Feather #3
Photos from mars, generational wars, horny cans. We never get bored through the apocalypse.
🤖 The playful robots on Mars
So, this month Perseverance has landed on Mars. Little robot, with their cute heli sidekick, Ingenuity (which will try the first controlled flight on the red planet surface, under the cozy eye of the rover - follow the full story here) are already moving around the planet, shooting 360 photos and videos and being really conscious of their robot coolness.
While the rover was landing, people have seen its weirdly patterned parachute, while a NASA commentator was giving a proper rabbithole lead (maybe a bit on the obvious side, are NASA in need of a game designer?).
“Sometimes we leave messages in our work for others to find. So we invite you all to give it a shot and show your work.”
Obviously it didn’t take long for people to decode the message, which says dare mighty things, coming straight from a Theodore Roosvelt speech1. Play is everywhere, and it’s nice to see that we humans never lose the taste for playing. And for hiding things for someone else to find, as Calvino once said.
Me, I put on my VR headset and spent a little time just marveling at the fact that I can look at the Mars surface almost like I was actually there. Isn’t that amazing?
Yes, it is.
💢 Generation wars are BORING
If you know me more than a little, you probably know that I’m not sold an inch about the whole generational discourse. I think people are people and I feel generations is just another way of putting us in boxes and tell us what to think, wear and which emojis to use (here’s a little 🦊 for you. I also won’t abandon the ❤, no matter what)
You might think this has to do with me and how I deal with my age (I love being energetic and youthful, deal with it), but it’s not that. I truly have trouble fully identifying with any of the generations (except I’m *certainly* not a boomer, lol), but I found this article on the Guardian funny and entertaining. And defining GenX as the Switzerland of the generation kind of makes my point, right? Anyway, if you need me, I don’t smoke, but I’ll be probably looking at you all sipping a good scotch. Don’t fight too hard. Not worth it.
📷 Joel Meyerowitz
I am following this photography masterclass with Joel Meyerowitz and wow, it’s nothing short of amazing.
I have been more and more passionate about street photography and also frustrated that with lockdowns and all that, well, it has become if not impossible, at least very different.
But his gentle and kind approach in doing it, his eagerness into wanting, as he says, to tear away a little bit of beautiful space and time in the frame, just because the world is amazing and that is a great way to celebrate its beauty, has inspired me to do it more.
Also, I need to get better in just asking people to take their portrait sometimes.
And I want to get old gracefully and with the same kindness, smile and positivity that Joel has.
👩💻 Classicism, meet cyberpunk
Jianhao Chen makes incredible sculptures starting from classical masterpieces. Brilliantly dystopian and absolutely beautiful.
😢 All good things
Daft Punk have ended their project. I still remember the first time I’ve seen this video, and how all I could think was: eh, this is fucking genius. Thank you for everything, you have defined cool and awesomeness.
Also, you have worked with Leiji Matsumoto making real your childhood dream of meeting the creator of Captain Harlock. We are all space pirates.
🩲 Ten Meters Tower
Maximilien van Aertryck and Axel Danielson have shot this short movie about people trying to jump off a 10m platform having been there for the first time.
Worth watching if you are thinking you should do that scary thing but you’ve been really unsure about that. Dare mighty things, we were saying?
(It’s ok to not take the jump, but if you do it you’ll probably find out it wasn’t that scary after all).
🧜♂️ We know a bit more about Luca
It’s no secret I’m a bit obsessed by the new Pixar movie.
The trailer shows a place which is clearly inspired by the village of Camogli, in the east riviera in Liguria. It’s a delicious little village, where I used to cycle on Sunday mornings and have breakfast in the sun. Also, there you can find the BEST rum bar in the region, probably in Italy, all decorated as a pirate cove (I don’t think we’ll see it in the movie but… you’ll never know). Ah, good times when you could have rum in half a coconut chatting with friends.
Anyway. So excited for this. The protagonists are sea creatures!
😏 Get thirsty with horny cans
Last month, a group of remarkable people, evidently bored by the pandemic and the harsh lockdown, have started a game. It’s about doing photoshoots for er… horny can. Taking the word thirsty both literally and figuratively, which is quite awesome by itself.
Onlycans features a plethora of thirsty, originally flavoured soft drinks, the most catchy jingle I have ever heard, great voice acting and a very interesting backstory, which is way more than meets the eye. Also, there’s a certain music video, but I’ll leave you to it.
You can download Onlycans and play it for free from itch.io or, if you have it, from Steam (you actually need a Steam account to see the page because 🔞.
🎨 Me, in the end
This month I have been lucky enough to secure a spot In the Creative Quest Club. I am going to spend March doing creative challenges and I’m not sure what to expect but I’m sure it will be awesome. It’s like a book club, but for creativity. If you want to know more you can have a look at their website or maybe give a listen to this episode of Storyteller, my friend Lisa’s awesome podcast.
Wish me luck and see you next time! ❤