Capturing Toy Soldiers With Mini Blue Helmets All Over The World.

The engaging interactive Miniscule Blue Helmets on a Massive Quest was spearheaded by designer Pierre Derks, a project which has also spawned a new book.



Starting in the Hague in Holland, the task engaged people all over the world to shoot photos of 50,000 little plastic toy soldiers wearing hand-painted blue helmets, hats or berets from over 60 global locations. The blue helmets and berets are a nod to the colored helmets worn by the UN Peacekeepers.






The mass manifestation of the Miniscule Blue Helmets in public space implies that the potential of getting confronted with a heavily armed blue helmeted soldier is within reach of a global audience. Although it is obvious that the encounter is rather different from running into a real-life UN Blue Helmet [shown below], it might just trigger the same questions and feelings about their presence and deployment.




The photos, shot by varying individuals, are then uploaded to a global Google map with a geo tag so you can access where the image was shot and by whom.



The Mini Blue Soldiers Google map can be viewed as either terrain or satellite:

Click upon the icon of the little blue helmets on the google map and you'll get the location, the name of the photographer and the opportunity to view the photograph.


There's no end to the places these little soldiers have been captured. From inside a little apartment in Amsterdam:

to on the ledge of the Grand Canyon:


Eyewitnesses of the quest have submitted hundreds of photos like the ones shown below:








The Book:


Miniscule Blue Helmets on a Massive Quest, the Book by Pierre Derks

“Tiny in size, huge in scope”

The book ‘Miniscule Blue Helmets on a Massive Quest’ by Pierre Derks shows the worldwide intervention of 50,000 plastic toy soldiers with blue hand-painted helmet, beret or hat by means of 500 selected photo's of the mini Blue Helmets on locations in more than 60 countries. An international spectrum of specialists shares in the book their reflections on the project and their expertise on topics that are related.

The book contains text contributions (written in English) by: Susan Manuel, Roger Stahl, Jonathan Vickery, Patrick M. Regan, Jos Morren, Linda Polman, Matt Groff, Christ Klep en Damon Stanek.

The open nature of the project has led to a fascinating variety of outcomes that contributed to the layered meaning. An example is the adoption of the project by Dutch Blue Helmet veterans who took part in the UN mission in Lebanon (70's / 80's). Jos Morren (Association of dutch military war and service victims): “Frank bought 2,000 of those little green men and painted the helmets blue himself, constantly carrying them with him and leaving them in tactical spots. (...) Eric took it more slow, but became inseparable from his one Miniscule Blue Helmet. Very handy, because if you lose touch with the world because of a psychological blockade, you just put your little buddy on the table. Very effective in such a situation. Out of the blue, those boys were suddenly given a healthy, creative form of self medication, through the art of Derks.”

Order the book here

The publication is made possible with the support of Fonds BKVB (The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture). The project expanded in collaboration with LhGWR and the TodaysArt Festival.

The Brancusi Google Doodle Explained

You might have noticed an unusual looking Google Doodle on their homepage today. Unless you are familiar with the work of Constantin Brancusi, you're probably left wondering what the heck those organic looking shapes are. To honor of what would have been Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi's 135th birthday,the Google Doodle features some of his most well known sculptures.


above image composed by Laura Sweet

The Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, (1876-1957) was a central figure of the modern movement and a pioneer of abstraction. His sculpture is noted for its visual elegance and sensitive use of materials, combining the directness of peasant carving with the sophistication of the Parisian avant-garde. After attending the Bucharest School of Fine Arts and learning of the sculpture of August Rodin, Brancusi traveled to Paris in 1904, where he continued to reside until his death.


above portrait of Brancusi by legendary photographer Edward Steichen

A look at each of the sculptures in the Brancusi Google Doodle.

The "G" = Prometheus and Leda:



The first "o" = The Newborn:


The second "o" = Sleeping Muse:


The second "g" = Mademoiselle Pogany:


The "l" = Bird In Space:


and lastly, the "e" = The Kiss:


Brancusi created his first major work, The Kiss, in 1908. From this time his sculpture became increasingly abstract, moving from the disembodied head of Sleeping Muse to the virtually featureless Beginning of the World and from the formal figure of the legendary bird Maiastra to numerous versions of the ethereal Bird in Space.

Brancusi's sculpture gained international notoriety at the 1913 Armory Show in New York, a city that he visited four times and where his work frequently would be exhibited. In his Paris studio at 8 Impasse Ronsin Brancusi devoted great attention to the arrangement of his sculptures, documenting individual works and their installation in an important body of photographs.

Isamu Noguchi worked as a studio assistant for Brancusi in 1927, and Brancusi taught him to carve stone and wood. In the 1930s Brancusi worked on two ambitious public sculpture projects, an unrealized temple in India for the Maharajah of Indore and the installation at Tirgu Jiu, Romania, of his Gate of the Kiss, Table of Silence and a 100-foot tall cast iron version of Endless Column. On his death Brancusi left the contents of his studio to the Museum of Art of the City of Paris, on condition that the studio be installed in the museum in its entirety.

Books, Art and more about Constantin Brancusi can be found here

Google's 'Under The Sea' Interactive Steampunk Doodle -An Homage To Jules Verne

A minor coincidence, given that my post today featured the 15 blown glass fish bowls by Roger Arquer, but today's Google logo features an underwater view in honor of Jules Verne's birthday.


above: author Jules Verne

To celebrate Jules Verne's birthday, Google's doodle logo, which is interactive, has been transformed into an underwater vessel - a Nautilus - an homage to the author of the classic 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, of which the original cover and title page is shown below:



The interactive logo allows iOS users to control the view from a Jules Verne-esque submarine by taking advantage of accelerometers found in iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

Check it out

Elastic Co. Releases The Google 2010 Pillow.

Each year, Elastic Co. creates a throw pillow that features some of the top Google search terms of the year.

The natural army duck cotton canvas has the text printed in black silkscreen and the pillow is filled with 10% Down and 90% Feathers. It also features the Elasticco stamp on the back.


Buy the $65 Google 2010 pillow.


Google pillows from previous years:
2005:

2006:

2007:

2008:

2009:


All the above pillows can be purchased at the Elastic Co. etsy store.