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Filed under: Accessories, Odds and ends, iPhone, Graphic Design, iPod touch

iPhone artists: paint your way to $500 in the Pogo Stylus art contest

The iPhone is designed to work with your fingers, but those stubby appendages aren't the best for doing detailed work. That's why Ten One Design developed the Pogo Stylus (US$14.95), an aluminum stylus with a special tip that allows it to work on the capacitive display of the iPhone and iPod touch. It's also handy for operating your iPhone with gloves on, or for anyone who has trouble working with the touchscreen directly.

Ten One Design is holding an art contest through July 1st, 2009. The rules are simple; you must use a Pogo Stylus to create a work of art on an iPhone or iPod touch. You can use whatever software you desire, although most of the artwork seen below was created with the help of Brushes [App Store]. The winner will have $500 paid to his or her PayPal account.
What are you waiting for? Get your Pogo Stylus and get to work!

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software

Braid comes to the Mac


You have to admit: for all of the gaming woes that the Mac faithful has suffered, there's fortunately never been a shortage of great indie games for us to play. Aquaria made it to our platform, World of Goo appeared pretty early on, and now Braid, Jonathan Blow's terrific deconstruction of Super Mario Bros., has appeared on OS X thanks to the kind folks over at Hothead Games. The game has won more awards than you can count, but I can personally tell you it's great, as I played the XBLA release when it first arrived. It's a classic 2D platformer in the vein of Mario with a very important twist: you can reverse, slow, and replay time throughout the various levels. That twist results in an extremely artistic game that takes apart the original Mario story and ends up with something very much more beautiful and sad.

"Artistic"? "Beautiful"? "Sad"? Can I say these things about a videogame? Of course I can -- Braid stands in a class of its own as an experience that uses art and gameplay together to tell quite a story. If you're a fan of innovative games or just great interactive experiences, and haven't played through it yet (it's fairly short, maybe six hours at the most), it's definitely worth a look. The Greenhouse is selling the Mac or PC versions for $14.95.

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

Apple art redux: David Hockney paints on an iPhone

This seems to be the week for that magical intersection of Apple and art.

On Wednesday TUAW highlighted a Warhol serigraph that's up for auction at a gallery in Portland, Oregon; now TUAW reader Tristan tipped us off to a post on the Daily Mail website about renowned British artist David Hockney using an iPhone to create mini paintings.

The 71-year-old Hockney has had his iPhone for 4 months and is cranking out small paintings which he sends to friends. Among his favorite subjects for "finger painting" on his iPhone are landscapes and flowers. The flower paintings are sent to friends as "fresh flowers" that last a long time.

Hockney likes to use his iPhone in bed to send out illustrated art lectures, and has a tiny easel on which the iPhone sits when he's working on his little masterpieces. There's no word on whether or not Apple will begin selling the easels as an iPhone accessory in their retail stores.

Filed under: Odds and ends, Apple, Apple History

Bid on this Andy Warhol Apple logo serigraph

I love art. I love Apple products. When the two intersect, I get very interested. For example, I have an original Nitrozac oil painting hanging on my office wall depicting Steve Jobs announcing the iPhone at Macworld Expo 2007.

TUAW reader Ramy sent us a tip about an Andy Warhol serigraph that is currently up for auction at O'Gallerie in Portland, Oregon. The silkscreen color print (photo at right) was commissioned by Del Yocam, who was Apple's first COO and head of the Apple II division during the 1980s. Yocam is now on the Board of Directors of Adobe Systems.

While we'll never know why this iconic Warhol is up for grabs, if you have $20-30K just burning a hole in your pocket, now you have something to spend it on.

Peter O'Grady of O'Gallerie was kind enough to give us permission to reproduce the image of the Warhol serigraph, and noted that Portland readers can attend the auction on May 6th at 7 PM PDT.

(Don't worry. I won't be bidding against you.)

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

Ten crazy iPhone cases


I ended up going with an iSkin Revo for my iPhone as a thin little protective case, but now that I've seen some of these crazy cases, I'm reconsidering just a little bit. Who wouldn't want to encase your iPhone in what appears to be bacon, or try out the tactile iPhone case above (which transmits button presses to a customized home screen -- not something I'd want to use all the time, but it is wild and it has a purpose).

That Dexter case is cool too, though there are probably plenty of promotional cases out there. It's almost too bad -- when I picked up my plain black case, I was thinking a lot more about function than appearance. There's all kinds of cool things out there to put your iPhone in.

