black ink on 280gsm, magnani natural white paper , ed. ltd to 22, 2007





You will find etching, screen prints, drawings, wall paintings and more on the site. Also, I like the set-up; more intuitive than many artists' online portfolios.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Tea time ...headware and beasts with five fingers

Well, synchronicity is always entertaining, I find. After posting about creatures as headware and the omnipresence of tea in popular culture, I find this week, artists can combine the creature and tea trends.

There are blogs I check, for pretty pictures, even if I do not (or cannot) read them, like the this one which used to be more bilingual (the tea-mind of Irene) but I believe is now strictly Romanian... which links to a site in Japanese, so I cannot provide much information, as my Romanian is non-existent and my Japanese, shall we generously say, is primitive. The source of this photo is Garbo (whatever that means), and this appears to be a girl dressed as a teaparty. I mean, forget the animals, THIS is a hat (delightfully paired with a necklace of dainty cookies):


If you are not one to take your tea party with you, on your head, perhaps you could train it to follow you where ever you go?




This Hybrid Tea Set are designed by Israeli ceramic artist Ronit Baranga for the “Dining in 2015″ competition of designboom.
[via News of the Craft and Style Blogosphere via Lady Lavona's Cabinet of Curiosity]

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