The Ministry of Manipulation

5 years, 1000 posts, 1 000 000 views

September 1st, 2010

LED type 02 / light painting
Five and a half years after starting MoM, we have; 1 book, 2 weddings, several MoM workshops, and over 1 000 000 unique visitors (according to our stats counter).
And this is MoM’s 1000th blog post.
Phew.
Thanks for reading, and here’s to the next 5 years.
The above image is from theFlickr acrylic balls pool. by Maido of Japan.
Smiles
Drew

Nimi in the Park, Barcelona

September 1st, 2010

YouTube Preview Image
Nimi in the Park, Barcelona.
Nimi practicing in a park – Superb control and beautiful Contact Juggling.
And this is MoM’s 999th post…

Bones Hill- Dancing

August 26th, 2010
YouTube Preview Image

Great isolations… and dislocations : /

Bones is selling his dance album at battlefestleague.com where you can see featured videos from the DVD.

New Feature : Random Posts

August 24th, 2010

On our sidebar to the left you will now find randomly selected links to awesome videos from the past.

<As our archive is old, you may encounter videos and links that are no longer working. Flag these in the comments and we will do our best to update the old links>

What happens if you drop a Fushigi Ball?

August 24th, 2010

YouTube Preview Image
YouTube – What happens if you drop a Fushigi Ball?.

As many of our readers are aware, the contact juggling community is currently under attack by a very agressive marketing company who is trying to rebrand contact juggling as “Fushigi.” The company has created a wave of confusion in the US surrounding contact techniques, implying the the ball will float by itself and that the activity is suitable for children.

The fantastic and lovely Dawn has made a series of info-videos aimed at explaining some of the ‘truths’ about contact juggling that Fushigi is neglecting to mention. Her videos are fun, friendly & non-agressive, but they still hit their mark when it comes to undoing some of the lies that Fushigi is telling. Plus, they reveal some serious defects in the design and manufacturing of the Fushigi Brand contact juggling balls.

Other videos in the series:

How is a Fushigi Ball like an Orange?

Fushigi Ball review – FAIL!

Dawn is working on a new one: What kind of ball is best for learning contact juggling? (with a special guest appearance from Drew!)

Patricia and the amazing magic gravity ball

August 21st, 2010
YouTube Preview Image

Rather adorable performance of a classic magic illusion.  Good job kid, extra applause for you from the internets.

Modified Clubs

August 18th, 2010
YouTube Preview Image

JointDemise (aka Ameron Rosvall from Sweden) shows off some of his latest research in club juggling / manipulation and modification!

Komei Aoki – funkstyle contact in Stockholm

August 16th, 2010
YouTube Preview Image

Contact juggling and popping from Komei.

Flutterby- Diabolo

August 15th, 2010
YouTube Preview Image

More diabolo kids in fields from northern Europe… SWEET!

Håvard, and Jarle Bergo from Norway with great editing, video quality, and original tricks. This is their first video!?

Ragga Jungle Beatbox (and other massive beatbox clips)

August 13th, 2010
YouTube Preview Image

Two dudes from Moscow fill a tunnel with the sweet sounds of ragga and jungle.

I’ve been collecting a lot of crazy beatbox vids lately, read more for more…

Read the rest of this entry »

mariko mori – Miko no Inori / Shaman Girls Prayer

August 11th, 2010

YouTube Preview Image
A small extract from Miko no Inori
Ryan and I have been waiting for more than 5 years to post this, ever since we saw it as an installation at the Tate Modern. Unfortunately there is very little about it online:

This figure comes to life in the video Miko no Inori, carefully turning a crystal ball over in her hands while transfixing the viewer with her gleaming eyes. A recording of Mori singing a haunting song in Japanese plays in the background to enhance and intensify the unsettlingly beautiful performance. By assuming the role of shaman-a human being who acts as an intermediary between the earthly world and an unknown spiritual realm-Mori imbues her futuristic techno-spectacle with a sensibility derived from Far Eastern transcendental religious beliefs.

There is no contact in this video, just a big crystal ball, to quote Ryan: “Wouldn’t it be awesome if she did just the smallest contact isolation at the end of the video.”

Kelvin Kalvus – Contact Juggling 2010

August 11th, 2010

YouTube Preview Image
Contact Juggling Kelvin Kalvus.
It is always a pleasure to watch Kelvin‘s awesome Contact Juggling, and it seems that he has got a new website for 2010, worth a look.