Wednesday, 31 August 2011
The Metatron’s Cube
The Metatron’s Cube is a two-dimensional geometric figure created from 13 equal circles with lines from the center of each circle extending out to the centers of the other 12 circles. Six circles are placed in a hexagonal pattern around a central circle, with six more extending out along the same radial lines.
Metatron’s Cube shares 2-D resonance with the Flower of Life. It is a Sacred Geometry figure. Its name makes reference to Metatron, though historical reference, other than the name itself, is elusive.
The pattern delineated by many of the lines can be created by orthographic projections of the first three Platonic solids. Specifically, the line pattern includes projections of a double tetrahedron (aka stellated octahedron), a cube within a cube (aka a tesseract), and an octahedron. Although the image below shows the dodecahedron and the icosahedron fitting to the pattern of Metatron’s Cube, the vertices of those shapes do not coincide with the centers of the 13 circles.
Masaru Emoto
Masaru Emoto (江本 勝 Emoto Masaru?, born July 22, 1943) is a Japanese author and entrepreneur known for his claims that human consciousness has an effect on the molecular structure of water. Emoto's hypothesis has evolved over the years of his research. Initially Dr. Emoto claimed that high-quality water forms beautiful and intricate crystals, while low-quality water has difficulty forming crystals. According to Dr. Emoto, an ice crystal of distilled water exhibits a basic hexagonal structure with no intricate branching. Emoto claims that positive changes to water crystals can be achieved through prayer, music or by attaching written words to a container of water.
Since 1999 Emoto has published several volumes of a work titled Messages from Water, which contains photographs of water crystals next to essays and "words of intent."
In addition to his books, Emoto also sells various water products from his websites and catalogs, which are purported to have healing properties derived from his research and experiments.
[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaru_Emoto]
Water-The great Mystery
Documentary about the amazing qualities of water; from its memory retention to its reactions to human emotions.
[Please follow the link to see other parts on youtube]
[Please follow the link to see other parts on youtube]
Monday, 29 August 2011
CEV
Closed-eye hallucinations and closed-eye visualizations (CEV) are a distinct class of hallucination. These types of hallucinations generally only occur when one's eyes are closed or when one is in a darkened room. They are a form of phosphene.
Certain users report closed-eye hallucinations under the influence of psychedelics. These are reportedly of a different nature than the "open-eye" hallucinations of the same compounds.
Levels of CEV perception
There are five known levels of CEV perception which can be achieved either through chemical stimuli or through meditative relaxation techniques.
[edit] Level 1: Visual noise
CEV noise simulation
The most basic form of CEV perception that can be immediately experienced in normal waking consciousness involves a seemingly random noise of pointillistic light/dark regions with no apparent shape or order.
This can be seen when the eyes are closed and looking at the back of the eyelids. In a bright room, a dark red can be seen, owing to a small amount of light penetrating the eyelids and taking on the color of the blood within them. In a dark room, blackness can be seen or the object can be more colourful. But in either case it is not a flat unchanging redness/blackness. Instead, if actively observed for a few minutes, one becomes aware of an apparent disorganized motion, a random field of lightness/darkness that overlays the redness/blackness of your closed eyelids.
For a person who tries to actively observe this closed-eye perception on a regular basis, there comes a point where if they look at a flat-shaded object with their eyes wide open, and try to actively look for this visual noise, they will become aware of it and see the random pointillistic disorganized motion as if it were a translucent overlay on top of what is actually being seen by their open eyes.
When seen overlaid onto the physical world, this CEV noise does not obscure physical vision at all, and in fact is hard to notice if the visual field is highly patterned, complex, or in motion. When active observation is stopped, it is not obvious or noticeable, and seemingly disappears from normal physical perception. Individuals suffering from visual snow see similar noise but experience difficulty blocking it from conscious perception.
The noise probably originates from thermal noise exciting the photoreceptor cells in the retina[citation needed]
[edit] Level 2: Light/dark flashes
Some mental control can be exerted over these closed-eye visualizations, but it usually requires a bit of relaxation and concentration to achieve. When properly relaxed it is possible to cause regions of intense black, bright white or even colors such as yellow, green, or pink to appear in the noise. These regions can span the entire visual field, but seem to be fleeting in nature.[1]
[edit] Level 3: Patterns, motion, and color
CEV pattern simulation, note that this can be quite different from real life experience
This level is relatively easily accessible to people who use LSD, and appears to be what most people refer to as colourful visuals. However, it is also accessible to people involved in deep concentration for long periods of time. When lying down at night and closing the eyes, right before sleep the complex motion of these patterns can become directly visible without any great effort thanks to hypnagogic hallucination. The patterns themselves might resemble fractals.
