January 2011 Wallpaper
Shaenon: Happy New Year! Here’s this month’s wallpaper design. Sorry for not having a new design last month, but I really wanted to do a special illustration for the new year. And here we are.
As usual, if you make a donation in any amount to the Skin Horse Tip Jar, I will send you a link to the wallpaper. Each wallpaper design comes in two different aspect ratios (regular screen and widescreen) to fit most computer monitors, and in both Mac-friendly and PC-friendly orientations. Here’s the wallpaper page.
Channing: In addition to using this image as your desktop wallpaper, you can print it out, cut along the lines, and have a set of collectible science trading cards! Take that, sports.
You know its art, because there’s an urn in it
Can someone go through the symbolism of these? Physics has a geiger-counter and a mushroom cloud, Mechanics is pushing a lever but what about Psychology and Cybernetics?
Psychology is a brain, though I’m not sure on the protractor-looking thing in the foreground. For Cybernetics, it looks like circuit paths, or whatever they’re called, the little lines that connect nodes on a motherboard. I’m not exactly intimate with computer components, so I can’t throw the proper words out.
Copper traces. Or just printed circuits. (I used to be an electronic engineering major before I went completely mad. Now I keep my hand in a number of fields. Mad scientist thing, you know. -_^)
If I didn’t know better, I’d think the protractor-like device in psychology was used in phrenology, but that was discredited sometime after the start of the 20th century, if memory serves correctly.
Looks like a caliper to me.
The art/style being used is Art Nouveau, which peaked 1890-1910. Admittedly phernology was largely on it’s way out by 1850, but close enough. And the bust Tip is holding is absolutely a phrenology map.
Mostly I’m just guessing that it’s hard to come up with items to go with psychology.
I can see a crayon in the psychology one, cos you know … they wont let you have anything sharp.
Cybernetics has remote-controlled drones, printed circuit traces, and what appears to be an extension cord.
Ah… Geiger Counter. That makes a LOT more sense than “Karaoke machine”.
Alphonse Mucha… based on his multiple panels like times of the day, ladies of the months. seasons of the years…Love me some Mucha, so deco, so sexy.