Experimental typography: light refracted through water droplets
Ruslan Khasanov (2012) Lumen type: experimental typography.
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Jean Cocteau: la Belle et la Bête
"La lumière brillante et surnaturelle qui avait dominé toute la scène du château (flamme des chandeliers, feu, reflets étincelants de l’argenterie) s’estompe pour laisser la place à la lumière naturelle du jour [plan 9] [9]. Ces rayons lumineux rappellent ceux des dernières gravures de la Belle au vois dormant. D’autant plus que cette lumière naturelle n’est pas légitimée par la présence d’une fenêtre, comme c’est le cas chez Doré. C’est une lumière naturelle, la lumière du jour, mais elle semble toujours éclairer le personnage de manière surnaturelle : comment la lumière extérieure peut-elle pénétrer à l’intérieur sans la présence d’aucune fenêtre ? Les flambeaux s’éteignent un à un, le personnage traverse un grand pan de lumière blanche, la porte se referme toute seule, l’escalier apparaît en plongée : la scène semble se rejouer à l’envers, ce qui souligne la structure circulaire et la clôture de la séquence, mais aussi l’influence de l’œuvre de Gustave Doré. Le dialogue des contes et des illustrations se poursuit jusqu’à la dernière image de la séquence puisqu’elle se termine sur les ronces qui envahissent l’escalier du château de la Bête, comme celles qui envahissent les gravures du château de la Belle au bois dormant."
(Estelle Plaisant Soler, 26 juin 2006)
Fig.1 Jean Cocteau (1946). "la Belle et la Bête"
2). PDF of 100 Cult Films (Screen Guides).
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Jacob Sutton's L.E.D. Surfer: a night-time snowboarding short lights up the last of the winter snow
"Fashion photographer and filmmaker Jacob Sutton swaps the studio for the slopes of Tignes in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France, with a luminous after hours short starring Artec pro snowboarder William Hughes. The electrifying film sees Hughes light up the snow-covered French hills in a bespoke L.E.D.-enveloped suit courtesy of designer and electronics whizz John Spatcher. 'I was really drawn to the idea of a lone character made of light surfing through darkness,' says Sutton of his costume choice. 'I've always been excited by unusual ways of lighting things, so it seemed like an exciting idea to make the subject of the film the only light source.' Sutton, who has created work for the likes of Hermès, Burberry and The New York Times, spent three nights on a skidoo with his trusty Red Epic camera at temperatures of -25C to snap Hughes carving effortlessly through the deep snow, even enlisting his own father to help maintain the temperamental suit throughout the demanding shoot. 'Filming in the suit was the most surreal thing I've done in 20 years of snowboarding,' says Hughes of the charged salopettes. 'Luckily there was plenty of vin rouge to keep me warm, and Jacob's enthusiasm kept everyone going through the cold nights.'"
(Nowness, 16 February 2012)
[This dramatic clip appears to have been designed to target the audience of the new lifestyle magazine called "Nowness". The wish is presumably that the clip becomes a carrier for promoting the magazine's brand.]
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Kenneth Anger & Brian Butler’s Technicolor Skull
"Technicolor Skull performs their first West Coast appearance at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles on November 19, 2011, as part of the opening reception for Kenneth Anger: ICONS. This exhibition will showcase the films, books, and artwork of one of the most original and enigmatic filmmakers of post-war American cinema. This coincides with the release of Technicolor Skull's self-titled recorded debut, a one-sided, bloodred 180 gram 12' vinyl LP limited to 666 copies.
Technicolor Skull is an experiment in light and sound, exploring the psychic impact of a magick ritual in the context of an improvised performance. With Brian Butler on guitar and electronic instruments, and Kenneth Anger on theremin, their collaboration is a performance contained inside a ritual of unknown origin, tapping into occult stories that extend musical language into initiation. Hidden messages escape through gesture and light, manifesting as a one-time-only event."
(Richard Metzger, 18/11/2011)
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Will Li-Fi be the new Wi-Fi?
"FLICKERING lights are annoying but they may have an upside. Visible light communication (VLC) uses rapid pulses of light to transmit information wirelessly. Now it may be ready to compete with conventional Wi-Fi.
'At the heart of this technology is a new generation of high-brightness light-emitting diodes,' says Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh, UK. 'Very simply, if the LED is on, you transmit a digital 1, if it's off you transmit a 0,' Haas says. 'They can be switched on and off very quickly, which gives nice opportunities for transmitting data.'
It is possible to encode data in the light by varying the rate at which the LEDs flicker on and off to give different strings of 1s and 0s. The LED intensity is modulated so rapidly that human eyes cannot notice, so the output appears constant. ...
But some sound a cautious note about VLC's prospects. It only works in direct line of sight, for example, although this also makes it harder to intercept than Wi-Fi. 'There has been a lot of early hype, and there are some very good applications,' says Mark Leeson from the University of Warwick, UK. 'But I'm doubtful it's a panacea. This isn't technology without a point, but I don't think it sweeps all before it, either.'"
(Jamie Condliffe, 28 July 2011)
Jamie Condliffe (2011). New Scientist magazine, 23 July 2011.
Fig.1 Harald Haas, July 2011, TED.com.
2). Steve Perlman "Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output (DIDO) Wireless Technology: A New Approach to Multiuser Wireless".
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