This page shows the highlighted posts. Posts are sorted in reverse date order, meaning that the newest posts will be on top and older posts will be towards the bottom. Each post should have links to the original source. All notes are my own, unless otherwise stated.

  • Post Number: 69
  • Original Source: dottech.org
  • Title: How did someone hang a monitor from power lines…?
  • Artist: @Ashraf on DotTech
  • Date Created/Posted: 4/16/2013
  • Date Archived: 3/2/2025
  • Notes: This certainly wasn't meant to be a piece of artwork, more just a funny moment to share with the Internet. But this image has circulated online for almost 12 years, and one commenter from Tumblr reframed it in a beautiful way, saying "An angel got stuck on the way back to heaven". This follows a common theme of using technology as a symbol for the divine, especially angels. Back in some of my first posts on this archive (post number 2, even), Tumblr users compare vintage or extremely complex technology to angels--unknowable, yet beautiful in an abstract sense. This image fits that theme in an unexpected way; instead of appearing as an all-powerful, "do not be afraid" type of angel, this humble vintage monitor hangs by only a hook many feet into the air on a power line. Below it is a light, possibly glare from the photo or a blurred image of the moon. It might also be part of the computer, hanging by a near-invisible string in the grainy photo. It only adds to the angelic feeling; perhaps this light is the angel's halo. The low resolution of the image from what seems to be a traffic camera adds a "found footage" effect, adding a sense of seeing something that wasn't meant to be recorded.
  • Post Number: 52
  • Original Source: My photo
  • Title: Color Walk 4
  • Artist: Wyvern Of Whimsy (me)
  • Date Created/Posted: 2/16/2025
  • Date Archived: 2/23/2025
  • Notes: This is a playground that I saw on my walk last week. It is a smaller subsection of a larger playground, but this area specifically was closed off. I would like to draw your attention to the colors in this photo. The white sign stating to "keep out" draws the viewer's eye first, which leads the viewer to see the rest of the orange caution tape, clearly warning people to not use the playground. This protective barrier has clearly been here for at least a few days, since many of the railings have been knocked to the ground. What I find interesting, though, is that the wood on the playground is also very saturated. It has been stained a brighter shade of brown, likely to look more inviting and playful, thereby encouraging kids to play on it. I couldn't find a reason why the playground was closed; the wood looks sturdy and relatively new, and there isn't much that kids could hurt themselves on. But maybe there is some other issue with the playground not visible at a glance. The mainly gray surroundings from the mostly-barren trees to the desaturated wood chips only make the focus of the photograph stand out even more.
    *Note: I blocked out the city name on the sign for privacy reasons.
  • Post Number: 41
  • Original Source: ArtStation
  • Title: 电线杆 (Telephone Pole)
  • Artist: Xiaohan Yu
  • Date Created/Posted: 2024
  • Date Archived: 2/17/2025
  • Notes: This telephone pole is an interesting perspective piece, and uses color so strongly yet subtly that it blends in with the rest of the piece to create a beautiful artwork. I chose it for this week because of its interesting use of color. The piece is almost completely blue (aka monochromatic), except for some red and light yellow highlights. The clouds and sky are, of course, blue, but that reflects onto the telephone pole. The shadows bring the telephone pole closer to purple, which contrasts nicely with the only bit of yellow in the piece: the highlights on top of the clouds. One of the most interesting parts of the piece is that the artist lined some of the clouds in red at their lightest points. Not only does this separate out individual clouds, but it also draws your eye even more fiercely to the clouds. The red is so barely-there it feels more pink, which creates an odd effect and makes it feel like the more saturated spot where light and shadow meet. The telephone pole itself also feels very grounded with its detailed electrical boxes. They are rusting over, as one would expect from a metal box sitting outside for years. And yet you can tell the pole is still operational because of the many cords coming off of it. The bird silhouettes also add a touch of humanity to the piece.
