Nicoco – Shanghai During Coronavirus Outbreak

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My objective for this series was to capture the feeling of apocalyptic emptiness. Some of the photos may look as if they were captured at strange early morning hours, but as a collection, it seeks to reinforce there were no people, anywhere.These are Shanghai’s busiest locations that can compare to Times Square in New York City, Big Ben in London, the Bean in Chicago, or the Washington Monument in DC. They are very popular on an average day, and very, very popular during holidays as domestic tourists and residents spend time with their families and check out festive displays, shop, or just meander around.

You can find the photos on her Instagram.

Source: Ghost City Photos of a Usually Bustling Shanghai During Coronavirus Outbreak

The Redemption of Vanity – Diemut Strebe

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10 times blacker then Vantablack.

suck it, Anish.

A 16.78 carat natural yellow diamond (Fancy Vivid Yellow SI1, Radiant shape, value $2,000,000) is covered with the blackest black on earth, which makes the diamond appear to disappear.
Grown nanotubes, tiny hallow carbon cylinders, will shape a microscopic ‘forest’ on the shiny surface of the diamond. When a photon enters the spatial forest structure, which is mainly consisting of empty space, it is encaged and bounces around until it dissipates as heat. The carbon nanotubes (short CNT’s) absorb 99.965% of the light.
Any object covered with this material loses all its plasticity and appears entirely flat, abbreviated to a black silhouette, by erasing any shadow in outright contradiction to this we see that a diamond, while made of the very same element (carbon), enacts the most intense reflection of light on earth.
The different structural forms of the arrangement of the carbon atoms create opposing extremes in appearance on exposure to light. In formal respect the project represents the paradoxical combination of two opposites coinciding in the same object. The form that maximizes the return of light (diamond cut) is covered with a surface that maximizes its absorption. In effect the CNT’s material properties appear almost “immaterial”, as the void of a black hole.
The covered diamond is presented on a small elongated golden foot encased in a safety class chamber mounted onto a pedestal. In order to be able to “see” the deprivation as efficiently as possible, the display is equipped with illuminated magnifiers. Part of the display is an armed security guard.
The project explores how material and immaterial value is attached to objects and concepts in reference to luxury, society and to art.
The literal devaluation of an object of highly symbolic and economic value can be understood in respect to the embracing forces of art market mechanism on the one hand, while expressing at the same time questions of the value of art in its more broader sense.

We use a new developed method patented by MIT that is measurable the blackest black on earth, that can be used by any artist.
We do not believe in exclusive ownership of concepts, ideas or materials in the arts.

Author of the Concept: Diemut Strebe

Source: The Redemption of Vanity – Diemut Strebe

See the Fifth Avenue Apple Store’s dazzling, iridescent rainbow glass – The Verge

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One of Apple’s most iconic Apple Stores, the all-glass cube on Fifth Avenue, has been under renovations since 2017. Last week, Apple revealed a new look for the cube that makes it shine with a rainbow iridescence — and we sent our photographer Amelia to capture it for you.

The new look is gorgeous, but also not permanent. Apple told The Verge that the iridescence is caused by a wrap covering the glass that is “temporary,” so see it while you can. As of late, Apple has been embracing the heritage of its classic rainbow logo, so we have to wonder if this new look for the cube might also be featured onstage at tomorrow’s iPhone event. Perhaps the store will reopen in tandem with the launch of the next iPhones.

Source: See the Fifth Avenue Apple Store’s dazzling, iridescent rainbow glass – The Verge