Brain Pickings

Art Meets Science: They Might Be Giants’ Creative Education

What paleontology has to do with stop-motion animation and kindergartners.

They Might Be Giants are among the most iconic and revolutionary alt-rock bands of our time. They’ve founded one of the first artist-owned online music stores, stunned critics with an unorthodox children’s project, performed at TED, and consistently challenged the conventions of the music industry. Oh, and they’ve won a few Grammys along the way.

This month, TMBG have released the latest installment in their critically acclaimed Here Comes children’s series. The Here Comes Science 2-disc CD/DVD album is a bundle of creativity and entertainment, tied with a ribbon of education. Although aimed at the K-5 set, the playful lyrics and brilliantly animated videos are an absolute treat for musicologists and design junkies alike — we can attest.

From the charming illustration in this Amazon-exclusive video, to the wonderful paper-cutout stop-motion animation in Electric Car, to the infographic ode to the periodic table in Meet The Elements, the album is a testament to the transformational power of a fresh approach to a stale subject.

What makes us particularly enamored with this project is that it addresses of the sore need for creativity in education, the lack of which is often a dealbreaker in kids’ engagement in the learning process. As Sir Ken Robinson so bluntly yet fairly pointed out in his TED talk, today’s schools may well be killing creativity.

Check out Here Comes Science for 19 unexpected takes on paleontology, evolution, astronomy, photosynthesis, anatomy and other delightfully geeky curiosities that you probably slept through in school.

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Seafood Sexytime: Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno 3

What Pizza Neapolitana has to do with orgies and the future of the oceans.

Early last year, iconic Italian actor, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model Isabella Rossellini made waves when she signed on to do Green Porno, a series of short films for Sundance Channel exploring, to put it bluntly, the sex life of bugs.

Now, she’s back with Green Porno 3, charmingly weird and brilliant as ever. This time, she explores the hot-and-steamy of marine life.

From anchovy orgies, to elephant seal harems, to the 3-heart, 18-arm, 2-penis sexomatic squid, the series is every bit as awkwardly amusing as it is enlighteningly educational — a delightful intersection of scientific accuracy and old-timey theatrics.

We couldn’t help appreciating the subtle environmental commentary of the series. Each episode opens with a cooking scene, then delves into the magnificent, intricate marine system that somehow ended up on the plate — a timely reminder that our collective choices are precisely what caused the rather serious current overfishing crisis.

Catch Green Porno 3 online for some nerdy-artsy edutainment, and if you happen to be on the iPhone team, do the oceans a favor by grabbing Seafood Watch, a nifty free app that helps you make sustainable food choices.

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Illustartion Spotlight: Every Person In New York

Nachos, modern art, and how to put yourself on the cultural map.

Jason Polan is after every living person in New York — with a pencil and a sketchpad. His ambitious illustration project, Every Person In New York, is an effort do draw New Yorkers — all 8.3 million of them. Since March 23, 2008, he has been drawing people daily, and uploading the results to his blog.

He draws in subway stations, museums, restaurants, street corners — just about anywhere. And he doesn’t discriminate — from junk food lovers to junkies to celebrities, his sketches span the entire social spectrum.

To increase you own chances of getting drawn, he even invites you — yes, you — to email him with a public location you’ll be standing at for a duration of exactly two minutes.

From the standard subway sleeper, to the typical pack of art-admiring MoMA-goers, to Kirsten Durst walking down Grand Street, Every Person In New York is part art, part sociology, part fascinating slice of the cultural anthropology of the world’s most vibrant city.

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