Mice, a small story

Deep underground in a dark subway tunnel live a group of mice.  They find a gold ring, and this seems to have a strange effect on one of their fellowship, I mean, group.  Meanwhile, a short distance away and own and his servile rats are watching and waiting.  The owl send his minions to take possession of the object.  Wait! Is this Lord of the Rings with mice? You be the judge but I found this animated short by Isart Digital students hugely entertaining. Of course, one must realise that in the end the world of men can intrude at any given point – and quite abruptly too for that matter. There may not be a sequel planned to this one, boys and girls!

The glorious 3D animation is provided by: Jade Baillargeault, Nazli Doale, Dimitri James, Quang Daniel La, Morgane Lau, Mélanie Pango and Manon Pringault.  The equally fabulous music and sound design: Thomas Tillard, Alexandre Tron and Maxime Vatopoulos.  Just love this!

Quiet as a Mouse - New Work by Kate Macdowell

We have featured the amazing porcelain work of artist Kate Macdowell before on Kuriositas – and it’s great to see that she has been busy with new work.  If you are lucky enough to live in either Chicago or Paris, here is your chance to get to see Kate’s new work. There is a tongue firmly in cheek, we suspect, but the new work is called Quiet as a Mouse.  We think you can probably guess why! Once again, MacDowell has given us something unusual and unique.

Kate’s work is featured at Art Chicago, in the Patrajdas Contemporary Gallery from April 29 - May 2.  Follow the link to apply for a complimentary pass.  If, however, you are based in Europe then make a beeline for Paris.  The new work is featuring in a group exhibit, Vernisage, at Galerie Vanessa Quang, in Paris, France opening May 7th and continuing till the 28th.

Mice Give Clue to Secret of Healing Without Scars

Image Credit

They whispered softly in our ears and the secret was ours.  Seriously, though, the white mice in the picture were not harmed in this discovery but you can bet your bottom dollar some were.  It seems, however, that a gene known as p21 could hold the secret to spontaneous healing - the type seen in animals such as the newt (pull a leg off, one grows back - that kind of deal).  Turn this gene off, so it seems - and the potential for spontaneous healing becomes much more likely.  Of course the debate will rage forever and a day about the morality of using animals in testing but this does seem like something that many would argue is worth the pain caused to the mice.  The Guardian has the full story.