[edit] Level 4: Objects and things
This is a fairly deep state. At this level, thoughts visually manifest as objects or environments. When this level is reached, the CEV noise seems to calm down and fade away, leaving behind an intense flat ordered blackness. The visual field becomes a sort of active space. A side component of this is the ability to feel motion when the eyes are closed.[citation needed]
Opening the eyes returns one to the normal physical world, but still with the CEV object field overlaid onto it and present. In this state it is possible to see things that appear to be physical objects in the open-eye physical world, but that aren't really there.
“ If we remember that the essential difference between what we call the real world and the world of imagination and hallucination, is not the elements of which we build them up but the sequence in which these elements appear... then it follows that the sequences directed from without represent a limitation of the otherwise unlimited combinations of the selective forms released at random from within ”
—- Jurij Moskvitin, Essay on the origin of thought.
[edit] Level 5: Overriding physical perception
This is the point where it appears to the outside world that a person is either unconscious or insane. The internal CEV perceptions and think-it/feel-it perceptions become stronger than physical perceptions, and completely override and replace open-eye physical perceptions. This can be a potentially dangerous state if a person is still mobile while in a different imagined world, but by this time most people are motionless and not likely to do something hazardous to themselves or others. This is the point where most hallucinogenic references say it is a good idea to have a "sitter" present to watch over the person using the chemicals, and keep them from accidentally harming themselves or others while deep into their own world.[citation needed]
What is not a CEV
Image burn-in (afterimage)
Image burn-in occurs when very bright objects lie in one's field of vision, and should not be confused with closed-eye hallucinations. Visual burn-in from bright lights is visible for a few minutes after closing the eyes, or by blinking repeatedly, but the burn-in effect slowly fades away as the retina recovers, whereas the waking-consciousness CEV noise will not disappear if observed continuously over a period of time.
Corneal liquid
CEV does not involve the liquid and air bubbles on the surface of the cornea, which can also be seen by extremely nearsighted people when looking at bright point-light sources with glasses/contacts removed. Half-closing and reopening the eyelids creates a very definite wiper-ridge in the corneal liquid that is readily visible. Fully closing and reopening the eyelids also stirs up the corneal liquid which settles down after a brief moment. The motion of waking-consciousness CEV noise is not so directly and physically controllable and repeatable. This is not necessarily only associated with extreme nearsightedness.
Blue-sky sprites
CEV does not seem to be related to the "sprites" (blue field entoptic phenomenon) that can be seen as dots darting around when staring up into a bright blue sky on a sunny day (not looking at the sun). These dots superimposed over a flat blue background are white blood cells moving through the blood vessels of the retina. The motion of waking-consciousness CEV noise is uniformly random compared to the waking-consciousness blue-sky sprite motion.
Physical retinal stimulation
CEV is unrelated to the visual noise seen when the retina is physically stimulated. The retina can be made to produce light patterns of visual noise simply by one rubbing their eyes somewhat forcefully in a manner that increases intraocular pressure. Additionally retinal noise can be produced by touching near the rear of the eyeball (for example, if one closes their eyes, looks all the way left, and lightly touches the rightmost part of the eye socket, this produces visual noise in the shape of a circle that appears at the left side of the visual field - a practice that is neither painful nor dangerous). None of these are closed-eye hallucinations.
Floaters
Floaters are faint objects that may be noticed in front of light areas, such as a blue sky. They often appear like cells floating across the eye. Many believe they are illusions but are real objects inside the eye and are the remains of cells.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed-eye_hallucination]
black mirror
the catstate
In quantum computing, the cat state, named after Schrödinger's cat, is the special quantum state where the qubits are in an equal superposition of all being |0> and all being |1>, i.e. (in Bra-ket notation): |00...0> +|11...1>.
animation:
http://www.thecatstate.com/mov/catstate_hi.mov
animation:
http://www.thecatstate.com/mov/catstate_hi.mov
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Friday, 19 August 2011
Cesar Díaz
ATORMENTA from Cesarlinga on Vimeo.
