bookofjoe

'The Way Things Go'

From websites:

Inside a warehouse, Swiss artists Peter Fischli (b. 1952) and David Weiss (1946—2012) built an enormous, precarious structure 100 feet long made out of common household items — tea kettles, tires, old shoes, balloons, wooden ramps, etc.

Then, with fire, water, gravity, and chemistry, they created a spectacular chain reaction, a self-destructing performance of physical interactions, chemical reactions, and precisely crafted chaos worthy of Rube Goldberg or Alfred Hitchcock.

Called "the merry pranksters of contemporary art" (The New York Times), Fischli and Weiss collaborated for 33 years, drawing worldwide notoriety and praise for taking on big questions with humble materials and a tongue-in-cheek manner.

"The Way Things Go" remains their most acclaimed and beloved work.

Wrote J. Hoberman in the New York Times, "Among the most admired artworks of the late 20th century — enshrined in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection, emulated by TV ads, music videos, and made-for-YouTube movies — and one of the headiest."

Stream the 30-minute film in its entirety here.

9,000-Year-Old Neolithic Child's Necklace

[Final physical reconstruction of the necklace, at the new Petra Museum in Jordan.]

From PhysOrg:

A single accessory — an ornate necklace from a child's grave in ancient Jordan — provides new insights into the social complexity of Neolithic culture, according to a study published August 2, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Hala Alarashi of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain, and the Université Côte d'Azur, France and colleagues.

Body adornments are powerful symbols that communicate cultural values and personal identities, and they are therefore highly valuable in the study of ancient cultures. In this study, Alarashi and colleagues analyze materials that adorned the body of an eight-year-old child buried in a grave at the Neolithic village of Ba'ja in Jordan, dating to between 7400 and 6800 BCE.

The materials in question comprise over 2,500 colorful stone and shell, two exceptional amber beads — the oldest known thus far in the Levant — along with a large stone pendant and a delicately engraved mother-of-pearl ring.

Analyzing the composition, craftsmanship, and spatial layout of these items, the authors conclude that they belonged to a single composite multi-row necklace that had since fallen apart. As part of this study, the researchers created a physical reconstruction of the original necklace, which is now on display in the Petra Museum in Southern Jordan.

The multi-row necklace is one of the oldest and most impressive Neolithic ornaments, providing new insights into funerary practices at the time for individuals of apparently high social status. The making of the necklace appears to have involved meticulous work, as well as the import of certain exotic materials from other regions.

The study of this necklace reveals complex social dynamics between community members at Ba'ja — including artisans, traders, and high-status authorities who would commission such pieces — which certainly merit further investigation of this Neolithic culture.

The authors wrote, "Adorning the deceased child, bridging the worlds of life and death. The discovery and reconstruction of an extraordinary necklace from the 9,000-year-old village of Ba'ja (Jordan)."

MagSafe Wall Plug

From the website:

As cool as USB-C is, many of us were sad when Apple killed off MagSafe, which has undoubtedly saved the lives of countless laptops over the years.

That disappointment led us to a key insight: Why not place the magnetic break-away connection at the outlet?

Meet Tug.

It works with any power cord you might trip on!

It also works as a quick switch; just tug to turn off a lamp or vacuum.

$19.