Behold, our curated collection of what we found to be some of the best cultural bids of the past year. We opened our virtual doors on May 2011 — 2012 was our first full calendar year. We have grown since then, so the list has also expanded. The previous group of the Best 30 has matured into a beefy Best 100.
The impetus of The Superslice™ has always been to bridge the cultural gap, to consciously cover a wide spectrum of subjects and genres. It’s meant for people who feed off an arsenal of interests and are stimulated by a motley range of content. It may seem like a contradiction but the motivation is to cover as much as we can, while doing it with a keen eye; extract the cream from the crop, if you will. We feel this expansive list, the Superslice 100: Best of 2012, ideally represents what we’re trying to do. Though, at the end of the day, it might just be about hunting and gathering the coolest of cool.
As we provide you with this entertaining and blissful fodder from around our cultural sphere, we are continually impressed by the output of humans. Take a gander at all of this stuff. Amazing, right? Revel in our collective production, Cultural Agents. May it brighten your hour and hopefully inspire you.
Don’t forget to check out the Most Visited of 2012 and the Soundsystem 30: Best of 2012.
Happy New Year. Enjoy…
Superslice 30: Best of 2011
1. SOLIPSIST / Andrew Thomas Huang
The winner at SLAMDANCE 2012 of the Special Jury Prize for Experimental Short directed by Andrew Thomas Huang. Compelling and rich. Seriously, wow, just artful, imaginative film-making.
2. Keelung Harbor Service Building / Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA)
Neil M. Denari Architects was announced as the winner of a two-stage, international competition for the new Keelung Harbor Service Building in Taiwan’s major port city, Keelung. The Los Angeles based practice’s complex, metal-clad terminal was selected over four other competitive schemes provided by the remaining shortlisted teams.
3. exhale / Jeremy Geddes at Jonathan LeVine Gallery
Jonathan LeVine Gallery showcased exhale, a series of new paintings by Melbourne-based artist Jeremy Geddes, in what was his debut solo exhibition in the United States. exhale was a series of 17 paintings rendered in meticulous detail, an arduous process that combines scrupulous observation, fine brushwork and delicate layers of glaze. Geddes’ work generates a tension between man-made environments in flux and the fragility of living bodies. One of our favorite artists, amazing work.
4. KURATAS / Suidobashi Heavy Industry (Kogoro Kurata & Wataru Yoshizaki
Japanese electronics company, Suidobashi Heavy Industry, unveiled, at Tokyo’s Wonder Festival (in Makuhari just outside Tokyo), a 13 ft super-robot which can be controlled by any smartphone. This mind-blowing mecha robot is equipped with a weapons system, a gatling gun capable of shooting 6,000 BB bullets a minute; the guns fire when the pilot smiles, part of Yoshizaki’s V-Shido (read like bushido, as in “Way of the Samurai“) control system.
Kuratas can be controlled via the one-man cockpit or from the exterior of the intelligent machine using any smartphone connected to the 3G network. A miniature version of the Kuratas can also be controlled by an iPhone. The robot mecha has an MSRP of $1,353,500, starting with the base model. It has around 30 hydraulic joints, weighs four tons, and runs on four wheeled-legs that reach a top speed of just under 6.5 mph. The team of engineers, Kogoro Kurata and Wataru Yoshizaki, had been working on the robot since 2010.
5. Nanjing Lab III / Yaohua Wang Architecture
We fell in love with the techno-opulent work of SCI-Arc alumnus Yaohua Wang. We compared him to an architectural mashup of Jones, Partners: Architecture and Xefirotarch. You can also throw in the previous work of, another favorite, Neil Denari and elements of some of our favorite sci-fi films in that mix; District 9 comes to mind.
It’s all makes for an ace symbiosis of blob architecture, futurist aesthetics, and the mechanical/machine/industrial design fetish. Completely self-indulgent and fucking sublime.
6. Aerial Photos of Iceland Volcanic Rivers / Andre Ermolaev
On occasion, we are reminded of how utterly captivating and gorgeous nature is, its visual poetry surrounds us. It just takes a step back, a shift in perspective, to realize how amazing the constructs of this planet are; it’s a beautiful constant balance between order and entropy. Case in point, what appears to be well-crafted, intricate abstract paintings, or works of art, are in reality, mindblowing aerial images by photographer, Andre Ermolaev. These aerial photographs capture streams and rivers in Iceland flowing through its beds of ash and volcanic sides. Just delightful and astounding imagery worthy of award.
7. EYE: New Dutch Film Institute / Delugan Meissl Associated Architects
Delugan Meissl Associated Architects:
Both the Eye Film Institute’s concept and urban implementation are based on an overlay of two creative disciplines which have at their core reality and fiction, illusion and real experience. The building concept becomes the story board, the architecture the scenography. By delivering a dynamic interplay, the building’s assigned role oscillates between acting as the urban scenery’s protagonist and as a dramaturgical element placed in front of a heterogeneous landscape setting.
8. AvA03 Resistance Concept Jet / Timon Sager
Timon Sager is a Switzerland-based vehicle and product designer. He unveiled a stunning concept jet design, the AvA03 Resistance. It is a gorgeous and convincing design which deserves to be showcased. Here it is that glorious jet.
9. FIREFLY (Glowing Skateboard Filmed by Drone) / Samadhi Production (Jan Minol)
Unadulterated sweetness. We had never seen a skateboarding video like the one presented here. This intoxicating, aerial video short is what you get when you combine a deck clad with LEDs, a decent street skater (the director) on the Czech Republic streets, and one of those remote control drones equipped with a video camera. Directed by the actual skater, Jan Minol, from Samadhi Production. It was life imitating video games and art. So very bitchin’ and kewl.
10. GUV’NOR / JJ DOOM
DOOM raps the track GUV’NOR from his new album KEY TO THE KUFFS for a mind-bending, split-screen video experiment directed by Ninian Doff as part of RizLab project #4, which showcases the power duo of JJ DOOM (Jneiro Jarel & DOOM).
