“At the library’s entrance stands “Constellation Earth” by Paul Theodore Granlund, sculptor-in-residence at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. The bronze sculpture’s dancing sphere of seven human figures symbolizes the seven continents and the interdependence of human beings. The piece was commissioned for St. Thomas by businessman Thomas Coughlan in 1984. A duplicate sculpture was installed in 1992 in St. Paul’s sister city, Nagasaki, Japan, as a gesture of peace.”
Stunning solar powered lamp - The genius is Damian O’Sullivan’s use of the solar panels is to enhance and become integral parts of the design, rather than be relegated to incidental afterthoughts.
I think some day it would be nice to have colleges have programs, very strong programs, in this sort of user interface but with a very humanist attitude point of view, and start playing around with new approaches. Some year, some decade, it might just come into the popular conscious to start making things more beautiful for people.
10,000 Year Clock - The Clock of the Long Now is an exquisite feat of engineering and art, designed to last for over 10,000 years. I will be following this. (Thanks: kottke)
Museum of International Folk Art - Incidentally, I heard about this museum on “The Splendid Table.” I’ve never really learned about folk art much and I think I have a skewed perception: this place would be cool to visit.
Over a month after seeing this movie, I finally get time to review the thing. Whew. It was playing only at one theater in the entire Twin Cities area: Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis. While the price was the same as big-box theaters (8 bucks per ticket), the ambience was completely different. The seats were harder, the air a little damp, and you could watch from the balcony. None of this detracted from the movie, in fact it made seeing an ‘indie’ film seem … more indie. The audience seemed a bit less numb to the movie, too: people actually laughed at the funny parts (though this movie isn’t even a comedy).
