The Weight of Imagination

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The Weight of Imagination

There are already countless photographs of the Shonandai Cultural Centre in Fujisawa, designed by architect Itsuko Hasegawa. Even so, it was a place I knew I had to visit on my most recent trip to Japan.

I've always had a soft spot for postmodern architecture. There is something fascinating about buildings that challenge conventional forms and dare to be playful, ambitious, and sometimes even a little futuristic. The Shonandai Cultural Centre is exactly that kind of place.

Rather than focusing on the more familiar compositions, I wanted to emphasize the sheer presence of the enormous sphere that dominates the complex. Standing beneath it, you can't help but feel its weight and scale. The structure seems to hover above you, creating a sense of tension between mass and balance that is difficult to appreciate in photographs alone.

For me, this composition was the best way to convey that feeling — the globe appearing almost monumental, suspended between architecture and sculpture. A reminder that buildings can do more than serve a function; they can spark curiosity and imagination.
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© Marcus Antonius Braun
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Jeff Bezos Is Funding a Wild Hunt for the Brain's 'Core Algorithm'

Jeff Bezos is backing Flourish, a new "neuro AI" startup with $500 million in funding and a reported $2.5 billion valuation, that aims to reinvent AI by studying the brain's architecture and building systems that learn continuously while using far less power than today's large language models. The company's long-term bet is that neuroscientists and AI researchers working together can uncover the brain's "core algorithm" and eventually create brain-inspired AI that runs on a tiny fraction of current compute. Wired reports: Rob Williams knows how to pitch Jeff Bezos: You write a press release as if your product has already been built. Bezos reads it and gives a thumbs up or down. Williams went through this process a lot as an executive on Amazon's "S-team," in charge of software products such as Alexa, until his departure last fall. But the pitch he made a few weeks later -- in December 2025 -- was different. Now he was collaborating with Thomas Reardon, a neuroscientist and repeat startup founder, and approaching Bezos as a funder, not a boss. Here's what Bezos, sitting on his yacht somewhere, read while Williams anxiously watched on Zoom: "Flourish is a neuro AI company that is solving the two most difficult problems facing AI today: power efficiency and continuous learning. We are building Cortex AI, the first synthetic intelligence system designed to match the computational capacity, learning efficiency, and power budget of the human brain."

A month later, I'm lunching with Reardon and Williams in the Flatiron neighborhood in New York City. Reardon gets right to the point. AI has dug itself into a hole, he says. Though increasingly powerful, large language models are greedy consumers of computer power and data. Though the inspiration for LLMs was rooted in biology, current frontier models have little in common with the human brain. A person uses about 20 watts of energy to process information; a single chip in an AI training cluster uses more than 30 times that amount. The hyperscalers require thousands of chips and gigawatts of energy, enough to power small cities. And those models need to suck up virtually all of what humans have written. Each new model requires more, more, more. For all of that, the models don't learn. Once you train them, they're stuck. The goal, Reardon tells me, is to build "a synthetic artificial intelligence brain that runs on 50 watts or less." It should adapt to its conditions, be as nimble as a human mind, and burn a tiny fraction of an LLM's compute power and energy. The proof of concept is thriving inside our skulls. "There's something fundamentally wrong with saying, "I need to basically read every book ever written 20 times over in order to learn English,'" Reardon says. "A human baby does it with a couple hundred thousand utterances."

Reardon and Williams haven't figured out yet how to build systems that match the magic of a human brain. What they have is a belief that an expert, well-resourced team -- of AI researchers and neuroscientists working essentially side by side -- can find the answer. The neuroscientists will conduct original wet lab experiments with some of the most advanced lab equipment available, to hunt for usable intel on the brain's architecture. They plan to release the models they're currently developing as near-term products on the path to a full reinvention of AI. The fuzziness of the proposal didn't bother Jeff Bezos. After reading Williams' two-pager, he chipped in $50 million. Other funding came from Lux Capital, Google Ventures, and Catalio, among others. Bezos then almost doubled his initial stake and told Reardon he'd have given more if they'd asked. Now with a war chest of $500 million and a reported valuation of $2.5 billion, Flourish just needs to invent a new way to do AI.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Hoe erg is het om het oneens te zijn in het bijzijn van onze dochter?

