Best Of MetaFilter

"The Maison du Pastel shop, off rue Rambuteau, opens only on Thursday afternoons. In this small window of time, Isabelle and Margaret serve their customers like they are selling elixirs for the soul."

... If you missed it, this post on La Maison du Pastel, the Parisian shop selling handmade pastels since the18th century, is -- like their wares -- just lovely.

Yale Art Gallery - Heart by m01229 (cc by)

Weird Science theme week has ended (see all the excellent weird science posts here!), and for the second theme of our August fundraising month, Sweet Art week has begun! Please help us make a spectacle of ourselves by posting all your favorite arty sites, works, and stories. 💖

ocschwar's A monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors

This stuff is crazy, it's like someone found a alien spaceship in the desert and hooked the warp engine to its own tailpipe to answer questions about the universe. — RobotVoodooPower

Cash4Lead has posted Alien Dreams: An Emerging Art Scene about AI generated art based on text prompts, and mefites have been dipping a toe in.

screenshot from "Top 100 3D Renders from the Internet's Largest CG Challenge, Alternate Realities"

Animated fabulosity from jontyjago: "Based on the same 3 second model, 2400 CGI artists submitted their own interpretation. These are the 100 best."

Baba Yaga by Lady Orlando (cc by)

Listing the greatest songs by 21st century women; acquiring Artemesia Gentileschi; remembering activist Maria L. de Hernandez; applauding Therese Okoumou, shero for liberty; celebrating Kate Bush & Emily Brontë; & Emily Brontë; & Emily Carr, Canadian art pioneer; energizing recognition for women of science; peeking at Parker Posy's memoir; enjoying Nahre Sol's Pocket Pieces compositions; feeling good with Summery Lesbian Movies for Summer Lesbianing.

Nam June Paik - Megatron Matrix by Ryan Somma (cc by)

How did that bizarre avant garde show get broadcast, anyway? Mefi's own Dean 358 worked with pioneering video artist Nam June Paik, and explains how Paik's personal charm and enthusiasm got the art made and on the air. "...getting access to video equipment in the 1980s was a really big deal. Video edit suites took up lots of space and cost millions of dollars to build and operate. Getting access to a satellite...well, absolutely unthinkable."