We just discovered an AMAZING little website called Olive Us.
The weekly episodes demonstrate the Blair’s family values in an unbelievably creative and earnest way. The story telling of the film making is captivating and inspiring to say the least. Production props and credits go to Tiger in a Jar.
And just because we’re so excited about this little series here’s another off-season video that is just too cool.
The Centrifuge Brain Project is a short (fictional!) film by German digital artist Till Nowak about making super-imaginative amusement park rides that are completely unhinged from reality, or as “Chief Engineer” Dr. Nick Laslowicz says, “These machines provide total freedom…”
What’s your amusement park ride look like if you don’t have to worry about physics?
Papa Cloudy is a series of stop motion web videos by Akiko McQuerrey who calls herself a “DIY children’s book author who’s focusing on making the world cuter.” After his first view of Papa Cloudy my 5 year old quietly picked up a piece of paper drew a picture of Papa Cloudy with a big heart over it. This is a new series, we hope it continues!
Papa Cloudy ♥ from Akiko McQuerrey on Vimeo.
Upon first seeing the site of school age girls joyfully skateboarding up and down ramps in an indoor skatepark, one of the last places you would expect to be is in war-torn Kabul, Afghanistan. But in fact, since 2007, Kabul is home to Skateistan, an international non profit that uses skateboarding to empower male and female youth in Afghanistan. The success of the program has even spread to neighboring Pakistan as well as Cambodia.
Australian founder of Skateistan, Oliver Percovich saw the need skateboarding filled in the lives of these youth and began to dedicate himself to the construction and completion of a skate school in Kabul. In 2009, a skate park and educational facility was built with land granted by the Afghan National Olympic Committee.
The aim is to connect with marginalized youth in Afghanistan to provide a quality education that otherwise would not be available. From the website:
“In Kabul, Skateistan’s participants come from all of Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and include 40% female students, hundreds of streetworking children, and youth with disabilities. In our skatepark and classrooms they develop skills in skateboarding, leadership, civic responsibility, multimedia, and creative arts. The students themselves decide what they want to learn; we connect them with a safe space and opportunities for them to develop the skills that they consider important.”
Sports diplomacy can be a powerful component of citizen diplomacy and has truly impacted the lives of the youth across the world. A solid example exists in the work of Skateistan.
What is key is the education of and participation by female students. For more on that salient topic, see video below!
Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey is a national traveling exhibition of the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibition-affiliated Remixes app gives creative kids an opportunity to learn a little bit more about this American artist and the inspiration for his collages. It also provides kids with a digital canvas to remix elements from Bearden’s collages with their own cutout shapes to create new masterpieces that can be posted to a public gallery and shared with others. Kids can also incorporate sounds and words to their digital collages, adding their own stories to their artwork.
The color and whimsy of Bearden’s landscape backdrops and cutout figures is inspirational to say the least, and a great way to spark an after-school afternoon.
You can download the app here. And find out more about the traveling exhibit here.
Here at Raskullz Headquarters we’re big fans of all things 3D. That’s why we were so excited to stumble across this little gem of an afternoon craft.
Thanks to Minie Co. for the fabulous idea.
“The Event of a Thread” was a stunning large scale, participatory installation by Ann Hamilton that recently filled the cavernous drill hall at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The centerpiece of the installation was an enormous curtain of fabric that stretched across the width of the hall. An array of swings, available to the public, were tethered to the curtain by an intricate rope system overhead—when participants used the swings, the swinging motion caused the fabric to ripple and move up and down.
The joy of swinging is something you never grow out of.
We recently stumbled across this dazzling little site. Kaleidolism. Making kaleidoscope wallpaper backgrounds of any image you deem amazing enough. Try making your own, or check out our little rendition below.
Here at Raskullz Headquarters we are always eager to find new sources of creative inspiration for our products. Recently, a thought occurred to us, “why hog all that life-affirming inspiration to ourselves?”
So starting now, you can check back here at the Raskullz Blog for all kinds of new happenings that we find totally awe-inspiring. We’d like to start the show with a beautiful, family-friendly short film we found by artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III of an art collective called Friends with You. Enjoy!