Artgonaut

Yaggy's Geographical Study: A Treasure from 1887It's hard to even describe the publication of Levi Walter Yaggy's Geographical Study as a book. It was rather a collection of geographical maps and scientific illustrations that ranged from two to four feet wide, plus a guide to teaching from them, inside an ornate wooden box. The box also contained an attached relief map of the United States made of plaster and papier-mâché. The illustrations are gorgeous and varied. Some are landscapes, while others chart the stars in the sky, and still others are cutaways and illustrations of the underground or the deep sea. Some have different layers that could be adjusted or removed to show different aspects of some earth science concept.

Swifties Make the Most of a Weekend in ViennaTaylor Swift had to cancel three concerts in Vienna after a terrorism threat. It's one of those things that just happens, and there's not much that can be done about it. Vienna was nevertheless full of Taylor Swift fans who had come from thousands of miles away and booked hotels for the event. But what does this have to do with art? The art museums of Vienna collaborated on a plan to make all those out-of-town guests feel appreciated. Ten different museums decided to waive their entrance fees in a goodwill gesture for the weekend. The Albertina saw more than 20,000 Swifties between August 8 and August 11, about ten times the number of visitors they normally see. And all those young women getting a dose of art appreciation had a good time.

Amedeo Capelli's Whimsical Hand-Carved Automata Automata is where art meets engineering meets toys. Italian sculptor Amedeo Capelli carves every piece of his wooden automata toys, from the character sculptures to the gears that make them move. The scenes are simple, from hair blowing in the wind to a ghost watering flowers on a grave, but each character feels like they are alive. The automata in this video are laid out in fairly chronological order, so you can see how Capelli's figures grew in realism and complexity over time. The movements are simple (even though it's not simple to make them that at all), but it's the whimsical characters that make these so alluring. Even the monsters are cute! I believe I have found my favorite. I another video, Capelli shows us how he makes these.

The Official Poster of the Olympic GamesWhen you see Olympic medalists at their awards ceremonies, you'll see them receive their medals, plus a long, skinny box as a gift. Inside is the official poster for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, created by Parisian illustrator Ugo Gattoni. Gattoni spent 2,000 hours over four months drawing the poster, which is an aerial view of the venues in Paris, with plenty of Olympic symbolism tucked into the details.

Adrienne Lee's Painted Sky TextilesLovely landscapes can be rendered in paint on canvas, but Chicago-based artist Adrienne Lee does it with a loom and yarn. The result has extra depth and texture that makes it come aline. Lee thinks like an artist when selecting the perfect image to recreate, in choosing the different fibers for the different elements, and planning the vibrant colors. Then she thinks like an engineering when weaving the work line by line, pixel by pixel. The landscapes may be real places, or may be a combination of places as she designs her reference photos, or may be entirely a fantasy.

After Krakatoa Exploded, the Sunsets Were InspiringThe Indonesian volcano Krakatoa underwent a series of four explosive eruptions in August of 1883. The force of the third explosion was so great that the shockwave went around the world three and a half times! More than 36,000 people were killed in the explosions or the tsunamis they caused. The volcano threw tons of dust and debris into the atmosphere, which made for spectacular sunsets featuring colors not normally seen in the sky over the next several years.German artist and naturalist Professor Dr. Pechuël-Loesche recorded some of those sunsets in watercolor. Nine of his paintings were converted to chromolithographs and published in an 1888 German book about the atmospheric effects of the eruption. See all nine of those chromolithographs and an explanation of how the colors formed at Flashbak. -via Design You Trust 