Artist of the Week: Marcel Dzama

Fades Away (2005)

"When you first see the art of Marcel Dzama, you may feel you are looking at illustrations from some quaintly antique children's book. He specializes in pen-and-ink drawings in which pale, slender women routinely meet up with rabbits and talking trees. Yet Dzama isn't making art for children.


Boxers - 15 drawings (2001)

He uses his innocent-looking style to capture a savage contemporary universe, a place that is grimmer than any Grimm's tale. It's as if you have wandered off the proverbial path to grandmother's house and stumbled upon some secret internment camp where bossy personality types (men with rifles, flying bats) oversee the wounded and the weak." read article in it's entirety


purchase The Monsters Of Winnipeg Folklore Action Figures

I've posted about Marcel Dzama on a few other occasions (1 2 3) in the past. EH has been a fan of his work for sometime now and I'm kind of bewildered why he hasn't been an "Artist of the Week" before now.


untitled - suitcase with three heads (2007)

artnet / bbc interview / david zwirner gallery / richard heller gallery

Pixels @ an Exhibition

"What do video artists make of YouTube? Every minute, 10 hours of video are uploaded to the video-sharing site, which now shows hundreds of millions of videos each day. The place is a mess. Maybe artists should avoid it altogether.

The curator and Internet-art booster Rachel Greene has come up with another suggestion: artists could use YouTube, like a supply store, slag heap or rag-and-bone shop. To make the point, she recently asked a set of art-world figures — Sue de Beer, Matthew Higgs, Matthew Ronay and Wayne Koestenbaum — to present and project their favorite YouTube videos in Manhattan on May 13 at the Kitchen gallery. According to catalog copy for the show, 'Artists Using YouTube,' some of the videos on exhibit provide 'indirect fodder' for the artists’ own work.

Fodder — aha. Maybe that’s purpose of YouTube." read article in it's entirety

let's see:

EH Revisited: U.S. Residents Addicted To E-mail (5/30/05)

"May 30, 2005 (IDG News Service) -- U.S. residents are so hooked on e-mail that some check for messages in the bathroom, in church and while driving, a new survey sponsored by America Online Inc. has found.

The average e-mail user in the U.S. has two or three e-mail accounts and spends about an hour every day reading, sending and replying to messages, according to the survey, conducted by Opinion Research Corp.

E-mail dependency is so strong for 41% of survey respondents that they check their e-mail in-boxes right after getting out of bed in the morning. The average user checks his in-box five times a day, according to the survey, which polled 4,012 respondents at least 18 years old in the 20 largest U.S. cities." read article in it's entirety

Top 5 Stumbles of the Week

1. Lilium Urbanus
2. 'Fire Contraption' - saw this at the Hirschhorn last year
3. Animals with Human Heads
4. Fulfillment
5. It really is hypnotizing

China Bans Free Plastic Bags to Shoppers

"SHANGHAI—Thin plastic bags are used for everything in China and the Chinese use up to three billion of them a day--an environmentally costly habit picked up by shopkeepers and consumers in the late 1980s for convenience over traditional cloth bags. Fruit mongers weigh produce in them, tailors stuff shirts into them, even street food vendors plunk their piping hot wares directly into see-through plastic bags that do nothing to protect one's hands from being burned or coated in hot grease. They even have a special name for the plastic bags found blowing, hanging and floating everywhere from trees to rivers: bai si wu le, or 'white pollution,' for the bags' most common color.

Yet, the Chinese government is set to ban the manufacture and force shopkeepers to charge for the distribution of bags thinner than .025 millimeters thick as of June 1—and no one seems prepared." read article in it's entirety

also... China bans free plastic bags to shoppers

Found FLickr Foto: Left out to dry...

Left out to dry..., originally uploaded by theacanlas.

A photo I found on Flickr.

Access to Next-Gen Internet May Be Uneven

"(AP) -- The lack of high-speed Internet access in some areas of the U.S. has been hotly debated, even as that digital divide has narrowed. But a new, wider gap is being created by technology that will make today's broadband feel as slow as a dial-up connection.

Much like broadband enabled downloads of music, video and work files that weren't practical over dial-up, the next generation of Internet connections will allow for vivid, lifelike video conferencing and new kinds of interactive games.

