Tattoos 4 U
A young woman is covered in tattoos and her parents have no idea, so she made a video—complete with choir—to show her parents what she's been hiding. Made by Bianca Giaever for This American Life. There's plenty of Giaever's work in the
Video
A collection of 120 issues
One Hundred Acres Underground
Swedish filmmaker Petter Ringbom takes us on a tour of the Lowline. It's a former trolley terminal under the streets of New York's Lower East Side, that's being turned into a one-hundred acre park—the world's first park that's completely
Gentle Angry People
In response to Orlando, America's deadliest mass shooting, "We are a gentle angry people" indeed.
Elegize the Arctic
Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi elegizes the Arctic from a floating piano at the edge of a melting glacier.
How to Turn Pixels Into Pulitzers
An unbearable video about the “future of media”—complete with endless buzzwords and nonsense—is not, in fact, a joke. From the Observer: Earlier this month Michael Ferro, chairman of Tribune Publishing, announced that the legacy media group was rebranding as tronc, or 'Tribune Online Content' (though the
On Memory
Our Glorious Leader
Finally, the Japanese Donald Trump commercial we’ve all been waiting for.
Onbashira Matsuri
Footage from Japan’s Onbashira festival—reputed to have continued, uninterrupted, for 1,200 years—where young men prove their mettle by riding enormous logs down a hill.
Have the Monks Stopped Meditating?
Trailer for the new Werner Herzog documentary about the internet, Lo And Behold: Reveries of the Connected World, in which monks are found to tweet. See also: "Be Not Afraid," the private diaries of Werner Herzog
Rise of the Lion City
Australian filmmaker Keith Loutit spent three years filming Singapore’s rapid growth, including rarely seen night scenes and the rapid progress of construction sites. “The goal of all my work is to help people see their surroundings with fresh eyes as if for the first time,” Mr. Loutit told Channel
What to Do About Insomina
An adorable animation explains that the key to solving insomnia may be a daily dose of philosophy.
A Rare Look Inside the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
A rare look inside the Svalbard Global Seed Vault—“the world’s most important freezer”—which is closed for about 350 days a year. As explained by The Kid Should See This: “On the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault protects around 865,000 seed samples from
Secrets of Baltimore, the Snowy Owl
An NPR reporter retraces a snowy owl’s journey from a beach in Maryland to an island in Canada. (We’re suckers for a good animal video to watch at lunchtime.)
The Chinese Prisoner’s Children
When their father is imprisoned, three kids’ fates are up for grabs. From the Guardian: “In a government building in Nanzhao, the Zhang children’s father awaits his fate. He accidentally killed a child and will probably be executed. The Chinese state makes no provision for prisoners’ children. The Sun
Dances With Robots
In the video for Kaytranada’s “Lite Spots,” a robot best friend learns how to dance. Directed by Martin C. Pariseau.
Sailing Into Amsterdam
A stunning time-lapse video captures hundreds of ships sailing into Amsterdam. From PBS Newshour: “Every five years, as many as 600 ships navigate around the canal for a five-day festival in order to showcase and celebrate Netherland’s history of seafaring and ports. The event, called SAIL Amsterdam, started in
A Geographical Theory of Westeros
The world of Game of Thrones is heavily based on historical events. One theory says the geography of Westeros is a modified version of the British Isles. See also: The Google map of Westeros.
Bruce Lee Tutorial in Quickness
How to move your hands very fast, from a bonus clip from I Am Bruce Lee, the 2012 documentary about the legendary martial arts master. See also: Trailer for I Am Bruce Lee.
Theremini Says Hello!
The theremin is one of the oldest electronic musical instruments in history. The “theremini,” its new little brother, is flat-out adorable. See also: Archival video of Leon Theremin playing his own instrument.
The Müpa Budapest Sound Machine
Budapest’s giant music box, one of the largest in the world, plays the Harry Potter theme song when humans walk in its hamster wheel. From the official description: “The contraption plays music from six different genres depending on audience preference, here in this video you can hear the Harry
The French, Opened
William Klein’s mesmerizing, rarely seen documentary The French goes behind the scenes at Rolland Garros in 1981.
