Good Morning Mesoamerican Sunshine

Click here to watch the beautiful Flash animated short by Ethan Fleischer, The Defeat of Seven Macaw. It is an adaptation of a tidbit of the Mayan book Popul Vuh – “A fun, action-packed creation mythology,” according to Ethan and “The single most important piece of Mesoamerican literature,” according to Wikipedia – in which the protagonist Hunahpu bests the villain god Seven Macaw.

Mayan design elements from pottery and sculpture were appropriated to create the style of the piece. The short’s sound drives home the experience of being in a place before earth-as-we-know-it.

Fun fact: Ethan cast his 8 year old son Alek as the voice of Seven Macaw.

For more odd and pretty things from Ethan’s portfolio see ethanfleischer.com.

Turning Poetry into Material

By Daniela Morell

Abhinand Lath has transformed the solid wall into a glimmering surface that responds to movements and colors around it. His company, SensiTile, makes panels from optic light channels that are embedded in concrete. The result, inspired by an eleventh century Japanese poem about sunlight streaming through a bamboo forest, is a visually kinetic surface. ...

More at http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=3041