Relentless

Filp Dujardin creates extraordinary architectural forms from images of buildings.

Dujardin is a Belgian photographer from Ghent. Effectively each building in this series is a montage of different elements, but the final image appears real, as if you’ve just chanced on some strange, malformed building in some dark corner of the world. He trawls locations looking for buildings with similar features so that, when he comes to ‘design’ the final structure, the overall whole makes more sense. Occasionally he’ll use other forms borrowed from his immediate landscape, like the huge rock formation dividing the blocks of flats below.

 We're always out there looking for it ... but what is your interpretation of Relentless?

Bottom line - what does Relentless mean to you? And can you capture the attitude and the artistry of the struggle in in a photo? You show us. You convince us. And if you can we'll use you're photo in a full on Relentless press campaign. We'll pay you £100 for your photo and we'll hit you up with us much juice as you can carry out of the office to the end of the tarmac in one go. Sound good?

We'll be waiting....

(Please mail your entries to contact@relentlessenergy.net)

Edgar Müller’s street artscapes bend all kinds of perspectives.

An apocalyptic abyss opens up on a suburban German street and a shark rips through the pavement of Hong Kong, while the earth splits, leaving a 250 square-metre chasm in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland.??

News of the world? Not entirely. The German street artist Edgar Müller has been hard at work in a quest to reshape pedestrian mundanity in his ambitiously grand streetscapes.?

The result is both monumental and intricate in the level of detail it achieves. His artwork is expansive and noble and often carries all the stylistic sophistication of a Caravaggio. What he does surpass the masters in, is his artistic generosity and his willingness to let go of his art, once his canvas is reclaimed by commuters.

For more info check Edgar Müller's website.

?Yet another random pastime activity from Russia - the good kind of random.

You don’t have to have a Russian literature degree in order to be aware of the stifling boredom that permeates the expansive Russian provinces.

Even without first-hand experience most can agree that Russia's polar deserts are an universally depressing concept and possibly the cause of the vodka-fuelled escapism that has become so controversially emblematic for Russia.??

Alexander Pushkin, Stalin and popular culture in general have all utilized Siberia's refrigerated bleakness in a similar fashion, to clearly different ends. We, however, are pleased to have come across quite an uplifting counter-example. These Russian daredevils don’t mess around with boredom.

What they do is called ‘coordinated bridge jumping’ - a group activity that involves a railway bridge, a frozen river, an approaching train and several people with little to nothing to lose. The concept is simpe - they wait standing on the bridge until a train approaches. They stick around until the driver cautiously tries to slow down, and then jump in a coordinated manner, that is really best described by the photographs below.?

Clark Little’s photography shows us the world as seen from the very inside of the gnarl.

Born in California and raised in Hawaii, the American ex-professional surfer-turned-photographer has an impressive and very intimate knowledge of the wave.?

Equipped with a Nikon 4200 in a protective casing, Clark Little would dive right into the centre of the action and focus on the miniscule elements that end up constructing the grand tapestry of the ocean wave.??

Judging by the level of detail he achieves, it is conceivable that it was probably for the best that he stepped off the board and took on photography. It must have been quite a difficult decision making exercise - do I marvel at the wave or do I ride it? Get under the fold for the former.

For more info: Clark Little's website.
 

The Renaissance's master technologist.

It has taken us nearly 400 years to start coming to grips that one of Renaissansce's great masters may have been using an early form of photography to inform his sketches.

Image-capturing devices are nowadays more than just cameras - they help us communicate, feel secure and often entertain us. As a result, we have such a high level of visual awareness, that we often take the technology for granted or we ironise it. The roots of photography, however go much farther than we might have imagined.
 
According to Roberta Lapucci from the prestigious Studio Art Centers International in Florence, the artist used a spotlight that would illuminate his subject and react with light-sensitive substances that he applied to his canvases. Taking into consideration the craftmanship that becomes immediately evident when confronted with one of his masterpieces, it actually comes a bit as no surprise. 

He just strikes us like the kind of person that would invent photography, if he had to.

We’d like to extend our thanks to Parkour Generations for their role in the photographic feature in the latest issue of This Is The Order. Their team includes some of the original and most experienced practitioners of this modern art of movement, so if you want to learn to see the city their way, get in touch with them. They’re keeping the spirit of Parkour alive...