Con Art
“The high bidder at an auction has paid more money for a work than anyone else in the world thinks it’s worth at that point in time.” via Artsy
Reunited
Edward Hardy is 93, lives in a nursing home, and suffers from dementia and depression. Sam Kinsella, one of Mr. Hardy’s care givers and the narrator of this video, learns of Edward’s prior life as a jazz pianist. After Sam arranges for a keyboard to be brought in,
Rebirth of the Cool
Shimon is a robot that can play marimba chords and sequences that can’t be replicated by any single human. Jason Barnes is a drummer who lost part of his arm, and who now wears a robotic prosthesis that can drum up to 20 beats per second. Via Quartz
The Brain Dictionary
We use our entire brain—and not just the temporal lobe, as once believed—to group words by meaning. Via Aeon
The Art-Seeing Eye of Google
Google’s new “Art Camera” will travel the world, taking ultra-high-resolution “gigapixel” images to digitize a series of artworks. See also: Masterpieces already digitized from Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Classical Is Calling
Berklee pianist Tony Ann plays a medley of familiar ringtones. See more of Tony Ann on Facebook.
To Reduce Anxiety, Bliss Out to Ambient Music
Suffering from panic attacks, Ryan Bassil finds solace in the sounds of William Basinski, Oval, and Brian Eno, who “at one point felt like an angel sent to me from heaven.” Related: For those who experience anxiety attacks, every day is a case in survival. One writer’s journey to
Tour of the Pantone Color Factory
A brief tour of Pantone’s factory headquarters in Carlstadt, NJ, where global color standards are set—to make sure that red you’re using really is red. Credit: Quartz If you enjoyed this, check out Graham Beck’s investigation into how America’s military elects to paint itself.
Ash Dome
In 1977, David Nash planted 22 ash saplings and trained them to grow into a dome. Nearly 40 years later, his vision continues to take shape. Via This Is Colossal See also: A man who spent three years painting the same English tree repeatedly—in all weather, day and night—
The Man Who Put the Pee in Phosphorus
In the 1660s, German alchemist Hennig Brand intended to turn urine into gold. But 1,500 gallons of dehydrated pee led him instead to discover phosphorus. From Wikipedia’s history of alchemy: “In the eyes of a variety of esoteric and Hermetic practitioners, alchemy is fundamentally spiritual. Transmutation of lead
Tundra Into Forest
Referencing historical photos of Denali National Park, a photographer takes exact matches that show how climate change has altered the landscape. Via WBEZ Chicago Also, if you liked this video, you'll probably enjoy Paul Colangelo's "Sacred Headwaters" series about three of Canada’s biggest
The World’s First Underwater Band
To sing in water, composer Laila Skovmand developed “a technique where she keeps an air bubble in her mouth and sings through it when submerged, rising to the top about every minute to take in a breath and a new bubble.” Related: Here’s Thom Yorke kind of singing underwater,
The Annotated Pet Sounds
A primer to the controversial and brilliant Pet Sounds, which turns 50 this month. The album was such a major departure for Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys that Capitol Records released the first single, “Caroline, No” under Wilson’s name only, and then attempted to scuttle the album two
Massive
This is what real giants would look like in the real world: often miserable. by Dan Chen
Dead Ahead
As the landscape unfolds, an unlucky driver keeps arriving in horror movie scenes.
NSFW If You Work With Entomologists
Left on mute, this video for “Love Again” by Run the Jewels is merely a suggestive nature film. That would also be missing the point.
Sky Rockets in Flight
Drones outfitted in LEDs accompany traditional Japanese musicians for a performance in front of Mt. Fuji. More by Sky Magic
Braids, “Companion”
In a stunning new video from Braids, vocalist Raphaelle Standell-Preston is singing around architecture.
Painting People Into the World
Orly Faya’s portraits merge her subjects with the nature surrounding them.
A Trip Around the World, One Second at a Time
A man and his selfie stick circumnavigate the world. Here’s footage of his travels, one second for each of his 200 days. See also: We asked people around the globe—in Uganda, Ecuador, Fiji, and more—to make food from the opposite side of Earth.
