The Floating Brain

Photograph April 15, 2013
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
IC 1848: The Soul Nebula 
Image Credit & Copyright: Bob Andersson

Explanation: Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of Aethopia. More specifically, a large star forming region called the Soul Nebula can be found in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, who Greek mythology credits as the vain wife of a King who long ago ruled lands surrounding the upper Nile river. The Soul Nebula houses several open clusters of stars, a large radio source known as W5, and huge evacuated bubbles formed by the winds of young massive stars. Located about 6,500 light years away, the Soul Nebula spans about 100 light years and is usuallyimaged next to its celestial neighbor the Heart Nebula (IC 1805). The above image appears mostly red due to the emission of a specific color of light emitted by excited hydrogen gas.

For months while I have been walking around NY on my errands, I noticed all the lovely media attention to such wonderful films adding a sense of quality to our lives.

Here is my little iPhone Thank You ePostcard to those working in the film industry making sure we are never left without meaningful entertainment.

Do-Ho Suh addresses issues of identity, memory, and relationships. Son of the famous Korean ink-painter Suh Se-Ok, Do-Ho Suh is a leading figure in the transnational avant-garde generation of Korean artists who came of age in the late 1990s, and his work eloquently represents a dual consciousness between East and West.

An imposing sculpture, Karma extends from the ceiling to the floor: Two large legs, seen in mid-stride, walk across the gallery on top of hundreds of Lilliputian figures. Although at first Karma might seem like a commentary on authoritarian rule or military oppression, literally depicting the downtrodden masses, the large figure’s suit pants and dress shoes dispel this notion. Furthermore, the tiny figures seem to run ahead of the marching foot, anticipating his next step and reaching up in a gesture of support. Subverting typical expectations of power relations, the figures (both large and small) exist in interdependence, proceeding forward together. Karma invites the viewer to experience the gallery space in a new way. By projecting from the floor to the ceiling, by creating a sense of forward movement, Karma calls attention to the way people experience museum space, emphasizing the tension between an individual’s personal space and the larger space shared by the public.   http://www.mfah.org/art/detail/do-ho-suh-karma/

Farewell Old Friend;  Twinkie  1930’s - 2012

Kite flying at Coney Island … 

In the memory of Neil Armstrong…

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: Валенти́на Влади́мировна Терешко́ва; born March 6, 1937) is a retired Soviet cosmonaut and the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. In order to join the Cosmonaut Corps, Tereshkova was only honorarily inducted into the Soviet Air Force and thus she also became the first civilian to fly in space.^[1] During her three-day mission, she performed various tests on herself to collect data on the female body’s reaction to spaceflight.

Before being recruited as a cosmonaut, Tereshkova was a textile factory assembly worker and an amateur parachutist. After the dissolution of the first group of female cosmonauts in 1969, she became a prominent member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, holding various political offices. She remained politically active following the collapse of the Soviet Union and is still revered as a heroine in post-Soviet Russia.

Very smart and insightful guerilla art I’ve seen posted around Harlem in NYC.  Man Ray was right.. .the strongest art is reflective of the times you live in.