Hasta La Ideas

Did we ever tell you about the time we discovered a work by Robert Ryman at a tag sale in Cheboygan? Turns out it was just a blank white canvas, but hey, we only paid $3 (and that included a saltwater-bloated copy of Farewell to Manzanar), so no harm done. But another bargain hunter won’t give up on his quest to prove that the 65 glass negatives he bought at a Fresno garage sale in 2000 are in fact the early work of famed photographer Ansel Adams, who died in 1984. Retired building painter Rick Norsigian (who we suspect is an Antiques Roadshow fan) has spent the past decade trying to authenticate the negatives, which include Adams-eque shots of Yosemite National Park. His attorney now claims that a team of experts has studied the negatives and concluded “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the photos were Adams’ early work, believed to have been destroyed in a 1937 fire at his Yosemite studio. Specialists in Adams’ work were not among the team of experts, and the photograher’s heirs are skeptical. “It’s an unfortunate fraud,” said Bill Turnage, managing director of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, in an interview with Reuters. “It’s very distressing.” And yet:

The shots are of places Adams frequented and photographed. Several shots contain people identified as Adams associates. Adams taught at the Pasadena Art Center in the early 1940s, which would account for the negatives being in Los Angeles. The negatives are the size Adams used in the 1920s and 30s and several have charred edges, possibly indicating the 1937 fire.

But analysis of handwriting on the envelopes encasing the negatives and the cloud formations depicted in the shots has only, well, clouded the debate. The annotations, thought to be in the hand of Adams’ wife (who grew up in Yosemite), are rife with misspellings. Matthew Adams, grandson of Ansel, has suggested carbon dating the charring and the envelopes. A Beverly Hills art appraiser estimated the value of the negatives (if authentic) at $200 million, based on current sales of Adams’ prints and the potential for selling never-seen-before prints. Norsigian purchased them for $45, having bargained the seller down from his original asking price of $70.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

A new crowd-sourced portal to architecture’s greatest achievements and newest additions

The just-launched OpenBuildings online database organizes architecture’s finest examples from around the globe in an effort to share info and highlight stunning developments. Multiple methods of navigating the buildings—as a grid, list, slideshow or Google Maps overlay—allow for individualized browsing of the user-driven site, and a forthcoming iPhone app will make it easy to tour architecture on-the-go.

Already 2,000 buildings strong, co-founder Tom Mallory hopes the architectural community will play an instrumental role in building “an all-encompassing informational resource” for everyone from professionals to tourists. The wiki allows users to edit, add or delete items for a democratic (though remarkably thorough) look at architecture around the world. Register at the OpenBuildings site to submit a building or to just check out many of the amazing architectural feats already listed.

Coming soon, the free OpenBuilding iPhone app called simply “Buildings” prompts self-guided architecture tours to make it even more convenient to learn about our built world.

pimg alt=”openforbranding.jpg” src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/openforbranding.jpg” width=”468″ height=”306″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

pemOver the next six weeks, in a special Core77 exclusive, design firm a href=”http://www.dcontinuum.com/content/”Continuum/a will share, from start to finish, their latest branding project for the new, nomadic a href=”http://designmuseumboston.org/”Design Museum Boston/a and ask for your feedback, kicking off with the brief introduction below./em/p

pHow do you create an identity for an organization that is constantly changing? We’re taking on this challenge with a new project for Design Museum Boston and want your input to help determine the brand identity and visual language. The evolution of the design from problem to solution will be published in real time for you to watch, comment on and shape./p

pDesign Museum Boston is a twist on the traditional brick and mortar space: it’s nomadicmdash;existing mainly in a virtual spacemdash;creating pop-up exhibits, throughout Boston and New England, that educate the general public on the role of design in their lives. We’d like to reflect this itinerant character in the brand, making for an especially interesting project. /p

pEvery week for the next six weeks, we’ll post our progress and ask for feedback in each critical phase of design. In our posts, we’ll share things like the development of thematic approaches; the client’s competitive landscape; images from client meetings and in-house design charettes; and applications of the winning concepts. /p

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/2010/07/dm-boston-web.jpg” width=”468″ height=”306″ alt=”dm-boston-web.jpg”//div
div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/2010/07/dm-boston-existing.jpg” width=”468″ height=”306″ alt=”dm-boston-existing.jpg”//div

pemCurrent Design Museum Boston brand identity./em/p

pOur goal is not only to demonstrate how a brand becomes a brand, but also to allow multiple perspectives determine how this identity will take shape. /p

pStay tuned for next week. We’ll start with the exploration of three thematic approaches for the new identity of Design Museum Boston with brand attributes, brand pillars, and mood boards./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/open_for_branding_continuums_transparent_design_project_for_design_museum_boston__17027.asp”(more…)/a
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pemGuest post by Paul Fraser./em/p

pThe computer graphics gods (i.e., geeks) of the world have descended upon the Los Angeles Convention Center for the a href=”http://www.siggraph.org/s2010/”SIGGRAPH 2010 International Conference and Exhibition/a. Now in its 37th year, SIGGRAPH draws together tech-minded people interested in graphics research, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, science, education and the Internet for a week-long mashup. /p

pYesterday, we walked the aisles of the expo and found a number of products jumping on the 3D bandwagon. Whether you think 3D video / film / television is the future or that it’s a passing fad, no one can argue that the amount of 3D eye candy presented this year is enough to make any 3D-hater drool. You can’t walk 10 feet without finding an exhibit that uses the technology in new and fascinating ways. /p

pWhen it comes to displaying 3D imagery, there are generally two types of technology: displays that must be viewed with 3D glasses (stereoscopic displays), and displays that do not require 3D glasses (autostereoscopic displays). Each technology has its advantages and disadvantages; however, it seems that autostereoscopic technology, though still in its infancy, is the future of 3D technology. If advertisers were to create a 3D video display for a store, for example, they would need the glasses-less technology for passersby to view it. Besides, having to wear glasses to view 3D imagery is becoming too cumbersome. Are you really going to carry around a pair of 3D specs in your pocket?/p

pSony is at the forefront of autostereoscopic 3D technology. During the Emerging Technologies portion of SIGGRAPH 2010, the company showcased the 360-degree autostereoscopic display prototype we’ve been anticipating trying out since we caught wind of it last week: a href=”http://blog.discover.sonystyle.com/raymodeler-3d-prototype-will-be-showcased-at-siggraph”the RayModeler/a. The devicemdash;which looks like it could have been taken from the set of a Star Wars filmmdash;is a compact version of a 3D display enclosed in a cylinder. At first glance, it looks like a high-tech coffee-bean grinder or a blender, but after taking another look, one can view the display from all directions and see a bright, color 3D image. According to Sony, the system is the first display of its kind, featuring special LED light sources that show 360 unique, 24-bit color images in all directions. The user can even control the orientation of the display’s content by using hand motions in proximity to the display (see video above)./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/siggraph_2010_sonys_3d_display_doesnt_require_glasses__17026.asp”(more…)/a
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pWhen you think of Artek you think of design classics in natural colors, as the Finnish company leans towards the muted and understated; so it’s a bit of surprise that A HREF=”http://www.artek.fi/news/119″ they’re splashing out on black, white, grey and even red/A for their quick-ship Carry Away collection. /p

pimg alt=”0artekcolors.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/0artekcolors.jpg” width=”468″ height=”557″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

pThe line-up runs from Alvar Aalto’s classic Stool 60 from 1933 (top) up to Artek Studio’s Magazine/Firewood Rack from 2004 (bottom). br /
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