We Are Going to Be Dressed in the Latest Doily Fashions, and You Can Stay Mad
You binged-listened and -watched Lemonade all week. Now see the only review you can agree with. See more by Evelyn From the Internets, and you’ll want to after this.
Spectacular Closeups of Everyday Objects
Armed with a macro lens, artist Pyanek shows how the everyday is anything but average. via Neatorama More at Pyanek’s Facebook
Two Sides of a Tinder Date
After artists Andy Leek and Daniela Sea are matched on Tinder, each agrees to film their side of the date.
Polvo, “Tilebreaker”
Eddie Watkins, the original drummer for math rock pioneers Polvo, died this week. Whether or not you know their work, an excellent place to start learning (or paying your respects) is “Tilebreaker” from the band’s second album, Today’s Active Lifestyles.
Men Read Horrific Tweets to Women Sports Journalists
You are required to stay with it past the 45-second mark. “I’m having trouble looking at you when I’m saying these things.” by Just Not Sports
Between Two Thousand Ferns
Enjoy “Rife w/ Typo,” the latest from M. Sage, the video for which transports you to what might be the botanical garden at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Conservatory.
“It’s pretty much failure after failure. And then you get that gift, about once a year.”
A mini-doc about a National Geographic photographer and why he does what he does. (Job perks include peeing outdoors and avoiding humans.) More by Andy Maser
Looking for a Savior
While walking along a Bed-Stuy street in 2013, Antonius Wiriadjaja was shot by a stray bullet. In this video he recounts his shooting and recovery and reunites with John Morant, a bystander who helped save his life. One month after filming, Morant was shot and killed in South Carolina. By
A Song for Your Mixtape
“A short film about a birthday party you weren’t invited to.” Official website: asongforyourmixtape.com
Rush Hour, Chopped and Screwed
Pedestrians on a busy crosswalk become motion blurs, creating new city backgrounds. By Hiroshi Kondo / STNW
Player Two
This short film is based on an actual YouTube comment. Years after his father died, a son rediscovers the Xbox they used to play together. There, in an old copy of Rally Sport Challenge, he can still race alongside his father’s ghost car. By John Wikstrøm
Say Hello to My Little Friend
A brief history of how Al Capone—aka “Scarface”—got his scars. Capone’s scars weren’t the result—as he claimed—of war wounds from overseas, but rather an inappropriate comment made to the sister of a man with a knife. via Laughing Squid
It May Be Science, But It Feels Like Magic
Time-lapse video of the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis, shot from the International Space Station. For a better soundtrack, mute the above and turn this up instead: Auroras occur when charged particles enter the upper atmosphere. Or when a witch dies. via NASA
"My Hand Starts to Shake"
The inner thoughts of a dance crew as their performance kicks off. Interview with Alter Ego by Ira Glass. Music by Nico Muhly for Contemporary Color. via Pitchfork
Always Choose the Super Duper Version
A Carmina Burana street performance becomes a decadent flashmob opera. Produced by MeTube 2, “the love child of opera, Pulp Fiction, and Grumpy Cat.” Discovered in 1803, Carmina Burana is a medieval collection of mostly NSFW poems satirizing the Catholic Church. In 1936, Carl Orff composed songs around 24 of
Your Best American Girl
Song-of-the-year contender Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl” now has a video to match the empowering intensity of WHEN THOSE CHORDS HIT, and then HIT AGAIN, and do they ever. See also: How to play “Your Best American Girl” because you’re going to want to learn guitar after hearing
Strength
Hyperrealist sculptor Carole Feuerman’s astounding work feels so alive because there’s an unbreakable spirit inside each piece. See more at Artsy and carolefeuerman.com
Skateboard to Death
Richie Jackson is a skateboarding pioneer. In “Death Skateboards” he gives every trick a wacky, unexpected twist. See also: Thrasher’s longstanding editor Jake Phelps is nearly too hardcore in his embodiment of skate culture.
I Know You're Lonely for Words That I Ain't Spoken
A music-video supercut spanning 41 years of Bruce Springsteen performing “Thunder Road,” the lead track from his iconic Born to Run. Clarence Clemons, RIP. Video by Phil Whitehead
Nobody Fronted on Fela
When Prince asks you to DJ his party, you say yes. When he wants you to stop so he can watch Finding Nemo, well. Questlove learned the answer the hard way.