Parkour Generations

The Kuril Islands bring Fire back to the Ring of Fire.

Tucked into a remote corner north of Japan, Sarychev Peak in the Kuril islands is one of the world’s most active volcanoes, and as of very recently, one of the most photogenic.

These photographs, courtesy of the NASA Earth Observatory, show recent volcanic activity on the north of the Kuril Islands archipelago, which is the region's most intense eruption one to date since 1989.

Part of the tectonically unstable region, and the crown jewel of the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ these islands are also the focus of political volatility – they have been a disputed area between Russia and Japan since World War II and as a result are both a cultural, as well a natural peculiarity.

A series of subversive readings of Disney’s animated fairy tales.

Fairy tales have traditionally had a tremendous task on their shoulders. They have to function as a moral corrective, a convincing emotional vignette, and more than often lull their audience into slumber.

Adhering to the “happily ever after” principle and all its prerequisites is the tried and tested way of softening the narrative crescendos to a palatable final line, in order to cue our audience to rest.

Disney’s modern interpretations of the classical Grimm narratives are the dominant form of the traditional fairy tale. The multi-million dollar animated features have essentially idealized a lot of what was at first cautionary tales - rife with betrayal, peril and often an ominous conclusion. The resulting product created a misbalance with both reality and the original creative edge of fairy tales.

Andres Amador's race against the tide.

There is something incredibly fulfilling and near-perfect in the way wet sand can be leisurely shaped into all sorts of intricate forms.

It only takes a handful of seconds and a dash of imagination - we can swiftly emulate nearly any shape, destroy it and create another one. Nothing is lost or gained, except perhaps, an afternoon at the beach. But that is what summer’s for.

From what we can tell, Andres Amador has spent quite a lot of his time on the beach, exploring the seemingly limitless potential of what can be done with sand.

The balloon count peaked at the staggering 329 on 26 July, a sight that would have made old Jean-François shed a joyful tear, before hopping off on a balloon of his own.

Photo credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danimages/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbatistini/

Parkour leaves the city.

As we mentioned in a previous entry, parkour, or ‘the art of movement’ originated in France and has spread over the globe at an astonishing rate, latest evidence found in Kazakhstan.

Parkour is commonly known for its heart-stopping, high-flying, danger-tempting movements and is ordinarily linked to urbanites who have easy access to roof tops, skate parks and multi storey parks. As of recently, however, the sport has surprisingly hit the coast lines of the former Russian republic Kazakhstan.

The evidence surrounding the action.

We are suitably fixated with the nature of sports - the drama, drive, tension, the often animalistic competition all play an indellible part of our infatuation with spectator sports.

Our fascination is well-documented. There are books, studies, and a matter of thousands of years of human history that position sports as a central element to our cultural move forward.

American photographer Howard Shatz has taken things to a completely different level, far more peripheral to the concept of sports. In an astounding series of boxing portaits he compares side by side before and after images of fighters. The vivid, almost forensic approach,allows for a sober perspective on what is otherwise a testosterone-driven and intensely brutal spectacle.

Photos: World Press Photo
http://www.howardschatz.com/

One of the most interesting photographic missions we have seen in a long time, courtesy of U.S. photographer Rachel Sussman.

Awe-inspiring does not begin to describe it. From Japanese Cedar to Siberian Actinobacteria – the subjects of her interest are not exactly the most photogenic, but that is no reflection of how profoundly interesting they are.

Photographer Rachel Sussman has gone on a mission to seek out the world’s oldest living things and delivered spectacular results. The interdisciplinary-minded U.S. photographer has created an arresting collection of outworldly still-life photography.

How blending in can help you stand out.

Beijing-based artist Liu Bolin really makes one wonder just how much Photoshop actually achieves.

The meticulous detail of his camouflage art somehow casts a shadow on all the computer-generated effects in the world, whilst making a powerful political statement. Seeing Liu Bolin blend in with often disquieting images of power, symbols of the state, or the state's notorious neglect - like decrepit ruins, anonymous fields or a prison courtyard, creates a human-shaped void of sorts.

Performance art taken to yet another extreme.

Many a times we have extolled the riveting highs achieved by our Relentless artists. We are suitably proud of them.

'Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.' said the ever-wise Churchill and we couldn't agree more. Understandably, an indelible part of all of these dramatic stories of success is, of course the struggle in getting there.

