Have Yourself a Merry Little Holiday...

...and may 2011 prove most fortunate for all of us.

(This tune should be familiar - in the case of the video, played on mandolins by the Mandolin Man - but the haunting progression of notes in what is now known as "The Carol of the Bells" was originally an ancient Ukrainian folk chant for New Years Day which was thought to have magical properties. Eventually it became Shchedryk - a folk song about a little swallow who goes from door to door bearing good fortune - before it was transformed into the Xmas song known today.)

The Silent Evolution

This amazing sculptural installation is the work of Jason de Caires Taylor and is located in MUSA an underwater museum off the coast of Cancun, Mexico. Comprised of 400 life-size human figures carved in cement, the figures function not merely as a work of art, but as a habitat for various ocean wildlife, such as coral.

Very eerie - and a work of sheer genius.

When I saw this I immediately thought of Mac... various sculptures, often of the human form, frequently fell under his camera lens. He'd have a field day in MUSA!

A video clip of the artist talking about his work with more views of "The Silent Evolution" can be found here.

(Another hat-tip to BoingBoing!)

Postscript: Actually, in a very weird way, this installation reminds me of Roy Batty and "tears in rain"... only instead of a dove flying away, there's a magnificent manta-ray.

Urban Decay

Yahoo News has just published an editorial about urban decay featuring a marvelous gallery of photographic evidence. So, if you're a "ruins junky" like Mac Tonnies was a ruins junky and can appreciate the beauty of dissolution and desolation, prepare yourself for some exquisite eye-candy.

The example above is a photograph of the Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania snapped by photographer, Eric Holubow .