HGNC Haiku Generator

Cutting edge biological science is a field populated with jargon indecipherable to the lay person that requires the near artistic hands of a biologist to paint the image of life. Comparably, Japanese poems known as haikus have for centuries been used to paint scenes of nature.

HGNC Haiku randomly generates haikus using abbreviations of the 24,000+ known human genes from the Human Genome Organization. The abbreviations were compared against a dictionary leaving a list of those closely matching words in English. Then the number of syllables was estimated for each abbreviation. The Perl scripts used are hosted on Sourceforge.net

The generated haiku presented below, entitled Diablo and the Lamb, illustrates the necessity for imagination and knowledge to connect ideas into a cohesive story in any facet of life.

Sweet Jebus! Simpsonzu & Super Happy Fun Futurama Show

The characters of the Simpsons and Futurama as anime characters by Space Coyote on DeviantART.

Long story short: Bongo Comics, Matt Groening's comic book company, is hiring me to do the pencils for a short manga-style Simpsons comic. Also, I've been contacted by 20th Century Fox. They want me to do work for them somehow. I might get a design job for the upcoming new Futurama series!

Blue Cascade

Blue Cascade (1280x1024): A subcellular microcosm using basic elements to highlight the simplicity and richness of Nature with various elements to represent DNA replication, bacterial cells, enzyme complexes and signaling pathways.

Donna Ricci: Photoshopped

Above are photoshopped images of Donna Ricci, a gothic model, as widescreen 1280x800 wallpapers. The original images are from her modeling management company, Wicked Talent, website. Her claim to fame is being the model for the the character of Death in the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. A claim that has been disputed on Fetish Gossip and the Goth Bible.

The Names of Deceased Iraqi Civilians

On December 12, 2005, President Bush put the number of deaths of Iraqi civilians at 30,000. Later, an estimate by the Hassan Salem of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) put the figure at 150,000, while a study in the British medical journal The Lancet published in October puts the figure at 655,000. In all these estimates, the lives of these Iraqis have been turned into mere figures stripped of the hopes, ambitions, and the contributions these individuals might have made to a future Iraq. The image above presents the names of about 400 individuals gathered from a list created by Iraqi Body Count, which contains approximately 3,700 names. Individuals under 18 are highlighted in red, and the larger a name appears the younger the victim was.

Strathmore Artist Member Exhibit

On Thursday night, Strathmore held a reception for its 15th Annual Strathmore Artist Membership Juried Exhibition which runs from Feburary 25 through April 8 at the Strathmore Mansion. The exhibition is made of 116 works selected from 235 entries, which included sculptures, photography, paintings, computer generated images, and fabric art pieces.

Nancy Ungar, a DC area art critic who works for the Bethesda Gazette, was the juror. First place went to Insook Lee's "Psychomancy", second to Edward L. Kuff's "Evening Reverie", and third place went to Karen Stewart for "Brookside Lilies".



Images shown (Left to Right): "Street Balloons" by Dave Montgomery (Digital Compostion/Archival), "Monet Bouquet" by Marsha Liebl (Photography), "Cap on Chair" by Duncan Whitaker (Giclee/photograph), "Blossom at Night" by Ozge Alper (Watercolor), and "Luna" by Joanne Miller (Gelatin silver print)

Cupidity

Cupidity is an art exhibit by 34 regional artists and writers. The art is inspired by personal ads of individuals attempting to reconnect with passing strangers. The second component of the exhibit is a second ad composed from the perspective of an encouter with a stranger near the artwork. The art exhibit runs from Febuary 9 through March 4. Cupidity includes the following sets of artists/writers:

Albert Schweitzer / Katherine Thompson
Alexandra Silverthorne / Heidi Mordhorst
Anna U Davis / Susan Leonardi
Dana Ellyn Kaufman / Charlie Barnett
David Wallace / Mary Kay Zuravleff
Ed Bisese / Levi Asher
Elaine Langerman / Caryn Thurman
Glenn Friedel / Patrick Holway
Greg Ferrand / R R Angell
Helga Thomson / Rebecca Pope
Jean Beebe / Dennis Greza
Kim Bentley / Katie McCaskey
Kirk Waldroff / Dorian Hamilton
Matt Sesow / Doreen Peri
Mike Janis / Claudia Rousseau
Scott Brooks / Frank Warren
Warren Craghead / Roger Noyes

Wall Snatchers

An art exhibit called Wall Snatchers opened up in a former Georgetown Staples store at 3307 M St. presented by Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran. The exhibit is showcasing graffiti and street art from Boston, Florida, New York, and DC. The exhibit runs until March 26; gallery hours are Friday 6-10 PM and Saturday and Sunday 12-8 PM. The artists being featured include Bask, Eon, Faile, fi5e, Mister Never, Nick Z, and Tes One.

Interface

The Fraser Gallery, one of Bethesda's 11 art galleries, has an exhibition, which is a mix of contemporary art and technology.


Philip Kohn's ~$3000 piece, the Looking Glass, uses a tablet pc, a video camera, and custom software to produce small video clips that are played and overlayed with other video segments.


Blame by Thomas Edwards is white hand with a small sensor attached to which stops when a person passes in front of it and blames him/her for various problem in society: "I blame you for corporate scandals", "I blame you for suburban sprawl,", etc.


A strange device reminiscent of an engine hoist entitled Hopscotch by David Page uses two persons placed in restrictive suits: one is attached to from a hook on the arm and another one is strapped to a rolling buggy. The suspended person is lifted out of the way of the buggy-riding person at the last moment and then the process is reversed.


Claire Watkins's Flock of Needles uses rotating magnets to move and sway needles that have been threaded into her piece which is a collection of small paintings of sea anemone-like creatures.

Julian Beever's 3D Sidewalk Art

English chalk artist, Julian Beever is famous for his art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, Australia, and Belgium, which have 3D perspectives when viewed from the correct angle.

DC "Meterpops"

Mark Jenkins is an artist from the DC area who has turned parking meters into lollipops. Mark is known for sculptures of people made out of tape.

The Patriot Act Meets The Stamp Act

Al Brandtner, a graphic designer from Chicago, made an art piece showing sheet of mock postage stamps showing President Bush with a gun pointed at his head captioned with "Patriot Act." This piece of artwork was to be displayed as part of a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay exhibit, "Axis of Evil: The Secret History of Sin." It was previously displayed at Columbia College in Chicago last spring where Secret Service agents attended the opening to inspect it. UWGB Chancellor Bruce Shepard has pulled the piece and made the following statement was part of the chancellor's remarks on Sept 1st:

"I have heard the aforementioned piece described to me as "only art." But, to call it "only art" is to disparage the important role of art in shaping our culture, forming our beliefs, and directing our actions. Art matters. Precisely for that reason and having come of age during a period in our history when political assassinations came in all too rapid succession, the advocacy of assassination is something I view as neither abstract nor theoretical. It happens, it is real. I further believe that the one piece of concern very reasonably can be seen as expressing advocacy of assassination."

Erica Millspaugh, an art and photography major, rallied 30 students to protest at the opening reception wearing T-shirts using Brandtner's image.