11. L.E.D. Surfer / Jacob Sutton
This is was lights out (pun intended!), so beautiful and…so cool. Filmmaker Jacob Sutton produced a gorgeous film of shredding done along the French Alps by pro snowboarder William Hughes wearing an LED covered snowsuit. It was filmed with a Red Epic camera. The suit was specially designed by John Spatcher for the shoot. Wow.
12. Porsche Pavilion at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg / Henn Architekten
Porsche Pavilion at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg by Henn Architekten:
The organically shaped building is sitting – in mirrored location to the Volkswagen Pavilion- at the central axis of the theme park and offers 400 m² of space for exhibitions and presentations. Its characteristic silhouette will become a distinctive icon amid the lagoon landscape of the Autostadt.
Curving lines and exciting bends make the Pavilion a dynamic yet reduced sculpture with its characteristics derived from the Porsche brand image. As designed by HENN, the structure captures the dynamic flow of driving with a seamless building skin. Its lines pick up speed and slow down just to plunge forward in large curves with ever-changing radii. A matte-finished stainless steel cladding forms the flush envelope of this vibrant structure, creating the impression of a homogeneous unity, whilst creating a continuously changing appearance depending on light and weather conditions.
13. In Praise of Rust / Kevin Cyr at Jonathan LeVine Gallery
I’ve been a huge fan of Kevin Cyr‘s work for some time now, it’s good to see him attain the notoriety he deserves. Cyr’s detailed silkscreen and oil paintings act as a catalog for the urban condition as he records the still-life of decaying vans littered with rust and graffiti. He gives life to these sedentary objects of yore; presented in a flat pastel space, the detailed graphic paintings vibrate with an energy when presented in this vacuous milieu. The press release implies, “The neglected appearance and utilitarian function of these vans carry a bit of nostalgia.” Nostalgia is the wrong word; nostalgia would imply something sentimental and wistful. Nostalgia is dead. There is something graphically vital within his series that supersede a thirst for retro’ or nostalgia.
14. Lovely Sky Monsters / Camille Seaman
Award-winning photographer Camille Seaman, best known for her earlier work depicting massive polar icebergs, recently turned her lens on another incredible natural phenomenon – storm clouds above the American Midwest. She partnered with experienced storm chasers and began to stalk a particular type of storm cloud – the supercell. On June 22, 2012, in western Nebraska, she encountered an enormous supercell and captured its many faces. Damn, Nature, you scary…and beautiful. Damn, Camille, you talented. We became instant fans.
15. Todd Schorr
Todd Schorr is an American artist and the most prominent member of the “Lowbrow” art movement or pop surrealism. Wild and fantastic imagery, cartoon characters, and popular culture icons rendered with intricate detail, exacting technique, and a colorful palette define the style of Schorr’s oeuvre.
He’s a fantastic mix of Hieronymus Bosch, Salvador Dali, H. P. Lovecraft and Ron English.Leonardo DiCaprio has been a longtime fan (for more than a decade) and is a collector of Schorr’s paintings. We’re also huge admirers of the man’s works. How could you not be?
16. ATLAS / Ben Reubold
ATLAS by Germany’s Ben Reubold is an intriguing CG film that incorporates elements of sci-fi and surrealism. Gorgeous and bizarre motion design.
17. The X-47B aboard USS Harry S. Truman
We usually don’t prefer to publicize and showcase death machines but we’re continually intrigued by technology and remain huge aircraft enthusiasts. DARPA‘s latest creation and Navy toy, the Northrop Grumman X-47B, is an aircraft carrier-based unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV). Marvel at the badass, unmanned, supersonic, death machine that is coming for you. Watch your back.
18. Galaxy SOHO / Zaha Hadid Architects
The Galaxy SOHO in Beijing, China by Zaha Hadid Architects. Sinuous, sleek and gorgeous.
19. Bicentennial Civic Center / Lucio Morini x GGMPU Arquitectos
Bicentennial Civic Center by Lucio Morini and GGMPU Arquitectos in Córdoba, Argentina
The Bicentennial Civic Center will be the first administrative complex to have been designed specifically for that end by the Province of Córdoba, Argentina.
It is located on the edge of the historic center of the city, on a lot that used to belong to the railway tracks. One of its sides, measuring more than 700 meters, was adjacent to the River Suquia, and constituted a physical barrier drastically separating the neighborhoods on both sides of the river. This new urban operation will help diminish the image of the river as backyard of the city, thus transforming the whole sector into a new downtown front.
20. Macro Snowflake Photography / Andrew Osokin
Moscow photographer Andrew Osokin captured these striking macro photographic images of snowflakes. These stills displayed the beauty of the fractal micro-structures we usually fail to recognize with our naked eye. Nature and the Fibonacci sequence had never been this “simply” gorgeous.
21. Perot Museum of Nature and Science / Morphosis
Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas by Morphosis rewrote the book on nature and science museums. Thom Mayne and Co. setting the canon once again.
22. Melt: Portrait of an Iceberg / Simon Harsent
English-born, Australia-raised, Brooklyn-based photographer Simon Harsent published his first monograph in 2009. His book, Melt: Portrait of an Iceberg, is a collection of perfectly captured stills of icebergs; they are breathtaking portraits of the serenity of nature by the prolific, skilled and talented photographer. Just captivating work and access to these majestic glacial chunks by the artist.
23. ISS Startrails – TRONized / Christoph Malin
This time lapses video by Christoph Malin was achived by “stacking” image sequences provided by NASA from the Crew at International Space Station (see also). These “stacks” create the Star Trails, but furthermore make interesting patterns visible. For example lightning corridors within clouds, but they also show occasional satellite tracks (or Iridium Flashes) as well as meteors – patterns that interrupt the main Star Trails, and thus are immediately visible. A hypnotic and breathtaking short.
24. Composite Video of Planes Landing at SAN on Black Friday / Cy Kuckenbaker (cysfilm)
Inspired by Korean artist Ho-Yeol Ryu‘s iconic composite photo of planes taking off (below), Flughafen (2005), San Diego-based filmmaker and photographer Cy Kuckenbaker (cysfilm) condensed four-and-a-half hours of San Diego International Airport air traffic into a 26-second composite time-lapse video. Once layered, the presented short of all of the stacked, collected activity is mind-boggling. The video is composed of all landings at SAN on Black Friday(November 23, 2012) between the hours of 10:30 am and 3:00 pm.
