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How We Work

Yesterday we looked at writers' rooms -- now let's turn to a related topic: how the actual work gets done. Rod McLaren has been posting tidbits on the creative process since 2004, collecting over one hundred fascinating entries in How We Work. It's a treasure trove of entertaining, often eccentric work behaviors. Here's an example from the post on Bill... READ ON

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5 Artistic Rivalries That Got Ugly

by Elizabeth Lunday 1. Voltaire exposes Rousseau as a Deadbeat Dad (5 times... READ ON

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The fine line between plugging and commemorating

Wow, I had no idea there was a Samantha Stevens--"Bewitched"--statue in Salem, MA. But there is, and she was part of a campaign TV Land launched in 2000, commemorating shows they planned on continuing in re-runs; other statues included Opie & Andy in Raleigh, NC, MTM's Mary Richards in Minneapolis, and Bob Newhart's Dr. Robert Hartley in Chicago. The 8-ft bronze Samantha was erected in June of '05, to the delight of some TV Land die-hards and the chagrin of some who didn't embrace the irony. Most recently,... READ ON

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Brian Piana's Textless Web Site Art

Artist Brian Piana has created a series of works based on website layouts, stripped of text and images. By removing the "content," the works expose a layer of visual design and information architecture which holds its own as art. From the Artist's Statement: I search for sites with ties to compelling personalities, engaging storylines, or controversial issues. The tapestry of connecting lines and iconographical shapes found in The Last 100 Offenders Executed in Texas (Who They Were and What They... READ ON

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8 Examples of Witty Knitting

If you can imagine it, you... well, maybe not you, but someone can knit it! Thanks to the internet, we can enjoy the creations of knitters who take a common craft and elevate it to an art form. 1. Culinary knitting Ms. Darcy's cupcakes look tasty, but they are hand-knitted. They come in all flavors, and in decorated versions for holidays. 2. Cinematic knitting Flickr user cakeyvoice knits figures from horror movies. These zombies are from Dawn of the Dead. Also check out her knitted musicians, such... READ ON

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Making an imprint

When my father poured a slab of cement to build a dog kennel, he called my family out into the yard to sign it before it dried. To date, that's the only time I've ever carved my name into anything--not a tree, not a bathroom wall, nothing. I've never even signed off in spray paint. The most I've done is hide a piece of a broken typewriter in a hard-to-reach place on my college campus. It was there six months later; not so sure about now. I'd love to track down some mottled birch in twenty years and hope... READ ON

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10 Things You Need to Know about 15 Minutes of Fame

1. Artist Andy Warhol coined the concept/phrase in 1968. 2. Warhol was actually born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928, to Slovak immigrants in a working class suburb of... READ ON

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Spam As Art

Every time I check my spam folder, I'm amused by the subject lines. They seem to fall into two categories: first, there are human-edited lines that try to trick me into clicking; second, there are crazy nonsense subjects, presumably assembled through some algorithm (most appear to use Markov Chains). I can usually distinguish the randomized stuff from subjects written by a human -- today I received the clearly human subjects: "Customer Notification," "CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!," "talk to me," and so on.... READ ON

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In the Beginning: Do a little dance!

Who said you can't have your cake and eat it too? Our new book In the Beginning's hitting stores in little over a week, and we've got a fat slice of fact waiting for you below. Enjoy! Dancing (for fun) Since dance doesn't leave behind artifacts, we can't really tell you who was the first caveman to get up and do a jig. (There's a little evidence of dancing in Egyptian tomb paintings) What we can tell you quite a lot about is... The Waltz This dance, which may get its name from... READ ON

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The Secret Life of Machines

I have fond memories of watching The Secret Life of Machines on The Discovery Channel in the early 90's -- back in the days when the channel was mostly about sharks and David Attenborough films. The Secret Life of Machines was written and presented by Tim Hunkin (with assistance from Rex Garrod) and broadcast in the UK in the late 80's and early 90's. The show was like an early version of MythBusters, minus the myths, and with more quirky animation. It was all about machines -- how they work, how to... READ ON