Ruby Hornet's Lollapalooza 2014 Spotify Playlist
In case you missed our Lollapalooza artist recommendations yesterday, check them out while you listen to our Spotify Playlist! Curated by both Aleks and I, we wanted to share this playlist with those who may not be familiar with the Lollapalooza artists we recommended. In my opinion, the playlist runs the gamut of sounds that Lollapalooza offers, from OutKast's flow to CHVRCHES' synth-pop and everything in between. Enjoy this playlist while you prepare for a very tiring and people-filled weekend.
The Boryeong Mud Festival in South Korea
Photos by Kim Hong-Ji
Every summer millions of tourists are attracted to a small beach town named Boryeong, in South Korea, and it's for the mud. Specifically, for the 2 week long Boryeong Mud Festival that began in 1988, now attracts 2.2 million visitors a year, and most famously for its final weekend, which usually falls on the second weekend in July. For all who missed it or never heard of it, notable Reuters South Korean Photographer Kim Hong-Ji, covered much of the excitement, quite different from much of his other work.
Although it does seem that mud festivals and mud runs have been increasingly popular across the western world in general, this one actually serves to be beneficial for your skin. In 1996 a range of cosmetics was produced using mud from this area in the world. Beneficially, the cosmetics were said to be full of minerals, bentonites, and germaniums, all of which occur naturally in this mud. In order to promote these cosmetics, the Boryeong Mud Festival was conceived, and offers plenty of mud massage programs set to remove impurities, to fun events such as mud wrestling, a mud fireworks fantasy, survival games, zipline rides, and a lot more. On the mudflat there is also the chance to participate in Marine style training.
Check out Hong-Ji' photos, and find more photos from the Festival here.
"Photographers from around the world need to do their best to capture what has not been captured before." - Kim Hong-Ji
[Via RUETERS]
Javier Laspiur's Controllers Photo Series Focuses on Video Game Controllers
Photos by Javier Laspiur
Gamers know how important controllers are. After all, they're our entry into these beautiful, inspiring worlds that we have devoted a large part of our lives to. For better or worse, the wrong controller or controller input can ruin someone's experience with a game; just ask people who've thrown controllers at walls in a fit of anger. Javier Laspiur, a photographer from Madrid, Spain, has decided to pay homage to video game controllers in a new photo series entitled Controllers.
Controllers is a first-person styled photo series of presumably Laspiur's hands on various types of video game controllers (and handheld systems) with the date he first used them, which should not be confused with when each respective video game system was launched. Below, you can find a few of my favorite photos from the Controllers photo series featuring the Atari 2600 joystick, NES controller, Sega Genesis (Mega Drive in foreign markets) controller, Sega Game Gear, PlayStation controller, and PlayStation 2 controller.
You can find more from Laspiur's Controllers series on his Behance page.
[Interview] Vee Miyagi Discusses No Color
This is the second in a series of two pieces by Contributing Writer Jessi Grant exploring No Color, a new campaign dedicated to creating a foundation of diversity and positivity within the Chicago arts and creative scene.
Art is often praised for its ability to connect. Through performance or visuals, the artist has the power to unite people and help them further understand one another. Chicago MC Vee Miyagi has decided to use this element of art for the advantage of his and other communities through the creation of No Color. Founded in March of this year by Miyagi and his friend Steven Reaves, No Color aims to bring artists of different background together in order to support a larger mission of community outreach. Ruby Hornet was fortunate to attend the first No Color event at Insit Studios last month. We recently followed up with Miyagi to learn more about No Color and his inspiration as an artist and activist.
Fantasy Art Photography by Margarita Kareva
Photos by Margarita Kareva
With the help of photoshop, beautiful models, and a creative imagination, Russian born photographer Margarita Kareva, specializes in fantasy art photography. What began as a hobby just 3 years ago, she says that she finds her inspiration through fantasy books and fairytales, thus transforming carefully selected models into witches and princesses. With adding surreal elements and the right location and she brings these fantasy worlds to real life in a very unique way.
In just 3 years of work, Kareva's portfolio is full of whimsical and vibrant portraits that stretch the imagination. Definitely keep tabs of more of her work here, as it continues to grow and evolve into very respected artwork, spreading around the world. Check out some of our favorites before, they may make you consider starting a new hobby of your own.
[Via BoredPanda]
Captain America and Marvel's Diverse Future
Since 1940, Captain America has [mostly] been portrayed by Steve Rogers, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed All-American archetype meant to represent American ideals in the face of the then-threat of Nazi Germany. The title "Captain America" has outgrown the man as Captain America represents an icon, an idea, a belief of American justice and patriotism. Without getting too into the fictional story behind the Captain America comics or Steve Rogers, many story arcs have analyzed the definition of who and what Captain America is.
Many stories have seen other characters take the mantle of Captain America outside of Rogers. For instance, Isaiah Bradley was the first black character to share the Captain America name in the 2003 limited series, Truth: Red, White, & Black, which took the initial super soldier serum story that gave Rogers his powers, but also drew parallels to the Tuskegee syphilis experiments that took place from 1932 to 1972. However, whereas Truth: Red, White, & Black depicted an alternative Captain America never meant to replace Rogers, Marvel's new direction for the character will not only re-envision the future of the Captain America brand, but also represents Marvel's willingness to update and modernize their stories and characters to befit current American culture.