[via Urlesque]

Filed under: Accessories, iBook, PowerBook, Macbook Pro, MacBook, iPhone

Infectious offers discount for TUAW readers


I am a huge fan of Gelaskins, and my iPhone has boasted one since I discovered a display at a small Toronto store back in May. Adhesive art for your iPhone, iPod, and Mac is a fantastic concept and a great way to express yourself beyond the typical hardware case.

Infectious is another site that offers art for laptops, cars, and more. They have recently launched a line for the iPhone. The site currently has 38 different pieces of art for the iPhone, and is currently on sale for $9.99. The Infectious stickers will fit both generations of iPhones.

You will get a large piece of art for the back of the phone, and a smaller one for the front that goes over the Home button. The artwork for the front of the iPhone is a fantastic feature that Gelaskins doesn't have, and one that I find very attractive. It makes it easy to spot your phone without having to flip it over to check the back or activate the screen to check the wallpaper.

Art for laptops is starts at $29.99 and will fit the Powerbook G4, iBook, MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. The artwork is made on 3M vinyl material and can be easily removed to put on another piece.

Infectious is currently offering a deal for TUAW readers. Use discount code TuawRocks for 10% off from now until December 31.

Filed under: iPod Family, Odds and ends

This is your iPod on drugs, any questions?

If this is what Russian artists Aristarkh Chernyshev & Alexei Shulgin see when they look at their iPods every day, I would suggest a medication adjustment at the earliest opportunity. The sculpture version of a giant, warped iPod is fully functional, although you'd have to be relatively immune to eyestrain and vertigo if you wanted to use it on a regular basis.

Do you have a favorite iPod or Mac-themed work of art? Drop a link in the comments or add the 'tuaw' tag to a Flickr photo and we'll check it out.

Thanks Aaron!


[via MAKEblog]

Filed under: Multimedia

Project Blinkenlights presents "Stereoscope," and you're invited

A massive spectacle is brewing in Canada. From the 4th of October through the 12th, the two towers of Toronto's city hall will become grandiose pixel displays with the help of Project Blinkenlights. Dubbed "Stereoscope," the installation will use wirelessly-controlled lights placed behind the windows of the building to generate the pixel art. This project adds to the growing list of large-scale interactive light installations executed by Project Blinkenlights... it also happens to be as Mac-friendly as they come, thanks to some help from our friends at The Coding Monkeys.

When we talked to Martin and Dominik at WWDC, they hinted at their involvement in this project. They stayed pretty tight-lipped about it, stating only that it would be "big." Now they've unveiled a simulator for Leopard and a mobile version for the iPhone [iTunes link] which allow users around the world to watch in realtime as the exhibition unfolds. Beyond that, they had a hand in creating some of the tools which allow users from all over the globe to generate and contribute their own animations for the event.

I've been playing with both the desktop and iPhone simulators, and I'm duly impressed. The iPhone version -- with smooth, touch-based navigation and amazing 3D rendering -- is definitely not to be missed (especially since it's free). This event would be big enough if it stayed in Toronto, but Project Blinkenlights and The Coding Monkeys have made it possible for users around the world to take part in the spectacle. Check out the gallery for more shots of the iPhone version of the simulator in action.

Filed under: Humor, Odds and ends, Flickr Find, iPhone, Graphic Design

Flickr Find: iPhone cubism


This little glitch has never happened to my iPhone, though I wish it had -- there's a glitch in the iPhone's camera that will occasionally cause it to slice up pictures like this, and our friend Veronica Belmont created a whole pool of the glitchy photos called iPhone cubism. Of course, if you want a picture of your little girl, it's more frustrating than anything else, but in an artistic sense, some of the pictures are really benefited by the random slicing. As if the iPhone didn't do enough, now it's throwing some art into the mix.

Of course, it's a bug, not a feature. Since several people are reporting this as a problem after 2.0 was released, we're guessing it's a software issue, perhaps a problem with syncing the little light sensor chip in the iPhone's camera. If you have some great pictures of this stuff, throw them into the pool on Flickr, and hopefully for the less artistic (and less bug-patient) among us, Apple will get this fixed soon.

Thanks, Jason!

Filed under: Multimedia, iPhone

Tate Liverpool launches first UK iPhone art exhibition tour

Tate Liverpool online tourTate Liverpool, one of the Tate art galleries scattered around the UK (the two main galleries are in London, another is in St Ives) has opened an experimental online exhibition tour for iPhone and iPod Touch owners, which it says is the first of its kind in the country.

From now until the end of August, visitors to the Gustav Klimt exhibition will be able to browse the free guide content to their iPhones over the gallery's wifi network, or download it beforehand as a podcast. Spare iPod touches with the content pre-loaded will be available for hire for just $6 (£3).

According to an article about the experiment in Design Week magazine, the guide has been very popular and upped average visit times from 45 minutes to three hours.

