adam in the world

Ay ay ay, it can be hard to update. Hard, hard work... but here it is... an update.

The grand MAP OF SCIENCE!!

"As to what the image depicts, it was constructed by sorting roughly 800,000 scientific papers (shown as white dots) into 776 different scientific paradigms (red circular nodes) based on how often the papers were cited together by authors of other papers." LINK to a very nice article about it.

I like it so much when dry and hard science turns out to create the most intriguingly (my favorite word on this blog) beautiful visuals. There is a certain bit of ostranenie - estrangement in it.

The reason it looks like a feather boa is that from every node runs a line of key-words. HERE you'll find a huge version where you can read the words. And HERE is the most beautiful version of it - where you can buy a rather huge print of it too.

The image was constructed by Kevin Boyack and Dick Klavans. On their site mapofscience.com you'll find a simpler interactive version of the map that describes the idea and possible uses very well.

It is not a map of science, in essence. It's a map of text. In this case from a particular database of scientific papers. And therefore 'social science' is the blue worm in the extreme left of the diagram. Political science completely absent. Economics. Law. Philosophy. Litterature, poetry, drama. Could be nice to try the same on those. A virtual mental map of humanity. Which scaled down on the screen of the computer begin to again resemble a written sign.

With these words I'll ride into the night. Celebrating first of all that I got my first paycheck today. And secondly that I work for a city that has been run by social democrats for 100 years and therefore I have the day off tomorrow. I wish you all happy international worker solidarity.

Nicole Tran Ba Vang makes pretty fantastic images examening clothing, the skin and the (female) body. Several nice sets of photos on her site. The downside is that she doesn't actually make the clothes... which is a shame. On the other hand it has been seen before anyway. What's that Argentineans(?) name? The one with the bellybuttons- and nipples- handbags and clothing.

...now that I think about it - I should probably have more naked ladies on this blog. That always seem to be popular.

More skin then:

"... skin is the largest organ of the integumentary system ... accounting for about 15 percent of body weight."

'Fleece'
Originally uploaded by doublevelvet.Just a super nice picture from a very intriguing guy to follow on flickr - doublevelvet

Clones
Originally uploaded by MarcoVision / GenAid.com.

A seducing vision of a not so tempting future.

One of my all time favorite sets on flickr. They seem to be made with very simple means... but get a very convincing reality out of it.

Marco, who made these darned nice pictures, calls them GenAid... checking that out led me on to... genaid.com:

"Welcome to Genaid Corporation. We are a Cloning and Evolution Improvement clinic established in 2002, offering our expertise and products to improve .. YOU".

And they use such terms as Smart Evolution.

Not bad.

And while we're at it I'd better link back to my old post about Transhumanism... they really mean business.

Often, after late nights of painful work at arch.school I would go to the Christiania Jazzclub. Wednesdays and fridays. And i would sit there. And watch some guy from the music conservatory. Just blow out his art through his instrument. And i would be so jealous of the immediacy of his medium. Compared to the torturously slow process of architecture.

Here's a movie just about that. The song is 'giant steps' by John Coltrane. And the movie is made by Michal Evy. Send to me by cousin Axel. Nice.

Creating architecture is not about building houses. It's about imagining and representing space. Space always experienced over time. Always seen from a viewpoint.
And quite possibly occupied by human beings engaged in situations. Living through narratives. Trying to catch your gaze or their own. Negotiating their place in space. Taking it into possession.

This painting is Las Meninas, painted by Velazquez. Read a bit about the angles of mirrors , etc... here.

Dear Dubi has commented: "check out video 89 seconds at Alcazar, by Eve Sussman.
Its a tribute to Diego Valesquez's Las Meninas. really really intriguing work."

Interview with Eve Sussman

This seem to be an ongoing story... Picasso:

and even more at thee Forum ov Psychick Blah.

...My brother has now made me aware of the fact that Foucault in the 1st chapter of The Order of Things has a very thorough discussion of Las Meninas.

And you can download that very chapter as a pdf right HERE

The Chico Hamilton Quintet at the Newport Jazz Festival, 1958.

Chico behind the drums and everything else. Eric Dolphy on flute. Gabor Szabo on guitar and Fred Katz, I think, on cello.

Chico is the man.

I have a thing for maps at the moment. More to come. This is one of the first maps that names "America". Notice that it is put together of 12 seperate sheets. I particularly enjoy southern Africa and the incredible geometrics used to unfold the globe. And even more on map projections here. Got it from Odden's Bookmarks, The fascinating world of maps and mapping

My Serbian assistant Dubi just send me a link to a rather nice arch blog - inhabitat. Here's their mission statement (yes, they even have a mission statemen... they must mean business)...

GREEN DESIGN IS GOOD DESIGN
GOOD DESIGN IS GREEN DESIGN

Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future

... And they are even looking for contributing writers (and add sales preffesionals - yes they do mean business). From now on you can find their link juuuust to the left. Enjoy.

Do yourself a favour - read last sundays Doonesbury.

...oh, and remember to check the news, left column - this was on today:

Iran is to break new ground by setting up an architecture research center named after the renowned late Iranian architect Hadi Mirmiran.

Things are going on in the world. On and on.