Last week, the company announced that Sam Wilson AKA The Falcon (portrayed by Anthony Mackie in Captain America: The Winter Soldier) will become Captain America this fall in the pages of All-New Captain America #1. With Wilson in the fray, Marvel will not only be able to move away from the "displaced man from history" trope that Rogers always represented, but can depict a Captain America that holds different values and views that differ greatly from Rogers', but still correlate to what the stars and stripes represent. Captain America editor Tom Brevoort elaborates:
“[Sam] didn’t grow up in the 1930s, he’s a modern day man in touch with the problems of the 21st Century. For most of his professional life, Sam has worked as a social worker, so he’s seen the worst of urban society up close, and how crime, poverty, lack of social structure and opportunity can affect the community. So he’s got perhaps a greater focus on the plight of the common man, and perhaps a greater empathy for the underprivileged than maybe even Steve himself[...] Sam, like Steve, will be led by his personal morality and beliefs as to what is right and what is wrong—and where his beliefs may differ in their shading from those of the previous Cap are where the interesting stories will be found.”
The move makes sense from a creative and narrative standpoint for Marvel. However, it also represents something much larger than a simple comic book: Marvel's willingness to adapt and modernize decades-old establishments that have, for better or worse, become outdated. Three years ago, the company introduced a new Spider-Man to their Ultimate universe, Miles Morales, a young half-Black, half-Latino teenager who took over the Spider-Man name after Peter Parker's death. In the three years since his debut, Morales has become one of the company's most popular characters. However, while he may be the star of the Ultimate line of comic books, he didn't replace the standard Peter Parker found in the main Marvel comic books, instead representing a push towards a spotlight on minorities on a smaller scale within the Ultimate line. Still, the willingness to introduce a multiracial character into a large role was huge for both Marvel and the reception and acceptance of minorities in major pop culture circles.
Earlier this year, Marvel introduced the first Muslim character, Kamala Khan, to have their own comic book with Ms. Marvel, the fourth character to take the name of Ms. Marvel. Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager, has been viewed as a window through which non-Muslim readers can see. Also announced last week was Marvel's intentions to replace the current Thor character with a woman. With a black/hispanic Spider-Man, a Muslim Ms. Marvel, a female Thor, and a black Captain America, Marvel is flipping the white hegemony historically found in comics by elevating a wide range of racially-diverse characters into the spotlight under the names of the company's most iconic heroes.
Furthermore, it's the perfect time for a mainstream entertainment juggernaut like Marvel to feature a minority character in a substantial role. It's one thing to create a new character with a new background, mythology, etc.; it's another to include a character in the long-line of history and prestige that something as iconic as a brand or name carries with it. By appointing Sam Wilson as the next Captain America, Marvel is showing their investment and faith in the character, the comic's writers, and audiences' acceptance of the shifting status quo.
Naysayers may just see the move as a gimmick. And to be honest, those are very real concerns, especially considering the entire Captain America franchise outside of the comics. For example, Captain America: The Winter Soldier finished its box office run with above $700m in revenue. Considering the announcement of a new Captain America was just announced, it will be many years before the possibility of a black Captain America hits the screens. By that point, will Sam Wilson still be in the stars and stripes? Will Marvel even want to portray a character not named Steve Rogers as Captain America on the big screen? Earlier this year, when current The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield expressed his support of Miles Morales appearing underneath the Spider-Man mask in theaters, Marvel balked at the idea of another character portraying one of their tentpole characters.
Marvel took a major step towards the diversification of their characters and brand. In doing so, they also acknowledged the changing landscape of American culture, setting forth a precedent where it won't be news that the next Iron Man will be Chinese or Spider-Man will be Filipino/Colombian. For now, all of us minorities can be happy that a company with such prestige as Marvel's is willing to buck the American white hegemony for one that better represents modern-day America.
[IG Weekly] angie178
Everybody is on their phone. Thousands of people everyday wear out their thumbs scrolling through photos, deciding which ones to post on Instagram. It’s so easy to do whether you’re a photographer or not; just point, shoot, choose a filter and post whatever you created. From funny duck face selfies, to breathtaking landscapes, to gritty city streets. Some use it as visual journal giving glimpses of their lives, while others have taken it to another level by creating works of art. All of us at Ruby Hornet are fans of the social media platform and decided to do a weekly series highlighting people whose Instagrams stand above the rest. Let us know in the comments section if you’d like to be featured, or let us know about some other cool Instagrams. Be sure to follow Ruby Hornet on Instagram, too.
This week’s featured Instagram comes from @angie178. If there’s one thing I do like, it’s landscape photography from places I've never been too. I’m drawn to this Instagram gallery because of its photo composition and the amazing landscapes shots from of our neighbors up north, Canada. Angie takes some great shots of what's around her and does some crazy stuff to her visuals when it comes to editing. Be sure to check out some of her photos here, and head on over to her Instagram for more of her work.
[via @angie178]
Classy Looking Mugshots of Gangsters from the 1920s
It's hard to believe that the age of the roaring 20s was almost 100 years ago, and tons of changed since. Although the 1920s was full of vibrant culture and music, it was also full of high crime, much due to the prohibition era. But the criminals back then didn't look like the criminals of today... they wore suits, ties, top hats, and they even shined their shoes. Looking back at mugshots of these criminals exemplifies the change in times, when looking classy was just as important as being gangster.
Take a look back in time at these "classy" looking mugshots of gangsters from the 1920s, and maybe pass this along to those who need to up their wardrobe.
[Via Distractify]
