Surabhi Saraf | Peel (excerpt)

PEEL presents a visual and sonic echo of the present instance: it takes an unexamined moment and gives it life. The transitional motion of going to the fridge to get an ingredient is stretched into the echo of an unforgettable instant, and what emerges is an examination of the subtlety and hidden beauty of that moment.

Peel, Short Excerpt from Surabhi Saraf on Vimeo.

One bad Apple

I'd read about it and periodically heard first and second hand accounts about people experiencing problems with Apple products and services and sat back thinking wow… that's never happened to me, at least not until today. In 7 or so years of using Apple products and software, not so much as a hiccup has come my way. Faith in all things Mac justified. Yesterday (10th Jan) in the early evening, unknown to me,  all that was about to change. The new Apple App Store was open and software was going at ridiculously cheap prices, but my radar was down and my default "hang on a bit, why so cheap' warning light failed. Seduced by the possibility of obtaining the updated version of my much used and heavily relied upon, Aperture, for a song, I succumbed to temptation and made my purchase from the newly proclaimed 'Queen of Cloudland'.

Suspecting all was well and that Apple would have all bases covered, I completed the transaction and the paid for the upgrade which seamlessly downloaded and installed without a glitch. I upgraded the libraries, despite the warning that upgraded libraries would not be accessible to earlier versions of Aperture….trusting soul that I am, what could possibly go wrong? Once installed, Aperture 3 exceeded my expectations and I can certainly say that if you are considering the purchase, do so with complete confidence, just not from the App Store.

Day 2

Prepared for a substantial rework of some of the 15,000+ images stored across a number of drives/libraries, I hit the Aperture icon and it bounced away happily and then died.
I checked the status of the app and found that it was open but not responding, just my desktop staring me in the face, waiting, like someone outside a closed bank. Force quit and re open, the ritual seemed endless.

Maybe I need to re-install, where's the dmg from yesterdays download and install? There is none!
Despite the App Store Help site touting that a saved copy of the app could be used to reinstall, no option for saving the install dmg appeared at any time during the download and install of Aperture 3. Not only do you not have a dmg of your purchased software you also don't get a serial number, so how are you supposed to obtain support for a product that you can't prove/verify you own? What if the serial number is on the splash screen? Great……but I can't even raise the splash screen. A better option is required for crashes like this.

Things were not looking good. Suddenly the extra you pay for the boxed version began to make sense, more outlay but….you have the install disk, serial number and a support ID number. My options were getting thin. After a thorough scouring of the App Store support site I scored a zero return, what happened to the traditionally good backup provided by Apple?  Bright idea…what if I download the 3.1.1 update and reinstall this over the existing installation. Back to the App Store, follow the links for Aperture to the in-store page that has the updates, download and install, error message "you can only install updates for this product from the App Store", hadn't I just done that?
I realised I was lost in glitch city, what to do next?

Search installation problems where Aperture crashes on opening, only an old one that was resolved in Aperture 3.0.1

What if I copy the app form the applications folder to an external drive aka the 'save your copy to an external drive' song from the help pages. It was an outside run that I know to be risky, but with no other options available at the moment…… Copy and transfer back, half way through the process " you do not have permissions required"
Back to the applications folder and try to re open "You can't open Aperture because it may be damaged or incomplete"
Suddenly I'm in no man's land.

What if I re-install my copy of Aperture 2 and download my purchase from the App Store? Aperture 3 is no longer on my system, so if the "if you delete your software you can reinstall it from the App Store as long as it's still available" is correct advice, I should be able to remove and re-install.
So I re-install Aperture 2, update it to 2.1.4 so that it runs on OSX 10.6.6. Back to the App Store, click on purchases,  'Aperture 3 is already installed' ……….no it's not. Aperture 2.1.4 is,
and no option available to re-download the software that I had paid for.

$100 down the drain. Only option now is to purchase the boxed edition and get on with life, otherwise my libraries become coffins.