De ouders van een dochter van 2,5 proberen zo empatisch mogelijk te reageren op haar driftbuien. De vader spreekt haar soms sneller streng toe, waarna de moeder hem berispt. Ze vraagt zich af: is dit oké? Experts geven advies.

Jason Bhugwandass slaat – opnieuw – alarm over het hoge percentage doden in de jeugdzorg. ‘Er is de afgelopen twee jaar niets gedaan’

In een nieuw rapport beschrijft ervaringsdeskundige Jason Bhugwandass dat oud-bewoners van gesloten jeugdzorgafdelingen kampen met ernstige trauma’s en dat sommige zelfs overgingen tot zelfdoding. Erkenning, nazorg of financiële hulp bleven uit volgens Bhugwandass: „Ik geloof helemaal niet meer in de rechtsstaat.”


The Guardian

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Israel and Iran trade strikes: what does this mean for peace deal? - The Latest

The Iranian regime has announced the end of attacks against Israel, while the US president has claimed both sides ‘want a ceasefire’. This comes after Iran and Israel attacked each other’s territory for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took effect in April. The Israeli strikes are in apparent defiance of Donald Trump, who told Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, not to retaliate against Iran, in order to avoid derailing peace talks. Nosheen Iqbal speaks to the Guardian’s senior international correspondent Julian Borger

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‘Wasn’t even good’: US tourist says she was charged €44 for two ice creams in Rome

Post on Facebook received more than 900 comments, with one Italian writing that they were ‘ashamed’

A US tourist has warned visitors to Rome after paying €44 (£38) for two ice-creams in the Italian capital.

Nicole Ann, from Florida, advised fellow tourists to “avoid Don Nino”, an ice-cream parlour on a street off Piazza Navona. She claimed she had ordered two small cups of ice-cream but instead was charged for two large cones topped with trimmings that were allegedly not requested, including macarons, cannoli and panna (whipped cream).

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France and Germany abandon joint project to build European fighter jet

Paris and Berlin conclude firms involved unable to agree on way forward in blow to Europe’s common defence push

France and Germany have concluded that the companies involved in building a joint fighter jet will not be able to reach an agreement and have abandoned the project, officials in Berlin have said in a blow to Europe’s common defence efforts.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the Germany chancellor, Friedrich Merz, had “reached the shared assessment that the companies will not be able to come together”, an official told Agence France-Presse. “They acknowledge this reality.”

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kottke.org

Jason Kottke's weblog, home of fine hypertext products

Nominations are open for this year’s Tiny Awards ....

Nominations are open for this year’s Tiny Awards. “The Tiny Awards exist because we thought it was important to shine a spotlight on the sorts of personal web projects that tend to get overlooked.”

Rijnmond - Nieuws

Het laatste nieuws van vandaag over Rotterdam, Feyenoord, het verkeer en het weer in de regio Rijnmond

Steeds minder drugs, steeds meer andere criminaliteit in de haven: 'Veel uithalers zitten werkloos thuis'

Het politiewerk in de haven verandert door wereldwijde spanningen en technologische ontwikkelingen. Jarenlang maakte de Zeehavenpolitie zich vooral druk om drugscriminaliteit, tegenwoordig vragen cybercriminaliteit, dronetechnologie, ondermijning en milieudelicten om meer aandacht.

Internationale spanning eist steeds meer aandacht van politie in de haven: 'Niets is meer ondenkbaar'

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Colossal

The best of art, craft, and visual culture since 2010.

Phantasmic Figures Grapple with Their Doubles in Xie Lei’s Dreamy Oil Paintings

Phantasmic Figures Grapple with Their Doubles in Xie Lei’s Dreamy Oil Paintings

Double can mean many things. It may imply a duplicate, symmetry, a reflection, a twin, a splitting, or even a shadow self. There is an inherent duality that forms around two parts, which may or may not be in concert with one another. Austrian psychoanalyst Otto Rank was the first to describe the concept in an essay published in 1914, and Sigmund Freud ran with the idea in his 1919 book The Uncanny.

