Huggable Urns

Just a bear right? Well it's actually a bit more then that. The picture above is of what is being called a huggable urn. Basically, when a person is cremated, these urns can be bought to place their ashes in.

The ashes are put in the bag (as seen in the picture above) and then placed in the bear and zipped up. It can then be treated, basically, as a normal bear.

When I first saw this on tv I was really freaked out. But apparently people are buying these (whether they use them or not I'm really not sure) and I think that's why it interests me. It's radically different then what's been done in the past. It also gives us a somewhat different look at death and how the living deal with and "honour" the dead. To some these bears could be seen as very disrespectful to the dead and on top of that, really weird. Some may even wonder why any one ever created these. In a way it's a form of defamiliarization (mixing teddy bears with death), which does make huggable urns an art form. Though some find it weird, there are others that think this is a great way to keep loved ones with them forever. It just shows you, it's all in the eyes of the beholder.

Image 1: http://www.ship-of-fools.com/gadgets/death/177_1.html

Image 2: http://www.estatevaults.com/lm/archives/2007/07/

Knytt Stories

Knytt and Knytt Stories is a free 2D platformer that allows user's to create they're own levels and then share them with others. Levels come with a difficultly rating but there are some that even allow difficultly to be changed. It comes with a few playable levels but from there more can be downloaded from websites and played later.


The level editor is very detailed and allows the user to create both complex and ambient environments with entertaining gameplay. Depending on what the user wants to create, levels can be classic survive-to-the-ending or just nice places to explore and discover. There are also options to allow the creation of multiple endings and for users to insert there own art works. Most levels follow Juni, the main character from the creators levels, but from there the user can create any story they wish. Such as Don't Eat The Mushroom (video by ProtonJonSA of youtube) by UncleSporky (http://knyttlevels.com/)

I love the creative aspect of this game. The fact that it can be anything the level designer chooses and include anything. This freedom is what art is about and for this reason I find Knytt stories an art form.


Image 1: http://elitegames.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/knytt/knytt_stories/
Image 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tigsource/466489976/

The Perfect World- Perfect World International

Perfect World International is a free-to-play mmo rpg which I have played in the past. It's fully explorable, allowing you fly, swim or run just about anywhere. Its graphics are breathtaking, especially the background. With the graphic settings turned up to there highest perfect World becomes a game where it is very easy to become totally immersed. Water is amazingly realistic and the "natural" lighting (such as the sun and moon) create a world that feels like it actually exists.
Like almost all games, Perfect World also has a background story. To me, it's story reflects the thought put into this game. It explores the idea that nothing can truly be perfect as there are many variables that change and grow as time goes on. In addition it brings up the idea that everyone makes mistakes and those mistakes can have impacts on others. What is important is learning from the past and working towards a better future. Perfect World shows that even games where you run around fighting monsters there are sometimes meaningful ideas behind them.

Image: http://lunarphoenix.net/lpb/?p=28

I though this would be an appropriate start...

Well considering my name I went with I thought this would be an appropriate way to start out. The work above is -:-The fox-:- by ksenia-silence on DeviantArt. This, most likely, will be the only fox related work I speak of though.
To start off I love the way this image has been done. The effect of the snow on the foxes back and light through the trees especially. The blending of colours on the fox and throughout the image is also very well done.

Overall I really like this work but what I really wanted to talk about is where the artist got her inspiration for this piece. It was from a poem about a fox and from a real life experience of seeing a fox while reading the poem (link below).
I love hearing just how artists are inspired or come up with an idea for their work. This is probably because, most of the time, it is very different for each artist. For some people ideas seem to just appear in their heads, for others a life experience or even a different form of art can inspire. Inspiration can come from anywhere, from the simplest of everyday things to some major once-in-a-life-time event, and that to me is amazing.

Image and Poem: ksenia-silence