(© cbs)
Pop, art and comics fused
Mariko Mori: "an oversized, plastic pop star doll in Birth of a Star" - a Japanese artist mixing in the influence of manga/anime with a view of the future. Her media prescence makes Japan look like the future of creative art. But the "problem" is that the ones who promote the trend - young artist with a pop-culture mix - are unable to make it big due to the high cost of living, not to mention the cost of renting a space to do your work - in an already overcrowded urban Japan.
Sobered
The Sober virus is/was making up 77% of traffic... or at least 70% of all viruses mention - depending on the source. Talk about a big spread... and I only got a single one... looks like a lot of our local hosts [stats] have done a good job at keeping it contained - even it the number of removed viruses have gone up from 9k to 28k.
All alone?
A year ago "Magasinet" printed a great image by Eve Arnold from Cuba back in 1954 (Magnum, might need login - BugMeNot ok, other option here). She also made quite a few pictures of among others Marilyn Monroe, but her best work is the "snapshot of the times" - while bringing you a story in an instant.
And the same can definitely be said about one of my all-time favorite painters - the late Mr Hopper (no, not the actor). As the NY times said - he "pinpointed a New York state of mind. ... more unsparing isolation that touches on the traps of modern urban existence" (Google had some 5000+ hits on images by him - actually listed on top of the page when I did a regular search! They figured out it was as relevant to see his works as the facts. Way impressed) Wiki
But he also painted quite a bit from more rural environs - such as the Cape Cod Morning [img]. But probably the best known (and recycled/spoofed) is Nighthaws - the feature image of the exhibiton in London last year. Nice site that features a digital copy of his sketchbook - on page 11 is the Cape Cod.
Even when there are several people (most I remember are either a single person or just the (urban) landscape), they don't seem to interact, hardly aware of the others nearby. Reminds me of the comment "Even though I'm not alone that doesn't mean I'm not lonely"
...sun coming, time to head outside
