One of the last Japanese Swordsmiths talks about his Dying Craft

Yesterday was Picasso's 130th b-day!

Genius in action... Short interesting blog post on Picasso and the origin of this clip at BrainPickings.

Lovely Ancient Image Of Woman Giving Birth May Be World’s First

This may be one of the earliest images in Western art of a woman giving birth, but that isn't the only reason it's incredible; it was found by a student who's legally blind. William Nutt of the University of Texas at Arlington found the 2,600-year-old relief on a fragment of a pot in an ancient Etruscan site near Florence, Italy. "I used dental tools and a sharpened trowel to slide along the ground. I'd run my hands along the soil, feeling and uncovering different layers," says Nutt. "The image is unique because in the classical world, we don't see a lot of birthing scenes." In January Nutt and the other researchers will be present their findings to the Archaeological Institute of America.

Via Jezebel

Word Portraits

Artist John Sokol has a collection of portraits made out of the words of famous authors:

Walt Whitman as "Leaves of Grass"

John Keats as "Lamia"

Dante as "The Inferno"

James Joyce as "Ulysses"

Charles de Beadelaire as "Les Fleurs du Mal"

The Beauty of Maps

An episode from an amazing BBC series on maps as cultural objects, historical records, and as art. Incdentally, I fucking love maps, so this really couldn't be more convenient!

This episode deals with the Mappa Mundi, poduced in England in the Middle Ages, when Europe was teetering on the brink of the Renaissance. Incorporating crude geography, religious thought, history and myth, maps like this are the closest thing to an Encyclopoedia this age produced.

It does not face Nortward, as is the convention now, but Eastward - towards Jerusalem. It also chronicles the monsters and savages that live in the little-known outer edges of the known world...

And, like a time-capsule, it reveals not only what they saw, but the deeply, fearfully Christian lense through which everything was understood, making this a map that depicts not only the world as they saw it, but the world in relation to eternity. Yeah, it was one hell of map...

"Our love affair with maps is as old as civilization itself. Each map tells its own story and hides its own secret. Maps delight, they unsettle, they reveal deep truths, not just about where we come from, but about who we are.”

Art, Dahling...

I'm also watching a series on youtube at the moment on the history of art in the US, which reflects the social and historical changes of the country and its society. Right from its foundation - right from the country's birth.
Faaaaaaaaascinating work. Actually Nick Rose sent the link around, and it's EXCELLENT.

Here some episode snippets relevant to this discussion:

"The Wilderness and the West"


The 1930's. The Depression and Urban America
(start at 1:50)


Throughout the series, New York features prominently. Anyway, i won't go too into it now, but I will note that it traces the history of the city's skyline, too, which you might find particularly interesting Alex...see your home in a new light :)

Illustrator Noma Bar

Israeli illustrator Noma Bar makes incredibly clever and evocative images, which are all the more impressive for their simplicity. You may recognize this cover of the Economist from a little while back:

He also makes images to accompany news stories:

Beware the Wolves

Artwork for an article on older men who pursue younger women.

Fat Cat

Artwork for an article on how CEOs invest their personal wealth

The Big Squeeze

Artwork for an article on the oil politics behind the Iraq war.

This one is simply entitled Prison.

And few other neat ones...