Cabinet Magazine's most recent issue featured a series of paintings by the English artist Louis Wain, who painted thousands of pictures of cats. Wain was committed to a mental hospital in 1924 after showing signs of schizophrenia. Many psychologists believe the increasing severity of Wain's mental illness can be seen in his paintings, though others claim the paintings are just reflecting patterns from his mother's textiles. See for yourself:

All images copyright the Archives and Museum of Bethlem Royal Hospital.

H.G. Wells once said of Wain:

He has made the cat his own. He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look and live like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves.

More on Wain can be found here, here, and here.

This post is in memory of my beloved family cat Mister Ham, who passed away yesterday.

Many of Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira's installations are called tapumes (Portuguese: fencing, boarding, or enclosure), a term which makes reference to the temporary wooden construction fences seen throughout the city of São Paulo where Oliveira lives. It also refers to the weathered wood Oliveira uses as the primary material in the installations. They are smashing.

Via Contemporist.

This is one of of many great installations/videos by Michael Kontopoulos.

Machines That Almost Fall Over: A system of sculptures that is constantly on the brink of collapse. My intention was to capture and sustain the exact moment of impending catastrophe and endlessly repeat it.

Via.

Plastic Century is a project documenting the increase in plastic production. Check out their recent installation, featuring plastic-filled water dispensers that visualize the amount of plastic produced from 1910 to the projected amount in 2030.

Plastic Century - photo by Mike Estee

I just came across the work of Chris Jordan, a Seattle-based artist whose "Running the Numbers" project visualizes statistics from and comments on American life. Jordan's large, detailed prints, made up of smaller images, give a true sense of the quantities he represents. It's worth taking a look through the collection on his site. He includes detail shots which give a nice sense of the composition. Here's a small sample:

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