Aquascaping

Aquascaping, it's apparently called. The International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest, organized by Aqua Design Arnano, is the world's largest plant aquarium contest, with the winner getting ¥1,000,000 (roughly around $9,800, at least at this moment...). Many of the 2007 entries were absolutely stunning.


[Aquatic Plant Layout Contest 2007]


[Aquatic Plant Layout Contest 2007]


[Aquatic Plant Layout Contest 2007]


[Aquatic Plant Layout Contest 2007]

The plants are a vibrant green and the water crystal clear. Fish swim through what it would seem to be thin air (and check out that underwater waterfall). It is all quite beautiful. Interesting, then, to think that this is a beauty contest and the winning items most closely resemble landscapes found above the water (and not under the sea, as it were).

Proof that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?


[Aquatic Plant Layout Contest 2007]


[Easter Island, Getty Images]

First, I would not imply that those little underwater creatures are responsible for the rock formations. Neither would I imply that they'd be capable of forming such things (they'd most obviously resemble the local sea life). I would say, however, that each of them could quite easily resemble any number of land-based geographical locations. Which is just another way of saying that we and our sense of aesthetics are products of our (land-based) environment.


[Your Mild-mannered Landscaping Blueprint]

With that out of the way, one could start dreaming up the possibilities of aquascaping. It's not like the fish and all its friends are smart enough to know the difference, right? Although, I doubt the water in those tanks above are adequate enough to sustain life... if nothing else, they'll muck up in a day or two.

1. Volcanic Sculpting
One could have an aquascaping competition set up in the Hawaiian islands, this time on a much larger scale. Utilize the area's most renewable underwater resource: volcanic rock. Carve it up and see who can create the most beautiful sculpture (before the next surge of magma attacks). One would, of course, need the latest and greatest carving tools.


[Hot Liquid Magma]

2. Oceanic Ikebana
Also known as the art of underwater flower arranging. And why stick to the local plant life? Additional points could be awarded to those who used more exotic sea life. Points would be removed, however, for arrangements that do not survive the given time period.


[Pogonophora, aka Tube Worms]

3. Aquatic Miniaturization
The name describes itself. Combine the Chinese arts of Penzai (Japanese: Bonsai) and Sancun Jinlian (footbinding). Small is beautiful. Set up a perimeter for each contestant and then allow them to work their magic. It would have to be a very long contest, obviously. Additional points go to contestants who most creatively maintain miniaturization for the local creatures (requirement: must not intentionally harm the sea life). The more diverse ecosystem, the better.


[A Pretty Small Crab]

Aquascaping could give rise to a multitude of underwater art forms. Forget outer space, the sea is the new frontier (just ask the Russians). After all, personal space flight is still a few years away. The International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest proves that there already is a market. All that is needed is a bit of funding, some diving gear, and someone willing enough to disregard the local ecosystem.

Evolving Skin Color

[Colors of a Woman, Estée Lauder Primer]

From GRID-Arendal:

The twin role played by the skin – protection from excessive UV radiation and absorption of enough sunlight to trigger the production of vitamin D – means that people living in the lower latitudes, close to the Equator, with intense UV radiation, have developed darker skin to protect them from the damaging effects of UV radiation. In contrast, those living in the higher latitudes, closer to the Poles, have developed fair skin to maximize vitamin D production.

[Skin Color Map, Chaplin G.©]

Well, that makes sense. Living in a mobile culture, however, I wonder to what extent it complicates the maintenance of our health. For a good example, perhaps, look at Australia. Note the Indigenous Australians and then the more prominent European-based population of Australians. Then note the level of skin cancer cases found in Australia (which happens to have the highest incidence in the world). It's not difficult to guess which ethnic division has the highest incidence rate.

