Brooklyn Brown’s “A Machine Frame of Mind” is a project that investigates the evolving relationship between machines and humans. In a near-distant future (and really in our current present), machines and humans will hold conversations, relationships, and (of course) look at each other. As just one part of her extensive series of projects centered around computer vision, Brown created “Do You Want To Be Recognized”, a series of portraits that explore a potential for the development of trends that include accessories and make up that allow us to be tracked and recognized better by machines.

Brown asks: “With the advent of eyetracking software, gestural interfaces, and more advanced facial recogntion, it is reasonable to think that the face itself could become an input instead of a mouse or finger. What if we could interface with machines by simply looking at them a certain way or having a small dot our eyelids so our eyes can be easily read as open or closed? Will there to be regression to tribal markings to distinguish ourselves in the eyes of the machine?”

Of course the idea of altering our own human appearance in order to be more easily recognizable by machines such as surveillance systems seems to be an obviously negative thing, but what if it really is something to embrace? Brown takes the stance that an enhanced relationship between humans and machines is actually an attractive phenomenon.

“Being known by something so fundamentally “other” from us can be comforting perhaps.” – Brooklyn Brown

Photographer Alison Scarpulla understands the strange power and intriguing beauty of decay. She transforms her already beautiful photographs into even more striking images not by Photoshop, but by her own unorthodox sorcery. In order to achieve a desired effect, Scarpulla sometimes uses expired film, while at other times she smears her lens with dirt. Additionally, she has been known to blow smoke on or drip everything from water to acid on negatives. Her unusual experiments make for excitingly unique and especially beautiful images of all things odd and occult.

In the fall of 2009 artist Michael Anthony Simon left Chicago behind, and moved to the countryside of Korea.  He wanted to experience a new place and culture that would hopefully inform a fresh body of work that could exist beyond the constraints of the western art world.  In the spring of 2011, contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei was arrested on falsified charges of tax evasion by a notoriously conservative Chinese government.  The claims were suspect to say the least, and many silent protests were organized throughout the world by major museums and institutions calling for his release.  These silent protests became a louder gesture than anything anyone could have audibly said.  This act of defiant solidarity became a source of motivation for Simon in the year to come.  Realizing that by attempting to silence something you make it’s presence that much more apparent he commenced on a series entitled “The Silence Paintings”.  Analyzing the design and significance of the word ‘silence’ in different languages lead him to the creation of an intuitive process that would allow for compositions to develop naturally, but with purpose and intention.

While working on “The Silence Paintings” Simon started to analyze the idea of nature, and realized what an active roll it played in every artist’s practice.  The materials an artist uses have to come from somewhere, and he began to dissect that relationship.  Rather than buying or building a stretcher made from cut down trees Simon chose to eliminate the middleman.  By selectively choosing to paint specific elements in nature he was able to draw attention to the singularity of the individual objects that, taken as a whole, create the world that surrounds us.  Unlike the use of manufactured lumber – this process does not kill the trees that he employs to construct his work.  The foliage is painted, the picture is taken, the leaves fall off, and the plant starts to rebuild itself.  Simon is part Native American, and the idea of how he interacts with the world is something that continually reasserts itself in his practice.

What initially began as a “high-lighting” of different natural elements quickly developed into a series with far broader implications.  Simon came across a huge spider web in the forest one day while choosing the location for his next piece, and began experimenting with that as the next logical progression in a rapidly evolving body of work.  What he couldn’t have counted on at the time was where this accidental discovery would take him.  Fast-forward six months, and Simon’s studio has become a factory of sorts.  Many skilled workers meticulously build elaborate concentric structures between plastic rods secured atop various geometric plinths.  The presence of these assistants would not be so surprising, if they were human.  Through many months of trial and error, Simon has developed a method that allows him to harness the inherent artistry of what many consider to be one of nature’s most horrifying creatures.  First, he locates and captures a particularly industrious breed of spider in the surrounding areas, and then (with a bit of guidance) allows them to do what spiders do best – build webs.  Once completed, he returns the spiders to where he found them, and begins coating the webs in countless layers of misted lacquer.  The process is unlike any I’ve ever seen, and the result is beautiful.  Sculptures, as much about formalism as they are about industrialized labor.

The work is part of a broader dialogue, one that exists outside of conventional eastern or western boundaries, and  it is this universal approach to art making that sets the work of Michael Anthony Simon apart from many of his contemporaries.  With a few major institutional shows under his belt in Korea, an upcoming trip to the States, and the official release of a new website slated for the Summer of 2012 – I can guarantee you that we will be seeing much more of this artist’s work in the years to come.

Jörg Brüggemann’s work captures the raw aesthetic behind the fans of heavy metal in order to illustrate the genre’s ability to unite the fans of it’s sound in order to create a unique culture, despite social, economic, or political differences. The photographs have been taken all around the world including Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Switzerland and the USA.

Dutch photographer Teun Hock’s photographs are clever, eye-catching, and surreal. Consistently using himself to convey a peculiar character, he depicts a middle-aged man who is perpetually trapped in self-depreciating and humorous situations. He is stuck in the middle of an ice floe while his bag, hat, and umbrella are carried away on separate pieces; he hangs from a swinging chandelier; he is blindfolded and wearing a birthday hat while walking on the moon, and using a ladder to measure the night sky.

His process is very labor intensive and his work extends far beyond the traditional boundaries of photography. As explained by the artist:

“…There’s a big backdrop that I paint or build, or whatever’s needed, and I stand in the middle of that. Then I take a picture of myself in black and white and enlarge it. I do it myself in the darkroom with a little bit of help. Then I tone the picture sepia. And later I add oil paint. I color everything, but it’s transparent, so that you can see the picture underneath.”

In addition to his work in photography, he was commissioned to design and paint stained glass windows for the Grote Kerk of Dorecht, a medieval church located in the Netherlands.

“From the Backseat of my Car” is a photographic series by Alícia Rius. You probably guessed it, but the photos are shot from the backseat of a car. From abandoned cars, specifically – these shots truly depict a beautiful decay.

Landscape photography is a fickle mistress.  Jonathan Robert LeBlanc’s photographs weave an elaborate tapestry of cramped urban decay and endless country skies- facing history with little or no irony.

You can’t help but feel like you’re the last person on the face of the Earth when you look at the blurry, skewed and foreboding work by American  photographer Todd Hido. Well known for his photographs of houses at night, Hido’s landscapes are categorically different from his best hits; instead of a voyeur, you’re the lost soul. Take the leap to see more. Hido captures that inner mood of the sometimes depressing and surreal landscape contained in the northern states. I can always feel nostalgic about cold weather and the pleasant variety of loneliness the winter brings. If you see that moment, forget the tripod mounted cam- shoot through the windshield and give photographic impressionism a try.