Mantis Shrimps

The city always seemed to push the stars farther away from the world in the dead of night. Rain had begun to sprinkle downtown and it began to trickle across the top of the parked cars in the street. Vernon was sitting there silently listening to the drizzle outside that sounded like pebbles falling on a tin roof, still thinking about the dreams his been having. The Coffee Cup was like any other diner nestled between apartments and liquor stores. There was seven cut-up stools and behind them against the wall sat a cigarette machine and no smoking sign. The counter was worn from years of service. Two booths sat facing the storefront windows

Growing up near a city filled with museums, I was lucky enough to be exposed to amazing works of art. My visits to the Frick Collection, housed in one of the only remaining Gilded Age mansions in New York, have clearly been my favorite throughout the years. In that special ambiance, I discovered the glowing and extraordinarily clear tranquil paintings of Johannes Vermeer. I was drawn to the three Vermeer masterpieces in the permanent exhibit. The personal qualities of both the mansion and the paintings captured my fascination and I returned frequently. With extraordinary clarity, Vermeer was able to capture objects precisely through light and space. At first I wasn’t sure why his paintings appeared so different from the other works of his time, but I soon realized they were infused with light and

Recently, I have learned that urban settings creates an opportunity for intimacy with one another; however, in “Bartleby, the Scrivener” written by Herman Melville, that was not the case. He describes the nature of the world of work and business through concrete description of the scenery. The story is set on Wall Street in New York City which had become the core of American business life during the 1850s. The setting is a critical component of Bartleby, because it emphasize the author’s concern about the effects that an environment has on American society. Bartleby’s environment separated him from nature and the people around him. To illustrate Bartleby’s detachment from society, he worked in “a corner by the folding-doors” behind a screen and has a window that “commanded at present no view at all” (1489). A creation of emptiness in the business life was molded. The setting indicates a sense of isolation and failure to connect; however, it establishes the relation between the walling out of Bartleby from his boss, passive

“They see something, walk up to it, pick it up, and maybe beat the crap out of it,” says Justin Marshall, referring to a commonly unknown creature called the Mantis Shrimp. This species often goes overlooked and unnoticed by most of the world and not just because it only grows 2-7 inches (“Peacock Mantis Shrimp” 1). Since it is such an unknown animal, many people do not know what it is or what makes it remarkable. How can the small mantis shrimp, a crustacean whose appearance is more like that of a clown than a ferocious beast, be worth noting in the different fields of science? They are more interesting than they seem. Mantis shrimp possess a vast array of fascinating physical features that set them apart from other sea-dwelling animals: their clubs

The Mantis Shrimp is a mid sized crustacean that can grow up to 3 to 18 centimeters in size. It is known for its bright colors of blues reds and greens, they are primarily green on the belly it has bright reds and oranges on its legs and spots on its framework, while a bright blue is on its eyes. Females are almost always more orange and red than males which are in more various colors. Their spears or clubs are what define this species, these clubs are what mantis shrimp use as a deadly weapon, they can accelerate these clubs at the speed of a bullet from a .22 caliber rifle. Their eyes can see 12 different color waves the most of any animal discovered on earth. They make their homes by burrowing into the ground or finding old burrows left

The primary focus of this section is to explain the “act of painting.” Flack begins her book with notes on the creative process and what it means to be an artist. Everything from the perception of color to confronting a blank canvas is addressed in this section. Audrey Flack briefly touches on the spiritual

We can also see the use of black shades to create a hole at the bottom part of the rock. With his excellent use of colors, we can identify the good, healthy and green grass from the bad, unhealthy, brown grasses. Looking beyond the main focus of the painting, he uses colors to separate the sky from the land in the background creating a solid form of perspective on the painting. He also uses colors to create water forms as seen behind the young character. Now, for the sky, he uses shades of white to magnificently differentiate the thick clouds from the light ones. He also uses this to create a source to light to the whole area. All these put together creates a splendid, realistic and familiar atmosphere for the viewers to relate with.

In the gust of wind, a bag circulates in the air. This image is from a highly acclaimed movie, American Beauty. In this movie, we follow the life of Lester Burnham, the archetype of a suburban middle-aged man, as he goes through a mid-life crisis. He has the perfect job, the perfect house, and the perfect family. Everything that he aspires to have is his after working so long for it.

The Mantis shrimps has an important role in marine ecosystems, like keeping some types of fish from over populating and having a much richer overall species. Mantis shrimps are also very sensitive to anything that is polluting the area or habitat that they live in and for that very reason is why they are good bioindicators for pollution on the coral reefs. Mantis shrimp also inhabit coral reefs in marine and aquatic ecosystems. They like to live in burrows in sand, rock, or coral. They live in tropical and subtropical shallow waters near the coast about 3 to 40 meters deep so about 10 to 130 feet deep into the ocean. The water that they make their habitat in is warm, with temperatures of about 68 degrees. The deep and tropical oceans are full

Furthermore, there are aquatic organisms such as the mantis shrimp that has an estimated 12-16 photoreceptor cells. In the presence of the 750 nm wavelength of light that humans cone cells aren’t sensitive enough to signal an observation, the mantis shrimps red cone cells are sensitive to this wavelength of light and can absorb the wavelengths to send a response to their brain. In the presence of UV-B (290-320 nm) wavelengths, humans blue cone cells aren’t sensitive enough or able to absorb enough of the light to signal a response to their brain. Whereas the Mantis Shrimp has various photo receptors that are sensitive to these

Through the 1940’s and 1960’s Fried and Greenberg established the idea of the “all over” and “the optical” pertaining to Jackson Pollock’s artwork. In Pollock’s painting, Number 32, evidence of the “all over” can be seen through Pollock’s technique of throwing, dripping and even stepping all over the canvas as he creates a composition that engulfs the entire canvas. Greenberg describes “the all over” as an overwhelming sense of “sheer texture, and sheer sensation that only the eye perceives.” Looking at the full painting of Number 32, there is no focal point, no sense of movement and direction for the viewer to keep track of. The viewer is taken throughout the whole entire painting all at once. In all its parts, Pollock creates not a single

In the artistic process, the artist is constantly making deliberate decisions based on their intentions and visions for the work. Truly understanding a work of art involves understanding the artist. In looking at a painting, recognizing the choices like color choice, composition, content and style of rendering is a critical dimension in the observer’s experience of the art. Seeing through the eyes of the artist allows one to discover the truths, feelings and conclusions that the work intends to evoke. Much like in painting, understanding artistic choice is also essential in experiencing other forms of art like literature and cinema.

When one looks at the painting White light, an array of colors spring off the canvas and permeate one’s senses. The primary and intense color of red is softened by the primary colors of yellow and blue. While the tertiary color of green subtly takes its place among the hues to give some balance. The perceivable tones of black and white add value and seem to give some

The use of geometric shapes in this painting allows the subject to be viewed in both a recognizable and unrecognizable state at the same time. Overall, geometric shapes and patterns play an essential role in what the viewer sees, which is further supported by a powerful color palate.

One of Vincent Van Gogh’s most world renowned paintings is his landscape oil painting Starry Night. The painting displays a small town underneath an unusual yet still extremely beautiful night sky. In this night sky, Van Gogh utilizes an array of colors that blend well together in order to enhance the sky as a whole. The town is clearly a small one due to the amount of buildings that are present in the painting itself. In this small town most of the buildings have lights on which symbolize life in a community. Another visual in Starry Night is the mountain like figures that appear in the background of the illustrious painting. Several things contribute to the beauty of Van Gogh’s painting which are the painting’s function, context, style, and design. Van Gogh’s utilization of these elements help bring further emphasis to his work in Starry Night.