Swedish Armed Forces Personality Test

This test is going to blow your mind! Created for the Swedish Armed Forces, this flash-based personality evaluator/game will test your reactions to various situations you might encounter as a soldier. Afterwards you are debriefed and given feedback. The entire test is gorgeously designed; I mean gorgeous gorgeous GORGEOUS! The whole thing takes  takes place in a tunnel and the tester's voice is GORGEOUS!. It's like a Peter Greenaway film. It says "headphones are required", but not really. Have fun!

The Art of Nicole Dextras

Sceglier Bio has images of the work of Nicole Dextras who creates some pretty wonderful outfits using fresh organic materials from plants and flowers. A few are a bit overwrought, but some are really lovely, and overall I thing she's making great stuff.

How Carousel Was Made

If It's Hip It's Here has the full story on how they made Carousel; the absolutely incredible, award winning advertisement for Phillips TV. Even though it's one of the most cinematic experiences I've seen, the way it's made makes it sort of an anti-movie. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, you can watch it on my earlier post here.

The Art of Jim Shrosbree

David Lynch Foundation Television has this wonderful short documentary if artist Jim Shrosbree. Shrosbree is an Iowan who creates mainly wall-based sculpture out of various mediums. An interesting guy and some really incredible and diverse work. Definitely worth the watch.

WhalePower Tubercle Technology

Inventor's Spot has an amazing story about a guy named Frank Fish who's study of the tubercles of humpback whale fins upended some of the known science of fluid dynamics. Fish has also started a company making wind turbines that use the tubercle design to reduce drag by 32% and increase lift by 8%. Someday, airplane wings will look like this.

Tow Truck Vs. Car

This very short video may have been staged, but it's still pretty funny.

Melbourne Recital Centre

The Cool Hunter has some images of the new Melbourne Recital Centre created by ARM architects in collaboration with Arup Acoustics. The visual forms are absolutely stunning! A true fusion of architecture and acoustic design. Wait until you see the outside...

The Art of Linden G

Linden G's photographs are created by splashing paints using sound waves, then capturing them with a high speed camera control system. 

The Art of Kimiko Yoshida

Kimiko Yoshida is a Japanese born artist living in France. She almost exclusively does self portraits as self styled photographs or paintings. Her work is really amazing.

Carmel Residence by Dirk Denison Architects

Contemporist has a photo spread of this lovely contemporary house in Carmel by the Sea. Some of you have seen the exterior of this, as it's next to our friend Katherine's place. It's nice to see what the inside looks like.

The Art of Branislav Kropilak

Booooooom has the Billboard photo series by artist Branislav Kropilak. Simply photographs of billboard from the perspective of the ground, the images are quite startling and have an eerie alien quality to them. Great work!

Stroke of Genius

Web Urbanist has a fascinating article on artists who only developed their abilities after a stroke, brain tumor, or other such trauma. I especially like the story of Alison Silva who chose to keep her brain tumor rather than give up making good art.

Nail Art

Design Swan has these lovely images created by artist Vlad Artazov. Each image uses simple bent nails to convey a complicated array of situations and emotions. Very nice.

Papercraft Castle

Tokyobling's Blog has stunning images of a masterwork by artist Wataru Itou. Named Umi no Ue no Oshiro (A Castle On the Ocean), the installation is made entirely of paper, and includes electric lights and a moving train. It took Itou four years of folding paper to create this glorious piece.

Possessed: The Secret World of Hoarders

This short film profiles four hoarders; people whose lives are dominated by their relationship to possessions. This very interesting documentary was made during a Visual Anthropology Masters student at Goldsmiths College London.

Train Vs. Tornado

The title says it all!

New Banksy Works!

Gradient has some images of new work spotted in Africa thought to be by street artist collective Banksy. As usual, the work is very compelling.

The Bunny Project

The Bunny Project is a continuing subversive experiment that is commissioned by various institutions in Sweden. At chosen sites, a suspicious person mounts sculptures made of carrots, clocks and wires. Ironically, the Swedish Culture Minister, refused to give her speech on how art must be free and provocative until the "devices" were removed.

Ceiling Porn

Deputy Dog has some tantalizing images of some incredibly designed ceilings throughout the world. Norman Foster's British Museum court is shown above. Other lovely images inside.

Little Wheel

Little Wheel is a beautifully made and lovely little flash game. A world of robots has lost their electrical power, and your character must perform simple tasks to get everyone up and running again. Not too difficult and you'll love the snappy soundtrack.

The Fetus Project

Also on De Zeen is an amazing design project by Gorge Lopes Dos Santos. Along with London's Royal College of Art and a pediatric cardiologist from Imperial College, Dos Santos developed a method of producing 3D printed models of fetuses using ultrasound and MRI data. 

Beautiful Giraffe Enclosure

De Zeen has this blurb on a new giraffe enclosure at the Rotterdam Zoo. The "cradle to cradle" sustainable design uses passive solar heating and natural materials and lighting. A really striking design!