25. 2088 (Sci-Fi Teaser / Trailer) / Steve Ilous
The trailer for 2088, an upcoming science fiction film written and directed by Steve Ilous. At the young age of 19 years old, Steven Ilous created visual effects for The Matrix sequels; now the prodigy was making waves of his own and going viral with this impressive, exciting teaser.
26. If You Love Me (Official Music Video) / BenZel x Jessie Ware
A collaboration by UK RNB sensation Jessie Ware and a pair of wunderkind producers from Osaka, Japan. The duo is known as BenZel (15 year-old Umi Takahashi and 16-year old Yoko Watanabe) and are based in New York. Just an insane amount of talent for such a young age. The mesmerizing lava lamp-esque visualization was directed by Kate Moross. The catchy collaboration was of Brownstone‘s 1994 a cappella hit If You Love Me.
27. Mr Overtime / Punks Jump Up feat Dave 1 (Chromeo)
A wickedly psychedelic music video with superb graphics by France’s Maxime Bruneel for Mr Overtime by Punks Jump Up featuring Dave 1 from Chromeo.
28. Crave You (Official Video) / Flight Facilities feat. Giselle
The music video for Crave You, was a lovely, bodacious and poppy track by Sydney, Australia Indie DJ duo Flight Facilities (Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell); featuring fellow Aussie vocalist and musician Giselle Rosselli. Directed by Rhett Wade-Ferrell from Moop Jaw. We dug the smooth and syrupy vocals by Giselle and the clean, seeming simplicity of the song. Just a good old-fashioned house track.
29. FUGU & TAKO / Ben West + ROBOT
The amusing and intriguing trailer for the soon to be released FUGU & TAKO, a seven-and-a-half minute short film by Australia-based director Ben West and award-winning visual effects group ROBOT.
30. Capital Hill Residence (Russia) / Zaha Hadid Architects
Capital Hill Residence, the extravagant spaceship-like house designed by Zaha Hadid and located in the hills of Barvikha, just west of Moscow. New details emerged concerning the concrete villa, namely the subject of the home’s intended future resident, none other than international supermodel (and reportedly colossal diva) Naomi Campbell. A sweet and futuristic indulgence.
31. Northern Lights (Official Video) / Kate Boy
Northern Lights was the debut single from Swedish electro-pop group Kate Boy. The minimal yet gorgeous video was directed by fellow Swede, Stockholm-based director Sikow; an exciting collaboration which harmoniously blends sight and sound. We look forward to the future offerings of this new Swedish sensation.
32. Inside Google Data Centers / Street View
We got a peek inside one of Google‘s data centers. The public finally got a glimpse of what powers Google’s products, explored on our own with Street View. From the networking room to the cooling towers outside of the facility, we explored the different areas of a Google data center with these images and video.
33. Chum (Official Video) / Chum (Explicit)
Earl “The Hip Hop Pearl” Sweatshirt dropped the refreshingly stark video for the poetic and personal rap ballad Chum. The video was directed by the always great Hiro Murai. Ribbit.
34. Redhead Girl (Hyperrealistic Ballpoint Pen Rendering) / Samuel Silva
Based on an already striking portrait of model Love Ansimov by Russian photographer Kristina Tararina, art hobbyist Samuel Silva reproduced the photograph in astonishing hyperrealistic/photorealistic fashion using only six (not including the standard black) Bic ballpoint pens. Redhead Girl took approximately 30 hours to finish; pen strokes were cross-hatched with different colors in layers to create the illusion of blending and the appearance of colors that were not available. The stunning piece is 8? by 9? (22.5 cm x 20 cm). Meticulous and astounding work.
35. Giant Living Grass Portraits Created by Photosynthesis / Ackroyd & Harvey
Ackroyd & Harvey are London-based artists who wonderfully intersect such disciplines as sculpture, photography, architecture, and biology. Their extensive and unique body of work invites a dialectic about process, space, time, context and event by reflecting upon their own urban political ecologies, the venues in which the works reside. The cycle of growth and decay is a central theme that is embedded within their art.
36. International Space Station Time Lapse / Knate Myers
Our moment of zen. Albuquerque, New Mexico photographer Knate Myers grabbed these frames from the International Space Station (ISS), removed the noise, edited a few shots in Photoshop, compiled them and arranged them into this stunning reel. These unreal images are from the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Fuck yeah, space.
37. Media-ICT / Cloud 9 Architects (Enric Ruiz-Geli)
We were launched into our green future with the winner of World Architecture Festival‘s World Building of the Year 2011, Media-ICT,22@, Barcelona, Spain, Cloud 9 Architects / Enric Ruiz-Geli.
38. New Lands (Official Music Video) / Justice
You guys, this video is rad. Justice is rad. This list is rad. This was just a blockbuster of a short, watch it. The music video for New Lands, directed by Canada. This, fittingly, debuted around the time of the 2012 Olympics in London.
39. POrtal: Terminal Velocity / Jason Craft
Jason Craft is a visual effects and motion graphics artist based in Minnesota. He seamlessly created this fabulous and impressive short involving the Portal Device from the wildly successful, award-winning Portal video game series. It was a brilliant live-action depiction of what it would be like to actually have one of these Portal guns IRL (in real life). The short is extremely fun to watch and is an utter mind-bender. Anyway, awesome show, great job, Jason Craft. The cake is NOT a lie, the cake is truth.
40. Hollywood (Official Video) / RAC featuring Penguin Prison
The official video for Hollywood featuring Penguin Prison, the debut single from RAC, provides the perfect backdrop to this track. Beautifully shot in Los Angeles and directed by Ryan Reichenfeld, the video features André Allen Anjos (RAC) along with Chris Glover (Penguin Prison). If you pay close attention, you might even catch a cameo by Rose McGowan. The video tells the story of an 1850?s cowboy and his horse as they experience and explore modern day LA.
We absolutely loved this song, it was on heavy repeat. Interesting direction with the video to boot, we weren’t expecting this kind of treatment. Seeing this unpredictable visual depiction made the song even better.