This most spirited of principles best describes the work of Kerry Skarbakka. The performance artist's portfolio consists of blood-curdling moments of inertia, midway between peril and success. The daredevil artist has made an entire study of ordinary and not-so-ordinary situations of physical collapse, and has somehow managed to create some truly pertrifying photographic work.

For more info see: http://www.skarbakka.com/

Andrew Zuckermann's oddly fascinating bird portraiture.

Andrew Zuckermann is a brave man. It takes a special kind of courage to remain calm and collected, whilst composing a perfect portrait photograph of an emu, staring straight at you.

Emu, for the record is Australia’s largest bird, and just one of tens of bird species that Mr. Zuckermann has photographed for his most recent book, simply titled “Bird.”

On paper (or screen) this sounds utterly unexciting – the subject matter is set against a clean white backdrop and photographed with a state-of-the art camera. Nothing special, until you actually witness the simple, concentrated beauty of these fabulous animals. It’s like staring nature in the eye. Or a big, hairy Emu.

For more high-resolution photos and some behind the scenes action, go to Andrew’s website.

Dolphins surfing? Naturally.

It is not only our prized Artists that are worthy of media attention and that of millions of fans. The driving force of big the waves has enticed even some of the ocean’s inhabitants.

Dolphins are widely recognized as some of the most intelligent water mammals, and to a lesser extent – as great surfers. Even though it is an extremely rare phenomenon, dolphins do tend to try and catch the odd wave. Scientists attribute this behaviour to a habit left over from their early days, when as youngsters the dolphins would swim in their mothers’ ‘slip stream.’

There is beauty everywhere. However, it’s not always present at first glance. The key is persevering when looking for it.

Proof of this is can be seen in photographer Kevin Bauman’s Abandoned Houses Project.

Bauman has taken a series of 100 photos of derelict houses, each one hauntingly beautiful in it’s own right, but each as easy to miss as it is enchanting.

Take a look for yourself

Dare to dream seems to be the company’s single guiding thought. Want something? Then strive for it. If you do, you might find that the impossible becomes possible. The lab’s most recent piece of work addresses a far more mundane problem, but applies the same big-thinking approach. How do you make the shoe boxes, which account for millions of tonnes of waste every year, more sustainable? Answer: erm, don’t use them. Another chapter in Behar’s blueprint for modern living unfolds...

OK, so it's not a farmyard animal suspended in formaldehyde, and nor is it someone's dirty linen, but it is beautiful — like art used to be. It's a picture, of course, of the volcano in Iceland. It comes courtesy of Nasa, and it takes the breath away.

Why did the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland create so much ash? Although the large ash plume was not unparalleled in its abundance, its location was particularly noticeable because it drifted across such well populated areas. The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland began erupting on March 20, with a second eruption starting under the center of small glacier on April 14. Neither eruption was unusually powerful. The second eruption, however, melted a large amount of glacial ice which then cooled and fragmented lava into gritty glass particles that were carried up with the rising volcanic plume. Pictured above two days ago, lightning bolts illuminate ash pouring out of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

The short film below is a super slow motion close-up of Apollo 11's launch on 16th July, 1969. It fulfilled the young President's promise and demonstrated to the world just what mankind was capable of. The narration is interesting and informative, yet doesn't detract from the poignancy of the moment: 30 seconds in real world time that amounted to one of the biggest and most remarkable advances in human history — pure artistry, engineered.

Tell No One is the blog of London based filmmakers Luke White and Remi Weekes, it’s the home of their Lo-Fi film experiments. All the videos on the site are made with some pretty basic equipment - a camera, a computer and a lot of patience.

They say it is a peek into their creative process and call it an "informal brainstorm". We call it proof that lo-fi doesn’t have to mean low quality when made with love.

To be honest it doesn't matter what it's called, the work is beautiful and worth a moment or two of your time.

See more here

Is an series of shorts. Or as the website puts it - “Everyone Forever Now is an episodic motion-based media project. It is an examination of the collective wisdom and expression of human actions.”

The project originates from Everyone, an LA based video production company. Their work has a gritty, unkempt but truly authentic feel. Watching an episode leaves you with the kind of feeling you get when exposed to something very honest. They are disturbing in an insightful and not an emotional way.

If you’ve got 15 minutes to kill and fancy a bit of journey we recommend you check them out.

www.everyoneforevernow.com/