I Just Saw Perhaps The Coolest Art Installation I Have Ever Heard Of.

I just saw perhaps the coolest art installation I have ever heard of.

This is a perfectly normal pin. On the head of it are 2.417 quintillion angels, give or take a few billion.

Joe Davis and Sarah Khan, the artist behind Baitul Ma’mur, (House of Angels) encoded the Arabic phrase “Subhan Allah” onto synthesized DNA, and then used that DNA to coat the head of a pin. According to some traditions, any time Subhan Allah is said or written, it creates an angel. With DNA being as dense an information storage medium as it is, this single pin has more created angels on it than have ever been born from human throats across all of human history.

And then in a fucking genius move, the art installation takes the form of a functional vending machine, loaded with an impossibly large quantity of angels. For $25, which goes right to the artists, you can buy a pin. I’m thinking about taking mine out of the test tube sometime and encasing it in resin to turn it into the highest % angel by volume earring ever worn, but that’s a project for the future.

There isn’t much else I can say that isn’t said by the documentation accompanying the exhibit. The photos aren’t the BEST quality but they should hopefully be mostly legible.

As of right now this installation is located at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and if you’re ever in the area you should totally check it out

I’ve seen a lot of curious people wanting to dive into classical music but don’t know where to start, so I have written out a list of pieces to listen to depending on mood. I’ve only put out a few, but please add more if you want to. hope this helps y’all out. :)

stereotypical delightful classical music:

battalia a 10 in d major (biber)

brandenburg concerto no. 5

brandenburg concerto no. 3

symphony no. 45 - “farewell” (haydn)

if you need to chill:

rondo alla turca

fur elise

anitra’s dance

in the steppes of central asia (borodin) (added by viola-ology)

if you need to sleep:

moonlight sonata

swan lake

corral nocturne

sleep (eric whitacre) (added by thelonecomposer)

if you need to wake up:

morning mood

summer (from the four seasons)

buckaroo holiday (if you’ve played this in orch you might end up screaming instead of waking up joyfully)

if you are feeling very proud:

pomp and circumstance

symphony no. 9 (beethoven; this is where ode to joy came from)

1812 overture

symphony no. 5, finale (tchaikovsky) (added by viola-ology)

american (dvořák)

if you feel really excited:

hoedown (copland)

bacchanale

spring (from the four seasons) (be careful, if you listen to this too much you’ll start hating it)

la gazza ladra

death and the maiden (schubert)

if you are angry and you want to take a baseball bat and start hitting a bush:

dance of the knights (from the romeo and juliet suite by prokofiev)

winter, mvt. 1 (from the four seasons)

symphony no. 10 mvt. 2 (shostakovich)

symphony no. 5 (beethoven)

totentanz (liszt)

quartet no. 8, mvt. 2 (shostakovich) (added by viola-ology)

young person’s guide to the orchestra, fugue (britten) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

symphony no. 5 mvt. 4 (shostakovich) (added by eternal-cadenza)

marche slave (tchaikovsky) (added by eternal-cadenza)

if you want to cry for a really long time:

fantasia based on russian themes (rimsky-korsakov)

adagio for strings (barber)

violin concerto in e minor (mendelssohn)

aase’s death

andante festivo

vocalise (rachmaninoff) (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

if you want to feel like you’re on an adventure:

an american in paris (gershwin)

if you want chills:

danse macabre

russian easter overture

egmont overture (added by shayshay526)

if you want to study:

eine kleine nachtmusik

bolero (ravel)

serenade for strings (elgar)

scheherazade (rimsky-korsakov) (added by viola-ology)

pines of rome, mvt. 4 (resphigi) (added by viola-ology)

if you really want to dance:

capriccio espagnol (rimsky-korsakov)

blue danube

le cid (massenet) (added by viola-ology)

radetzky march

if you want to start bouncing in your chair:

hopak (mussorgsky)

les toreadors (from carmen suite no.1)

if you’re about to pass out and you need energy:

hungarian dance no. 1

hungarian dance no. 5

if you want to hear suspense within music:

firebird

in the hall of the mountain king

ride of the valkyries

night on bald mountain (mussorgsky) (added by viola-ology)