41. Oct Design Museum / Studio Pei-Zhu
Oct Design Museum in Shenzhen, China by Studio Pei-Zhu:
The inspiration for the project comes from both the location being close to the bay and from the needs of the program, a surreal space for design exhibitions. The Oct design museum focuses mainly on fashion shows, product design, and conceptual automotive shows. The goal was to create a space that is surreal to the subject matter but also transcendental in surrounding and feeling. The design of the interior relies on a continuous white curving surface that casts no shadows and has no depth.
42. Beko Masterplan (Belgrade) / Zaha Hadid Architects
Beko Masterplan in Belgrade, Serbia by Zaha Hadid Architects:
The project focuses on the urban regeneration of an important site at the intersection of key cultural projects within the city of Belgrade. Following the region’s strong modernist traditions, the masterplan has applied new concepts and methods that examine and organize the programs of the site; defining a composition of buildings that addresses the complexity of 21st century living patterns. The design for BEKO is embedded within the surrounding landscape of Belgrade’s cultural axis and incorporates essential public spaces.
43. Topographic Projections and Implied Geometries / Jim Sanborn
Artist and photographer, Jim Sanborn:
These images were produced by direct, large format, light projection. The projector, powered by a mobile generator, was moved from site to site. All of the pieces were photographed at night using long exposures. On moonless nights, the landscape was lit with searchlights. The landforms themselves are quite large, requiring the projector and camera to be, on average, 1/2 mile away from the subject landscape.
44. Dubai Underwater (Water Discus) Hotel / Deep Ocean Technology (DOT)
Dubai shipbuilder Drydocks World signed on with Switzerland’s BIG InvestConsult, on behalf of partner Deep Ocean Technology (DOT), to become the sole construction contractor of the futuristic Water Discus Underwater Hotels in the Middle East. Tailored to the luxurious lifestyle, aspiring divers and marine life enthusiasts, the patent-protected concept by DOT is comprised of disc-shaped volumes that are both above and below the water’s surface, exploring the depths of the ocean while taking advantage of the warm climate.
45. Lights Out (Photos of NYC Blackout) / Several Seconds (Paul McGeiver)
Here were some eerie and gorgeous photographs by New York City-based photographer Paul McGeiver (Several Seconds). They capture Manhattan during the heart of the blackout, the mass power outage caused by Hurricane Sandy. McGeiver manages to capture the darkness and rich texture of the metropolis in its most haunting hour; the city appearing like an apocalyptic ghost town. They look like stills out of something like I Am Legend.
46. See Inside Box for Details / Ben Frost
See Inside Box for Details by Ben Frost at Shooting Gallery San Francisco featured approximately 12 paintings on canvas as well as paintings on found packaging, such as pharmaceutical boxes, candy and cereal packaging. The controversial painter and street artist showcased a unique body of work, critiquing our media-obsessed society and our loss of innocence through advertising. Ben’s work subverts logos, icons and characters from popular culture and re-presents them in startling and often confronting new ways. One of our favorite pop art exhibitions.
47. The International Bank of Trustocorp (Brand Signage x Anti-Consumer Messages) / TrustoCorp x The Outsiders
New pieces by subversive street art collective TrustoCorp. These vector compositions were composed of well-known, ubiquitous brand signage that pollute our communities. TrustoCorp reconfigured and mashed up these signs to send scathing messages about our consumer culture; they seemingly take a shiv to an exhausting, materialistic, gluttonous and wasteful society. This work was from their show The International Bank of Trustocorp at The Outsiders in Newcastle, England. This was the first overseas opening for the secret NYC collective.
48. “Quasi-Objects”, C studies / Lorenzo Oggiano
A (still in progress) series of studies produced since 2010 belonging to the Quasi-Objects cycle.
All works are printed using pigment-based inks on Hahnemühle archival paper, variable dimensions, edition of 3+1 ap.
“Quasi-Objects” is an art project consisting of 3d generated videos and prints, a practice of “organic re-design” – started in 2003 and still in progress – that aims to stimulate thought and dialogue on the progressive relativisation of natural forms of life as a result of techno-biological evolution. “Quasi-Objects” regards data actualization, the production of biologically non-functional organisms and ecosystems as transient output of an operative practice: aesthetics of process.
49. Fatty Boom Boom (Official Video) / Die Antwoord
What was not to love here? We’re obsessed with Die Antwoord and we ate up this satirical dig at Lady Gaga. Fatty Boom Boom was off of their album TEN$ION. The video we directed by Ninja, himself, Terence Neale and Saki Fokken Berg. Get zef.
50. Eclipse / Théo Guignard x Noé Lecombre x Hugo Moreno (Gobelins School of Image)
This was a fantastic animated short by students Théo Guignard, Noé Lecombre and Hugo Moreno, from the Gobelins School of Image in Paris, France. The premise: on a distant planet, two scientists analyzing the field for its magnetic properties are faced with an extraordinary phenomenon linked to the lunar eclipse. It was Neil Denari meets Future Systems meets 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Moon meets Jacob Weinstein (Free Darko); charming, artful, original and cool.
51. Pull Me Down (Official Video) / Mikky Ekko (Produced by Clams Casino)
A sweet, little ditty, here was Pull Me Down by Nashville-based artist Mikky Ekko, a track that was also written and produced by one of our favorites – Clams Casino. The tight, alluring and hypnotic visuals were delivered by graphic designer Davy Evans and animator Hannah Temple.
52. Rapperswil-Jona Municipal Museum Extension / mlzd
Here was Janus, a lustrous renovation and expansion of the city museum in Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland by Swiss architecture group, mlzd.
Between the medieval parts of the former Heritage Museum gives a modern building whose folded shell is derived from the openings of the two neighboring buildings. The new building provides the entrance next to the opening up and also offers exhibition space with different properties. Spatially complex inside the medieval structure with the porous volume is given a bright and orientation center. square footage: 1,000 square meters
53. Tandem Duct Aerial Vehicle / Aerofex
In January 2012, Aerofex presented its recent work at the American Helicopter Society Future Vertical Lift Conference in San Francisco. The technology discussed utilizes ejector dynamics to augment the thrust and control of ducted-fan aircraft. The goal of the effort was to simplify vertical flight, in this case by eliminating the complexity of cyclically-variable rotors. The presentation video, shown here without the benefit of narration, documents the technology’s effectiveness through a sequence of flight maneuvers demonstrated on a manned aerial-vehicle.