Okidoki... heeeere weeee gooooooo.....
Back in business. With a stylish, easy to read, spanking new design. Overwhelming new functionalities. And more focused than ever. On subjects such as:

Urban Space

and

Bodies

I seriously doubt you could've thought of any subjects more exiting yourself. So lean back and enjoy a thrilling ride through such diverse places as Venice, Sundbyvester Square and the cheek of Duchamp.
Also you can now revel in the new popular functionalities, like the easy to navigate archives menu, the thematic labels (below each post), the automatic urban design news (sidebar, bottom) and the special ask a ninja video features (at the very bottom).

Finally - there's still a lot of open questions concerning the format of this... should I switch to Danish (a 50/50 mix I guess)... is the page design final (no it's not)... will anybody read this (probably only if i tell them)... and so on and so on.... so we'll see...

I apologize for not posting lately, but my deadline, may 24, is closing in on me.

Update: for more on long pork look here

Here's Petter doing a backflip on telemark skis...

He told me he had done it some months back when he was in France. So when he was leaving for Sweden last week I asked for some documentation... which he has now send me. How cool is he... I wonder why the landing has been cut out?!?

Jelk, an old Dutch easa giant (at least physically), wrote me a while back asking for help finding a new name for an architectural strudio, previously known as SuperNova. Well, the basic thing at stake here, and why I come into the picture, is that it should be a Nordic name (and I quote):

"Geert-Jan is jealous on the names of 'Ove Arup' and "Alvar Aalto". The new name should (even though it will be a new brand) kind of suggest a reference to the mythical virtual founder of the company."

Now, it is not an easy task to come up with a good scandiwanian name. Others have tried it with considerably limited succes like Häagen-Dazs. It doesn't sound "Nordic" at all. Not at all.

Well Geert-Jan has decided now. Bo Thomsen - a name so authentically Danish that I would never have thought of it myself. First of all Bo is a good short name, that should be pronounced with sufficient pressure and swallowed halfway through the O. Bo. Finally a -sen name. 85% of Danes have names ending on -sen. 0,0% ending on -dasz. Thank you.

Three cheers and hiphips and a short and a long one for Bo ThomsenAnd very congratulations.

For the interested reader here's a link to nordicnames.de and some recent statistics.

Originally uploaded by bryanboyer.

A little entry to strenthen the more strictly architecural side of this blog. Using CINEMA 4D Bryan Boyer has made this "parametric rig to control the skeleton of my housing project this semester. ... Once I develop this a bit more it's going to be time to merge it with the earlier experiments in applying cellular geometry to a surface-- skeleton meets skin."

Here's a plan and a sketch model made of pieces of lasercut walnut wood.

I got a message in my flickr-inbox today, from something called Schmap - that they've shortlistet two photos of mine for their soon to come Copenhagen guide. It's grafitti on the fence around Christiania:

Schmap seem to be a very interesting project:

"Every Schmap Guide comes with dynamic maps, useful links, playable tours, top picks, plus photos and reviews for 100s of sights and attractions, hotels, restaurants, bars, parks, theaters, galleries, museums..."

The Copenhagen guide (and lots of others) comes out sometimes in april. I'm pretty curious to see how they're portraying my city.

ATTENTION
ATTENTION

Finally, FINALLY, here it is, the view we've all been anticipating in breathless anxiety, Britney from behind, with Sean Prestons lil' head squeeeezing it's way out...

Originally uploaded by slackferno.

Originally uploaded by stonecalle.

I've been thinking about it and I kind of like this to be honest. The whole piece is just too much:
- The anti-abortion message (honest or not)
- The über-celebrity Britney Spears... naked.
- On a bear skin... where did that come from?
- Giving birth (and in that process showing it all)
- In a position that makes you think of the beginning of a pregnancy, rather than the end of it.

It's so too much that it ends up being quite complex and intriguing. Yes, I kind of like it.

Canned Eyes
Originally uploaded by Protection Island.

Today just a fast image... and while you're at it, do yourself a favour to check out the rest of his photo stream as well.

Cooming up soon: Britney from behind, Mcsweeney, more mr. Barney and the return of the Travel Companion - so stay tuned. And happy monday.

Sunday, sunday, they just keep coming. And as we know, here on Adam in the World every sunday is christmas. So rather than picking your nose or doing last weeks dishes, how about a little mathematical game or two...

Nim - an ancient game. The rules are very simple - remove as many stones/pearls/whatever from each row/heap. The player to remove the last has lost. In this flash version, Pearls Before Swine, you'll have to play the cynical gambler Juan. For a bit of game theory look here.

TactTix - is a simpler, easier, 2 dimensional version of Nim, invented by Piet Hein, a Danish scientist/thinker who are also responsible for games like Tangloids, Hex and the Soma Cube.

They're pure gymnastics for your brain and they are FREE. In other words you can't afford not to play.

organs
Originally uploaded by adampadam.

Here's what I've been doing most of the day - internal organs for my travel companion. They are part of a circuit for warm water - control of the temparature of the travel companions wax skin means control of it's viscosity. And thus how it receives imprints.

The organs are first shaped in polyurethane, tubes are attached and the whole thing covered in butter. Yes, butter. Then covered in several layers of liquid latex. When the latex is dry the tubes are pulled out and acetone is injected through the openings, this disolves the polyurethane and, wupti, I have 5 nice red latex bladders.