Jonathan Viner, the artist, calls the collection harem, and the pieces are oils on 12"x12" panels.

[Sloan Fine Art , Prints available through store.vinerstudio.com]

JONATHAN VINER: "HAREM"
Exhibition: June 20 through July 18, 2009
Reception: Saturday, June 20th, 4 to 6pm

With "Harem" Jonathan Viner touches on a variety of issues including the urge to possess rare specimens and organize them into collections, the intense but fleeting power of youthful beauty, and the growing appetite for material and status in a globalized world. Never one to be too heavy handed, he prompts the viewer to consider these topics with elegant subtlety.

On its surface, "Harem" is a group of ten portraits of young Russian women, each one apparently alone, nude, and listening to vintage, high fidelity headphones. Upon further consideration, the tight, close up compositions, leash-like headphone chords, and ambivalent facial expressions give us a sense that these women are perhaps unwilling captives. But their relaxed postures, soft surroundings, and vague facial expressions convey an atmosphere of calm and comfort. This contradiction is embodied by the headphones themselves, which isolate and tether these harem girls while simultaneously providing them with enriching, faithfully reproduced sounds.

Each work stands alone - a solitary, frozen specimen. But when presented together, with their uniform size and similar palette, within the confines of a small space, they convey the feeling of a coveted collection.

A native New Yorker, Jonathan Viner earned his BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. This project will be his third solo exhibition in New York.

Running concurrently with "Harem," in the front gallery, is "+2" a group show with small works by 66 artists.

The tiny tankers are designed to realistically mimic the driving conditions of their full-sized brothers, with a slightly gentler learning curve. Emergency situations (like a failing engine) can be remotely triggered for training purposes. Oh, and feel free to quote that episode of The Simpsons with the big guy in the tiny car. That's what you guys are here for. [DVICE]

The metal detector is outfitted with a relatively inexpensive "combustible gas sensor" that can detect pockets of oil, and the creator notes that the entire mod can be completed for around $100. This particular oil detector includes some green LEDs which we don't believe serve any other purpose than looking cool (as we deduced from the intro, "What good is your newly built metal detector without a little bling?").

Neighborhoods in which this mod is guaranteed to work include the Mission District in San Francisco, Wicker Park in Chicago, and any Brooklyn neighborhood primarily inhabited by white people.

Disclosure: Your humble editor also has a beard. And square, plastic-rimmed glasses. This post is thus what is known as "ironic," which has little relation to the English term, "ironic." [Instructables]

Needless to say, we're being more than a little hard on the BioBot. In reality, it's a geek-worthy device that can produce almost 20 gallons of diesel per cycle. But unless you work at a french fry factory and have a BS in biochemistry, it's probably worth leaving this method to the pros.

If you're still interested, the BioBot runs $5000 and is said to pay for itself in two years. [BioBot via New Launches]

So how many trees would it take to match the oil output of, say, Saudi Arabia? Check our stats after the jump.

Saudi Arabia Oil Output Daily
11 Million Barrels

Output of One Acre of Copaifera langsdorfii Yearly
25 Barrels

Number of Acres Needed To Match Saudi Arabia Yearly Output
182,500,000 (Total Trees: 18,250,000,000)

Number of Acres in North America Alone
6,050,697,738

Number of Acres in North America Used For Corn (2007)
90.5 million

Amount of American Corn Spent on Ethanol
15% and growing

Frequency Corn Needs Replanting
Every Season

Frequency Copaifera langsdorfii Needs Replanting
Every 90 Seasons

UPDATE: Gallons of Oil In One Gallon of Diesel
7 (thanks lailoken!)

Some interesting metrics to think about. On a worldwide scale, it doesn't seem all that impossible to alleviate oil shortages with plants...and the natural carbon offsets seem worthwhile. It's just too bad these trees take 15-20 years to mature (by which time we plan on flying around in a hydrogen Jetsonmobile).

Is anyone out there a specialist on the topic who could enlighten us in the comments? [abc via treehugger]

Additional Sources: [world factbook] [nass] [yahoo] [popular mechanics]