Bird Factory
Ornithologist John Gould is credited with producing hundreds of captivating images of birds from all over the world. He was famous during his lifetime, and Charles Darwin referenced Gould in On the Origin of Species.
But Gould, like many a famous artist-cum-factory, owed much of his success to the concerted efforts of the people around him--or married to him:
"The Victorians’ appetite for books and for collecting specimens from the natural world fed the frenetic activity in what has been called the Gould factory. More than an artist, Gould was a consummate entrepreneur."
More:
- The Biodiversity Heritage Library provides access digital versions of Gould's books documenting birds from Europe, Australia, Asia, and North America
- This article explores the life of Elizabeth Gould and her contributions to John Gould's legacy: Elizabeth Gould: An Accomplished Woman.
Early Computer Art in the 50’s & 60’s
By Amy Goodchild.
You could read this piece looking for obvious parallels between “computer art” in the middle of the last century and the current discourse around AI "art,” but more interesting to me is the fact that many of the early creators weren’t entrepreneurs scaling tools or platforms with budget-conscious customers in mind. They were both artists and tech professionals spending time and energy exploring how an emerging technology could be used in experimental self-expression.
VIDEO: Bright Ideas: Mastering Architectural Lighting
John Cullen Lighting.
This video is a pretty paint-by-numbers example of content marketing: it's designed primarily to promote a company, but does so pretty effectively by offering genuinely helpful examples of lighting design, a thing that I now understand a little bit better.
Which means I've spent the last few days wandering around spaces very aware of recessed lighting and the benefits of a few strategically placed lamps.