But while access to cable and phone-line broadband has spread to cover perhaps 90 percent of the U.S. in the space of a decade, next-generation Internet access looks set to create a much smaller group of "haves" and a larger group of "have nots."

The most promising route to superfast home broadband is to extend the fiber-optic lines that already form the Internet's backbone all the way to homes." read article in it's entirety

How Coffee Changed the World

Coffee was first consumed in the 9th century, when it was discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia.

"Did you hear the one about the goat, the monk and the Indian pilgrim?

There's no crass punchline to this story, just a punchy drink that is the world's second most important commodity, after oil.

Discovered more than 1,000 years ago by goats roaming the hills of Ethiopia, coffee today employs 500 million people, from the workers toiling in the fields of Kenya to the teenage baristas at your neighborhood Starbucks.

In a world of more than 6 billion people, enjoying a good cup of joe is one of the few fixtures of everyday life common to cultures on every continent.

Buzzed goats make important discovery" read article in it's entirety

also... Daily caffeine 'protects brain', Natural Medicine: Coffee: Is it really good for you?, and Coffee: The New Health Food? (WebMD)

Cell Phone In Microwave

"This kids cell phone bill got to high so he decided to cook it in the microwave. For those of you asking if it is fake or real, it is real. It is the new Black Berry feature." youtube

Let's see:

I wish I could do this to my LG Chocolate... it's the worst phone I've ever owned.

Google Users Promised Artificial Intelligence (5/28/06)

"A search engine that knows exactly what you are looking for, that can understand the question you are asking even better than you do, and find exactly the right information for you, instantly - that was the future predicted by Google yesterday.

Speaking at a conference for Google's European partners, entitled Zeitgeist '06, on the outskirts of London last night Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and co-founder Larry Page gave an insight into perhaps the most ambitious project the Californian business is undertaking - artificial intelligence (AI)." read article in it's entirety

Fernando Botero Opens Abu Ghraib Exhibit

"VALENCIA.- Between 2004 and 2005 Botero made a series of paintings and numerous drawings based on pictures of the prison of Abu Ghraib. The exhibition travelled to museums in Italy, Germany, Greece and the United States. It is important to stress that this was not the first time that horror had appeared in Botero’s work; for example, the painting Guerra (War), 1973, was a visual response to reports of the Yom Kippur war between Israel and the Arab countries of Egypt and Syria, but the image also alludes to the period of Colombian history in the late forties known as La Violencia (The Violence), when over three hundred thousand people disappeared in Botero’s country. Other works, such as Masacre en Colombia (Massacre in Colombia), 1999, showing a family riddled with bullets beside a wall which recalls Goya’s firing squad paintings, Masacre en la catedral (Massacre in the Cathedral), 2002, or the works that he devoted to the violence in everyday life in Colombia, presented in his exhibition at Musée Maillol in Paris in 2003, confirm that Botero has never closed his eyes to the ceaseless violence of our contemporary reality, and instead has captured that world of suffering and immorality in countless paintings and drawings." read article in it's entirety

Valerie and I were lucky enough to stumble upon an exhibition of Botero's work when we were visiting the Delaware Museum of Art. His work is comical and endearing with a realism to them that might not be apparent during your first view. It seems that with his Abu Ghraib paintings he is pushing his trademark style into the murky waters of current events. I haven't seen this paintings in person but the ones I've seen online make me very happy that an artist like this exist.

Found Flickr Foto: life pattern #1

life pattern #1, originally uploaded by **sirop.

A photo I found on Flickr.

A Critique of Shortsighted Anthropic Principles

"Many people marvel that we live in a universe that seems to be precisely tailored to suit the development of intelligent life. The observation is the basis for some forms of "Anthropic Principles" that strive to explain why the laws of physics take the form we observe, given the nearly countless other possibilities permitted by schools of thought such as string theory.

But a new paper in Physical Review Letters from a group of physicists at Case Western Reserve University argues that any connection between the laws of physics and the existence of life is likely to be an illusion stemming from our shortsighted definition of intelligent life. " read article in it's entirety

How the ZeroHouse Works

"Most of us strive to leave 'our mark' on the world. But, lately, the trend is to leave as little a mark as possible on our environment.