If you want to try the tour for yourself without making the trip to Liverpool, you can enjoy it in full on the web.

Thanks to Jonathan for the tip.


Filed under: Odds and ends, Flickr Find

Flickr Find: iPaint myMac

Satta van Daal is a talented stencil artist from Germany, now living in Australia. His canvas? A vast array of old Macs: from SEs to LCs to PowerBook 100s. He decorates them with everything from vignettes of Steve and Woz to carefully recreating the look of Susan Kare's original one-bit Mac icon set.

If you live in southeast Australia, and have an old Mac you're willing to let go of, he might turn it into his next work of art.

He plans on showing his art in an expo titled iPaint MyMac later this year in Melbourne, and hopefully Sydney soon after. You may like his t-shirts, too.

[Via Team Teabag.]

Filed under: iPod Family, Multimedia, iTunes, iPhone

When Apple and Art Come Together

Artists, photographers, writers, musicians and other creative types use Apple products every day as tools and inspiration to help them fulfill their creative desires and aspirations. So it should come as no surprise when some of those creative aspirations turn out to actually feature one of the tools that helps enable their creativity.

Case in point: Over at LAist, editor Zach Behrens has posted a piece on artist Nick Rodrigues' mixed-media installation known as the "Porta Party." What exactly is the "Porta-Party" you may wonder? Well, its a giant-sized iPod-like box where you go inside, bring your own iPod or iPhone, and groove to your favorite music.

Or, as the man who created it sums up in his artist's statement about the "Porta-Party": "If you walk around with a party going on inside your head and your just too shy to bust a move in public. Or if you like partying but hate people. Your prayers have been answered."

It's great when Apple can help empower artists and users to reach their full potential -- especially when that full potential involves dancing. And yes, in case you were wondering, the "Porta-Party" is available for your next event.

Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iTunes, Apple

Cover Stream brings the old CoverFlow back


I'm sure I'm not alone on this one, but I remember when CoverFlow was basically just a tech demo, and not, you know, the centerpiece of OS X's UI. But of course when Apple picked up the little app to use it for everything else, we lost it -- even if you wanted to use the old simple album-browsing app (and now I'm actually regretting deleting it off of my old PowerBook), you're out of luck.

Unless you use Cover Stream, an iTunes helper app that recreates the old CoverFlow interface outside of iTunes. It's even incorporated the "flip-browsing" that you can do on the iPhone, where you just flip the art over to choose a specific track to play. As for how it actually works with iTunes, we can't say, but at least that CoverFlow interface is still available unofficially.

By the way, I'm planning on doing a roundup (similar to the alarm clock one) of iTunes helper apps like this, so if there are any you want to see included, drop a note here in the comments. I have a few in mind already, but suggestions are welcome.

[Via MacMinute]

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, iPod Family, Odds and ends

Working iPod trapped in resin for art's sake



Engadget brings us this exploded iPod (that poor site is getting beat up today), which has been dissembled and placed in a protective block of carbonite translucent resin. Why? Don't ask why-- it's, like, art, man.

Billy Chasen is the artist in question, and here's the best part of the whole story: that iPod you see above? It still works. Apparently he just took it apart-- he didn't actually disconnect anything, and so it can still charge and play as normal. Which makes me wonder-- when the next ice age comes and all of our iPods get frozen in ice, will future generations still be able to come along, warm them back up, and see what we were listening to? Maybe I should get that Tiffany off my Pod just in case.

Filed under: Multimedia, Odds and ends

Quartz Composer Art / Screensavers

Quartz Composer was one of the coolest new technologies Apple added in Tiger. It allows designers to create some amazingly complex motion graphics with comparatively little work. (Core Animation is likely an analogous advance in Leopard). The Japanese designer Futurismo Zugakousaku has used Quartz Composer to generate some dazzling motion graphics, which can conveniently be used as screen savers in OS X (place the QTZ files in /Library/Screen Savers/). His Quartz Composer Samples page features 33 QTZ files for download, some of which are simply mesmerizing. The site is feeling the Digg effect right now, but I managed to grab several of them as well as watch his sample movie. I was quite impressed by what I saw, particularly considering the fact that he says he made each of them in less than an hour. Zugakousaku says of himself: "I want to make a work like a new surrealist of the new generation." I think he's already achieved a lot.

[Via Digg]

Tip of the Day

To find out what version of Mac OS you are running, go to the Apple logo in the top left corner, click it and choose About This Mac. From that window you will see the version number, processor, memory and chosen startup disk. Clicking Software Update will check for updates, and More Info... will open up an extensive list of everything on your machine.


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