Department of Interestingness

The Sky Chapel of Ethiopia

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​From the Arts and Culture Unit

I think this place is amazing and full of story potential: A thousand feet above the Ethiopian desert sits a church carved into the side of a massive rock mountain. It's called Abuna Yemata Guh and it's over 1500 years old.

The ascent to reach the chapel involves a strenuous hike , crossing a rock bridge, a a vertical rock wall climb, then a narrow path with a 300 meter sheer drop on one side.

If you're afraid of heights, this isn't the pilgrimage for you...or maybe it's a way to overcome the phobia?

However, once inside the chapel there's beautiful well preserved fresco paintings of old testament prophets and new testament apostles.

Oh, and one more cool thing, there's an old monk who lives there. Not sure if he makes the ascent every day or if he just hangs out up there 24/7...but I'm getting Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade vibes from this.

Watch this incredible video here: LINK

-Jake​

Intricate Kowloon Walled City Drawing by Adolfo Arranz

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From the Office of Cutaways

Have you ever heard of the Kowloon Walled City? It was a block of buildings...or one mega building that house 50,000 inhabitants in Hong Kong:

It was demolished in 1994, and is now a garden park type thing.

Graphics journalist Adolfo Arranz, who specializes in those incredible infographics you might see in a newspaper or an issue of national geographic, decided to take on the challenge of doing a cutaway illustration of this city, and I gotta say he really nailed it.

Big image hosted here: LINK​

Making of thread posted here: LINK​

Order a print of it here: LINK​

Check out Arranz's website here: LINK​

-Jake

The Nutty Bubblepunk Vehicles of Luigi Colani

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From the Department of Interestingness, Office of Wheels

Luigi Colani was a german industrial designer active from the 1950's until the 2000s. Clearly ahead of his time by pushing the boundaries of design in every project he took on. Looking at his work I feel like I'm seeing a future that never was. I had seen this guy's work for years while growing up. (I wanted to be a car designer when I was a kid) but had forgotten about him until I saw his Super Truck in my twitter feed: LINK

I found a nice online repository of all of the vehicles he designed: LINK

Here's a few of my favorites:

The Largest Cave on Earth

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From the Exploration Unit of the Department of Interestingness

The largest gave on earth isn't big...it's MASSIVE. Gosh dang, I did not realized just how big until I saw this short film. Film maker Ryan Deboodt did the world a service by taking his drone and camera set up to Hang Son Doong to document its size in this peaceful yet awe inspiring short film.

You can see more of Deboodt's work here: LINK​

website: LINK​

Watch the film below:

(via Colossal)

Operation Night Watch

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From the Arts and Culture Unit of the Department of Interestingness

The Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands is undertaking the largest research and conservation project ever for Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch'. LINK

What they're doing is photographing and 3d scanning this 12x14 foot beast of a painting and at microscopic levels. They've released a 44.8 gigapixel image you can zoom all the way into here: LINK

Here's the painting:

Here's a close up of the Captain Frans Banninck Cocq's eye:

Here it is at the museum, where visitors can watch the restoration happening live:

Why all of this hubbub for this painting? This painting is famous and important because Rembrandt broke the rules with it. He was commissioned to paint a group portrait for a prominent military outfit. What he delivered was a painted story: a living scene, not a collection of stiff poses. Rembrandt was the first artist to paint figures in a group portrait actually doing something. The conventional rules of portrait painting at the time was to give each member of the group equal prominence. Instead, Rembrandt created the painter’s equivalent of a snapshot: a group of militiamen who have just moved into action and are about to march off. It was a controversial move, and the captain did not like it. Not one bit. But who's a household name today?

Carl Størmer's Spy Camera Street Photography, Circa 1893

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From the Department of Interestingness, in association with the Photography Desk in the Department of Creative Bank Accounting

In 1893 a mathematics student, 19 year old Carl Størmer, had a crush on a girl. Being the shy creeper that he was purchased a spy camera so he could get a photo of her without her consent.