After listening to the media chatter about the rising costs of oil and the onset of global warming, many are seeking to reduce their personal ecological footprints, or harmful impact on the planet. People feel a tug of economical good sense and environmental stewardship to advance green technology. Green technology seeks to reduce factors harmful to the environment -- from excessive waste to reliance on energy that requires the release of greenhouse gases.


zeroHouse

Even large-scale corporations have been investing in energy-efficient technology to reduce their ecological footprints and gain 'street cred' with their green-leaning customers. Architects are no exception. Green building, which is the process of implementing green technology to make structures more energy and resource efficient, is steadily gaining popularity." read article in it's enitrety

also... Top Ten Natural Building Materials

Wow of the Week: Toasterhelmet

"A magnificent fashion show recreates the colourful history of the toasterhelmet on the catwalk, starting with the early experimental and functional helmets, going through the extravagant models of the 60s and ending with the well known designhelmets of the past decade. As a special feature young and promising designers show their latest creations. Not to be missed for fashionwatchers and others who want to meet the trend for this summer!



Besides the fashion show the Spullenmen also organize exhibitions of the toasterhelmet in the 20th century, at various locations. The audience strolls by a collection of finely designed toasterhelmets. Through a personal audio guide (in the shape of a toasterhelmet) background information is provided on the various helmets." webpage

Wow... this is stupid.

EH IM Interview: Ric Stultz

On March 5th, 2008, I interviewed Ric Stultz and included it in his Artist of the Week post that Friday. Because of the new design of Evolve Happy, I wanted to re-post the interview by itself. It was nice to be able to converse with someone over IM, which is quite different from our normal email-interview format. Both of them have their advantages, but with IM, I find you can really capture personality. Hope you enjoy the interview.
____________________________________________________________________


Fashionable Spaceman
____________________________________________________________________

8:54 PM me: Hey Ric

It's Roberto from Evolve Happy

8:55 PM ric: hi Roberto!

8:56 PM me: I have to disappear for 30 minutes but I will be back online to interview you

Is that cool?

8:57 PM ric: yeah, I should be around working on computer stuff.

me: That's wonderful

I'll talk to you then

ric: cool, talk to you then

22 minutes

9:20 PM me: Hey Ric

Sorry about that

just got home had to eat

ric: no problem

9:21 PM what'd you have?

me: Brussel Sprouts and Rice

nothing fancy ha

ric: not too bad, I had pasta salad.

me: 'Did you get a chance to look over Evolve Happy?

9:22 PM ric: Yup, the woman pee thing is awesome!

me: haha

I know I really liked that one

ric: where'd you find it?

me: Everyday of the week we have a "of the Week"

9:23 PM and today's is "Wow of the Week"

So I came across it during my daily surf

I don't know where exactly

ric: yeah, that's definitely a wow, I love running across things like that.

9:24 PM me: Normally what I do is if I come across something like that I'll just save it for later

ric: That's the best part about blogs, everybody collecting information.

me: So I have a pile of stuff so I don't miss a day

9:25 PM ric: Yeah, I've lists of bookmarks. Lately I've been really into old pulp sci-fi covers.

http://www.jackcoggins.info/GSF.html?

me: Wow. Those are great

9:26 PM ric: Yeah for sure, I ran across him on Wikipedia

me: http://www.pointlessmuseum.com/museum/usbornebookofthefutureindex.php

Here's something you might like

I came across this a while back but I'm really in love with the design

9:27 PM ric: Oh man, that's awesome!

That's bookmarked.

me: I think it kind of relates to my first question

Are you a fan of Sci-fi?

ric: yes, huge fan.

____________________________________________________________________


Rick Deckard
____________________________________________________________________

9:28 PM me: I saw the painting of Rick Deckard's gun

and nearly fainted

Really great

ric: Blade Runner is an unending fascination of mine

9:29 PM I've seen it way too many times

me: Have you seen the Final Cut?

ric: no, not yet, is it much different?

9:30 PM me: Kind of

My girlfriend and I saw it in the theater when it was released.

so it was kind of a dream come true

I've never seen it on the big screen until then

9:31 PM ric: I bet, I don't think it came to theaters around here.

me: but like you I've seen it a million times

also... I got this for Christmas haha

http://www.amazon.com/Blade-Runner-Five-Disc-Ultimate-Collectors/dp/B000K15VSA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1204766992&sr=1-3

Which is like every version of the movie... it's stupid haha

9:32 PM ric: Awesome, I've been meaning to pick that up. How is the extra features?

me: It's pretty amazing

It has like a 3 hour long brand new documentary

9:33 PM I'm a real Phillip K. Dick geek though... I'm actually rereading "Do Androids Dream..."