54. ON’N’ON / Justice
Here was Justice‘s video for ON’N’ON, their third single off of Audio, Video, Disco. The seamless galactic romp displayed a myriad of imagery, from ’70s psychedelic graphics and recursive imagery, to the inclusion of slightly macabre objects such as skulls, bones and skeletons, accented with giant diamonds, nude babes and a Mayan pyramid (Ziggurat?). Yeah, all the weird and creative eye-candy that you would expect from the Parisian duo. The memorable electro-rock video was directed by Alex Courtes.
55. Salt Labyrinth / Motoi Yamamoto
Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto created huge labyrinths and other surreal designs by using salt as his medium. The creation of his labyrinths depend on Yamamoto’s psychological and physical conditions, as well as on the condition of the floor and the level of humidity. Intricate, meticulous and breathtaking work by the monk-like artist.
56. Tiny Tortures (Official Video) / Flying Lotus (Directed by David Lewandowski)
Here was the exciting new video for Tiny Tortures by Flying Lotus. The video featured actor Elijah Wood and was directed by David Lewandowski, the genius responsible for all of those mesmerizing, innovative motion graphics in TRON: Legacy.
57. Underwater Panoramic Maps / Google Ocean View
Just astoundingly rad. I’m a licensed scuba diver; I should be fined each day I am not in the water exploring our inner space. I am losing. Tip: immediately go to the above link and be sure to view in “Full screen” mode (click upper right corner icon of each window) to soak in all of its maximized underwater glory.
58. Water Light Graffiti / Antonin Fourneau (Digitalarti Artlab)
The Water Light Graffiti is a surface made of thousands of LED illuminated by the contact of water. You can use a paintbrush, a water atomizer, your fingers or anything damp to sketch a brightness message or just to draw. Water Light Graffiti is a wall for ephemeral messages in the urban space without deterioration. A wall to communicate and share magically in the city.
For a few weeks, Antonin Fourneau has been working in residence at Digitalarti Artlab on the Water Light Graffiti project: a wall made of LED which light up when touched by water. After several tries, prototypes and material improvements, Water Light Graffiti was finally ready to take place for a few days in a public space, which happened to be Poitiers.
59. Port House: Antwerp Port Authority Headquarters / Zaha Hadid Architects
In early September, Zaha Hadid gave the official order to begin construction work on Port House, the new headquarters for Antwerp Port Authority on the Kattendijk dock. The new Antwerp Port Authority headquarters will house approximately 500 staff in a single new location that comprises both a former fire station and a new extension. Together, these two entities form an impressive new landmark as the headquarters of the Antwerp Port Authority, overlooking both the city and the harbor.
60. Mutual Core (Official Music Video) / Björk (Directed by Andrew Thomas Huang)
The fantastic, beautiful and artful video for Mutual Core by Björk. The gorgeous video by über-talented and skilled director Andrew Thomas Huang. You will recognize his work from the award-winning SOLIPSIST, our #1 post of the year, which shares a similar sister aesthetic. This visual poetry was filmed in Reykjavik and Los Angeles.
61. Kaneda’s Bike from Akira (in Pop Culture Roundup 14)
The mind-blowingly awesome reproduction of Kaneda’s bike from the seminal manga and anime film, Akira. The futuristic bike comes courtesy of the current badass exhibition, GENGA, a retrospective of the work by Katsuhiro Otomo, director and the creator of Akira. The event runs from April 9th, through May 30th.
The bike was built by Shinji Tejima of the Showa Studio over the course of seven years for approximately 10 million yen (US $121,000) in action. The bike was toured around Japan to raise money for children’s autism research.
Drool. Ugh, we wish we could’ve attended this wicked convention.
62. Wicked Games (Official Video) / The Weeknd
Here was the official video for The Weeknd‘s Wicked Games. The track was originally from the House of Balloons mixtape, was remastered and also appeared on the upcoming Trilogy, the packaged compilation of remastered mixtapes House Of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence. Trilogy included three new songs, Twenty Eight, Valerie and Till Dawn (Here Comes The Sun). This video, aesthetically and in tone, like the previously released one for Rolling Stones, was raw and minimal.
63. Archetype / Aaron Sims
This rousing sci-fi short film was made without any budget whatsoever. As Aaron Sims put it, “This has been a labor of love on a budget of $0 with personal expense on my part and no funding. It makes it all worth while when we see other poeple responding to it.”
Archetype is an impressive and exciting self-made film that was produced by Aaron Sims, a concept/creature designer and a first-time director. The short featured actors Robert Joy (Land of the Dead, CSI:NY) and David Anders (Heroes, 24).
64. Reunion (official video) / M83
As a continuation of the surrealist sci-fi story arc from the video for Midnight City, here was the video treatment for Reunion by M83. The video was directed by collaborators Fleur & Manu. If you dig super-creepy psychic/telekinetic kiddies and lensflares, then you’ll dig these videos. There’s even a nice little Adam Yauch/Beastie Boys Easter egg/tribute at the 0:46 mark.
65. Tower Studio / Saunders Architecture
Saunders Architecture:
The Shorefast Foundation and the Fogo Island Arts Corporation has commissioned Todd Saunders to design a series of six artists’ studios on various Fogo Island locations. The organization is committed to preserving the Islanders’ traditions and aims at rejuvenating the island through the arts and culture.
The Tower Studio is dramatically situated on a stretch of rocky coastline in Shoal Bay, Fogo Island, Newfoundland.
66. View Suspended II – Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Deconstructed / Paul Veroude
Dutch artist Paul Veroude exploded one of the speediest vehicles. Using a Mercedes GP Petronas F1, driven by renowned race car driver Michael Schumacher, the artist deconstructed the 2010 model and suspended each piece, right down to the nuts and bolts. Weighing just over 600 kg, the installation, known as View Suspended II, boasts an overwhelming 3,200 separate parts hovering just off the ground. Most viewers liken the display to a vehicle explosion frozen in time. The unbelievable sculptural installation was displayed as the centerpiece at Mercedes-Benz World’s F1™ Exhibition in Surrey, UK.
