Visual representation of Earth’s Post-Industrial-Revolution travel routes

Infographics are a powerful tool for communicating vast sums of information, but a far more compelling way to express data is through the unnamed combination of number-crunching, cartography and digital imaging that we first saw in Aaron Koblin’s 2009 project (which we dubbed “The United States of Airplane Traffic”).

Three years later we have an even more comprehensive version of this, done by Canadian anthropologist Felix Pharand. Pharand spent 13 yearsinputting not only every flight path on Earth, but every road and shipping route as well, using publicly available data and a home computer. The result is this astonishingly beautiful film entitled Anthropocene, presented chronologically and starting 250 years ago.

Philippe Halsman photographed more than 100 cover portraits for Life magazine. On the side, he frequently requested that his subjects jump for him; he developed a study of what he termed “jumpology.” “In a jump,” he wrote, “the subject, in a sudden burst of energy, overcomes gravity. He cannot simultaneously control his expressions, his facial and limb muscles. The mask falls. The real self becomes visible.”

LEAP DAY

‘star wars uncut’ is a crowdsourced version of george lucas’s ‘star wars: episode IV - a new hope’. the project was masterminded by ‘creative technologist’ casey pugh, in collaboration with video editor aaron valdez and sound designer bryan pugh. in 2009, casey pugh divided the original star wars movie into 15-second segments and invited fans to recreate the scenes in whatever manner they desired.

Street Art Photos – Year 2011

The Year in Volcanic Activity

Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes around the world, 50 or so erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and lava. In 2011, active volcanoes included Chile’s Puyehue, Japan’s Shinmoedake, Indonesia’s Lokon, Iceland’s Grímsvötn, Italy’s Etna, and recently Nyamulagira in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Hawaii, Kilauea continues to send lava flowing toward the sea, and the ocean floor has been erupting near the Canary Islands. Collected below are scenes from the wide variety of volcanic activity on Earth over the past year.

Year in 60 seconds: 2011

A multimedia showcase of some of 2011’s top stories, including Japan’s tragic earthquake, the Arab Spring, the demise of Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi, the shooting rampage in Norway, famine in Somalia and the Royal Wedding.

THE YEAR IN PHOTOS

A MAGNUM GALLERY

Nando’s: Last dictator standing

benetton unhate campaign features kissing world leaders

united colors of benetton has just unveiled its new ‘unhate’ advertising campaign in a handful, of cities, featuring manipulated images that show unlikely pairings of international religious and political leaders kissing one another. 

the ad campaign supports the company’s ‘unhate foundation’ think tank and arts research center, designed to organize events and promote acts of intervention towards a more tolerant world.as its first series of actions, benetton organized the hoisting of large posters and projection of digital images of the controversial advertisements in public spaces in new york, milan, rome, tel aviv, and paris.

online, the organization’s ‘kiss wall’ invites users from around the world to upload diptyched images that mimic kissing duos, alongside a message of tolerance and ‘unhate’.