9:34 PM It seems to me that you have a comic book influence as well... is that right?

ric: Yup, lots from my childhood. I still have my collection in the closet.

9:35 PM

me: What did you read?

9:36 PM

ric: Lots of Xmen and Spiderman.

9:38 PM I was always mostly concerned with the art, the story was secondary.

Todd McFarlane was so out there for Spiderman, I just love his style.

It was bubbly but dark.

still is.

me: Yeah I have those old Mcfarlane

Spidermans

9:39 PM ric: Although Spawn is a rip off.

Great art though.

me: So your favorite was his work in Spiderman

ric: Yup and Jim Lee in Xmen.

9:40 PM ric: Now I have a huge appreciation for Mike Mignola's work.

9:41 PM ric: I didn't like him when I was young, it was too wierd for me. But now I have a huge appreciation.

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My New Friend
____________________________________________________________________

me: In your piece "My New Friend"

Does that character have a name?

9:43 PM ric: You mean the spaceman?

me: It seems like he appears in more then a couple pieces.

Yep.

ric: or the monster?

me: Spaceman

ric: Yeah, the spaceman is my loner adventurer. I've evolved him over the years.

I just call him Spaceman.

9:44 PM He's my representation of the individual.

me: Have you ever thought about making his character into a comic book?

ric: not really, each picture is a story. It doesn't need more than one picture.

not

9:45 PM me: Nice

ric: I try to cram as much info to as sparse an image as I can

9:46 PM he's kind of a staple in my art

9:47 PM me: One other thing I was wandering about

was the processthat you go

through

while you paint

Do you listen to music?

ric: I can't paint without it

9:48 PM I have a huge vinyl collection

me: It seems that way for some reason

me: What do you like to listen to

while you paint?

What bands or albums?

9:49 PM

ric: I love Bowie, Iggy Pop, Eno, Dylan... lots of 70s experimental rock.

9:50 PM me: Good stuff

Big fan of Bowie and Iggy

ric: What's your favorite Bowie album?

9:51 PM me: Scary Monsters

I haven't figured out why

ric: Oh yes! and Low!

me: haha

Low is sick

ric: It's so dark but accessible

me: Yes.

9:52 PM So what do you think the music does to help you

with your process

?

ric: it gives me something to concentrate on, I work better if my mind is wandering a bit

9:53 PM I always know what the picture will be, but I'm never sure exactly how to get there

ric: most of my work is pulled from my sketchbooks

I mostly draw from my daily encounters in the city

ric: Milwaukee that is

9:54 PM me: Has living in Milwaukee had an influenced your art?

9:55 PM ric: I guess its hard to say, I just seem to absorb wherever I am and it comes out in pictures

me: Were you born in Milwaukee?

9:56 PM

ric: Nope, just below in Racine, Wisconsin. I was in St Paul Minnesota for a few years as well

9:57 PM Lots of moving around the Midwest, I love the big country up here

me: And how long have you been apart of the Burning Artist Co-Op?

9:58 PM ric: We all met in College, so for 7 years, give or take a year

they were a huge help

9:59 PM me: How so?

ric: it was easier doing things as a group

having similar minded people around

as I get older I know less and less artists

but all those dude are still doing it

10:00 PM We all met in the print labs at UW Stout

me: and you've close w/ them every since

That's rare

10:01 PM ric: for sure, the internet and email helps a ton

the website has all given us a common cause

me: I would imagine

So with the website

10:02 PM (which I posted a link for on your "Artist fo the Week" post)

Do you guys post all of your new work?

10:03 PM ric: sometimes

I update my own site more often

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Adversaries
____________________________________________________________________

me: It seems like you have a thing for inanimate objects coming alive... where does this come from?

10:06 PM That the piece I decided to showcase on the site... the two NES controllers

I LOVE that one.

ric: Thanks man. It stated when I was looking for an analogy to aging... I saw an old cassette tape and that started me thinking

10:07 PM me: Nice

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Not Gettin Any Younger
____________________________________________________________________

ric: the picture "Not Gettin Any Younger" started it

me: What do you mean?

