The Amazing Stuff

Much of what makes photography such an incredible craft is the fact that skilled photographers can bring a sense of permanence to what would otherwise be a fleeting moment. Photography is one skill that revels in the idea of stasis. It is one of few methods through which we can challenge the relentless march of time.

But what if we could capture the essence of that onward march without the use of motion pictures? What if we could illustrate the passage of a day in one still image? Acclaimed photographer Stephen Wilkes set out to answer those questions a few years ago, and the resulting series is a permanent interpretation of life’s transience.

To achieve this effect, Wilkes photographs the same location from a fixed angle 1,500 times over the course of 24 hours.

The Americas Cup, San Francisco

He then chooses the best photos from each session and blends them together seamlessly into one image.

Central Park View from Essex House, New York City, 2014

The transition from day to night and back again dictates much of the human experience. Because this is a shared phenomenon, Wilkes decided to choose subjects that people around the world could relate to in a similar way.

Flatiron, New York City, 2010

“I photograph from locations and views that are part of our collective memory,” he writes.

Coney Island, New York City, 2011

According to the artist, these images help us visualize “our conscious journey with time.”

Millennium Park, Chicago, 2013

The photographs illustrate concepts of shared time and space with the refreshing concision of still images.

Trafalgar Square, London, 2014

It’s easy to get lost in abstract ideas when considering the ways in which we’re affected by time. These images cut down on all of that abstraction with a visual representation of the idea.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, 2015

While many try and fail to wrap their minds and their words around what it means to watch time pass us by, Stephen Wilkes articulates the idea with poignant images that need no explanation.

Shanghai, China, 2012

(via BoredPanda)

If you live in the New York area and want to see these incredible images up close, be sure to stop by the Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery sometime between now and January 9, 2016. You can check out more of Wilkes’ work on his website, and keep up with his latest projects on Instagram.

The installations of artist Wolfgang Stiller take everyday objects and turn them into powerful, unsettling images. Such is the case with his Matchstick Men installation, which is comprised of human-sized matchsticks that are topped with blackened human heads.

They’re at once serene and mysterious, but their charred appearance also makes them seem a bit frightening. So what do they mean?

Stiller isn’t big on explaining his art. He’d rather inspire viewers to come to their own conclusions.

His installations are site- specific, meaning that the arrangement is based on the space itself.

The matches were made using bamboo beams and a few head-shaped molds that were left over from an earlier project.

They almost look like totems when they’re all lined up.

The serene face of each piece is at odds with its charred appearance.

The pieces definitely bring to mind images of death.

Standing, lying, and leaning in the exhibition space, the Matchstick Men seem otherworldly. They remind us of memorials, grave markers, and sign posts. They’re human, but not quite human enough.

Are they designed to strike fear into us, or are they meant to incite calming contemplation? Are they a literal representation of being burnt out, or are they merely interesting works of art?

Stiller sometimes arranges them into specific configurations, like this tally design.

These arrangements add different dimensions to each cluster.

The addition of other objects has a similar effect.

If you look carefully, you can even find some un-charred heads lying on the ground.

(via Beautiful Decay, Fubiz)

An installation like this has no definite meaning. Viewers are left to their own devices when it comes to drawing conclusions about the work. If you’re not interested in getting too mentally or emotionally involved, you could simply appreciate the craftsmanship of these strange, eerie sculptures. You can see more of Stiller’s work on his website.

More than half of Estonia is covered by dense forests, all of which are open to backpacking, hiking, and camping. To celebrate the beauty and harmony of nature, as well as how forests factor into many aspects of Estonian culture, architecture students at the Estonian Arts Academy decided to create structures that would help hikers appreciate the rich tapestry of sounds — and the beautiful silence — that these forests have to offer.

What did they build? Giant megaphones!

The megaphones were assembled by students of the Estonian Arts Academy, and were designed by student Birgit Õigus.

They all worked as a team under the supervision of their advisors.

Made of wood, the megaphones have a sleek, geometrical design. They even caught the attention of popular Estonian author Valdur Mikita, who described them as being audio libraries of the forest. “It’s a place to listen, to browse the audible book of nature — there hasn’t really been a place like that in Estonia before.”

The megaphones were shipped to the Pähni Nature Center in Võrumaa, near the Latvian border.

They were installed in one of Estonia’s many thick, wild forests.

Hikers can stop and enjoy them whenever they want.

While sitting in one of these megaphones, one can hear the unique sounds of the forest, from the chirping of birds to the rustling of leaves. Each megaphone is positioned to capture the sounds of a different area of the forest, so no two megaphones ever amplify the same thing.

