Day 4917: Stop-Motion Music Video &Japan's Recycling Robots.

"Tears": graphite, water, canvas.

                                                                       

  

Want music?

    Click: Luther Vandross, So Amazing.

2GN2S

A Stop-Motion Music Video on 300 Ceramic Tiles

For three months, Julia Fernandez would spend the hours between 8 a.m. and noon waiting for the right light to filter into her Brooklyn studio. Once the shared space was properly lit, she would swap out a grid of 12 ceramic tiles and take overhead photos that would eventually be pieced together into the charming stop-motion animation, “Dirt” <-here. The music video for an acoustic song by LA based Emory, Ferndez's film cycles through 300 tiles that reveal a small rabbit hopping across the frame, children running and a spindly, line drawn flower blooming and wilting. Each carved character is set within the grainy patchwork, which highlights the medium's oddities through irregular edges and differences in glazes. Combined with physical manipulations required of stop-motion, the ceramic animation is a poetic ode to an unlikely pg of tactile media.

In a conversation with It’s Nice That, Fernandez shares that she first melded the two after etching a small cup that doubled as a zoetrope. Also featuring a rabbit and a flower, this playful compilation is a clear precursor to the techniques and characters that shine in “Dirt.” “Seeing a material that’s supposed to be still and permanent begin to move felt like magic, like I had cracked some code in reality to create movement that should otherwise be impossible,” she said.

Watch more of the artist’s ceramic animations on Instagram.

Sleek, watchful, and quietly relentless. In Japan, the tide now turns with technology. Floating recycling robots glide through coastal waters, autonomously scanning for plastic waste before it drifts into deeper seas. Solar-powered and AI-guided, they navigate harbors and shorelines, gently collecting bottles, bags, and debris — protecting marine ecosystems before damage is done. With soft arms and silent motors, they clean without disturbing the rhythm of the ocean.

It’s guardianship by machine, not because the sea can’t fight back, but because it shouldn’t have to. And sometimes, the best rescue arrives quietly, drifting just beneath the surface, doing what must be done.

 

  

 

A 3+ minute video,  Dear Alice, here.

 

Just because ...

The SILVER-CHEEKED HORNBILL  

A Bird With an Impossible Beak 

The silver-cheeked hornbill stands out instantly thanks to its huge curved bill and the pale silver patch on its face. It lives in forested and savanna regions of eastern Africa, spending much of its time moving between trees in search of fruit, its main food source. It will also eat insects and small animals when available.

That oversized bill isn’t just for feeding. It’s used to reach fruit, display dominance, and plays a key role during nesting season. During nesting, the female seals herself inside a tree cavity, leaving only a narrow opening for the male to deliver food.

 Monday's Smiles ... 

 

 

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.

  

 

  

Day 4916: Washi tape & Singapore's Otter Patrol.

"Disparate": junk collage, inks, digital.

       

                                                                       

  

Want music?

    Click: Paul Simon, You Can Call Me AL.

2GN2S

 When I saw "New Washi Tape Paintings by 

Nasa Funahara", I knew it was too good not to share ...

Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” recreated in washi tape. The piece was part 

Vermeer Tribute Exhibition in Japan.

The Japanese artist Nasa Funahara’s obsession with washi

 tape began with the simple hobby of collecting. 

Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s depiction of a face comprised of human bodies, recreated in masking tape

It was in college when Nasa decided to use her masking tape 

as part of a class assignment and the response was huge. 

So she began replicating famous paintings using only washi.

Four years ago, Nasa had a collection of roughly 450 rolls 

of masking tape, and that collection has since grown. 

What’s also grown is Nasa Funahara’s body of work. 

a recreation of Jakuchu Ito’s tiger

“Both my parents worked in the aeronautics and space industry,” explains Nasa. “On the day before I was born, Mamoru Mohri went into space on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. To commemorate the occasion my parents named me Nasa.” 

a recreation of Jakuchu Ito’s golden pheasant

Do you know washi tape? Do you have washi tape?

Washi is a type of Japanese paper tape that is typically made from natural fibers like hemp or bamboo. Some varieties of washi are made using the mitsumata shrub or gampi tree, two plants native to Japan.

Thanks to its durability and unique style, this beautiful tape 

has become a popular staple for all kinds of arts. 

Acquired over the years, I have 94, I counted, not counting my masking tapes. I bet there are artists reading this who have much more? The variety of colors and designs pull you in, but when you use it, you usually have lots left? And so, mine just sit there.

I am embarrassed to have accumulated so many. As you might know, Japanese washi tape comes in all sort of colors, patterns and designs. And at ($2 -$3) a pop, they’re pretty and an easy impulse purchase. I hate to waste anything, my Mom was real big on that. I am giving away a lot of art supplies, but it doesn't seem to "make a dent?" If Miss Funahara was closer, I'd be glad to drive over and drop off my collection. Another problem to solve? Maybe a collage? Yeah, that'll happen.

You might hear stories about otters being “trained” to patrol reservoirs and control invasive fish, as if they are part of a planned wildlife program. The reality is simpler and, in its own way, even more impressive: otters are highly intelligent predators, and when their habitats support them, they naturally hunt and shape what lives in the water.

What makes this idea so appealing is the principle behind it. A balanced ecosystem can do work that machines and chemicals often try to force, but with far less disruption.

Sometimes the best solution is not adding more technology. It is letting nature do what it already knows how to do.

 

  

 

A special 4+ minute video, Magic pothole, here.

 

 

Just because ...

Hawaiian Honeycreeper

 Sunday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.