Matthew Reinhart's Blog, page 9

Word of the Day: Rara Avis

Rara Avis \RAIR-uh-AY-vis\ noun

1. A rare or unique person or thing.

Origin:
Rara avis is Latin for "rare bird".

(The Asian Crested Ibis)

Weekly History Lesson: Nautilus Travels Under North Pole

On August 3rd, 1958 the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplished the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole.  It was also the world's first nuclear submarine.  The USS Nautilus was constructed and designed by U.S. Navy Captain Hyman G. Rickover who was a brilliant Russian-born engineer.  Rickover had joined the U.S. atomic program in 1946, and in 1947 was put in charge of the Navy's nuclear propulsion program.  Rickover succeeded in creating a nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule, the submarine was launched in January of 1954.

USS Nautilus departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on July 23, 1958 to embark on "Operation Northwest Passage" which would be the first crossing of the North Pole by submarine.  The 111 man crew and 4 civilian scientists accomplished this on August 3, 1958.

~Jess

Word of the Day: Panacea

Panacea \pan-uh-SEE-uh\ noun

1. A remedy for all diseases, problems, or evils; a universal medicine; a cure-all.

Origin: Panacea derives from Greek panakeia, from panakes, "all-healing," from pan-, "all" + akos, "cure."

Weekly Beast: Pancake Batfish

Halieutichthys intermedius is also known as the Louisiana Pancake Batfish.  This species was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico just before the oil spill in 2010.  This animal is flat like a pancake and hops on its fins and has huge bulging eyes.  They are found roughly 1,300 feet below the water's surface.  Scientists are not sure as to how many of the fish are in existence, especially after the oil spill.

I'm not sure this is a pancake I'd look forward to eating!

Artist Watch: Katherine Baxter

Katherine Baxter is an artist who is fascinated with seeing the world from above.  Be it from the top of the Empire State Building or from a plane, the vistas inspire her maps and other pieces.  Check out more of Baxter's work on her website.



~ Jess

Word of the Day: Piebald

Piebald \PY-bald\ adjective

1. Having spots and patches of black and white, or other colors; mottled.
2. Mixed; composed of incongruous parts.

Origin: Piebald is from pie, the parti-colored bird + bald.

 

What's Popped Up: Publicolor Visit

A few weeks ago Matthew visited the kids at Publicolor to talk about pop ups, inspirations, and give a demonstration as well!  Publicolor is a not-for-profit organization that uses art to re-engage students in their education and community.  And as you can see in the photos below, everyone in the class enjoyed learning about pop ups so much that they sent us thank you cards!  It's very exciting for us to see more budding artists playing with pop ups.






~Jess

Word of the Day: Lackadaisical

Lackaddaisical \lack-uh-DAY-zih-kuhl\ adjective

1. Lacking spirit or liveliness; showing lack of interest; languid; listless.

Origin:
Lackadaisical comes from the expression lackadaisy, a variation of lackaday, itself a shortening of "alack the day"

Vintage Moveable Review: Luna Luna Pop-up

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I recently learned about the fanciful artist and architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser and his various creations like the Green Citadel. I also learned that he took part in Luna Luna Park in Hamburg, Germany back in 1986. Luna Luna was the brainchild of the equally interesting Andre Heller and was a traveling combination of a contemporary art park and a "child's dream" of an amusement park. Heller invited famous artists of different generations to participate. Salvador Dali, Jean Tinguely, Jim Whiting and Roy Lichtenstein created special installations. Younger Americans Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kenny Scharf, along with several German neo-expressionist painters decorated children's rides. Seeing Haring listed here reminded me of a special pop-up.

Of interest to us today is the pop-up folio that celebrates the colorful carousel created by Keith Haring for Luna Luna. This 12" x 12" single spread pop-up was paper engineered by Ron van der Meer and produced in 1986 by Carvajal in Columbia. The edition is rumored to be around 2000 so this pop-up is a rare breed to come across. Equally scare is information on Luna Luna Park and it's success. Nonetheless, I would have loved to visit this avant-garde carnival and hope that one day I can at the very least own a pop-up artifact from this bizarre wonderland.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Aestival

Aestival \ES-tuh-vuhl\ adjective

1. Of or belonging to the summer; as, aestival diseases.

Origin: From the Latin æstas, "summer"