The wooden structures also double as small shelters for hikers.

They make perfect little seating areas for adventurers who need a break.

They may look a little odd in the middle of all these trees, but there’s something kind of magical about them, too.

(via BoredPanda)

The megaphones are free to any and all hikers, and their creators hope that pausing for a moment in these strangely beautiful structures will help people appreciate the forests of Estonia — and nature in general. The Nature Center is also pleased with the addition of the megaphones, and representatives say that they may even hold small seminars in them in the future.

Email the ViralNova team!

Waiting for a train, even if you have a distraction, can lead to some surprisingly introspective thoughts. In the company of hundreds of faceless strangers, the mind has plenty of time to wander. There’s something about being in transit that turns everyday people into philosophers.

That’s the feeling that software developer Alan Donohoe and designer Steven Parker wanted to capture when they created The Waiting Wall and put it up for public display in England’s bustling Brighton Station. It looks like a board that would display arrivals and departures, but instead, it broadcasts deep, dark, anonymous secrets.

The idea came to Donohoe while he was waiting for a train in Brighton Station.

The pair asked people to divulge their secrets anonymously online so that they could be displayed on the board.

The finished product now hangs above the actual train times.

Many messages take on the lonely, melancholy tones of late-night confessions.

They speak of the fear, anxiety, and trepidation that we’ve all felt at one point or another.

These secrets tell stories of betrayal, infidelity, addiction, and personal failure.

We all understand the pain of these feelings in our own way.

Why such a melancholy topic? Well, Donohoe says that the project has two sides. On one hand, it’s a statement about feeling pressured by society to be happy at all times. He sees this as an impossible, unhealthy goal.

But at the same time, the brutal honesty of these confessions may help people feel less alone. We all have secrets that we’d rather not talk about, but at least we’re not the only ones.

Donohoe was inspired by the work of author and philosopher Alain de Botton, who proposed an electronic, global version of Jerusalem’s famous Wailing Wall that would be accessible to all people.

The creative developer hopes that his project will help people feel “comforted by having a space where they can share these thoughts.” He continues by pointing out that “some of life’s biggest questions don’t have any answers, but there’s some consolation in knowing that we haven’t been singled out for persecution, and that we’re all battling the same things.”

While there have been some instances of spam, Donohoe is happy with how honest and forthcoming most people have been.

He’s glad to give people a safe space to talk about the things that keep them up at night.

(via Distractify, Brighton Digital Festival, The Guardian)

The Waiting Wall will be on display through September 27 at Brighton Station, with regularly changing secrets supplied via the project’s website, where you can submit a secret of your own — anonymously, of course. It’s part of the Brighton Digital Festival, which celebrates digital innovation in Brighton and Hove.

Since May, an ethereal sculpture has seemed to float over Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway. It spans the space, where an elevated highway once separated the waterfront from the city’s downtown region, and hovers some 600 feet overhead.

The title of this sculpture is As If It Were Already Here, and it was created for the city’s public art program by sculptor Janet Echelman. She used a special, lightweight twine that has a strength 15 times that of steel, yet sways and ripples gently in the slightest breeze.

The monumental installation is an interpretation of and homage to Boston’s history, as well as its progress.

Draped over three skyscrapers, it symbolizes the interconnectedness, adaptability, and strength of the city and its people.

It also shows how everything affects everything else. “When any one of its elements moves, every other element is affected,” Echelman explains. “It is a physical manifestation of interconnectedness and strength through resiliency.”

The sculpture also appears different based on the light. During the day, it almost blends into the sky.

But at night, it glows.

Attached to the surrounding skyscrapers 600 feet in the air, As If It Were Already Here was created using some 500,000 knots, mostly done by hand. And although it looks like a piece of lace floating above the city, in reality, the sculpture weighs in at about 1,000 pounds. It also glows with its own light, thanks to light and tension sensors.

Depending on where you are, the sculpture changes shape.

Echelman says that her installation’s shape- and color-changing properties are to inspire people to try and see it from different angles, and thus explore this area of the city.

It changes colors based on motion and tension.

Installing such a large sculpture is not easy.

In all, the sculpture uses 100 miles of twine and reaches 600 feet at its widest point. It spans about half an acre, or 20,250 square feet.

As If It Were Already Here will be on display through October 2015 in the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, and visitors are encouraged to check it out from different angles and vantage points, whether strolling through the park or lying in the grass.

You can also see more of Echelman’s work on her website.