if you want a jazzy/classical feel:

rhapsody in blue

jazz suite no. 2 (shostakovich) (added by eternal-cadenza)

if you want to feel emotional with no explanation:

introduction and rondo capriccioso

unfinished symphony (schubert)

symphony no. 7, allegretto (beethoven) (added by viola-ology)

canon in d (pachelbel)

if you want to sit back and have a nice cup of tea:

st. paul’s suite

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

l’arlésienne suite

concierto de aranjuez (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

pieces that don’t really have a valid explanation:

symphony no. 40 (mozart)

cello suite no. 1 (bach)

polovtsian dances

enigma variations (elgar) (added by viola-ology)

perpetuum mobile

moto perpetuo (paganini)

pieces that just sound really cool:

scherzo tarantelle

dance of the goblins

caprice no. 24 (paganini)

new world symphony, allegro con fuoco (dvorak) (added by viola-ology​)

le tombeau de couperin (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

carnival of the animals (added by shadowraven45662)

if you feel like listening to concertos all day (I do not recommend doing that):

concerto for two violins (bach)

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

violin concerto in a minor (vivaldi)

violin concerto (tchaikovsky) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

violin concerto in d minor (sibelius) (added by eternal-cadenza)

cello concerto in c (haydn)

piano concerto, mvt. 1 (pierne) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

harp concerto in E-flat major, mvt. 1 (added by iwillsavemyworld)

and if you really just hate classical music in general:

4′33″ (cage)

a lot of these pieces apply in multiple categories, but I sorted them by which I think they match the most. have fun exploring classical music!

also, thank you to viola-ology, iwillsavemyworld, shayshay526, eternal-cadenza, tropicalmunchakoopas, shadowraven45662, and thelonecomposer for adding on! if you would like to add on your own suggestions, please reblog and add on or message me so I can give you credit for the suggestion!

Hiii everyone. My bestest friend is the most selfless person in the world and is trying to raise money to get his friend through college. I have a platform and they’re on limited time so I’d like to help how I can. They have a gofundme !

https://gofund.me/9a5a2e81

gofundme.com

Rhys deserves college!, organized by Marshall Kopacki

A lot of you probably know that my best friend (left in the image above) of the better part o… Marshall Kopacki needs your support for Rhys

If you can’t donate then sharing this around where possible is deeply appreciated.

If you provide proof you donate $15+ you’ll get a bust from my bestie, and for $30+ you’ll get a full body!

For examples of his art and to show donation proof and get your art, go to @ gothsporto on Instagram. If you don’t have Instagram pls msg me and I can play messenger man and we will get something worked out!! This is very important to him and I’d rly like to see them succeed.

February is right around the corner, which means it’s soon time for Funguary 2023! the drawing event where we draw a bunch of mushroom based characters during the month of feb.

Here’s how it works:

Each week of the month will have a theme with seven different prompts, draw something mushroom related within that theme in order to join. The themes are Weird, Mystical, Malicious and Friendly. You don’t have to complete all the prompts, just one mushroom per theme/week is plenty!

If you’re hardcore you can definitely try and finish all the prompts though ;). The challenge intensity is adjustable to what suits you. This is a chill event where the goal is to just have fun and vibe, and honor the fungi kingdom with some really cool art🍄

I invite you all to come draw mushrooms with me! Use the hashtag #Funguary when posting your creations. I’ll be posting some of the creations here, and I’ll also be hanging out in the hashtag and comment sections! Really hope y’all join and draw fungi with me🥰🍄🌿 See you all on the first of February, LETS GOOOO!!

new tale art really said *tilts head at you adorably* 💙💜💖 (all cgs by Gabriella Rossetti)

cgs were gathered and posted by @ask-count-lulu 🫶

What’s In a Book? Part 27

On The Tenth Day of Fun I present… a new book review! This isn’t exactly a new book, but it’s one that I’ve referenced a few times in the past and so I feel that it finally deserves a good review.