10:08 PM ric: I see personality in discarded objects.. "Not Getting Any Younger" is a painting of a cassette tape

10:09 PM it was the first of the series

me: Oh I see

Yeah I know that piece

The second piece I decided to post was the turtle giving the two ghost a rainbow

Another one of my favorites

10:10 PM What's the story behind that one?

10:11 PM ric: it was a drawing in my sketchbook that made me smile, its like the turtle is apologizing

the ghost are from Pac Man

me: Man. I love that piece.

On the top of your influences on your website you have your dog

ric: for sure, she's the shit

me: What kind of dog do you have?

and what's her name?

ric: a mutt from the humane society... she was an abuse case. Her name is Chloe

10:13 PM She was in a sad state when I found her

me: How long have you had her?

ric: 3 years, she was about 4 when I got her

10:14 PM

me: Yeah, Ive had my cat for almost 14 years

ric: cats are rad too

me: her name is Booda

ric: Nice, I like that.

me: Wait... I have to show this pic you're going to love this

ric: awesome

10:15 PM me: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bmap/316593670/in/set-72157603887990506/

haha

ric: hahah, she looks like shes meditating

10:16 PM me: She's real chill.

me: Do you have any new ideas for series

10:21 PM

that's are moving around in your head?

ric: at this point it's an ongoing story

10:22 PM told frame by frame with different characters

me: And "Spaceman" will continue to show up?

ric: you know it!

me: Awesome

10:23 PM Man, it's been great talking with

Please keep me posted on any new devolpments

any shows or whatever

I'll post it on EH to let our readers know

Also... while we were talking I add the link to EH's link list.

ric: wow, you're quick man

me: I've had a lot of caffeine Ric

10:26 PM ric: I'm working on a Redbull, I've perked up over our conversation

me: haha me too

ric: coffee or Redbull?

me: I'm running around doing kicks in the air

Coffee

10:27 PM me: Oh yeah

me: Is there anything else you want to say to our readers before we end this?

10:28 PM ric: Make sure to have your cats and dogs spayed or neutered

me: Well... there you go

10:29 PM Thanks again Ric

ric: Thanks man, later.
____________________________________________________________________

EH Revisited: Human Changing (5/27/05)

The question of how society changes when we can enhance aspects of human capabilities is something we touch on regularly at WorldChanging. It's at least as important a question as how society adapts to climate change or embraces new tools for networking and communication; some of us would argue it may be even important. As a topic of discussion, it has often been relegated to fringe culture and science fictional musing, but a series of books over the last year have brought the idea ever closer to the mainstream -- and the most recent may be set to make the question of how humankind evolves a front page issue.

Dr. James Hughes, bioethicist and sociologist at Trinity College and director of the World Transhumanist Association, published Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Futurein late 2004, examining the ways in which the technological enhancement of human capabilities and lives can strengthen liberal democratic cultures, not threaten them. In March of this year, Ramez Naam, software engineer and technology consultant, brought out More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biologiccal Enhancement, focusing on the ways in which biomedical treatments can and will improve human abilities and happiness. Both of these books -- which I highly recommend reading, even if you're a skeptic about the implications of human augmentation technologies -- received highly positive reviews and greatly advanced the conversation over whether and how to enhance human capabilities through technological intervention." read article in it's entirety

Audio Treat of the Week: Hot Lava

I have lived in two of the greatest cities in America. Richmond, Virginia and Austin, Texas. Austin is the live music capital of the world, and yet the greatest bands I've heard keep coming from Richmond. Last week, a friend turned me on to Richmond's Hot Lava. And man did it turn me on. This band is incredible. Anyone who has ever listened to Video Hippos will love this band. They mix electronic music with a live band and some very dreamy vocals. Each song makes you feel like you're ten years old and full of antidepressants. Running through green fields chasing blue dragons. To be young again.

They have just released their newest CD, Lavalogy. From what I can gather, it's a collection. It contains a lot of songs from their previous album, Owns You, but also some other tracks. Since I just recently found out about this band, details are sparse. Check out their website, as well as their space for more on this band that is destined to be huge.