For Freud, the phenomenon illustrated how the unconscious is actually a kind of second consciousness. Scottish psychoanalyst R.D. Laing drew on this foundation in his study of schizophrenia in the book The Divided Self, which delves into the nature of “real” and “false” selves. And in a literary sense, the concept has generated enduring works of fiction, such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Stephen King’s The Dark Half.

a brushy oil painting with a green tone of feet being held by hands
“Observance” (2026), oil on canvas, 19 11/16 x 15 3/4 x 1 9/16 inches. Photo by A. Mole

For Paris-based artist Xie Lei, the double inspires a new body of work in a titular solo exhibition at Musée Denys-Puech in Rodez, France. Through feather-light brushstrokes, deep shadows, and glowing hues, the artist renders spectral figures in oil paint. “What I’m trying to achieve is to transport the viewer into another world and give them the impression of diving into and participating in the painting,” Xie says.

Some canvases like “Resistance” appear to be underwater, yet also feel elemental and weightless, as if the scenes are unfolding in an alternate realm. “Double I” portrays blurry figures that could be engulfed in flames or perhaps a glowing wheat field, embracing but also possibly combating one another. Disembodied hands often reach out to grasp faces or limbs, such as in “Observance” and “Disappear II.”

Throughout Xie’s work, there is a sense of transformation, even transfiguration, as twins or reflections hover between dreams and reality. “The silent are neither entirely present nor truly absent; they are on the threshold and remain in an in-between state,” says a statement. “Contact is never a firm grip, but rather a suspended touch that preserves a slight distance.”

Double marks Xie’s receipt of the prestigious Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2025, which is awarded annually to an artist working in France, and the show runs from June 12 to October 25. He also has forthcoming solo exhibitions later this year at François Ghebaly in Los Angeles and the Song Art Museum in Beijing. See more on Instagram.

a brushy oil painting with a blue tone of a spectral back of someone's head with a hand reaching up to it
“Disappear II” (2026), oil on paper, 16 9/16 x 11 13/16 inches. Photo by Pauline Assathiany
a brushy oil painting with an orange tone of two embracing figures in a fiery setting
“Double I” (2026), oil on canvas, 80 11/16 x 106 5/16 inches. Photo by Pauline Assathiany
a brushy oil painting with a blue tone of two figures leaning in close to one another
“Fábula” (2025), lithograph, edition of 40 by Idem, Paris, 11 x 15 3/8 inches. Photo by Pauline Assathiany
a brushy oil painting with a blue tone of two spectral figures, one laying down and one appearing to rise out of the other
“Corrosion” (2025), oil on canvas, 80 11/16 x 63 inches. Photo by A. Mole
a brushy oil painting with a blue tone of a figure with hands around his face and a blur, such as a spirit, leaving his mouth
“Resistance” (2026), oil on canvas, 19 11/16 x 15 3/4 x 1 9/16 inches. Photo by A . Mole

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Phantasmic Figures Grapple with Their Doubles in Xie Lei’s Dreamy Oil Paintings appeared first on Colossal.

Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

VN-chef Türk: sancties VS tegen Cuba brengen levens in gevaar

GENÈVE (ANP/AFP) - VN-mensenrechtenchef Volker Türk dringt er bij de Verenigde Staten op aan dat het land de sancties tegen Cuba moet opheffen. Volgens Türk raken de sancties vooral de meest kwetsbare Cubanen en brengen ze levens in gevaar.

Cuba heeft al jarenlang te kampen met Amerikaanse sancties, maar president Donald Trump heeft deze de afgelopen maanden enorm opgeschroefd. Hij probeert de Cubaanse regering zo onder druk te zetten. Ook dreigt Trump de macht over het eiland over te nemen.

"Kinderen sterven omdat dokters geen toegang hebben tot essentiële medische middelen en medicijnen. Dit is onaanvaardbaar", aldus Türk. Sinds de Amerikaanse brandstofbeperkingen van begin dit jaar heeft Cuba vaak te maken met stroomonderbrekingen die regelmatig langer dan twintig uur duren.

Recente cijfers over de volksgezondheid laten zien dat kindersterfte in Cuba is verdubbeld sinds de brandstofbeperkingen zijn ingevoerd. Ook zijn de overlevingskansen voor kinderen met kanker gedaald.


VEB schikt met SNS Reaal om koersverlies rond nationalisatie

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Leden van de Vereniging van Effectenbezitters (VEB) kunnen een vergoeding tegemoetzien voor koersverlies op aandelen van SNS Reaal toen het bedrijf in 2013 werd genationaliseerd. De VEB heeft daarover een schikking getroffen met de bankverzekeraar en de toenmalige accountant KPMG.