67. Villa Topoject / Architecture of Novel Differentiation (AND)
Architecture of Novel Differentiation (AND):
The house is located in a small valley in a mountainous area near Seoul, Korea. While the valley slopes upward, series of houses intermittently continue facing a 3 meter wide road. Instead of making walls or fences towards the road, the house gently lifts up the topography to form private spaces inside. The house opens up toward the south view and a small creek running along the side.
It is a home for a couple who wants to enjoy rural life while still commuting to the city. It is a small house, but at the same time, a house that entails rich stories. The residents are in contact with land like farmers; also, they observe nature like tourists.
68. Cheerleader / St. Vincent
The music video for Cheerleader from the album Strange Mercy by Annie Clark, or as the music world would know her…St. Vincent. The Dallas-bred, New York City-based artist, and former member of The Polyphonic Spree, with this album, assembled an emotionally complex, musically layered collection of songs. It is almost expected from a vocalist, songwriter and guitarist as musically gifted as she is. Each song, like Cheerleader, capriciously swung from gleeful to manic within a sweeping gesture; jarring and submitting the listeners into full attention.
Her sonic pieces read like unpredictable cinema. It was genuine artistry happening there. It’s as if we’re privy to her craft and are reminded of how music is not just merely a medium or something that may be born out of commerce but it can be, and is…art. That’s how it should be, right? One gets the sense she is conscious of the manner in which her soundscapes, oeuvre, and musical life evolve. The rangy works not only made her musically sentient and emotionally present, it equally established herself as an original innovator.
Clark recruited director Hiro Murai to compliment her unique, memorable sounds with beautiful and haunting imagery. In the video, St. Vincent immerses herself in hyper-emo symbolism. It begins with a reveal of the singer, nearly catatonic, which unfolds to the revelation that the singer is a large sculpture or museum display piece. This is reminiscent of the eerie models of realistic large-scale human subjects by Australian artist, Ron Mueck. She’s a prisoner of sorts, being observed and ogled by patrons; she is raised, busts free and literally breaks apart. It’s not subtle imagery, it’s blatant and dramatic.
Some sublime work happened here.
69. Taiyuan Theater IV / Yaohua Wang Architecture
Once again (see #5), Yaohua Wang Architecture:
Taiyuan Theater, which is a small scale experimental theater, located at a cross road in Taiyuan Yin Ze District.
The theater has two main spaces, stacking vertically. The performance space has been surrounded by sound proof glass, providing a unique view to the city context that creates an interesting relationship between city and private art activity. The back stage is under the performance space. Through a mechanical system, the stage in the performance space can be lowered down to connect to the back stage. Workers and equipments can commute between these two spaces through this mechanical system. At the same time, artists can elevate and disappear in front of the audience through this system. Therefore, there is a whole new dimension of dynamics been created for the performance.
70. The Powers of Ten: Lymphocyte / MRK (Markus Kay)
Celebrating the landmark 1977 Eames film, Powers of Ten™, The Powers Project invited 40 innovative artists from around the world to produce original segments for each power of ten using a variety of digital and film techniques. This new, collaborative homage playfully transplants the film’s journey from the physical universe to a unique, imagined universe of graphic abstractions.
In this segment designed by MRK, we see 10 to the power of minus 5. We travel through a capillary into a world of red and white blood cells, to find a lone lymphocyte whose membrane we penetrate to finally reach its porous nucleus.
71. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Title Sequence / Blur Studio
Accomplished (and unreal) Blur Studio, a Venice, CA-based animation and visual effects group, designed the dark and beauteous opening title sequence for David Fincher‘s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The process took them nearly four months to finish, they had just completed the work in November. The black tar, motor oil, and squid ink, caliginous moving imagery is set to Trent Reznor and Karen O‘s cover of Led Zeppelin‘s Immigrant Song.
72. Colorized Famous Photos / Sanna Dullaway
Sanna Dullaway, an artist from Sweden, did something intriguing and moderately controversial. To promote her new business, where she digitally restores and colorizes old photographs, as a promotion, she displayed her skills by transforming a series of iconic and emblematic black-and-white photographs. Using digital graphic editing programs, Dullaway introduced a new energy into these photographs.
It’s fascinating to observe these famous and historic images in a literally different light and color. It is astonishing how these, originally, dramatic and somber colorless photos read so differently after going through her filter. Credit should be given to Dullaway’s eye for restoration and her skills as a photo retoucher. She tastefully introduces a cleanliness and modernity, yet still manages to maintain substantial character within these images; breathing in new life while abstaining from sterility. Dare we say, she elevates them to a sensual and accessible plane.
73. The Wild Heart – A Journey through the Southwest Wilderness / Evosia Studios
Henry Jun Wah Lee from Evosia Studios:
Take a journey through the wilderness in the heart of the American Southwest – Eastern Sierras, Grand Canyon, Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons, Rattlesnake Canyon, Vermillion Cliffs, North Coyote Buttes, the Wave, Yosemite National Park, Monument Valley, Grand Staircase Escalante and the December 2011 Lunar Eclipse.
74. Goldfish Salvation / Riusuke Fukahori
Artist Riusuke Fukahori‘s London debut exhibition, Goldfish Salvation, transformed ICN Gallery into the world of goldfish. Struggling with artistic vision, Fukahori looked to his pet goldfish as inspiration. Ever since, this theme has become his lifelong passion. His unique style of painting uses acrylic on clear resin which is poured into containers, resulting in a three-dimensional appearance and lifelike vitality. This exhibition features twenty new paintings by the leading Japanese contemporary artist.
75. HYPERMATRIX (Robotic Kinetic Wallscape) / JonPaSang x Expo Hyundai Motor Group
Seoul-based media art collective JonPaSang created HYPERMATRIX, a kinetic vertical landscape installation, for the Hyundai Motor Group Exhibition Pavilion in Korea. The exhibition was comprised of thousands of 30 cm x 30 cm cubes, which make up the internal facade of the building. A steel foundation was developed in order to support the integrated stepping motors that control each individual volume.