He got that photo of her, but surprisingly the relationship never developed further than that. However, young Carl kept on taking candid photos of people on the streets of Oslo, and personally I'm grateful for these human snapshots.

Most photos from this time period are stuffy and posed making that time period seem distant and unrelatable. Størmer's photos peel back the formality and show us that these folks weren't so different from us. This kind of stuff is the closte to backwards time traveling I'll ever get, so I just bask in it from time to time.

Pteros

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From the Department of Interestingness, Prehistoric Studies Division

Found what might be the coolest website on the internet: Pteros.com, a website devoted entirely to pterosaurs: LINK

From the about page: Pteros took flight as a collaboration among software engineers, writers and artists to bring the general public the most comprehensive resource on our current knowledge of the world’s only flying reptiles, the pterosaurs.

It's organized so neatly, and makes the dizzying amount of pterosaurs that have been discovered something you can actually wrap your head around. Also, it's organized by artist, so that's cool too: LINK

-Jake

Wishing I was in Outer Mongola

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From the Department of Interestingness

This photoset of the Kazakh Nomads of Western MONGOLIA Dimitar Karanikolov has me really wanting to take a trip out there and hang with these people for a couple weeks. These guys have no internet, no electricity, no agriculture...the still practice the centuries old art of hunting with golden eagles.

I have a friend who goes to Mongolia every so often to study insects. Maybe I'll tag along the next time he goes.

See all the images here: LINK

-Jake

Insane Maneuvers by Firefighter Pilots

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From the Department of Interestingness:

This plane has a utilitarian coolness about it. It's not sleek at all, but there's an appeal to it's chunky squared off edges. And the things they are doing to get those fires out are incredible. Do you know how hard it is to fly that close to a mountain without crashing into it? Shout out to these cowboys!

Video 1: LINK

Video 2: LINK

Here's a shot from the ground: LINK

Apparently they do crash from time to time. If you scroll down you'll see one that didn't make it.

-Jake

On Sticking to your guns

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From the Inspirational Thought Unit:

Eric Carle (Who passed away last week, RIP) on a disagreement with his editor over the caterpillar having a stomach ache. Fascinating to see the depth of thought that went into this timeless book, and how you gotta stick to your guns if you truly believe in something:

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Aaaaaaaand….apparently this never happened.

In this twitter thread it is explained that this was all done as parody in a fake interview with him.

“The joke interview is from an April Fools issue of @parisreview. We know it was a parody, and not real, because Eric Carle's website lists the interviews he's done. This one is not on the list. And @parisreview hasn't re-tweeted the interview in memoriam.”

That aside, it’s still a good example (fabricated or not) of how you should know what you’re writing, what message you’re trying to share, so you don’t buckle under pressure from outside forces who disagree.

-Jake

My Top 5 Christmas Books

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From the Office of Book Acquisitions:

Christmas is just a couple weeks away and things are really getting cozy here at the Parker home. The tree is up and dressed, stockings are hung by the chimney with care, lights are strung up around the roof, there's ginger cookies on the counter, and Alison got out the big stack of Christmas children's books for us to read. The kids are too old for these books, but whatever, we all love reading them no matter what age we are.

I thought for this week I'd share my 5 favorite Christmas children's books. These are books I find exceptional, both in story and art, and think they belong in every home library. I wish I could show you all the art inside of them! You'll just have to check them out from the library, or order them for yourself to see all the amazing illustrations.

And of course I'm always on the look out for good Christmas books. If there's one you think I should know about, one that you love and read every year, let me know!

1) The Broken Ornament by Tony DiTerlizzi

I'm a long time fan of Tony DiTerlizzi. Tony is a remarkable storyteller and illustrator. His characters are infused with life and magic. This book only came out last year, but I can see it becoming a classic. In this book, Jack accidentally breaks an ornament releasing a fairy who turns the house into what is essentially an extension of the North Pole with elves, reindeer, snowmen, and more filling up the rooms.

