How Emoji is Obscuring the Way We Communicate

Emoticons were initially created to help illustrate hard-to-explain emotions in text, but as it turns out, they’re actually obscuring the way we communicate. A study from the University of Minnesota’s GroupLens laboratory reveals that when two people look at the same emoji, they often have differing opinions on what it depicts. This discrepancy is further exacerbated when viewing emoji from different platforms, as Apple, Google, …

Kanye West: Famous

Written, directed and starring Aziz Ansari and Eric Wareheim (aka Lil Bud and Big Bud), this not-necessarily-official video for Kanye West’s “Famous” also features a lot of pasta, wine and dancing around Italy (as well as some car-humping). Part artistic gem, part vacation slideshow, the video is absurd—and very sweet. While maybe a seemingly odd match for West’s track (which features Rihanna and Swizz Beats, …

New Mexico’s Otherworldly Art Environment

The 150-member strong artist collective Meow Wolf has opened the doors to “The House of Eternal Return”—the physical manifestation of its grand artistic vision. The massive, immersive installation sits inside an abandoned bowling alley in Santa Fe, New Mexico and allows visitors to roam through a neon-lit fantasy world—including a treehouse, a full-size two-story home, and other rooms that seem to bleed into another dimension. …