76. Keyboard Key Pixel Portraits / workbynight (WBK)
Using the representational image of various objects as pixels, Australia-based digital artist workbynight (WBK) has composed these celebrity mosaic portraits. Because they appear as if they’re works made out of found objects, we are most drawn to his series which are composed of keyboard keys. They have a lifelike three-dimensional texture that we are attracted to. But WBK also works in other bits, besides keys, including buttons, “granny squares“, donuts, condoms and tiles, among many other media.
77. House on the Cliff (Casa del Acantilado) / Fran Silvestre Arquitectos
House on the Cliff by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos:
Due to the steepness of the plot and the desire to contain the house in just one level, a three-dimensional structure of reinforced concrete slabs and screens adapting to the plot’s topography was chosen, thus minimizing the earthwork. This monolithic, stone-anchored structure generates a horizontal platform from the accessing level, where the house itself is located. The swimming-pool is placed on a lower level, on an already flat area of the site. The concrete structure is insulated from the outside and then covered by a flexible and smooth white lime stucco. The rest of materials, walls, pavements, the gravel on the roof… all maintain the same colour, respecting the traditional architecture of the area, emphasizing it and simultaneously underlining the unity of the house.
78. Festival Hall in Erl / Delugan Meissl Associated Architects
Festival Hall in Erl by Mühlgraben, Austria by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects:
The festival hall’s geometry develops from the surrounding topography and places the building and the already existing festival hall in juxtaposition.
Its positioning relates to the existing landscape, the dynamic gesture of the historical counterpart, as well as the background rock formations. The topographic imprinting in the landscape continues inside the building where two central parameters direct the architectural approach: the interplay between the building’s interior and the surrounding nature as well as the concentrated, spatial composition of a functionally optimised concert hall of international repute.
Flowing visual and functional spatial references define the design method: Spaces of different zoning and configurations implement the focus on communication and peace,
dynamics and concentration.
79. Amazing Aerial Photos / Stephan Zirwes
Stuttgart-based photographer, Stephan Zirwes, hung out of helicopters to capture these splendid images; these flattened aerial photos. He photographs patterns and textures; subjects range from natural landscapes to environments made by man. These topographies are truly amazing when captured from this bird’s eye perspective.
80. Panoramic Aerial Tour of the Pyramids / AirPano
Using a radio controlled helicopter, 360° panoramic virtual tour site, , created this tour of the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. AirPano is a noncommercial project focused on high-resolution 3D aerial panoramas; they are composed of photographers and panorama enthusiasts from Russia. This tour was made available in December of 2011. This is part of the series, New Seven Wonders of the World.
81. Space Shuttle Endeavour LA Trek Time Lapse Video / Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times and Bryan Chan:
Time-lapse video: Space shuttle Endeavour’s trek across L.A.
The space shuttle Endeavour made its final journey last weekend, traveling 12-miles from Los Angeles International Airport, through Inglewood, to the California Science Center in Exposition Park.
The retired orbiter was carried through city streets atop a special transporter. Throngs of people lined the route as it shimmied around trees, utility poles and other obstacles.
It had arrived in Los Angeles on a Boeing 747 on Sept. 20 and kept in LAX’s United Airlines hangar as it was prepared for the crosstown trip.
82. Gorgeous Handmade Furniture / Matthew Hilton
Sublime furniture design and woodworking by (2008 British Designer of the Year by Elle Decoration) Matthew Hilton‘s studio. They are true objects of desire; the pieces harmoniously commingled modern architectural form and craftsmanship. Still want.
83. Monster Roll (short film) / Dan Blank x Vanishing Angle
This was a fantastic monster movie short directed by Dan Blank and produced by Los Angeles-based Vanishing Angle. It featured some wildly out-of-scale sea monsters and some grand action sequences. You’ll never look at sushi in the same way after watching Monster Roll.
It’s amazing what people are doing independently these days. Hopefully, this was just a teaser for something bigger, like a feature film; this talented crew deserves a shot. Big and fun, indeed.
84. Eclipse/Blue (Official Video) / Nosaj Thing feat. Kazu Makino
The official music video for Nosaj Thing‘s Eclipse/Blue, featuring Kazu Makino from Blonde Redhead. The video was made by Daito Manabe, takcom, Satoru Higa, and MIKIKO with support from The Creators Project. The official video involves dance that is choreographed with responsive light projection mapping which catapults it into an innovative and mesmerizing performance. This is the first single off Nosaj Thing’s upcoming album Home which debuts January 22, 2013.
85. Silk Leaf Stadium (Japan) / Coop Himmelb(l)au
Silk Leaf Stadium by Coop Himmelb(l)au:
Like a modern acropolis, our concept for the new National Stadium of Japan places the arena on a plinth as a sign in the center of the city. A large plaza is created by the plinth forming the main public entryway. The seating tribunes are conceived as landscape elements of the podium, and are covered by a light, shell-like roof touching the ground at only four points. The shell is topped by a retractable photo-voltaic glass roof element that separates into two visible wing-shaped leaves opening the stadium to the sky. -Wolf Prix
86. Quadrotor Show: Meet Your Creator / Saatchi & Saatchi x Marshmallow Laser Feast
A swarmof 16 quadrotors (flying robots) dance to manipulated sound and light at the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase 2012. This sweet display was directed by Marshmallow Laser Feast.
87. Tornadoes and Figurescapes / Paintings by John Brosio
John Brosio studied at Art Center College of Design and is a talented and skilled oil painter painter based in South Pasadena. The subjects of his paintings vary; they range from tranquil suburban and rural scapes contrasted by the raging fury of impending tornadoes, to whimsical paintings such as the ones of figures donning Star Wars masks or giant crabs and chickens attacking a scene.
88. The City of Samba / Tilt Shift of the Carnaval Rio de Janeiro
This is pretty much self-explanatory. If you didn’t know, it’s a tilt shift video of the festivities of the annual Brazilian holiday of Carnaval. This fun miniaturized video was created by Keith Loutit and his friend, fellow director, Jarbas Agnelli. This is for Loutit’s Small Worlds project.
We couldn’t get enough of this tilt shift trend. We hope it keeps coming, especially in the moving image and video kind.