Tony's website: LINK

Get the book here: LINK

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2) I'll Be Home For Christmas by Holly Hobbie

Holly Hobbie is a master of watercolor and this book is one of her finest. I look at some of these illustrations and scratch my head at how she thought to work the paint that way, and how I would've screwed it up. What's most impressive about her art is the light. A good chunk of the story in this book happens under moonlight, and somehow she makes those pages as vibrant and bright as the interior shots.

Holly Hobbie's wikipedia page: LINK

Get the book here: LINK

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3) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Illustrated by Carter Goodrich

My copy of this book has seen better days, it looks like someone spilled eggnog on it or something. This is a special book. Charles Dickens used to do readings of a Christmas Carol for public audiences. (Can you imagine attending one of those?!) When he first started doing these they took 3 hours for him to read an edited version of the book. The more of these he did the more he trimmed and refined the story down. Keeping just enough to have the dramatic effect he was going for without any of the fluff, he got it down to a hot 90 minutes. He recorded all of these cuts and changes in his personal hand-annotated prompt copy of the book, essentially making the perfect read-aloud version of A Christmas Carol, and that's what was turned into this book.

And that would've been enough to make for a great little Christmas book, but then the publisher went and got a young Carter Goodrich to illustrate the thing, and he just knocked it out of the park. Goodrich would go on to design characters for almost every animated film from 2005 and on. I'd really like to see this story animated with the characters he designed for this book. Amazing.

Carter Goodrich's portfolio: LINK

Get the book here: LINK (out of print, you can only find used copies)

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4) When Santa Was A Baby by Linda Bailey, Illustrated by Genevieve Godbout

I just got this book a couple weeks ago. I had been made aware of Godbout's work from a Mary Poppin's book Alison got me from Disneyland. When I was looking her up I saw she illustrated a Christmas book, so I bought it as a little treat for myself. Godbout has a vintage 50's flair to her work. Her edges are soft, her colors are rich, and her shape language reminds me of Mary Blair.

Genevieve Godbout's portfolio website: LINK

Get this book here: LINK

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5) Santa Calls by William Joyce

This copy has been well loved over the years. I probably owe it to myself to get a new one. This is, hands down, my favorite of all Christmas Books. It has mystery, adventure, and peril. It has a beautiful message about friendship and loyalty. It's filled with clever details, and artistic flourish. (I mean, just look at that monogram on the cover, would ya?) This is what a picture book should be, if you are ever looking for an example.

William Joyce is also one of my all time favorite creators. He's a storyteller at heart with southern charm (he's native to Louisiana) and a unique 1930's meets space-age visual style. He can spin a yarn with the best of them, and even his Instagram account is filled with stories on every post. If you ever want a master class in how to compose an image for a square canvas, study his books.

I also have the honor of calling him a friend. We met back in 2003 where I was an assistant of sorts on some projects he was doing, and we've kept in touch all these years.

William Joyce's Website: LINK

Get the book here: LINK

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That's it! Hope you are able to hold these books in your hands some day. Merry Christmas!

-Jake

Japan's remotest torii gates, as captured by Ronny Behnert

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From the Department of Creative Bank Accounting, Photography Desk

Striking photos of Torii Gates.

Photographer Ronny Behnert uses long exposures to get these shots, and I assume some photoshop to eliminate background elements. Regardless, the effect is mesmerizing. Looking at this gallery lowers my blood pressure, and helps me to pause and reflect a little about the veil between the mundane and the sacred.

Check out more of Behnert's INCREDIBLE photography here: LINK

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Via (@UrbanFoxxxx)

The Crystal Weapon Tribe of Prehistoric Spain

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From the Department of Interestingness:

Just found out about these 5000 year old crystal weapons archeologists found in a series of megalithic tombs in Spain.

They found the remains of 25 people inside the tombs, and it is believed that all of the people owned the weapons collectively, meaning that they did not belong to one individual specifically.

More info here: LINK

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Okay, now I want to incorporate crystal weapons into a character design, or figure out how to fit it in one of my stories.

-Jake