While ethnic diffusion was often historically due to colonization, invasion, or enslavement, it is more recently found within the (slightly more voluntary) phenomenon of a mobile culture and the oft-resulting ethnically-mixed families. If skin color is the body's solution for dealing with UV radiation, will the body eventually evolve a new solution for our island-hopping and ethnic-mixing? Perhaps it will be as simple as a faster-reacting skin. Perhaps scientists will whip up something to accelerate that evolution. Or perhaps skin cancer and vitamin D deficiency is nature's way of telling us that we're all in the wrong place.

I've Only Got Eyes For You...

[I'm Sexy]

Poor ol' Geordi might have a solution to his clunky headgear. Funny how the future-according-to-Star-Trek brings innovation through clunky headbands-slash-air filters that seem to have fallen on top of his face (and only to be stopped by his nose). Did anyone at least think of giving him a third eye?

Well it looks like our own futurists might have a solution, albeit in its infancy (And yes, I'm aware of Geordi's scary eyeball implants in Star Trek: First Contact.). From the scientists in Washington:

Engineers at the University of Washington have for the first time used manufacturing techniques at microscopic scales to combine a flexible, biologically safe contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights.

The prototype device contains an electric circuit as well as red light-emitting diodes for a display, though it does not yet light up. The lenses were tested on rabbits for up to 20 minutes and the animals showed no adverse effects.

Well then, if it's good enough for a rabbit... Though I'm not sure how pleased he is with the idea.


[The Laboratory Guinnea P- er, Bunny Rabbit]

From said scientists:

There are many possible uses for virtual displays. Drivers or pilots could see a vehicle's speed projected onto the windshield. Video-game companies could use the contact lenses to completely immerse players in a virtual world without restricting their range of motion. And for communications, people on the go could surf the Internet on a midair virtual display screen that only they would be able to see.

[Your Virtual World]

Sure, such technologies could allow for aiding the visually-impaired or creating varying types of virtual displays. But perhaps more profound would be a slightly more subtle application. What if, as current contact lenses enhance vision, future ones could enhance color? What if there was a lens that deleted all the drab colors and smog-infested skies of LA? One that turned all the blondes into brunettes? Or how about one that paved the sidewalks in gold?

It's all about personalization. Sure, an integrated heads-up display might be beneficial, but what I'd really want are some bluer skies and some greener trees. I actually do want to see more brunettes. And I want that avocado-colored wall in front of me to turn lime-green. I want the Matrix, really (but without all the scary tubes and beds of goo).


[La De Da La La]

Origami 2.0

As persistent as it may be to stay flat, paper really doesn't have to live in a single dimension. While creative uses of paper such as origami and pop-up books do exist, neither actually give paper true volume like the examples below.


[Unknown]


[Untitled, Pierre Vanni]


[Burst, Jen Stark]


[Modular Re.strukt, Carsten Nicolai]


[Unknown]


[Icosahedron, Richard Sweeney]

Film & the Merging of Visual Media

Film has allowed itself to become a great showcase of the newest technologies. Traditionally, the varying artistic media of visual storytelling have been segregated due to whatever attributes it inherently began with. Whether it be the simple pencil and paper of comic books or the slightly more sophisticated (yet century old) celluloid of film, visual storytelling has always had its unique methods.

Most recently, however, film has been trying to merge these differing media together (into its own format, of course). The hyper-stylized world of comic books and graphic novels, once unimaginable in film, has slowly begun to seep into the world of motion pictures. With the helping hand of digital technology, imagination is gaining freedom.


[300: From Comic to Screen]


[300: From Comic to Screen]


[300: From Comic to Screen]


[Spherical Explosions: The Matrix: Revolutions and Akira]


[Mind Over Matter: The Matrix: Revolutions and Akira]

This merging of visual media seems to work both ways. While film (in such previously stated cases) has been known to imitate and translate such arts into something more "real," it has, most recently, done the opposite. It may seem odd (and somewhat pointless) to use a creative medium to replicate that which could be done without need of replication.

Yet it is our God-given peculiarity to create such things in our own image.


[Art Imitating Life: Angelina Jolie and Her Digital Counterpart]