Waldo, Baby, Viking, Pink, Oz
The Where's Waldo Legacy
Solar Sands | YouTube | 5th February 2022
For Martin Handford, the artist who created Where's Waldo, Waldo himself was an afterthought. It was all about the crowds. Handford would spend months on the fantastically detailed scenes, influenced by the sprawling medieval tableaux of Bosch and Brueghel. A tiny, barely noticeable owl (an animal that used to signify death) in a Bosch painting acts as a sort of proto-Waldo (14m 39s)
Baby Grand
Jem Talbot | Vimeo | 31st January 2022
Former first-lovers recreate their romance, using two actors to stand in for their younger selves. "We created this weird purgatory world—it was hard to tell what was real, what was now and what was then." Only when they confront their future together do they get some sense of finality, and even then, conflicted feelings linger. (Warning: mild sexual content) (29m 16s)
Moondog, The Viking Composer Of 6th Street
Næte | YouTube | 8th February 2022
The life and times of Moondog, a mysterious man who dressed as a viking and stood on a Manhattan sidewalk for over a decade. Passerby called him "The Viking of 6th Avenue"—little did they know, he also happened to be a revolutionary American composer. "He was one of the few classical musicians who really got what an album was as an artistic format" (13m 05s)
Why So Many Jails Are Painted This Exact Color
Half as Interesting | YouTube | 9th February 2022
An experiment found that when its (all-male) subjects were exposed to a specific shade of pink, they became up to 23% weaker. The US government jumped on this, painting prisons Baker-Miller pink to quell inmate violence. "If these Baker-Miller pink tests were conducted before World War II, when pink was seen as more masculine and energizing, they might’ve not turned out so peacefully" (6m 09s)
Bizarre Video Of The Week
The Wizard of Oz, alphabetized by word
Watch The Viewer's recommendations each week as a handy YouTube Playlist.
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