Hi! I’m Gravity, and I’ll be your waiter this evening

Filed under Found on the Web

Shades of the future that never was! A restaurant in Nuremberg has done away with waiters (in a completely humane way) by replacing them with a gravity-feed system and networked computers at every table.

The kitchen’s above the dining room. Customers order using touch-screen computers at their tables, and when their food’s ready it slides down gently on spiral rails.

I suppose that to complete the circuit you’d want more rails leading to dishwashers in the basement, but for now it looks like the jobs of buspersons are secure. More here.

This is somehow like the automated parking garage that was designed in Germany a couple of years back. A trend in vertically oriented job reductions?

Lawrence Northey’s Robot, Rocket, and Ray Gun Sculptures

Filed under Found on the Web

Lawrence Northey’s sculptures of robots, rockets, and ray guns (oh my!) are what you’d have to call out of this world.

Like the artists who created the Faberge eggs he admires, Northey uses a variety of materials and techniques. Most of these pieces feature brass, stainless steel, and glass. Sometimes cast aluminum or cast resin parts are also used, typically hand painted to give a uniform finish with the other parts.

While most of these pieces are pure sculpture, in sizes around thirty inches in heght, there’s also the amazing “Dave the Robot Lamp”, which lights up in eerie warm colors – pretty dang extraterrestrial, in fact.

Northey does commission work as well as selling made-to-order series – like “Dave the Robot“, at right, and the cast aluminum “Silver Edition Raygun“.

One of the fascinating things about these works is that although they’re obviously inspired by retro-futuristic toys from the 30s through the 50s, they’re made with exacting craftsmanship and detail that recalls early European art deco objects. Consequently you’ll find that they’re priced as artworks, not knicknacks. Judging by the samples on his site they’re worth every penny.

Some of his commissioned work is animatronic – lighting up. moving, and making sounds, even music. And like your chronically project-obsessed correspondent, he’s tying these characters and ideas together into a story which he calls “Wired City”.

Not to be missed!

One-of-a-kind Ceramic Ray Guns by West Magoon

Filed under Found on the Web

West Magoon could be the name of a mysterious galactic cluster that emanates destructive varioplasmic rays, or – possibly – the moniker of an art deco city floating in the clouds over Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom. In fact, in a perfect world it would probably be both of those things.

In this imperfect one, though, it’s the name of a ceramicist in Wyoming who does lots of interesting work – none more interesting, though, than his one-of-a-kind series of ceramic ray guns with Raku glazes.

Each one of these ray guns is made individually from a series of parts turned on a potter’s wheel. They’re assembled and glazed, mounted, and named after science fiction authors or the characters from their stories. Every one is unique.

Shown here are the “Ming the Merciless” ray gun and the “Harrier of the Golden Horde” model. Each of these two has already sold as I write this, but there are many more to choose from – and he doesn’t seem to be done with them yet. At present there are two pages of these Raku blasters and an archive of those which have already gone on to arm their Omniscient Overlords. Of which, dear reader, you could be one.

“A Summoner” by Aasa Ooraikul

Filed under Computer Graphics, Found on the Web

“A Summoner” is really just a brief scene, followed by clips that show off the modeling work that lies behind it. There’s a lovely storybook mood and style here and it feels quite painterly. It’s worlds away from the harder edged photorealistic work we generally expect from 3D rendering applications (here, Maya).

Warning: it loaded excruciatingly slowly for me. Go make some coffee or catch up on your email, have patience, and enjoy.

Steampunk Extravaganza: “A Gentleman’s Duel” from Blur Studio

Filed under Computer Graphics, Found on the Web

Blur Studio continues its progress from an in-game animation house through short films and, ultimately, to features with “A Gentleman’s Duel” – an eight minute 3D animated short in which a Frenchman and an Englishman vie for the superbly endowed favors of a noblewoman and, one assumes, her equally well endowed estate. It’s built like a brick mansion.

Matters quickly get out of control as they begin a duel in their Steampunk robotic combat suits. Mayhem ensues.

This short also marks Blur’s transition to Softimage software – they’ve long been a 3DS Max house – and the film became a testbed for their work with that software. It’s not 100% Softimage, but they’ve obviously done a fine job integrating Softimage into their pipeline.

This is Blur Studio‘s fifth ambitious short film. They’ve already collected one Oscar nomination for their earlier works.

“Stilt Walkers” by Alexis van der Haeghe

Filed under Computer Graphics, Found on the Web

“Stilt Walkers” is a beautiful, four minute student film by Alexis van der Haeghe of Belgium. It reminds me of those old days when I’d zoom across California in my art nouveau airship, investigating the clouds and having adventures. Except that I didn’t do that, of course. But watching this boy have his own adventures sure makes me wish I had, and I almost feel like I did.

Clad in an aviator’s helmet and plus-fours, the boy is clearly having the time of his life until he encounters a pair of comedia-del-arte style giants on towering stilts. Complications ensue, all in fine style. Highly recommended.

The artist has since done some work on a movie trailer and a CD, but seems to be working away, at the moment, on a children’s book. A personal project – glad to see that. I’m always interested in what we can do when we’re not bound by what someone else thinks they can profit from.

Make your own DNA Necklace

Filed under Found on the Web

All right, first things first. Why the heck would you want to put your DNA in a necklace?

1. A gift for your spouse so that he/she/it can clone you, if things go badly at the office tomorrow.

2. A chance to sprinkle your own DNA very far away from the crime scene. In a way that conclusively proves you weren’t there at the relevant time.

3. A little memory aid, just in case you experience a vacant moment in the middle of reciting your chromosome pairs. If this is you, please don’t come to that party on Saturday.

Or.. something. Anyway, since we’ve established your motive (you can tell that I’m all about the second reason) the vampirewear.com web site offers you detailed and, for all I know, accurate instructions on how to sample, isolate and contain your own DNA – all so they can sell you a stylish vial to keep it in. See? Stylin’.

This nugget of academic dementia was thrown through the Secret Laboratory’s skylight by Jean Roth.

Frank Buchwald’s “Machine Lights”

Filed under Found on the Web

Frank Buchwald’s gallery for his series of “Machine Lights” sculptures is either a collection of what I’d like to install at the Secret Laboratory, or maybe a collection of things I wish I’d designed myself.

Some of these look like something that crept out of Tesla’s brain, while others are more the sort of Buck Rogers chic that I hope is my own province.These are artfully made objects, certainly not toys – spend some time with those detail shots to see just what Buchwald’s up to here. There are hand-blown glass bulbs and tubes, and individually machined and finished parts in steel and brass.

I just love the demented craftsmanship in these. The lights are available in limited numbers, but as far as I can tell there’s no pricing information available unless you contact the artist. I’ve got a feeling they’ll be beyond my means unless this ATM-Dispersal Ray I’m tinkering with works out. But by all means – go look!

“Solar”, by Ian Wharton and Edward Shires

Filed under Computer Graphics, Found on the Web

“Solar“, by Ian Wharton and Edward Shires, is a short animated film that shows us just how badly things may go wrong even in a universe that runs on sustainable, low technology mechanics. Well. That’s sort of what it shows us.

Fortunately even low tech cosmology has some built in safeguards.

The two artists behind the film recently graduated from the Cumbria Institute of the Arts, where their film took a best-of-show award. It’s got a lovely paynes’ grey and sepia palette for its steampunkish clockwork universe, and it’s easy to see why it won in competition.