...one day right there in Alabama little blue squares and green squares will be able to line up with little white squares and yellow squares as sides of a cube.
October 3, 2012 10:18 AM Subscribe
This was a beautiful thing. Pity it wasn't purchased for permanent display; interesting that the cubes were in fact rented. Is there much precedent for artwork created from rented objects which are later returned to their sources?
posted by kinnakeet at 10:53 AM on October 3, 2012
posted by kinnakeet at 10:53 AM on October 3, 2012
So he copied photographs in a quirky medium and entered it in an art competition? That's creative!
posted by thylacine at 11:27 AM on October 3, 2012
posted by thylacine at 11:27 AM on October 3, 2012
It's cool and clever and admirably mathematical and all, but ...
... what, exactly, does the medium of Rubik's Cubes have to do with or say about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? I don't see the connection. In fact, in a way, the choice of this particular medium (which in itself is, again, extremely clever and sort of mind-boggling) actually could be said to trivialize the subject matter that the artwork depicts. Unless there's some sort of vague message related to "color," or suchlike (the reading that univac refers to in this page's title).
An odd choice, really, impressive though it is.
My two cents, anyway.
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:34 AM on October 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
... what, exactly, does the medium of Rubik's Cubes have to do with or say about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? I don't see the connection. In fact, in a way, the choice of this particular medium (which in itself is, again, extremely clever and sort of mind-boggling) actually could be said to trivialize the subject matter that the artwork depicts. Unless there's some sort of vague message related to "color," or suchlike (the reading that univac refers to in this page's title).
An odd choice, really, impressive though it is.
My two cents, anyway.
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:34 AM on October 3, 2012 [4 favorites]
"I have a dream that my four little Rubik's cubes will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their stickers, but by the method in which they were solved!"
posted by yeti at 11:37 AM on October 3, 2012
posted by yeti at 11:37 AM on October 3, 2012
"Reverse-solved" is not really quite correct. It's solved, but for a different problem than usually is applied and that specifies only the pattern on one face.
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:54 AM on October 3, 2012
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:54 AM on October 3, 2012
... what, exactly, does the medium of Rubik's Cubes have to do with or say about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Well, he's rejecting the segregation of faces into only one color each. Integrating the faces, if you will.
I know, I know, that's weak.
It was all I could think of...
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:56 AM on October 3, 2012
Well, he's rejecting the segregation of faces into only one color each. Integrating the faces, if you will.
I know, I know, that's weak.
It was all I could think of...
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:56 AM on October 3, 2012
"Reverse solved" to me means pulling the stickers off and rearranging them as necessary. Done.
posted by resurrexit at 12:12 PM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by resurrexit at 12:12 PM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
I'm surprised to learn that there's someone you can rent 4,242 Rubik's Cubes from.
posted by madcaptenor at 12:19 PM on October 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by madcaptenor at 12:19 PM on October 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
"Wham-O Rentals, this is Scott."
"Hey, Scott. It's Tim."
"Tim! What can I do you for?"
"I want to do a Medgar Evers piece in hacky sacks. Can you help me out?"
"Yeesh. October's a pretty tough month for hacky sacks, Tim-"
"I know, I know."
"I've got...about 800, mostly in black and white. Yin yang."
"Man, I'm going to need at least 10,000 in different colors. Any idea when you'll have more in?"
"I don't know. You just never can tell when people will return these things. I can do that many pogs, if you want."
"Pogs? No, it's gotta be hacky sacks."
"Hmm. I shouldn't be telling you this, but Yesteryear Rent-to-Own can maybe pull that many hacky sacks."
"Yesteryear? Over by Washington and Palisade?"
"That's the one."
"Scott, you're a life saver."
"Just remember me when you need half a million Hungry Hungry Hippos marbles next summer."
"You got it."
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:38 PM on October 3, 2012 [7 favorites]
"Hey, Scott. It's Tim."
"Tim! What can I do you for?"
"I want to do a Medgar Evers piece in hacky sacks. Can you help me out?"
"Yeesh. October's a pretty tough month for hacky sacks, Tim-"
"I know, I know."
"I've got...about 800, mostly in black and white. Yin yang."
"Man, I'm going to need at least 10,000 in different colors. Any idea when you'll have more in?"
"I don't know. You just never can tell when people will return these things. I can do that many pogs, if you want."
"Pogs? No, it's gotta be hacky sacks."
"Hmm. I shouldn't be telling you this, but Yesteryear Rent-to-Own can maybe pull that many hacky sacks."
"Yesteryear? Over by Washington and Palisade?"
"That's the one."
"Scott, you're a life saver."
"Just remember me when you need half a million Hungry Hungry Hippos marbles next summer."
"You got it."
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:38 PM on October 3, 2012 [7 favorites]
I don't think this is cliché at all. The integration-of-color seemed the first-order message to me. And besides, novel mediums (media? medias?) are fascinating. Didn't we generally love the Photographs-of-Mirrors-on-Easels-that-Look-Like-Paintings-in-the-Desert stuff 48 hour ago?
I really want to know what the back looks like.
posted by j_curiouser at 1:46 PM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I really want to know what the back looks like.
posted by j_curiouser at 1:46 PM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I really want to know what the back looks like.
It's a tableau of Ronald Reagan, Quincy Jones, and Patrick Henry laughing over rips from a skull-shaped bong, with the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 roaring in the background.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 2:31 PM on October 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
It's a tableau of Ronald Reagan, Quincy Jones, and Patrick Henry laughing over rips from a skull-shaped bong, with the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 roaring in the background.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 2:31 PM on October 3, 2012 [5 favorites]
I would actually be quite impressed if it were possible to get the front and the back looking like pre-described pictures.
posted by madcaptenor at 2:35 PM on October 3, 2012
posted by madcaptenor at 2:35 PM on October 3, 2012
artwork created from rented objects which are later returned to their sources?
So there's no chance that 500 years from now some old lady will paint it over with a mural of Mt. Stromboli.
posted by Twang at 6:53 PM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
So there's no chance that 500 years from now some old lady will paint it over with a mural of Mt. Stromboli.
posted by Twang at 6:53 PM on October 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I would actually be quite impressed if it were possible to get the front and the back looking like pre-described pictures.
The biggest problem I can see is that the center cubies of a Rubik's cube are immobile. So picking the color to be in the center of a 3x3 area on one side also fixes what color the center will be on the other side. I can't say how constraining that limitation would actually be; I don't do pixel art. Other than that, I would guess that there's probably enough degrees of freedom to do it.
posted by Nioate at 8:30 PM on October 3, 2012
The biggest problem I can see is that the center cubies of a Rubik's cube are immobile. So picking the color to be in the center of a 3x3 area on one side also fixes what color the center will be on the other side. I can't say how constraining that limitation would actually be; I don't do pixel art. Other than that, I would guess that there's probably enough degrees of freedom to do it.
posted by Nioate at 8:30 PM on October 3, 2012
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posted by joelf at 10:50 AM on October 3, 2012 [2 favorites]