  • Post Number: 33
  • Original Source: Tumblr
  • Title: Asking for Directions
  • Artist: @the-elf-draws on Tumblr
  • Date Created/Posted: 8/28/2022
  • Date Archived: 2/10/2025
  • Notes: At first glance, this piece seems to be about the beauty of space and the moon, and how angelic it is to see the world from such a perspective. It is enchanting, but looking a little closer reveals another, sadder meaning, and it all comes from this one detail: the astronaut's helmet is cracked. Someone with a cracked helmet obviously cannot live in the vacuum of space when they need air to live. This turns the piece from a heartwarming scene to a dark one: the astronaut is dying, and the angel is "directing" him to the afterlife. Presumably, the astronaut died alone, since we don't see any other astronauts or even a spaceship nearby. It is only the space-farer, the angel, and the cold emptiness of an uninhabited moon. The artist doesn't even show the Earth in the background to say that there is other life, even if it's thousands of miles away. The astronaut is completely isolated, except for this kind angel who came to show him the way to a new life. It's unclear whether the angel will be the astronaut's guide all the way to the afterlife, or if the angel's job is merely to tell them where to go and then leave. But I hope that the astronaut will at least find others once they reach their destination.
  • Post Number: 23
  • Original Source: Tumblr
  • Title: Creature
  • Artist: @charrfle on Tumblr
  • Date Created/Posted: 8/16/2024
  • Date Archived: 2/3/2025
  • Notes: This piece is an homage to the prevalence of anime characters in social media; specifically to the original characters (or OCs) that many on social media, especially Tumblr where this piece comes from, create and share. The words on the piece are formatted like a meme text post, even using a similar style to the infamous Impact font. The words "O creature of many shapes / self selected identity, Eve's apple garden" invoke a Biblical connotation: These OCs come from all over the internet and arrive in many forms, from human to humanoid to completely alien. Each one puts some aspect of the OC's creator on display, whether that is a physical or mental trait. By comparing that "self selected identity" to the garden of Eden from the Bible, the artist insinuates that these OCs are something holy, untainted by the Original Sin that got Eve and Adam cast out from the Garden.
    My favorite part about this piece is that it's not digital art. Anime and OCs are known for being on digital screens and usually rendered with a digital program. However, this artist specifically chose to paint it using acrylics, an opaque paint. With acrylics, it is difficult to get the defined lines that digital art does so easily, yet this artist does it so seamlessly that it is often mistaken for digital art at first glance. Bringing something known only for being on the screen into the physical world specifically to revere it is a deeply meaningful decision.
  • Post Number: 15
  • Original Source: Tumblr
  • Title: My other car is a rainbow trout
  • Artist: @corrodedparadox on Tumblr
  • Date Created/Posted: 10/1/2024
  • Date Archived: 1/24/2025
  • Notes: Like the first Image of the Week post, this one also plays off of a common phrase, although this one is a bumper sticker. The phrase "My other car is a _____" gives you insight on the driver's job, wealth, or humor. Some iterations say their other vehicle is a sports car like a Lamborghini. Others may say a school bus or a fire truck. This art piece plays off of the third genre, where people state that their other car is not a car at all: it may be a broomstick, the void, or (as in this case) a rainbow trout. Of course, most of these are joking; you can't drive a rainbow trout, right? This artist envisions what it would be like to have a car-sized, rideable rainbow trout, and it is absolutely stunning. The vibrant colors and realistic rendering (aside from the sparkles) had me thinking that someone actually made a car-sized fish. The artist's use of perspective and lighting do not go unnoticed, either. The parking lot around the shrimp is a lighter blue-gray, suggesting that the trout is literally glowing, or at least reflecting a lot of ambient light. The other cars are also rendered realistically, which isn't expected for a painting that seems to be joking around. The art piece considers a ridiculous situation seriously, and invites us to consider it as well.
  • Post Number: 1
  • Original Source: Tumblr
  • Title: Snowball in Hell
  • Artist: @korppipoika on Tumblr
  • Date Created/Posted: 12/6/2022
  • Date Archived: 1/21/2025
  • Notes: This piece plays off of the common phrase of something having a "snowball's chance in hell" of working. The original saying means that it is hopeless: hell is famously made of fire, and snowballs melt in fire. This piece re-contextualizes the phrase, giving the snowball a cute, catlike countenance. Snowball is also a common name for cats, giving more credence to the theory. It is surprised and distressed, shown by its teary eyes. The fur sticking straight out gives it more similarities to a cat, but also emphasizes the snowball's shock. And the water droplets also shooting out energetically could be sweat from the shock, or it could be the snowball beginning to melt.
    The fire contrasts beautifully with the snow-cat. Where the cat is all cool colors (dark black, bright white, and pastel blue), the fire is bright and saturated. Each lick of fire is distinct from its neighbors but is similar enough to be cohesive with the rest of the flame. It provides a noisy background to contrast the snowball's simplicity.