If you use this application professionally and you are considering upgrading or purchasing for the first time, stay away from the App Store, buy it boxed online or from a local retailer.  I've certainly taken a hard lesson today and won't be back under any circumstance until Apple get their act together and provide the basics, like most other online traders that allow you to purchase via download, do.

It's irresponsible for Apple; and ultimately damaging to their reputation, to offer software that is used professionally without appropriate backup and support. Great software, lousy delivery.

Martin Belger | The world's first transparent pinhole X-ray camera

"Using the Divine Proportion camera, Martin Belger will photograph X-rays from inside a particle accelerator. The Divine Proportion camera is a lead glass encased pinhole camera, specifically designed to capture on film the scatter from the impact of a high intensity X-ray beam on sculptures representing creation and destruction. The sculptures will be selected based on iconic figures of creation and destruction from the region in which the particle accelerator is located."
text source and image ; Boy of Blue Industries

This work will be on show from April 30th at Meta Gallery Ontario

Interview with Mera and Don Rubell at the Rubell Family Collection, Miami

In this video, art historian and art expert Bettina Krogemann and Don and Mera Rubell sit down in Cady Noland’s installation “This Piece Has No Title Yet” (1989) to talk about the history of the Rubell Family Collection and the various aspects of collecting art.
The RFC was started in New York in 1964 when Don and Mera Rubell were first married. Since 1993 it has been displayed in Miami at its current, 45′000 square-foot location, and it first opened to the public in 1994. Since then, the Rubell Family Collection has been recognized as the pioneer of what is often referred to as the “Miami model,” whereby private collectors create a new, independent form of public institution.

Jellyfish | Deep Sea Cryogenesis | VJFader

Jellyfish - Deep Sea Cryogenesis from VJFader on Vimeo.

F18: Living Kitchen – Happy End of the 21st Century | SHIFT Electronic Arts Festival

Living Kitchen is an installation that plays with the notion of “allowing the objects familiar in an everyday kitchen to suddenly come to life in somewhat sinister fashion, almost as if ghosts, once raised, had made themselves comfortable in the exhibition hall’s own kitchen.” (excerpt from the press release).

F18 is the creative duo of Stefan Doepner and Jan Cummerow and was founded in 1996 in Hamburg. The F18Institute for Art, Information and Technology is primarily devoted to robotics and art.

Jenny Holzer | Foundation Beyeler

Fondation Beyeler in Riehen near Basel, Switzerland, is currently exhibiting Jenny Holzer’s first large scale exhibition in a Swiss museum. The focus is on recent works, some of which have never before been shown in Europe. On display are Holzer’s famous LED installations, combining poetic, socio-critical, political texts and visual effects, as well as paintings and sculptures.
Holzer is best known for her use of words and ideas in public space. In 1982 she publicised her statements and aphorisms (”truisms”) on one of Times Square’s gigantic LED billboards, in 2008 she created a site-specific light projection for the newly renovated facade of the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum in New York.

On until January 24th 2010.

Video and information courtesy of Vernissage Art TV

Sudden Intake | Your mother ate my dog

Music video for the band The Black Dog
Selected for The International Festival of Cinema and Technology in Los Angeles Feb 09.
Interesting animation from a young freelance designer. Made using Cinema 4D and AfterEffects

Sudden Intake from YOUR MOTHER ATE MY DOG on Vimeo.

Fotofestival | Images Recalled

From September 5 until October 25, 2009, the third edition of Fotofestival takes place in the German cities Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg. On display at Fotofestival(Images Recalled)are works by artists such as AES+F, Cao Fei, Thomas Hirschhorn, Peter Piller, Bettina Pousttchi, Sean Snyder, and VVORK. The festival has been curated by Esther Ruelfs, an art historian who specializes in photography, and Tobias Berger, an expert in Asian Pacific art.

Andreas Messerli | Baselworld 2009

An interesting one for students looking at exhibition design concepts and stand designs. An overview of Baselworld 2009 and Stands built by Andreas Messerli AG, Wetzikon, Switzerland.