The Rainbow-Vomiting Pandas of Interestingness

Doing my project on online art communities, I've noticed many flaws in communities such as flickr. In class I explained the phenomenon of "interestingness" and "explore," and how certain subjects and styles of photographs dominate the pages of explore.

I recently stumbled upon an image posted on flickr that I found amusing- the "Rainbow-Vomiting Pandas of Interestingness."

I believe the artist is poking fun at the generic and gimmicky content that "makes explore" on flickr, such as kittens and flowers and sunsets. 

I thought it tied in really well with my own conclusions about explore, and thought I'd share this funny tidbit with you guys. 

Flickeur

Yesterday's presentation of the art sites and how social networking sites has influenced (or kind of revolutionized the art industry) reminded me of this program I came across called Flickeur. Basically, all it does is randomly generate pictures together using Flickr as it's source. There is no discrimination of what pictures show up since everything is random. It's really hard to explain, but taking a look at the site and watching it for a while will help it make sense. One thing that I can say about it is that I can't look at it for too long since I get mesmerized (and really creeped out).

The images that come up form into its own story and--from what I gather--that is the main message of this piece. I believe that there is an exhibit somewhere in the world with this program/site playing.

The artist that constructed this has other pieces using Flickr that you should also check out too, if you're interested. It's all in the link.

Finding Love on Flickr

Through my research for my project, dealing with online art communities, I have discovered many amazing artists and photographers. 

One pair in particular is especially intriguing- a couple who lives oceans apart and met on flickr. 

I'd been following their photostreams for a while, and each is an amazing artist in their own right.

Recently they've been featured in an article in MSNBC detailing how they met, and how they first photoshopped themselves together before they were ever together in the physical world.

Their individual photostreams can be found here and here.

Check them out! Their digital art and photographs are pretty cool, and their story- while sappy, is pretty incredible.