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Photography

This Is Your Drugs Under a Microscope: Gorgeous Enlarged Images of Meth, MDMA, and Other Substances

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This is not your brain on drugs, but it is your drugs under a microscope. Well, more specifically, these images from German photographer Sarah Schönfeld’s series All You Can Feel (spotted via Lost At E Minor) depict legal and illegal substances through a fotonregativer. The physical process of creating images of the drugs was not entirely unlike the effect these substances have on our bodies. According to her website, “Schönfeld squeezed drops of various legal and illegal liquid drug mixtures onto negative film which had
already been exposed. Each drop altered the coating of the film… All of the substances behaved very differently: the shapes and colors that appeared showed unique characteristics and revealed unique internal universes.” More importantly, the substances are pretty to look at (not to mention safe from a photographic distance).  … Read More

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Photography

‘Petrochemical America’: The Richard Misrach Photos That Inspired ‘True Detective’

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The look of True Detective is one of the most distinctive things about the show: all sickly yellows and greens, a world that’s rotting and diseased, a world that’s dying in slow motion. To accurately convey the dark feeling of Louisiana’s famed “Chemical Corridor,” creator Nic Pizzolatto and director Cary Fukunaga turned to Richard Misrach’s evocative photography. Misrach, an influential photographer known for his color portrayals of landscape and loneliness, spent over ten years traveling up and down the industrial plant-choked stretch of the Mississippi River taking large-scale photos of Louisiana’s rot and examining how nature and life is dying and wild in this poisonous land. Some of these photos are used in True Detective‘s opening credits, and they clearly had an effect on the look of the show. … Read More

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Art

David Byrne, D’Angelo, Panda Bear Announced for Red Bull Music Academy 2014

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Red Bull Music Academy has announced its 2014 programming for its 2014 New York festival, with lectures, art installations, DJ… Read More

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Film

Reimagined Disney Movie Posters Reinvigorate Our Childhood Nostalgia

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Regardless of age, one’s Disney-infused upbringing proves inescapable. Whether accidentally or intentionally, in the church of American pop culture, you will be forced, again and again, to revisit the studio’s biblically self-iconizing tales. Perhaps you want to get a better grip on a narrative that, as a kid, seemed wholly innocent, but that an inflamed blog now wants you to reexamine for its subtle championing of female circumcision; perhaps a listicle directed you to clandestine boners, or perhaps the wickedly talented, one and only Adele Dazeem led you down Disney-soundtrack memory lane. … Read More

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Photography

‘Stuff Being Thrown at My Head’ Is Exactly What It Sounds Like

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Self portraiture is often a humorless art (the “ugly selfie” trend notwithstanding). Thankfully, there are photographers like Kaija Straumanis who bring a lighthearted approach to the self-portrait, gorgeously displayed in her series, Stuff Being Thrown at My Head (spotted via Bored Panda), which is exactly what it sounds like. Taking the term “headshot” to a new comic level, Straumanis’ work depicts the artist on the receiving end of many blows to the head from objects like books, rubber balls, and a boot. If you need a laugh, or know the feeling, you’ll enjoy the images after the jump.  … Read More

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Television

These Minimalist Illustrations Make ‘True Detective’ a Lot Less Creepy

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I’m surprised it took seven weeks before I started seeing True Detective fan art pop up on the internet, especially considering how time is a flat circle and all of that. (I don’t even really know what that means.) But Chicago-based illustrator Nigel Evan Dennis has turned out some great minimalist illustrations (spotted via The Guardian) depicting Rust Cohle, Marty Hart, and all of the series’ creepy imagery. Although the colorful, quirky nature of these images certainly counteracts the show’s spookiness and makes me a little less freaked out by sticks and antlers.  … Read More

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Art

Awesome Artwork Casts Beyoncé as a Zombie Fighter

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Fact: I have never watched a single episode of The Walking Dead. Another fact: I would watch every single episode of The Walking Dead, write embarrassingly long tracts of fan fiction, and throw elaborately themed premiere parties if Beyoncé were its star. Ali Graham evidently feels the same way; the artist started a Tumblr called Survivor: Beyoncé vs. Zombie that’s exactly what it sounds like. Every image matches a Beyoncé lyric with a vision of Queen Bey laying waste to the undead hordes. It’s brilliant, and we are forever in Ms. Graham’s debt. … Read More

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Photography

Arresting Photos of Kiev Protests Give a Human Face to the Ukraine Struggle

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When a country is besieged by protests and international strife, dominating the headlines with visions of the city on fire, it’s sometimes difficult to see where the people are in the middle of the war zone, beyond the headlines. Barbaros Kayan, a photographer based in Istanbul, captures the people behind the protests in Kiev, bravely laying their lives and freedom down for what they believe in. While Ukraine is a developing story of international tensions, there’s a clarity in Kayan’s photos, showing the cost that citizens are paying in a burning Ukraine. … Read More

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Photography

Breathtaking Photos of Seascapes That Recall the Paintings of Mark Rothko

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Like most Abstract Expressionists, Mark Rothko is the kind of artist most people either dismiss as a fraud or obsess over and call a genius. Those who take the latter view will likely be fascinated by San Francisco-based artist Tim Burns‘ Rothko Seascapes series (spotted via Faith is Torment). Taken from Duxbury Point in Bolinas, CA, these meditative photographs bear an unmistakable resemblance to the mid-century painter’s work, capturing layers of sun and sea and sky as they blur into each other at different times of day. Not only are the images themselves gorgeous; they also hint at why Rothko’s paintings can feel so majestic and powerful. … Read More

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