If you're in the area, they are playing tomorrow night, in Richmond, with DD/MM/YYYY, Horrible Axidents, and Marsupials. If you want me to truly hate you, you will go to that show. You will also record it, and send it to me, so that I will forgive you.

Let's listen:
Hot Lava - JPG In The Sun mp3 from the albums Owns You and Lavalogy
Hot Lava - Blue Dragon mp3 from the albums Owns You and Lavalogy
Hot Lava - Apple+Option+Fire mp3 from the albums Owns You and Lavalogy

Let's see:

Hot Lava @ Meridian Coffee House (Williamsburg, VA) performing the song Resolutions

Laura Pannack (myartspace) Interview

"Laura Pannack has been investigating the world of adolescence and it's complexities with her photography. She has worked with young offenders, pupil referral units, schools (including a special needs school) and many young couples. Exploring issues of identity, conformity, love, perception and confusion she strives to represent her subjects without judging them. Her aim is to raise issues of how we perceive young people and how little we understand about their identity and their world." read interview in it's entirety

Debunking The Faulty Premises Of The Pirate Bay-Criminalization Treaty

"The entertainment industry's lobbying efforts for stronger intellectual property laws is incredibly sophisticated. The more you follow their efforts, the more impressive you realize they are. Every time one aspect is somehow blocked, another almost immediately pops up somewhere else that has been simmering below the surface for months. While many more are aware of efforts to directly lobby politicians to change copyright laws, what gets less attention is the work that's put into various "international trade" treaties. Two years ago we wrote about how this was a favorite tactic of the copyright lobby. They basically write up a treaty for the government, who then signs the treaty with a bunch of countries, without anyone realizing all of the details." read article in it's entirety

Found Flickr Foto: big laugh

big laugh, originally uploaded by lisa.lisa..

A photo I found on Flickr.

How to Commute By Bicycle

"After an initial investment of purchasing a bicycle, biking is a very inexpensive mode of transportation. You'll save money on gas and car maintenance, you'll get in great shape, and your coworkers will think you're awesome. Why not skip the traffic jam and walk into your workplace with an endorphin rush?" read how to in it's entirety

also... N.Y. Hopes to Ensure Smooth Pedaling for Bike Commuters

Olafur Eliasson's The New York City Waterfalls

"NEW YORK.- The New York City Waterfalls, a major new work of public art by internationally acclaimed artist Olafur Eliasson, will be on view in New York's East River from late June through mid-October 2008. Commissioned by Public Art Fund, the project consists of four monumental, man-made waterfalls temporarily installed at sites along the waterfront in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Governors Island: one on the Brooklyn anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge, one between Piers 4 and 5 below the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, one in Lower Manhattan at Pier 35 north of the Manhattan Bridge, and one on the north shore of Governors Island. The 90- to 120-foot-tall Waterfalls are erected on the shoreline and have been designed to protect water quality and aquatic life. They will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, and will be lit after sunset." read article in it's entirety

Religion is a Product of Evolution, Software Suggests

"God may work in mysterious ways, but a simple computer program may explain how religion evolved

By distilling religious belief into a genetic predisposition to pass along unverifiable information, the program predicts that religion will flourish. However, religion only takes hold if non-believers help believers out – perhaps because they are impressed by their devotion.

'If a person is willing to sacrifice for an abstract god then people feel like they are willing to sacrifice for the community,' says James Dow, an evolutionary anthropologist at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, US, who wrote the program – called Evogod." read article in it's entirety

(idiot comics): My Famous Grey Sweatshirt (Page 1)

If this image is clipped by your browser, click the image.

U.S. Spacecraft Lands Safely @ Mars North Pole

"PASADENA, California (Reuters) - A small science probe blazed through the salmon-colored skies of Mars on Sunday, touching down on a frozen desert at the planet's north pole to search for water and assess conditions for sustaining life, NASA officials said.


artist's concept illustration

The spacecraft, known as Phoenix, landed at 4:53 p.m. PDT (7:53 p.m. EDT/2353 GMT) after a do-or-die plunge through the planet's thin atmosphere and thruster-jet landing to the Mars surface. It marked the first time that a spacecraft had successfully landed at one of the planet's polar regions." read article in it's entirety


artist's concept illustration

also... NASA's Phoenix spacecraft gets ready to dig on Mars (1 hour ago)