Rus Khasanov (previously) has created a clean, iridescent, and mesmerizing abstract video called "beyond the horizon," set to the music of Dmitry Evgrafov. Read the rest

Back in the late 1980s, I would sometimes amuse myself by running a microphone through a digital audio effects processor and twiddle the knobs to transform my voice in very weird ways while listening in headphones. It provided hours of mindbending entertainment. Ah, the good ol' daze. Léo Chéron's WebGL particles experiment, called "Sand Ghost," gives me a similar feeling but it's visual and uses a webcam. Freak yourself out.

(via Waxy) Read the rest

ついに立体的に動いて見える錯視が完成しました。キューブが回転して見えますね？止まっています pic.twitter.com/nyyWdr5O1E

— じゃがりきん (@jagarikin) February 14, 2020

On Twitter, @jagarikin posted this fantastic example of the "reverse phi illusion." Press play above. The boxes aren't actually rotating. I promise. From SoraNews24:

In very simplified terms, when our eyes see sudden transitions from either light to dark or dark to light, our brains perceive it as motion happening. Take yet another look at @jagarikin’s GIF, and you’ll notice that the edges of the cubes’ blue frames have a sliver of color to them. Sometimes they’re white, sometimes they’re gray, and sometimes they’re black, and as they’re cycling from one to the next, the video’s background is doing the same thing, and the result is the illusionary “rotation” of the cubes.

For more on the reverse phi illusion: "An optical illusion called 'reverse-phi motion' helps explain how we view moving objects, Stanford scientists find" Read the rest

That's quite a scene, man. No wonder I'm addicted to the stuff. According to the Sweet Jane blog, a young Bruce Robinson is one of the hep cats. From British Film Institute:

Little is known about this kaleidoscopic cinema short advocating the use of coffee as a stimulant, other than that it was produced by advertising agency Battey, Barton, Durstine and Osborne. Intriguingly, it does not promote a specific brand of coffee.

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The Art Nouveau movement was started in response to a rapidly-changing -- and in the eyes of artists, ugly -- world. So it makes sense that the San Francisco artists designing rock posters, album covers, and the like in the 1960s would crib Art Nouveau's distinct style. They were responding to their own rapidly-changing, and ugly, world. While these free-spirited designers took heavy inspiration from Art Nouveau, they made their art their own by popping the colors to be vibrant and high-contrast, according to this Vox video.

(Nag on the Lake) Read the rest

Heinz Edelmann (1934-2009) was the German illustrator and designer best known for art directing the Beatles' 1968 animation Yellow Submarine. In 1970, he created this magnificent opening animation for the ZDF broadcast movie series "Der Phantastische Film."

(r/ObscureMedia, thanks UPSO!)

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A buugeng is an S-shaped staff that looks like an ancient weapon but is a recent invention for jugglers and performers, often used in pairs. YouTuber Silent Awareness gives a lovely demonstration with an LED-embedded set. Read the rest

The High Trestle Trail Bridge in Madrid, Iowa is quite lovely by day, but at night it's even cooler, when a lighting effect makes a bike ride a futuristic journey into a vortex. Read the rest

While you're waiting for the even darker season three of Stranger Things, relax to Sunday Moon's Eleven, which involves the corruption of Elmo and other notable muppets. Read the rest

Chattering is a pottery wheel technique where a tool bounces against the rotating piece, creating a pattern of small divots. When it's time to paint it, a hypnotic visual effect appears. Read the rest

It started out as an aardvark but then puppeteer Barnaby Dixon's latest creation morphed into something much trippier. The new hand creature has porcupine-like spikes that glow under a blacklight and can roll into a ball like an armadillo. Watch as Dixon maneuvers the imaginary beast to make it walk, scratch itself, do a handstand and more.

(Tastefully Offensive) Read the rest

Jun seo Hahm likes to create strange and wondrous beings, like this mouth-walker or these "negative-metaballs" below: Read the rest

Felix Colgrave animated this wonderful video for Nitai Hershkovits' Flyin' Bamboo. Read the rest

Finger Machines will likely give viewers a visceral reaction by design. That reaction will vary greatly, from joy to arousal to disgust, and maybe all of the above. It's totally safe for work, but it may be better to wait till you're able to watch away from passersby who might get the wrong impression from a quick glance. Read the rest

Watching the interplay of liquids used to make these beautiful calligraphic letters looks like geothermal vents opening and releasing gases and lava into the air. Read the rest

The animation team from Big Hero 6 did some cool experiments for the "Into the Portal" sequence, and this week they shared one: an exploding 3D pastel fractal. Read the rest

UK animator Cyriak Harris celebrated getting 1M YouTube subscribers by livestreaming this trippy Mega Dance Party Mix. It's a 20-minute long retrospective remix of some of his past music and videos.

No, you're not hallucinating. It just feels like it.

Thanks, Heathervescent! Read the rest