A piece we recently created, which was sadly unused due to the client deciding to go another direction.

Mash-ups, remixes and “reimaginings” are all common currency in the digital. But while the ease and diversity of the Internet allows for greater access to a broader cultural landscape than ever before, in truth artists have been “standing on the shoulders of giants” since time immemorial; collecting and reshaping existing work with their own authorial twists. Everything Is A Remix, by Kirby Ferguson, is a site dedicated to separating art into its component parts, to prizing apart the whole to reveal the references it makes to other works. Wider philosophical questions surrounding originality in art and the primacy of genre-motifs come naturally into play here, but first and foremost this is just great fun.

Parts one, two and three of the remixes can be seen here. Part 4 is in the making. But as a film nerd, I really enjoyed this video (below) on Kill Bill, by the arch-magpie Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino has never tried to hide his adulation for grindhouse schlock and the wonders of cult, explotation and B-movie kitsch; indeed, much of his attraction as a filmmaker derives from his extraordinary, encyclopedic knowledge of cinema, TV and music sub-cultures. Even knowing that, however, to see it laid bare here makes for great viewing (with some very cool editing).

Everything Is A Remix: KILL BILL from robgwilson.com on Vimeo.

(The use of the 1968 garage rock hit Nobody But Me by The Human Beinz, from 0’59” on this video, is a lovely touch. It was used in the Kill Bill Bride v Crazy 88 fight scene, but also to great effect on the soundtrack to The Departed (in the corner store fight scene) by that other master of cinematic quotation, Martin Scorsese. So wrapping it around this becomes a kind of double-referential nod in itself).

This gigantic beauty arrived today. We figured Elliott at 6'2" would be the best way to convey the scale of this shiny new Epson printer.

Scientific American magazine approached us to illustrate the theory of digital space, much similar to that of The Matrix. Our original commission to create the DPS for the article was so well received that it got promoted to the front cover.

Over 210 hours, using a variety of Micron pens and displaying the patience of a particularly patient monk, artist Miguel Endara recreated a photocopied image of his father in 3.2 million dots.

You can see detailed, zoom-able, high-res images of the picture on his website http://miguelendara.com/. A making-of video is below

Hero from Miguel Endara on Vimeo.

(via This Is Colossal)

Whether you are a designer, tech head, business owner....if you have 10 minutes, take the time to read this great article from Fast Company on the "explosion of opportunity" that awaits in the changing business climate:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/162/generation-flux-future-of-business

"Washington-based painter Tyree Callahan modified a 1937 Underwood Standard typewriter, replacing the letters and keys with color pads and hued labels to create a functional “painting” device called the Chromatic Typewriter."

(via This is Colossal)

The Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery in London is proving to be one of the most successful exhibitions ever, for good reason.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2011/may/09/leonardo-da-v...

The Guardian Newspaper has created this very cool interactive guide to some of his work, "from grotesque caricatures to sublime nudes", and it is well worth checking out...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/interactive/2011/nov/09/leonardo-...

And something positive for the holidays. The Holstee Manifesto on film:

(via Brainpickings: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/11/10/holstee-manifesto-life...)

Just saw this on the New York Times site. Unexpected to say the least. And all the better for that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/garden/ice-cube-on-eameses-and-his-hom...