NO CORRAS TANTO Sand Animation from Cesarlinga on Vimeo.
Y TU QUIEN ERES Sand Animation from Cesarlinga on Vimeo.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Kseniya Simonova
This womans work really embodies a huge sense of feeling that I would love to apply to the animation.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Carine Khalifé: Young Galaxy — Blown Minded
Another fantastic piece of animation, Carine explains the process of how the film was made (taken from youtube)
I met Steve and Catherine [of Young Galaxy] when I first arrived in Montreal.
They were about to release their new album, and I was more than excited when they asked me if I was interested in making a video for them. They sent me their songs, and I immediately had a crush on Blown Minded.
We met a couple of times, discussed ideas, and then I started this project!
First, it was all about finding the right technique. Animation offers so many possibilities. When I first heard the song, I was hit by the wonderful texture of it, and my first task was to chose the imagery that would be rich enough to suggest the depth of the song.
It was obvious to me that paint would be the key. So I experimented a lot before jumping into the darkroom.
Basically, my technique was to paint on a piece of glass fixed to a light box. I would paint on the glass with oil so that it wouldn’t dry and I could play with it for hours.
A camera, fixed overhead above the animation table and plugged in my computer, would capture my paintings frame by frame and create the animation, using the software Stop Motion Pro (the Aardman studio software). This process took place inside a darkroom so that there wouldn’t be interference or changing lights on the paint.
The single light source came from beneath the glass, revealing the textures and details of brush movements.
I worked a lot with transparency. The more paint, the darker the image, and therefore the animation becomes about gesture, and the texture of brushstrokes; it’s a very physical, organic process.
I based the number of frames per second (sometimes eight, sometimes 12) on the rhythm of the music. Everything is based on the rhythm. It was important for me, especially for the abstract parts, that I was responding to the song conversationally, like a running dialogue.
I think I’ve listened to the song more than a thousand times. And because I would often listen to it and focus solely on drums, voice, lyrics or melody, I was still able to hear new things each time.
There were two parts to my process: the animation and the editing.
I animated between three and eight seconds per day, depending on the complexity of the sequences. I wanted the whole image to move, to live — even when there wasn’t camera movement. So I repainted the whole frame each time.
I started by using a rotoscoping technique. I filmed live things and rooms, and then I would repaint. But after a few attempts, I decided that the result wasn’t strong or true enough and I put those rushes away, so I could animate freely and make something more intimate and unique.
I wrote the general idea of the course of the film on post-its and I stuck them on the wall behind my desk, so I always knew where I was and where I was going.
And I drew quick sketches for the complicated scenes. The rest I discovered by doing and by painting, so there was a lot of room for surprises and experimentation.
The finished film is as much inspired by the song as the place I was in while making it. When I began this project I had just moved to Montreal. I think these two inspirations connected pretty well to create this atmosphere.
I’m a night worker, and spent several hours at the window, looking at Montreal skies and lights. The chimney is obviously the one of the house next door, and the room at the beginning is my studio. When I arrived in Montreal I liked, and was struck by, the contrasting warm indoors and deep blue outside.
The idea of the white/blank silhouette for the main character came very early when I first heard the song. I discussed the idea with Steve and Catherine, who fully supported me and gave me as much freedom and time as I needed to create this film.
When I was in my studio, I would just shut the curtains, switch on the light box, synchronize the music to the sequence I was working on, and paint frame by frame all the scenes that compose the film.
The first frame of each scene was the most difficult. It sometimes took me half a day just to find the right texture, the right movement, the right light and colors. And then, I would repaint it again and again so it could move.
It was a bit like deconstructing the whole song, second by second.
The next challenge was to put everything back together, like a puzzle, so the film can exist as a whole and be consistent. The editing brought new surprises and ideas, and I happened to repaint a few sequences to fit with the new ideas and make the right transitions between each of the scenes.
Spending the last months in the dark room, with the light box, projecting blue, red or yellow lights on the white walls of my studio was an intense experience. And now that it’s done, it’s a bit like waking up from a dream, and as the film is now getting out of my studio, I rediscover it with new eyes, almost as if I didn’t do it myself.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
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