A New Place 2 Drown
Fans of Archy Marshall (aka King Krule) will like knowing about his lifetime of creating with his brother Jack—seeing them make music, write poetry, paint, and receive haircuts from their mom. Archy Marshall’s A New Place 2 Drown is included in our top albums of 2015.
Holorama
Jeff Desom creates dioramas of famous movie scenes, then populates them with holograms from the films. See also: Scenes from Dr. Strangelove reproduced using household objects
Freedom in Expression
Former inmate Chris Wilson demonstrates how he learned to paint with crushed Skittles and makeshift brushes. Via Huck Magazine
Time-Lapse of Soap Bubbles Freezing
Wherever you live, this video is about to make you feel a lot colder. By ZALUSKArt
The Politics of Music
Michael Chanan’s portrait of Pierre Boulez, The Politics of Music (1972), documented the composer’s quest to move classical music out of the concert halls and into public spaces. One of the 20th century’s most significant composers, Pierre Boulez, died this week at 90.
Meet the Earthship
Outside Taos, this off-grid community’s 65 homes are made entirely of natural or recyclable materials and collect and produce all their own energy and resources. See also: Photographer Antoine Bruy hitchhiked around Europe’s backcountry, photographing off-the-grid communities struggling to survive apart from society.
Can You Read My Lips?
Rachel Kolb’s short helps others understand the life of a lip reader and the magic of human conversation. See also: Rachel Kolb at TEDxStanford: “Navigating Deafness in a Hearing World”
George Saunders: On Story
George Saunders explains the difference between “Frank was an asshole” and “Frank snapped at the barista who reminded him of his dead wife, who he dearly loved.” See also: “I had read Ayn Rand at a vulnerable moment and I didn’t want to be one of those life-sucking parasitic
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Watching a motorized Lego sculpture of Sisyphus pushing a rock would be enough to satisfy our brains. But the detailed frieze work puts this one in a whole new class of mind happiness. See also: A survey of the many names people call various Lego bricks
Black & White in Color
“One of my biggest pet peeves in art is the lazily-desaturated DSLR video,” says filmmaker Julianna Thomas. This video is her “personal response to treating black and white as an editing afterthought.” See more videos by Julianna Thomas
Dreaming of Earth From Space
Astronaut Helen Sharman recounts a dream she has of returning to space and viewing Earth from above once more. From A Place Called Space
Urban Conformation 74:19
Time-lapse tessellations of cities in motion. Directed by Florian Rouzaud Cornabas
Our Machines of Loving Grace
When you’re not doing anything meaningful, why do it yourself? Directed and animated by molistudio
Time Lapse of Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing #797
Sol LeWitt’s instructions for Wall Drawing #797 (1995), “The first drafter has a black marker and makes an irregular horizontal line near the top of the wall. Then the second drafter tries to copy it (without touching it) using a red marker. The third drafter does the same, using
After the Singularity, Health Care Only Gets Worse
Plastic people acting like real people is a favorite of ours. As we can see here, Elon Musk has every reason to be worried about the future. See more videos by Pierre Grillère
Boring Machines Disturbs Sleep
Max Richter’s latest composition, From Sleep, is eight hours long. This remix by Mogwai is your alarm. If you’re in need of slumber, you may do better with this.
Lo-Fi Videos for Wi-Fi Video Watching
In his video for “Siamese Brutality” by the Soupcans, Winston Hacking uses his fingers instead of a computer to animate his collages. From CMJ: “I decided the images needed to come to life before their inevitable destruction, so I just moved them around with my fingers and an exacto knife.
Rancho Música
This is Jarbas Agnelli, “walking around [his] ranch, looking for everything that makes interesting noises.” His ranch sounds great. Drummers reinventing their craft never gets old.
