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Last year, illustrator Gabriel Picolo started the 365 Days of Doodles Project to fight artistic procrastination. For 12 months he drew black and white sketches and uploaded his progress to his deviantArt page. But this year he wanted to focus less on doodles and more on color.
The Palette Project, a seven-month long color challenge, is a series where he creates new illustrations each month based around a central color. For February he tackled the color red, and now for March he’s tackling the color orange. By the end of August, seven colors will be completed. Picolo says the reason for the project is to practice creating sketches that aren’t black and white. You can track his status here.
| Recommended by The Absolute Staff | Thursday, March 5th, 2015 | No Comments » |
The Internet is obsessed with cats, but feline fanciers are taking it to another level by visiting the Japanese island of Aoshima, better known as “Cat Island.” Officially, there’s only 22 humans living on the island, but the tourists don’t care about the old timers when there are more than 120 adorable feral cats to feed and pet. Although the only way to get back and forth from Aoshima and the rest of mainland Japan is a ferry that runs twice a day, cat lovers are flocking to the island anyway to hang out with some of the felines.
Back in the day, the cats were brought over to the island to help fishermen deal with their mice problem, but as the population declined and there was nobody around to spay or neuter the cats, their numbers swiftly sky-rocketed.
| Recommended by Amanda Ferris | Thursday, March 5th, 2015 | No Comments » |
Korean director Chan-Wook Park (Oldboy, Stoker) is known for a lot of things, most notably his pertinence for outrageously violent or outrageously morbid films. But one aspect of his work that’s often overlooked is his dark humor. Park is the king of injecting odd moments of humor in highly emotional scenes, cutting the tension with outlandishness in a way that only Park can. His 1999 short film Judgement is the perfect example of this.
Created before his critically-acclaimed vengeance trilogy, the film has all of Park’s trademark quirks. The film takes place in a morgue shortly after an earthquake has ravished Korea and left hundreds dead. A dead disfigured girl lies on a table while two families fight over whose daughter it is. As the film unfolds, it’s revealed that everyone in the room has an alternative motive. But the biggest twist is the ending, which I won’t give away. It’s just too weird and perfect not to recommend.
Park has also directed other short films, like short documentary Nepal about a poor Nepalese woman living in Korea, and 2014′s A Rose Reborn about an American CEO who goes through a series of challenges. Find some time today and watch them all.
| Recommended by The Absolute Staff | Thursday, March 5th, 2015 | No Comments » |
I don’t know who you are, player, but I want you, for at least a few minutes, to feel loved.
So writes the developer of Cat Petting Simulator 2014, a game that I entered with low expectations but was pleasantly surprised by. The warm fuzzies are overwhelming. I don’t know what it says about me or my expectations that I expected the cat to seize my hand and claw my palm, or for the toaster oven to burst into flames, or for something to burst through the door, but either way, I’m happy to see that my paranoia was unfounded. Cat Petting Simulator 2014 is really just a short text-based game about petting your cat and making her happy.
| Recommended by Melody Lee | Thursday, March 5th, 2015 | No Comments » |
Today’s indie rock is inspired by the ’80s, but ’90s indie rock was inspired by the avant-garde. People still thought flying cars might be a thing back then, and so bands were less interested in the “familiar” and more interested in the future. They played with genres, re-invented them, and created a sound that still sounds fresh today. One of those bands that contributed to the indie post-rock movement was Laika, whose 1995 debut Silver Apples of the Moon is a classic most haven’t even heard.
A recent reissue of the 20-year-old album now gives new listeners a chance to discover this rare gem. While I’ve been a Laika fan since high school (right around the release of their third and fourth albums), their debut is still their strongest and most experimental effort. Like a well-preserved relic from the future, Apples still sounds fresh today. The more trip-hoppy elements slightly date the album, but the ambient-rich “Marimba Song” and the frenetic “Let Me Sleep” show off their talent for crafting a sound that’s all their own. If this re-release proves anything, it’s that Laika’s praise is long overdue.
| Recommended by Tiffany White | Thursday, March 5th, 2015 | No Comments » |
Margaret Atwood’s classic novel The Handmaid’s Tale is a chilling look at what happens when the patriarchy is allowed to rule the roost once and for all.
Offred remembers a time when she was happily married to a husband named Luke and was able to play with her daughter. A time where women weren’t considered chattel and were considered equals of men. Unfortunately, all that changed when the Republic of Gilead was created, and now Offred is a handmaid to the Commander. In this new society, women can only go out to the markets once a day and are considered a success if they are able to give birth to healthy children.
Reading The Handmaid’s Tale will leave you shuddering violently at the vision of such an awful dystopia, especially since with so many extremely religious politicians out there. This novel is a warning sign of what will happen should countries fail to keep a secure boundary between church and state.
| Recommended by Amanda Ferris | Thursday, March 5th, 2015 | No Comments » |
There’s not much known about painter/animator Josh Shaffner, but that’s not a bad thing. His work speaks for itself. Shaffner paints sprawling oil paintings that are surrealistic in nature. But he doesn’t stop there. While creating his pieces, he captures the motions of his process, creating a stop-motion animation of his paintings coming to life. From The Rehabilitation of Sleep to Pond, Shaffner’s work tip-toes to the edge of consciousness, observing life through a dream-like state where goat-headed men sit in empty rooms and giants lie comatose on beaches. If you’re interested in how he puts these things together, check out this “making of” video for Pond. Don’t forget to also check out his full-sized paintings.
| Recommended by The Absolute Staff | Wednesday, March 4th, 2015 | No Comments » |
