An Ethereal Documentary Illuminates the Booming Grasshopper Harvest in Uganda

In the Luganda language, the word nsenene describes the long-horned grasshoppers that are the backbone of a robust industry in Uganda. The nocturnal insects are a crunchy delicacy, often served boiled or fried, and are harvested in incredible quantities during the rainy seasons in May and November. A poetic documentary directed and produced by Michelle Coomber follows locals as they set up precarious traps and gather hordes of the crickets under the nighttime sky.

Narrated by a grasshopper hunter named Ibrah, “Nsenene” peers through the darkness and smoke from a nearby fire to illuminate the collection process. The insects are attracted to bright bulbs strung up around tall iron panels, which stun the crickets and drop them into the open drums at the base. “We add smoke so the light makes a lens in the sky, and the grasshoppers get drunk on the smoke. They fall into the barrels like fat raindrops on a tin roof,” the narrator says.

The noisy crickets, though, are also imbued in lore. “There are so many beliefs, like, if a pregnant woman ate them, her child would have a grasshopper head,” says Ibrah, whose family has participated in the industry for generations. “Some people believe they come from water in the lakes. Others say they emerge from the soil like ants. I believe they’re not from this world.”

Coomber has garnered multiple awards for “Nsenene” from Raindance, Sydney Short Film Festival, and Fargo Film Festival, to name a few, and you can watch more of her works on her site and Vimeo. (via Short of the Week)

 

from Colossal https://ift.tt/pGky8i2
via IFTTT

‘Bamboo Contemporary’ Spotlights 14 Designs Advancing Sustainable Architecture Around the World

Tommaso Riva. All images courtesy of Princeton Architectural Press, shared with permission

Six times stronger than steel and using an estimated 50 times less energy to produce, bamboo is at the forefront of sustainable architecture. The durable material is central to recent projects like a latticed welcome center in Vietnam and this swelling canopy offering respite from the elements of the Karst Mountains, two constructions that accentuate the plant’s organic shape and sturdy qualities.

A new book published by Princeton Architectural Press highlights fourteen homes around the world built with the perennial grass. Written by author and architectural historian William Richards, Bamboo Contemporary explores a vast array of styles and techniques, ranging from sleek remodels with the material to the lavish home in Bali fabricated by the firm behind this spiraling school. “In design circles, bamboo has been heralded as the material of the future—a pliable solution for architects seeking sustainable methods and materials. For many architects and builders along the equatorial band, bamboo’s past is just as rich. It’s both new and nothing new at the same time,” Richards writes in the introduction.

Containing structural renderings and photos for each project, the 256-page volume is an insightful and forward-looking consideration of the architects working toward a more environmentally conscious future. Explore more by picking up a copy of Bamboo Contemporary from Princeton Architectural Press.

 

Maira Acayaba

Mischa Witzmann

Satoshi Asakawa

Mischa Witzmann

Photo by Marc Gerritsen

from Colossal https://ift.tt/BFprHyz
via IFTTT

Shop Limited-Edition Prints of Mia Bergeron’s Imaginative Works from Sebastian Foster

“Stop Running”

Austin-based gallery and print studio Sebastian Foster has a new addition to its roster, Tennessee-based artist Mia Bergeron. To celebrate her joining the gallery, they’re releasing a collection of limited-edition prints of the artist’s dreamlike, dualistic works.

A classically trained oil painter, Bergeron uses modern techniques and concepts to create layered pieces. She often oscillates between the fictitious and the observed, blending the realities of the physical world with the fanciful and imaginative. Through phantasmic figures and mundane domesticity turned eerie, Bergeron explores seemingly disparate sentiments within a single work, whether through the contrasts between curiosity and loss, longing and presence, or emptiness and saturation.

Add Bergeron’s ethereal renderings to your collection by heading to the Sebastian Foster site. The gallery also represents numerous artists previously featured on Colossal, including Grant Haffner, Jeremy Miranda, Sabine Timm, and Diana Sudyka, who have originals and prints available, as well.

