Tag: videos

The Machines of the Isle of Nantes

The Sultan’s Elephant is a giant marionette parade that is so artfully done, it strikes one as uncanny. As I wrote in November, most parade floats have an uncanny appeal, but in this case the doll’s appearance seems much less mechanical (ergo, more organic) than all the visible equipment and support needed to operate it.… Continue reading The Machines of the Isle of Nantes

Mock Band: The Simulation of Artistic Processes

Rob Horning‘s recent essay in PopMatters — called “Doomed to Dilettantism” — performs an alarming and fantastic excoriation of the trend toward substituting “professionalism” in the arts with “amateurism” by consumers. Ingeniously, Horning connects the proliferation of faux-artisan strip mall stores like Michael’s (the chain craft store “Where Creativity Happens”) to the consumerist propensity for… Continue reading Mock Band: The Simulation of Artistic Processes

Parade Floats and the Uncanny

Here in the USA, it’s Thanksgiving morning.  The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC is just getting started, and while I’ve never been a fan of parades, one can’t deny their significance in both small town culture and in big city holiday fests, alike. The news media treat them like spectator sports. For the… Continue reading Parade Floats and the Uncanny

Pop Song as Product Placement: Doublemint “Forever”

If you watch the latest Doublemint gum TV commercial — featuring Chris Brown dancing in the dark with the product’s new “slim” package — you might be wondering:  gee, that song and dance is nice but what happened to the infamously kitschy jingle and the wholesome set of twins?  The ad itself is a twin: … Continue reading Pop Song as Product Placement: Doublemint “Forever”

Enjoy Uncertainty: Randomization and the Uncanny iPod

Although the iPod shuffle is now an mp3 player that is the size of a postage stamp, the advertising campaign for the device — back in 2006 when it was the size of a stick of gum — asked consumers to “Enjoy Uncertainty.” I can think of no better mascot for the popular uncanny.  Typically, uncertainty… Continue reading Enjoy Uncertainty: Randomization and the Uncanny iPod

Cractroids

Parody is a good barometer for popularity.  The humor magazine, Cracked, sends up The 7 Creepiest Real-Life Robots.  Robert Brockway’s bawdy, Rated-R write ups include hilarious (yet astutely observed) rationales for “why it’s so, so creepy,” like this one for the “Actroid” robot pictured above: The Actroid is fairly tame on the creepy scale …… Continue reading Cractroids

Twins on the Train to Weirdsville

Improv Everywhere has performed a fun uncanny experiment called “Human Mirror”: in it, a long line of identical twins sit in opposite seats in a subway car to catch commuters off guard. Here is the video from their site (if you don’t see it, it’s also available on youtube): The trick is fascinating, and provides a sly… Continue reading Twins on the Train to Weirdsville

Medical Manikins and Suffering

Today I stumbled onto Oobject — a weird multiuser “curations collection” that exhibits photos that members spot online, organized by offbeat themes.  One of the most uncanny exhibits of them all is a collection of “medical manikins”. The above shot by Tomer Ganihar (a shot taken as part of a series he did in an Israeli hospital… Continue reading Medical Manikins and Suffering

Autonomous Improv and the Player Piano Effect

  Wade Marynowsky’s weblog, Autonomous Mutations, highlights current uncanny art projects and other manifestations of das Unheimliche and is full of fantastic and unique examples of the aesthetic (like Karakuri ningyo), links to Machine art, and also references to uncanny theory. I say he features the “aesthetic” of the uncanny because his blog is an offshoot… Continue reading Autonomous Improv and the Player Piano Effect