Book’s cover courtesy of Amazon. The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient by Sheridan Prasso (ISBN 1-58648-214-9) Date of Publication: 2005 Language: English Format: Hardcover  Availability: Can Be Found In Some Libraries and Easily Found Online Price: $17 New, Can Be Purchased Quite Cheaply Used Errors: 0 The title may seem a bit cliché and some of you may balk at the “geisha girls” part, but this book was written for the Western market as a way to understand how our many cultural misconceptions of various Asian countries and cultures manifest and affect those that they end up hurting. It is honestly one of the best books that I’ve ever read as the author and her style of writing take a very different approach to the subject of an outsider looking in on various foreign cultures. When we look at most books written by foreigners we see a culture from their point of view, which is inherently flawed as they are the ones who seem to simply pop in to learn a few facts and make a quick buck on their publication rather than allowing people of that culture to speak for themselves. From what becomes apparent after the first few chapters, Sheridan has been to most countries in Asia an impressively large amount of times, but she never speaks as though it is her talking; aside from the first part that lays the groundwork for the rest of the book, all of the stories are told via interviews that she had with various women across many cultures. Not once does she interject her own will, but rather goes with the flow of where various experiences with these women, her subjects who do the speaking, take her. The book overall is divided into two parts that each have their own way of sharing information. They are: Part 1: The Asian Mystique The shorter of the two parts that only takes up approximately one quarter of the entire book, it lays the groundwork for how certain stereotypes were produced in the West of Asian cultures and how these effects have played out and have continued to be portrayed in popular media such as books, movies, and television shows. I don’t want to spoil it as it was very eye opening when I read it, but this part really made me think, which can be rare for a book. It allowed me to see how so many parts of our own culture have been shaped by stereotyping and subjugating various Asian cultures, especially over the past century, but it doesn’t feel as though it’s a lecture. It uses facts with anecdotes of the people that it has affected the most (the Asian minority outside of Asia) to help us understand the various complexities that these often harmful stereotypes have on our own lives. You may feel as though this does not affect you in any way, but I can guarantee that you’ll find at least one topic that you had never really given thought to before and have never really tried to understand what it all means. This part is written by the author in a way that’s meant to speak directly to you, the reader, before your mind is expanded in the second section. Part 2: Ten People, Ten Colors It is here that we meet the women who share their experiences and tales in a bid to help us, the reader, understand their culture. The second part, which is probably the most useful pertaining to this blog, is called “The Real Memoirs of a Geisha,” but it is in the first topic, “Ten People, Ten Colors,” that we are given a basic understanding of Japanese culture by ten women who live it. We’re first introduced to Japanese culture via a woman named Yukie, a prominent business woman who tells the tale of how she ended up as a single mother back in Japan after her failed marriage to an American (at the time of writing she was in the process of getting a divorce). It’s here that we get to see one of the topics discussed in the first part in action: Yukie tells us that her marriage has failed because her husband had long bought into the idea that Japanese women are meant to be subservient to men, and how his commands and constantly talking over her as if she had some sort of mental deficiency eventually wore her down and she had enough. She speaks of how when she attended university in the United States she would try to avoid American men as much as possible because they had all seen her as some quiet, exotic beauty who would cater to their every whim. She believed at the time that she met her husband that he was different, but not long into the marriage he showed his true colors and they had kept the family together for the sake of their children. As the children grew older she saw how their strained relationship was affecting them, and so she finally decided that she would file for divorce. A large problem, she explains, was that she was the sole breadwinner for the family as she had a very well paying job that eventually saw the family move back to her native Japan. While there, Yukie, her husband, and their children lived with Yukie’s parents, which is a common thing to do in Japan, but Yukie’s husband refused to adapt to a Japanese lifestyle. In the end he had moved back to the United States and wanted Yukie to follow him, which she did and heavily resented. Yukie was interviewed while she was in Japan visiting her parents for a few weeks as she had taken her children to see their grandparents in Japan each year. She tells us about the Japanese dynamic of marriage that sees all household duties dictated by the wife, including the raising of children and the spending of money, whereas the husband is expected to work (I’ve gone into this