The Modern Muses

In ancient Greece the Muses were a collection of nine goddesses who stimulated the conception of literature and the arts.  What if the Muses were to reinvent themselves for the twenty first century?  Would their modern day guise be any different from the time of the ancients?  What objects might they adopt as their symbols?  Let’s have a little fun.  After all – if they were to return, they wouldn’t want to look as if they belong in a museum, even if the very word was inspired by them.

Calliope

Image Credit Flickr User Ed Yourdon

Perhaps the most famous of the muses, Calliope is the muse of heroic writing – it is said that she inspired Homer to write the Iliad and the Odyssey.  In art she has always been seen with a writing tablet in her hand.  That, of course, would have to go.  Were Calliope to descend from Olympus, she would soon discover that a laptop is the tool of choice for most writers in this day and age.

As the oldest of the muses she would no doubt need that processing power to keep her younger, more errant sisters organised.

Clio

Image Credit Flickr User Natu

Clio was the muse of history.  In ancient art she was often represented with a scroll of paper or a tablet.  Perhaps today she would record the passage of time using a camera.  She is seen variously as a researcher, one who ignites the need to record events but also to investigate and to ensure that events are accounted.  Clio’s aim was to record the past in order to inform the future – and what better modern platform for that than the art of photography?

Batman Demonstrates Chen Style Tai Chi

Back in August we brought you John Leo’s very cool animation with Darth Vader doing Tai Chi.  Well, now he has gone one step forward and produced this excellent piece – Batman demonstrating Chen style Tai Chi.

This animation was key-framed by hand, based on a frame by frame study of a video tape provided by Master Shu Dong Li. After finishing the initial key-framing, John consulted with Sifu Justin Eggert for translation of the movement names from Chinese and to verify that the entire form was animated correctly (as the video tape showed only one perspective).

The form itself is a variation of New Frame Chen Style, developed by Master Li and used in his public demonstrations.

Again, a great piece of work.  Thanks, John!