89. Hyperrealistic Drawings / Dirk Dzimirsky
German artist Dirk Dzimirsky creates hyperrealistic pencil and charcoal drawings using photos for inspiration. Dzimirsky’s describes his process as representational, improvisational and lyrical, using marks like words and textured areas like paragraphs to express a narrative.
90. Columbia University Medical Building / Diller Scofidio + Renfro
New York based architecture firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro released these images for the proposed medical education center at Columbia University, in Uptown Manhattan. The medical education center is the third major project in New York for DS+R. The firm recently completed The High Line and the renovation of Lincoln Center, which were both well received by critics and the general public.
91. Mission Accomplished: 128,100 ft Jump / Felix Baumgartner x Red Bull Stratos
The initial attempt happened on a Tuesday, in the early morning, it was delayed to the afternoon the same day. But the second attempt was also aborted and rescheduled to the following weekend because of high winds in Roswell, New Mexico.
On that Sunday, fittingly on the the 65th anniversary (October 14, 1947) of Chuck Yeager breaking thesound barrier in a jet aircraft, Felix Baumgartner and Red Bull Stratos accomplished the astonishing and impressive feat. The Austrian skydiver jumped from a pressurized capsule more than 24 miles up in the air, at the edge of space, down to the surface of Mother Earth. The attempt and accomplishment went flawlessly, this turn, save for Felix sounding like he was taking orders via the drive-thru during the cray stunt. We couldn’t understand what the hell he was saying. Anyway, amazing stuff, yeah, science! Historic.
92. Chongqing Mountain & City Sales Office / One Plus Partnership
Hong Kong-based One Plus Partnership Limited:
“Mountain” being selected as the main theme of this clubhouse, the design is inspired by the location of the project – Chongqing Nanshan District. The clubhouse is located in a valley surrounded by hills.
Inspired by the architecture of the clubhouse and the geographical background, the grand slanted feature wall and the marble floor pattern are in triangular form. The LED lightings are hanged from the ceiling, similar to the rain in the natural environment and presenting the natural feeling.
93. Hill House / Andrew Maynard Architects
Andrew Maynard Architects, Melbourne, Australia:
Rather than repeating past mistakes and extending from the rear in a new configuration, the proposal was to build a new structure on the rear boundary, the southern edge of the block, upon the footprint of what had been, until now, the back yard. The new structure faces the sun, the pure cantilevered box above acts as the passive solar eave, cutting out summer sun, while letting winter sun flood in.
94. L House / Architects Collective
Architects Collective:
The two-story house is located on a southwestern slope overlooking the hilly countryside. As is typical for the region, the L-shaped structure forms a protected courtyard to the north. The end of the L-shape cantilevers up to eight meters and forms a covered carport area that allows direct access into the courtyard located behind. The 300m2 indoor area is characterized by an open staircase which connects the two floors. At the pivot point of the L-shape, there is an open area that is intended as a children’s play area and library. This is also where all circulation areas and stairwells come together. From this point, the courtyard as well as the living and sleeping areas are all within view. Due to a careful building arrangement, all rooms have access to natural light and can be cross ventilated. Heating of the house is done through a biomass wood chip plant, which is operated jointly with several neighbors. The L-shaped building form is completed by a mirror-like protected square courtyard.
95. HouseWING / AnLstudio + Heebon
HouseWING is a residential intervention by New York and Seoul-based firm AnLstudio and Heebon in an apartment in Seoul, Korea.
On the tenth floor of a historical landmark building, this renovated space integrates a working environment into the dwelling for an artist. The unit accommodates the conflicting activities by creating two clusters that share the spaces between the defined program areas. Derived from the apartment name ‘Nakwon’, which means ‘utopia’, a white framework wraps and travels across the confined interior to visually differentiate these opposite yet adjacent functions.
Overall evoking the form of an airplane wing, strip light fixtures are embedded into the section which grazes the ceiling to offer task illumination to the entry, living room, library and study. The private rooms including the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom are pushed to the periphery away from the public zone.
96. Ninja Short Shot w/ RED Epic + OMCOPTER / Christian Pfeil (OMSTUDIOS)
To demonstrate their stabilized octocopter (double the quadrotor technology) camera drone, Berlin-based OMSTUDIOS, produced this nearly seamless (there are only two cuts within the edit) ninja fight sequence.
The OMCOPTER literally gave wings to the RED Epic. You know, the $58,000 state-of-the-art digital camera? Breathtaking stuff; behold the next level of film-making. The OMCOPTER can virtually go anywhere. It broke open a whole new world of cinematic possibilities while drastically lowering the costs of production. Game change, indeed.
97. Reel 2012 / Maxim Zhestkov
We have featured director/designer/artist Maxim Zhestkov multiple times. His immaculate futuristic short SIGNAL was our initial opening to his world. Here was his brilliant 2012 reel of recent work set to Kate Bush‘s Running Up that Hill (Datassette Remix). As usual, it delivered.
98. One Out of Two / Breakbot featuring Irfane
Here was the official video for By Your Side by Breakbot featuring Irfane. The video featured the lovely French singer and comedian Alka Balbir. We could almost feel the ocean breeze.
99. Climax (Eclectic Method Remix) / Usher
Here was Eclectic Method, once again, doing their thing with the audio and video of Climax, the Usher and Diplo collaboration. This turn, they got deliciously glitch and dabble in that New Aesthetic magic.
100. Branding the Presidents of the United States / Meg Jannott
This served as just a personal study for graphic designer Meg Jannott. Something she did for fun went viral. It’s a cocktail of contemporary graphic design and history, which manages to capture the essence of each president with typography.
HONORABLE MENTION: The Most Astounding Fact (Neil deGrasse Tyson) / Max Schlickenmeyer
Just an inspiring supercut of the universe’s greatest delights set to astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson‘s answer to the question, ”What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?” A question that was asked by a TIME magazine reader.
A fluent answer by Tyson in this truly life affirming nugget. Warning…don’t watch this while drunk or high, you’ll weep like a baby. Just saying. Who needs religion when you have the Force?
The supercut was made by Max Schlickenmeyer.
