Arts and Music

Off Book

Cutting edge art and the artists that make it. Off Book highlights the new, the unusual, the beautiful, and the bold across various artistic media and platforms.

Cosplay Changes Lives

5m 30s

With TV shows dedicated to it, and pictures and videos all across the internet, cosplay has now officially entered the public consciousness. All over the world, enthusiastic fans dress up as their favorite characters and show off amazing homemade costumes at conventions and in inspiring photography sessions. But beyond the glamour is a powerful story of personal transformation.

Episodes

  • Cosplay Changes Lives: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Cosplay Changes Lives

    5m 30s

    With TV shows dedicated to it, and pictures and videos all across the internet, cosplay has now officially entered the public consciousness. All over the world, enthusiastic fans dress up as their favorite characters and show off amazing homemade costumes at conventions and in inspiring photography sessions. But beyond the glamour is a powerful story of personal transformation.

  • The Rise of Videogame Economies: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Rise of Videogame Economies

    7m 8s

    While players of multi-player games are aware of their in-game economies, their growth and complexity would surprise many outside the world of gaming. With hundreds of millions of players around the world, MMOGs' in-game economies generate massive amounts of real dollars (i.e. MILLIONS), and real world economic theories can even be applied to these worlds.

  • The New Rules of Robot/Human Society: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The New Rules of Robot/Human Society

    8m 54s

    As technology speeds forward, humans are beginning to imagine the day when robots will fill the roles promised to us in science fiction. But what should we be thinking about TODAY, as robots like military and delivery drones become a real part of our society? How should robots be programmed to interact with us?

  • Are Emoticons the Future of Language?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Are Emoticons the Future of Language?

    5m 35s

    In the digital age, we increasingly use written language in place of face to face chat or phone calls. But the advantages email, chat, and text give us in speed come with limitations in communicating emotional tone. Enter emoticons and emojis.

  • Is Code the Most Important Language in the World?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Is Code the Most Important Language in the World?

    5m 16s

    As technology becomes ever more pervasive, the people who actually create it have an increasingly influential impact on our lives. Their ability to code allows them to mold our interactions with computers, and define what services computers bring to us. In essence, coders have become the gatekeepers of how our culture uses technology.

  • How To Be Creative: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How To Be Creative

    8m 53s

    Creativity has always been essential for our cultural growth, but there are still many misconceptions about this elusive process. Not the left-brain/right-brain binary that we've come to believe, being creative is considerably more complex, and requires a nuanced understanding of ourself and others.

  • Frame By Frame: The Art of Stop Motion: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Frame By Frame: The Art of Stop Motion

    7m 49s

    The magic of stop-motion animation has enthralled audiences for over a century, but with the advent of CGI, many thought it was at risk of extinction. Yet despite these fears, animators all over the world continue to manually create unique stories out of physical materials, be it clay, sand or paint, puppets or people.

  • The Art of Portrait Photography: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Art of Portrait Photography

    7m 42s

    Humans have been creating likenesses of each other for thousands of years, but with the introduction of photography, a new language developed for capturing the human image. Photography created opportunities for not just for biography and documentation, but also depth, empathy, and experimentation.

  • Online Privacy: How Did We Get Here?: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Online Privacy: How Did We Get Here?

    7m 50s

    As technology has evolved over the past two centuries, so have our expectations about privacy. This new digital world allows us to connect with each other with increasing ease, but it has also left our personal information readily available, and our privacy vulnerable.

  • The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

    8m 22s

    Artificial intelligence is an ever evolving goal for researchers, and the object of endless fascination for writers, filmmakers, and the general public. But despite our best science fiction visions, creating digital intelligence is incredibly difficult.

  • The Art of Illustration: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Art of Illustration

    6m 59s

    Illustrators articulate what a photograph cannot. Using an array of techniques and styles, illustrators evoke stories and meaning in a variety of mediums, from editorial illustration in magazines and newspapers, to comics books, to activist media.

  • The Art of Logo Design: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Art of Logo Design

    6m 15s

    Logos surround us in digital and physical space, but we rarely examine the thought and artistic thinking that goes into the design of these symbols. Utilizing a silent vocabulary of colors, shapes, and typography, logo designers give a visual identity to companies and organizations of all types.

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