I’ve mentioned tilt shift photography before, but it continues to blow my mind.

…it gives the viewer a sense of being in a smaller world, a bit like the way the world looks to a kid.

–Bryan Solarski, GOOD Picture Show, June 2 2010

Equally amazing: photos of the semi-dystopian ruins of Kowloon & Battleship Island & Kowloon (below) (Dark Roasted Blend via Boing Boing)

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The “How Our Laws Are Made” infographic above is well-executed and fairly clear, if a little busy (GOOD); the Pulp Fiction one below is neat but, as one commenter points out, the story makes more sense the way it unfolds per Tarantino’s script (Flowing Data).

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Art vs. Art:

Greater New York at PS1: I only got around to seeing about half of the exhibit when I stopped by PS1 last week, but I’m sure I’ll have many opportunities to revisit and engage with the work over the next few months, especially once Warm-Up is underway. Nevertheless, I would imagine that Greater New York stands for everything that Jeff Koons’ BMW Art Car (below) is not. (NYT)

That said, I thought that Koons’ art car (unveiled at the Centre Pompidou) turned out fine, though I was a little disappointed to learn that “the design isn’t actually painted on the car; it’s a vinyl wrap covered with two layers of clear coat. BMW says the wrap was lighter than paint and it could be applied much more quickly. That was a key consideration because Koons had just two months to complete the project.” (Wired)

See also: Image gallery of previous BMW art cars via Wikipedia.

For some reason, the ’speed lines’ remind me of this classic Simpsons bit:

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World Cup Buildup:

Sweet concept jerseys. (Fubiz via Notcot)

The Nike Shaman × Project Zoltar collaboration was unveiled over the weekend (Slam×Hype posted the cryptic teaser last week), but I’m still not clear as to what it is, exactly.

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Plus:

• A History of Cool (NYT)
• “A Scene from the Upcoming Film The Elements of Style.” (McSweeney’s)
• The Visible Hand (Freakonomics Blog on NYT)
• Dan Ariely teaser (TED Blog)
• U.S.-China relations over Yves Klein Blue (below); the painter is the subject of another article in the very same issue of the Economist. Coincidence? I think not.

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1. Bracketology (1985-2009) infographic by Leonardo Aranda.

2. Jan Smith photographed the abandoned ships at Nouadhibou in Mauritania. (GOOD)

3. Jeff Koons × BMW (NYT / PSFK)

4. Domino Sugar Factory bombed by NEKST, ADEK, HAELER, and CHEW. (TWBE)

5. My boy Eugene from Hypebeast is curating a photography show in Hong Kong. (HB)

Day Job
curated by Eugene Kan
Above Second Gallery
31 Eastern Street [map]
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
852.3483.7950
Opening Reception: Friday, April 9, 6-10pm

6. Photo gallery of construction for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. (Boston Globe)

7. Work by Beijing-based photographer Phoebe Jin. (NeochaEDGE)

8. Usugrow – Shinkai, from Hasadhu, in the Night Before a Storm. Juxtapoz / s.butterfly

Usugrow
Hasadhu, in the Night Before a Storm
StolenSpace Gallery
Dray Walk, The Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane [map]
London E1 6QL
+44 (0) 207 247 2684
Through April 18, 2010

9. Zuriick website re-design: the Salt Lake City-based footwear purveyors are stepping it up this season with the new premium ‘Shug‘ silhouette, just in time for the nice weather.

10. Photorealist painter Emily Burns is cutting her teeth as a Koons studio assistant. (Notcot)

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Bonus pic: Springtime at Nighttime in NYC (Terry Richardson)

Core77 recently posted a couple of videos by Mike Figgis for the Tate Liverpool, in which an ‘average’ audience—presumably a demographically accurate cross-section of locals—shares their opinions about a canonical work of modern art. The first group of schoolkids is rather skeptical towards a Dan Flavin, which has been installed in their classroom for a day, and they’re equally baffled by Jeff Koons’ “Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank.” (More Koons below.)

Conversely, an older group seems to grasp the significance of Duchamp’s Fountain, as displayed in a public restroom, while remaining largely indifferent to the object itself, readily abstracting the idea from its physical manifestation.

I’m undecided as to whether their candid opinions are more or less authoritative than those of art historians or critics.

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Meanwhile, the Tate Britain has commissioned the graffiti artist INSA to create a piece for the current Chris Ofili exhibition. He discusses the process and result (below) in the video above, which would have been a perfect media supplement to Designboom’s post on the Elephant Dung stilettos, which, if the comments are any indication, deserve a fuller justification than glamour shots.

Designboom also refers to INSA as an “artist and designer,” neglecting to mention that his background is in street art and that he acknowledges the Big Daddy Kane allusion—details that make all the difference when it comes to a piece like this. (In fact, I was ambivalent towards the (s)hoes when I first saw them DB a couple weeks ago, but I didn’t even make the connection until 3/4 through the INSA video, when he actually produces a sketch of the piece for Ofili.)

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In another dialogue (or misinterpretation, depending on how you see it) between artist and audience (or artist, depending on how you see it), I figured that it wouldn’t be long until somone took advantage of Marina Abramovic’s ongoing performance at MoMA. Formerly unknown performance artist Amir Baradaran recently staged “The Other Artist Is Present,” a four-act “Sobhat / Conversation,” opposite Abramovic, whose own performance require that she bear witness to Baradaran’s stunt. (Click link above for videos.)

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As promised: Koons on Art21 (below) and Nowness (RE: Skin Fruit; click through for video).

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Or maybe people would rather just see art like Kordian Lewandowski’s “Game Over,” a ‘Nintendo Remix’ of Michaelangelo’s Pieta. (DB)

Check out my review and additional pictures from my boy Stephen Wordie at Hypebeast.

Here is a selection of work by Pawel Althamer. Click for larger images.

Housebroken
Flux Factory
39-31 29th St (at 40th Ave) [map]
Queens NY 11101
On view Saturdays & Sundays through March 21, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, February 19, 8pm-2am

Size Does Matter
curated by Shaquille O’Neal
Flag Art Foundation
545 W 25th St, 9th Fl (at 11th Ave) [map]
New York NY 10001
212 / 206-0220
February 19, 2010–May 27, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, February 19, 6-8pm

vs

X-Initiative’s closing blowout, (BYOA), a 24-hour free-for-all gallery happening.

Addendum (February 5):