De vergoeding voor VEB-leden met een geldige claim is ten minste 400 euro. Voor leden die meer dan 2000 euro koersverlies hebben geleden, komt nog een aanvullende tegemoetkoming. De VEB erkent dat de vergoeding mogelijk maar een deel van het geleden koersverlies dekt, maar adviseert leden deze toch aan te nemen. "Gezien de complexiteit van de zaak en de inmiddels ruim twaalf jaar aan juridische procedures is het resultaat redelijk en goed verdedigbaar", aldus de VEB. De schikking heeft volgens de vereniging niets te maken met schulderkenning of aansprakelijkheid.

De schikking komt ruim drie jaar nadat rechters oordeelden geen bewijs te hebben gevonden voor wanbeleid bij SNS Reaal in de periode die voorafging aan de nationalisatie van de bank en verzekeraar. Beleggers zagen in een eerder verschenen rapport genoeg aanwijzingen van slecht bestuur, maar de ondernemingskamer in Amsterdam ging daar niet in mee. Het vaststellen van wanbeleid zou beleggers, aangevoerd door de VEB, hebben geholpen bij het eisen van een schadevergoeding. Die is nu dus alsnog gekomen.

Het ministerie van Financiën nationaliseerde SNS Reaal in 2013 om te voorkomen dat het financiële concern zou omvallen. De geredde onderdelen werden in een verzekeringstak en een banktak ondergebracht. Die eerste werd verkocht aan het Chinese Anbang en werd later weer doorverkocht aan Athora en NN. De banktak heet tegenwoordig ASN Bank.


Weer protest bij concert Ye in GelreDome

ARNHEM (ANP) - Bij de Gelredome in Arnhem wordt opnieuw geprotesteerd tegen de komst van Ye naar Nederland. De Amerikaanse rapper geeft maandagavond een concert in het stadion, zijn tweede in Nederland sinds 2013. Het protest is met een handvol demonstranten een stuk kleinschaliger dan dat van zaterdag. Toen waren er enkele tientallen betogers.

Ter hoogte van Ingang Noord heeft het Centrum Informatie en Documentatie Israël (CIDI) een groot scherm neergezet. Daarop worden allerlei "kwalijke" uitspraken van Ye, beter bekend als Kanye West, getoond. De uitlatingen gaan onder meer over Joden en mensen uit de lhbtq-gemeenschap. Concertbezoekers bekijken de quotes en fotograferen de actie. Sommigen steken daarbij hun duim omhoog. Een enkeling gaat in gesprek met de demonstranten.

In meerdere landen zijn optredens van Ye afgezegd vanwege zijn antisemitische en pro-nazistische uitspraken. Zo maakte hij onder meer een nummer met de naam Heil Hitler en prees hij de Duitse nazileider. Via zijn website verkocht de artiest T-shirts met een hakenkruis erop. Later bood hij excuses aan en zei hij dat zijn uitspraken voortkwamen uit een bipolaire stoornis die hij kreeg na een auto-ongeluk.

Nationaal Holocaustmuseum

Het protest van zaterdag verliep rustig. Twee mensen werden aangehouden vanwege het verstoren van de openbare orde, maar volgens de politie waren het geen demonstranten. Ook stuurde de politie drie mensen weg, omdat ze borden droegen waarop complottheorieën over onder meer de Holocaust stonden.

De burgemeester van Arnhem, Ahmed Marcouch, nodigde Ye uit om samen naar het Nationaal Holocaustmuseum in Amsterdam te gaan en een krans te leggen bij het Namenmonument. De organisatie achter het Holocaustmuseum, het Joods Cultureel Kwartier (JCK), zei niet aan een bezoek mee te willen werken. Ye zelf heeft nog niet gereageerd op het initiatief.


Found Photograph

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Found Photograph

Found Anscochrome Slide

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Found Anscochrome Slide

This is a Story About Alexander Frick

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

This is a Story About Alexander Frick

THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The events depicted in this album took place in Florida and New York between 1972 -- 1977. Out of respect for the dead, the story has been told exactly as it occurred.

date stamped on slide February 1975