The Clock of the Long Now
Like a Stonehenge in the present day, the Clock of the Long Now is a project to build a clock that can operate for the next 10,000 years. The project’s director, Alexander Rose: “In trying to design a 10,000-year clock, we’re invested in generational thinking and
The Downstairs Gays
Social media makes it easy to virtually tour our neighbors’ homes—and really, their entire lives. The hard part: finding the clear divide between entertainment and cyberstalking. John Sherman reads “The Downstairs Gays,” originally published at TMN
Max Richter's Eight-Hour Lullaby
Here are three minutes from Max Richter’s From Sleep, an eight-hour composition he calls his “personal lullaby for a frenetic world.” Download From Sleep
A Surreally Bad Day
When your keyboard turns literal and the toothpaste attacks, you can tell. It’s another one of those days. Directed by Terri Timely
You Can't Kill the Rooster
David Sedaris reads “You Can’t Kill the Rooster”—the greatest story in human history—about his brother Paul, aka The Rooster. The text for “You Can’t Kill the Rooster”
If the Cuckoo Don't Crow, Then You Know There's Wind Coming
A listener calls into Nick Pandolfi’s radio show with the story of when his mother predicted a hurricane the BBC didn’t. Also: Proof animation obviates subtitles. Animated by Steve Kirby
Weird Simpsons VHS
Just as I remember it. Directed and animated by Yoann Hervo
Everything Stands in Your Way When You're a Toy
Try as they might, toys can’t quite do anything people do. Though they may appreciate art. Directed by Vincent Tsui
Alpha Centauri Is in Central New Jersey
In Nevada, friends build the first scale model of the solar system. Then they drive the orbits in a car, and we can feel how big it is—and how small we are. A film by Wylie Overstreet and Alex Gorosh
"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" Is a Real Sentence
Because “buffalo” is a noun, a proper noun, and a verb, it can be used to form a one-word sentence. Just like “Ship-shipping ship, shipping shipping-ships.” Because English. via The Kid Should See This
Nils Frahm Covers 4'33"
John Cage’s best-known work is commonly thought to be a prank: four minutes and 33 seconds of silence. But that was never Cage’s intent. Instead, audiences should interpret whatever sounds may occur during the piece as the “performance.” Of his cover, Fraham says, “This rework could be considered
Themes & Variations
Created entirely through CG, this stunning short is based upon artworks by Yayoi Kusama and Ai Weiwei. It’s like Night at the Museum, but really really really really good-looking. “Themes & Variations” by Ziye Liu
You Got Some Algae on Your Vans
A group of DC skaters finds abandoned backyard pools to drain and skate. From Run Riot Films
The Rehabilitation of Sleep
The next time you have insomnia, remember it could be worse. You could be a time-lapsed painting version of yourself. A film by John Shaffner
Skate or Try
If a skater travels out of the city, far from urban parks and handrails, he does not cease to skate. A film by Vitùc
El Coyote
A “coyote” is a smuggler paid to traffic people over the border from Mexico into the US. This film is one coyote’s story, adapted from an original interview. Directed by Javier Barboza
Go With the Flow
Whatever this video is about, don’t worry about it. It is what it is. Whatever it is. Directed and animated by Masanobu Hiraoka
Time-Lapse of the 2015 Perseid Meteor Shower
While you were (probably) sleeping, Earth was treated to its annual viewing of the Perseid cloud, a stream of debris flung behind the Swift-Tuttle comet. See also: NASA’s live coverage of the Perseid meteor shower includes four hours of color commentary by meteor experts. Perseids Wikipedia page
Fear Causes Hesitation, and Hesitation Will Cause Your Worst Fears to Come True
Riley Blakeway shot “Life Therapy” using only available light from dusk to dawn. It has nothing to do with Point Break, but what a great movie that was. For a second there I absolutely thought someone was going to surf off that waterfall. rileyblakeway.com
Ash Koosha, "I Feel That"
The new Ash Koosha album, GUUD, is definitely worth your time. But if you don’t have that kind of time right now, watch this instead. Video by Hirad Sab. hiradsab.com
We Should Hope to Be This Good at Anything
Robert Gagno is Canada’s pinball champion. He also has autism. Wizard Mode follows his journey into the international pinball circuit. This short film is a preview of the forthcoming documentary of the same name. wizardmodefilm.com