Recent Blog Posts

The band Animal Collective is known for being a bit off the wall—they specialize in psychedelic electronic and vocal arrangements that vacillate between catchy pop and avant-garde noise. So it was fitting that visually, their stage show at Coachella 2011 strayed down the same unbeaten path. Designed with the help of Black Dice and United Learn More

This week we continue our recap of the many creative uses for LED lights at Coachella Music and Arts Festival 2011, which took place in Indio, California from April 15—17th. From LED-studded stage shows to art installations decked out in color-changing LED lights, the creative eye-candy just keeps on coming—try not to drool on your Learn More

If you went to Burning Man last year, you may think this sculpture looks a little familiar, and no, it’s not because you saw it in a hallucination. Named Wish and created by artist Robert Buchholz, these huge metal, wood and fiberglass “dandelions” made their debut at Burning Man 2010. They reappeared a few weeks Learn More

Muti Randolph, the Brazilian owner of São Paulo-based nightclub D-Edge and world-famous stage/lighting designer, was the perfect person to design the Sahara Tent’s LED lighting installation at Coachella 2011. The Sahara Tent, for those who prefer music sans laptops, houses the festival’s electronic music stage each year, along with its notoriously rambunctious fans. Called Mirage, Learn More

It’s a bittersweet fact that Coachella 2011, the country’s preeminent music and arts festival, has come and gone. Yes, its passing marks the beginning of the festival season (hooray!) but the question always remains: will any of the others manage to be as captivating as Coachella? It’s doubtful (sniff). The best way we’ve found to Learn More

Diane Dew, Rob Fix, Charlotte Parscal, Barsha Dahal, Esther Santos, Oliver Adria, David Kastner, Shana Dysert, Greg Spickard, Che A Mathews Hale. Thank you to all who participated!

First Runner Up: Diane Reed, http://ponderingsbydianereed.blogspot.com. Diane captures the late afternoon sun beautifully in this photo taken in a wheat field in Walla Walla, Washington. Second Runner Up: Andrew Neal, www.andrewnealphotography.com. Andrew’s photo really brings out the gold in California’s “golden hills” in this photo of the evening sun taken from his backyard in Brentwood, CA.

Happy Earth Day! Thank you for all who sent us their photos for the Earth Day photo contest celebrating the sun. We had many amazing submissions and our judges had a very difficult time casting their votes for the winners. Alas, we tallied them up, and here is the Grand-Prize winner: Vince Maes http://flic.kr/p/9ucujC The Learn More

Here’s an LED light installation I wish I had heard about sooner: Aperture by Phillip K Smith III. Showcased at the Palm Springs Art Museum through December 2010, the artist created Aperture using 700 pieces of elaborately-cut acrylic and hundreds of pre-programmed, color-changing LED lights. One part giant relief sculpture and one part LED lighting Learn More

Elderly populations are on the rise worldwide, thanks to better access to health care and improved medical technology. Unfortunately, depression in older people is also increasing, especially in those who suffer from dementia. Some 10–16% of elderly people have depression, with that figure rising to about 40% in nursing homes, according to the Mental Health Learn More