 

“Apparition”

“Vessel”

“Ancestors”

Aurora Living

“Next Year”

“Tranquil Ghosts”

“Remains”

from Colossal https://ift.tt/o1hJUCT
via IFTTT

Lush Canopies of Hundreds of Purple Flowers Erupt from Japan’s Wisteria

Ashikaga Flower Park, Tochigi, Japan. All images © Ryo Tajima, shared with permission

Each spring, the Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi, Japan, is flooded with bright, blossoming canopies of purple flowers. The area is home to more than 350 wisterias, including one monumental specimen that’s at least 150 years old, and hosts an annual festival that illuminates the lengthy tendrils against the nighttime sky. For the past few years, Ryo Tajima has visited the park, in addition to other locations around the country, to photograph the flowers as they reach peak bloom. His images capture the stunning magnitude of the vines, showing the breadth and density that appear to explode with color.

Some of Tajima’s wisteria photos are compiled in a book from National Geographic, and you can follow his travels to document cherry blossoms, cosmos, and fields teeming with lavender on Instagram.

 

Ashikaga Flower Park, Tochigi, Japan

Ashikaga Flower Park, Tochigi, Japan

Yamaguchi, Japan

Ashikaga Flower Park, Tochigi, Japan

Saitama, Japan

from Colossal https://ift.tt/gs2hyGC
via IFTTT

A Brilliant Orange Orb Shape-Shifts Through Time in a Meditative Animated Short

A metaphor for the way fragments of time both accumulate and mutate as they slip from one moment to the next, a glowing sphere is the subject of a calming short film by Argentinian artist Ezequiel Pini, of Six N. Five. The CGI animation follows the bright orb as it expands, multiplies, and transfigures into alternate forms like a sun dropping beneath the horizon and windows evocative of the recently demolished Nakagin Capsule Tower. Although simple in shape, the round object “represents care, calm, and attention to achieve its ultimate perfection. We are a circle, without boundaries, beginning or end. Infinity,” Pini says. Watch more of his poetic works on Vimeo.

 

from Colossal https://ift.tt/BYy947v
via IFTTT

Cloaked in Bold Motifs, Ceramic Vessels by Ariana Heinzman Sprout Playful Botanical Forms

All images courtesy of J. Reinhart Gallery, shared with permission

From her studio on Vashon Island in Washington, artist Ariana Heinzman channels the lithe forms of the human body into supple clay vessels. Enveloped in quirky botanical patterns and thick outlines, the sculptures twist and bow into elegant shapes that sprout buds and spiked flowers. Bold, dense motifs evoke the Garden of Eden, Heinzman shares, and serve as a metaphor for the impulse to cover the nude figure with layers of garments.

The vessels shown below are on view through June 18 at J. Rinehart Gallery in Seattle as part of the artist’s solo show, It’s Good to be Here. You can shop functional ceramic pieces like cups and planters on Heinzman’s site, and explore an archive of her floral sculptures on Instagram.

 

from Colossal https://ift.tt/v3TaEsh
via IFTTT

A Conservationist Teaches Geese to Use Safer Migration Routes by Flying With Them Across Europe

Back in 1995, Christian Moullec embarked on his first migration alongside a flock of lesser white-fronted geese that he intended to introduce to Sweden. He flew an adapted delta plane alongside the birds, which were threatened after being overhunted, and protect them on their journey. This initial mission quickly morphed into a now decades-long project of training avian populations to utilize more secure paths as they travel across Europe, ensuring that the already dwindled species would survive the trek and be able to reproduce.

English YouTuber and educator Tom Scott (previously) joins Moullec on one of the flights above Southern France as they glide in a microlight aircraft just inches from the animals—Scott is so close that he’s able to touch goose’s tail feathers. Reaching this level of intimacy takes dedication and immersion in the flock, Moullec shares, saying that he raises the birds, sleeps with them, and even bathes in the pond on his property. This establishes trust and is essential as they define their routes, which sometimes traverse thousands of kilometers each day. “I’m not the one who teaches the birds to fly with me,” Moullec shares. “I’ve been flying with birds for 27 years, and they taught me how to fly with them.”

In addition to his conservation-oriented flights, Moullec offers passenger trips for those interested in joining the flock, and you can find more about his work on his site. (via The Kids Should See This)

 

from Colossal https://ift.tt/vgDiMZP
via IFTTT