topic numerous times on the dichotomy of the house wife and the geisha too). It also tells of female empowerment that’s changed the dynamic of marriage in Japan since the burst of the bubble economy in the 1990s and how women now have a much greater say in the world around them compared to the tradition that Yukie’s parents grew up in. We then get to meet Yumi, Kumi, Karen, and Akiko; women who are living in modern Japan and share their opinions on various topics, such as American culture (especially men) and the pressure that Japanese society still puts on women to become mothers above all else. Some of them, like Yumi, are housewives, and she shares with us what her experiences are like in and around the world she knows. She tells us about how she knows a few friends who have filed for divorce because they want to be treated as equals in a marriage instead of the “subservient” housewife and how divorce is becoming more common in Japan because of this. This isn’t very different from when divorce laws changed in the United States; women began to file for divorce because they were no longer being held in abusive or demeaning relationships with no way out. We are also introduced to some of her friends from a local “Mother’s Club” that allows women some time together while their children play. In the end, the basic foundations that are important in the next part are laid out and we are given an understanding how Japanese culture and society blend for these women. In “The Real Memoirs of a Geisha” we are introduced to the muse that Arthur Golden used for his trashy book, the great Mineko Iwasaki. Sheridan first gives us a little bit of background on geisha and the studies that Dalby and Downer both did while in Japan, but it is Mineko’s words, both about the karyukai and the work of the three foreigners, that allows us to understand the true nature of being a geisha. Sheridan even tells us how hard it was to get an audience with Mineko because of the damage that various foreigners have done to the image of the karyukai, but how Mineko relented when Sheridan said that she wanted her to tell her own story. This interview ended up being the longest conducted for the book that topped out at almost thirteen hours, and it shows; Mineko eventually felt comfortable enough with Sheridan to tell her side and her opinions on everything that affected her life in outer ways (popular culture) and personal ways (her life as a geiko). Even the hospitality that Sheridan is shown throughout the day is exactly how a geiko would treat a guest in an ozashiki; Mineko retains these traits years after her retirement. It is here that Mineko tells us of her time in Gion Kobu, and picks up on the various manners that are displayed by Sheridan which only a person well versed in Japanese culture would know (she uses an example of chopsticks on dumplings here), which impresses Mineko to tell her more. Eventually she becomes comfortable enough to have her husband Jin join in on the conversation, and they cover such topics of how mizuage is misrepresented in the West, the overall image of geisha in the West, the role of women in traditional Japanese relationships, and the writings of Dalby and Downer (I’ve written about that specific topic in the past as well). In the end Mineko even fetches many of her kimono and accessories from the time she was a maiko and a geiko and explains why the small details of each piece are so important: geisha are meant to be perfection; every last detail requires large amounts of training to understand so that it can be presented to guests as the height of perfection. Mineko states that guests pay for this perfection, and it shows in every part of a maiko and geiko’s wardrobe, mannerisms, and gei. The next day Sheridan goes to a henshin studio to be dressed up as a geiko, and comments on how hard it is to move in kimono, let alone serve others. We then go over to Tokyo’s Asakusa district and meet with Chitose, a twenty year old woman who originally went to secretarial college, but then joined the ranks of the Asakusa women. Sheridan is allowed to sit in on her drum lesson as a way to see what the training in traditional arts entails (she does lament at how hard it is to sit with your feet tucked under you, but how Chitose doesn’t even move for the entire six hour lesson). After the lesson Chitose and Sheridan meet up with Yachiyoko, an elderly geisha who is still working at age 66, who then tells her tale of growing up in Tokyo as a geisha and how the culture around her has changed to meet the demands of the time. In the end, Yachiyoko tells us that geisha aren’t really any different from normal women when it comes to their desires and needs, but that living the life of a geisha has given her a luxurious lifestyle that most women would not get to experience outside of the karyukai.        The rest of the book follows women in other Asian countries (China, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Burma, Korea, and the addition of Okinawa in Southern Japan) and is as eye opening and interesting as the first part. It is a breath of fresh air reading what life is like for these women in their own words and experiences rather than having it relayed and interpreted as most Western authors do. Since these stories are told by the women themselves, the book has no errors and I can’t really find any fault in it. I highly recommend reading this insightful and well written piece! Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪ (out of 5)