What’s the connection between experimental animation and a Victorian photograph book? Although they may seem at opposite ends of the spectrum, they share one important quality: they’re both examples of the union of art and technology possible with Vook.

With Jeff Scher’s Best of Times, we compiled 14 short films featured on Scher’s New York Times Opinionator blog, “The Animated Life” and added the artist’s reflective essays to create a little mobile museum. These
gorgeous, unconventional films set to music turn any moment into aesthetic, innovative experience.

Moving back a few hundred years, we’ve created the Shepp’s Photographs of the World Vook. In 1892, brothers James and Daniel Shepp traveled the world and took black and white photographs of everything they saw. They compiled their work into the most popular coffee table book of their time. Now, we’ve turned it into an app for your browser or iPhone.

For the next week, we’re celebrating our ventures into the art worlds of yesterday and tomorrow. When you buy Best of Times, you’ll get Shepp’s Photographs for free. Just email proof of purchase to Rachel@vook.com.

We’ve created Vooks that do everything from show you how to crush it to show you how to cook it. But we’ve always been open to exploration, so we jumped at the chance to work with filmmaker, animator and New York Times blogger Jeff Scher on a project that would bring this renowned artist into the tech world. Scher’s Vook, Best of Times is a gorgeous compilation of 14 of his best, most beautiful animations paired with 14 of his columns for the New York Times Opinionator Blog.

Scher’s work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art and has been shown at the Guggenheim Museum, Pompidou Center in Paris, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and at film festivals around the world. Now, it’s available as a Vook on the Web and the iPhone.

It’s the marriage of technology and art that Vook was made for. Best of Times, with music, animation, and text, truly brings the visions of this experimental filmmaker and artist to life.

Experiment today with this exquisite mixed-media experience. We think you’ll have the Best of Times.