Please note: Our format changed as of 10/18/07 – see the front page and full archives for more recent listings. Thanks.
Designity.net 3/29/02 Description:
publishing creations from you and others - animation, photography and design
Comments:
I discovered today's pick via coolstop's very own Visitors' Gallery. Had Gabriele not submitted several images (1 | 2), I might never have known about his websites unless, of course, I was lucky enough to bump into them at one of the other "alternative portals" featured here. I guess one gallery leads to another, because today's pick is also a collection of works submitted by a number of talented artists and designers. The 40 square thumbs on the main page, arranged in 10 rows of 4, in itself is quite the piece of eye candy – click away, 'cause there's great art to be found. And that's just the first of two pages of static visuals. There's also a whole page of Flash animations from a number of different contributors. You're not done yet – go to the "About Me" page and you'll find tons of stuff done by Gabriele – we're talkin' visual art to the tenth power...
Flying Puppet 3/25/02 Description:
interactive and poetic net art (Flash/Shockwave)
Comments:
A painter from Paris, Nicolas Clauss, decided to stop painting the "traditional" way. Today's pick was launched last April with Nicolas' decision "to use internet as a canvas." With the collaboration of several talented friends, Nicolas presents his art via Flash and Shockwave – "It's a place of experimentations offering several pieces where interactivity and play dimension are essential." There is a section showcasing 8 of his static works, paintings which I'm guessing were done before the site was launched – they are superb. Then, there's the interactive art – wow! – 30 pieces of multimedia magic! As far as textual (informational) content goes, most of it is currently available in French only, but Nicolas is working on that. The site design is excellent, though I'm not sure which member(s) of the team are responsible for it. One thing I am sure of is that Nicolas, Jean-Jacque, Francois, and Frédéric have a special chemistry between them...
Artkrush 3/19/02 Description:
a website about art™ – interviews, reviews, features and daily art news plus other art-related information
Comments:
For a site with an "LLC" behind it, today's pick has a remarkably non-commercial tone to it. I have a feeling how they might be paying the bills and commend them for presenting advertising (if, indeed, there is any paid advertising) in such a low-key, non-invasive way. There's a number of people behind the scenes – they even have a "Minister of Propaganda." The site is all about the visual arts and the current featured artist is Katrin Sigurdardottir, a sculpture/installation artist whose work has been exhibited worldwide. Twenty of her works are showcased – outstanding stuff. The archive has another 13 featured artists in it – this one feature represents a significant amount of content all by itself. Then there's the "featured articles" which likewise total 14 – in-depth, interesting reading for you art lovers. Add "Eye to Eye" to the mix if you like interviews. Then head to the "Projects" section, which I think is really cool. "Exposed" is a collection of almost 100 "self-portraits" submitted by artists. I love the guidelines – "Submit your most interesting or revealing self-portrait (any medium). And don't bother with the high-concept stuff (ex. toothpicks stuck in mud, or a hacked up Barbie), we want to see you." – and I love the submissions even more...
where were you 3/13/02 Description:
site exists to gather the thoughts and emotions of everyday people to the events on and after September 11, 2001
Comments:
When JFK was shot in the early 60s, I remember people talking about where they were and what they were doing when the horrific event occurred. I can't remember now what I was doing when it happened – I was just 13-years-old and it all seemed so surreal to me. But, the media images of the event and seeing how people around me were affected are all still clearly etched in my memory. The point is that major events impact our thoughts and emotions. Moving to the present where the word "horrific" has taken on a whole new meaning compared to the 60s, we're all still dealing with our feelings, to some degree, over what happened 6 months ago. How could we not be? Yes! I vividly remember where I was and what I was doing on the morning of September 11, 2001. I doubt that I'll ever forget this time. Today's pick was launched on September 15, 2001.– An 18-year-old named Marie Pelkey came up with the concept – 19-year-old Lane Collins designed the site – 19-year-old geoffrey Hicks was responsible for the "technology." These three students obviously weren't around back in the early 60s to recall how people talked about where they were when JFK was shot as a way to cope with the terrible event – but they sure responded quickly to 911, having the insight to see that people will need, or at least want to share their own thoughts and emotions about it. Almost 1,000 people from all over the world have already weighed in – perhap, you'll want to as well. File this one under "the power of the web."
TWOFIFTY 3/11/02 Description:
A digital art gallery exhibiting the works of various artists. The simple but original idea is to have all artwork exactly 250 by 250 pixels in dimensions. It's interesting to see what imagination and creativity can accomplish in such a small, digital canvas...
Comments:
"Digital, Visual, Habitual" is what the main page title says about the site. In the FAQ section, they make it clear that the site is "an exhibition, a showcase... by no means a contest." Eighty digital artists have already contributed a total of almost 400 pieces to the galleries – excellent! So, what's the twist? The artwork has to be exactly 250x250 pixels in size. This simple restriction puts just the right spin on the whole thing – one has to put their creative juices to the test when working on "such a small, digital canvas." I really like the site's design, too – valid HTML4.01 with nice use of CSS – great interface. Ates Goral, the guy behind the site (or at least one of the people behind it), has attracted some great talent with this "simple but original" concept – check out the "picks" for the pieces the editors like the best...
Streetmattress 3/4/02 Description:
a web based outlet for urban art hunters
Comments:
Only on the web, baby! It's global – it's real – it's fun! Today's pick comes to you from street-level and you've got to give Noonan props for coming up with such a unique concept – streetmattresses as art. Okay – so it really does sound silly at first. Who would possibly be interested in such goofiness? You'd be surprised. There's almost 300 submissions from people all over the world – photos of all kinds of mattresses spotted on the street. About 20% of the submissions come from Noonan and Adam, the guys behind the site, but there's 17 other people who have submitted at least 3 entries. A guy named Matthew in Australia has already spotted 30 streetmattresses and Sunnydazeuk seems to have Sarasota, Florida covered nicely with 27. Oddly enough, Adam also has spotted a number of streetmattesses in Sarasota while Noonan is busy spotting 'em in NYC. Five more of the participants have at least 10 spottings to their credit – this is absolutely amazing! A grandfather who visits the site says "this is a fun way to have the fun of hunting without whacking anything." Good point! Another visitor says "Man I LOVE stupid web sites, but holy god this one is a piece of donkey feces. And the fact that it seems well programmed makes it even worse." Yeah, right – I'll betcha he's out there looking for mattresses, too! It's nice to see people having such fun on the web by taking it to the streets, dontcha think?