The prolific Man Ray continues to fascinate with his sheer modernity, taking the jazz age to its ultimate apex. His brilliant portraits are shocking in their contemporary aesthetics that seem to transcend time itself. A perfect example is his photo of the beautiful and bright photographer and muse, Lee Miller. SHOT IN 1929.
ATELIER ÆSTHETIQ APPAREL
Christian Tagliavini was educated in Switzerland and Italy where he still resides. His mastery of form, color and technique is very accomplished. Since Bronzino and Bruegel are two of my favorite classicists, this photo essay hits the mark in more ways than one.
Corinne Reid hails from Salem, Massachusetts and appropriately has a dark streak when it comes to her beautiful DIGITAL work that retains all the delicacy of watercolours.
More at: Corinne Reid
The performance artist/sculptor continues his odyssey with this 5 year project that has been unveiled at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art).
The work looks at our future cities in an innovative kinetic sculpture that, truth be told, brings out the little boy in me…the mesmerizing <>.
Miniature cars speed through the city at 240 scale miles per hour; every hour, the equivalent of approximately 100,000 cars circulate through the dense network of buildings. The loud racket produced is meant to simulate the stress of living in the 21st Century. Love.
Metropolis ll. Photo by E. KOYAMA
SEE IT IN MOTION BELOW:
For more see:
LACMA
I haven’t been this excited about an urban vehicle since the BMW C1 covered motorbike 10yrs ago (it was dropped for the North American market and simply vanished)…Now comes the C-1 from LIT MOTORS in San Francisco.
Fully enclosed with gyro stabilizer wheels and sunroof, it is quite the machine. Different versions of the C-1 will be available for different markets. The model aimed at First World countries will have an 8-10 kilowatt-hour battery pack. The vehicle will incorporate electric hub motors in both wheels, at least one of those motors being a high-performance Remy HVH unit. The top speed should be at least 120 mph (193 km/h), with driving range for the higher-end model expected to sit at around 150 to 220 miles (241 to 354 km) per charge.
The price is, however, very high still. They are now working on a hand-built steel uni-bodied working prototype, which should reportedly be complete within about three months. Plans call for an initial run of production vehicles to be available at a price of about US$24,000 by late 2013, with that price going down to $16,000 once full production gets under way in 2014. The BMW scooter was only 4-5000$. It should ideally be 7-8000 IMO.
Robin Chase, co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar, the world’s largest car-sharing service – she has since become “a huge proponent” of the vehicle. The MIT Media Lab also provided assistance in its design.
Should you be interested, LIT is accepting deposits…
LIT MOTORS
See it in motion here:
Following my obsession with the merger of futurist architecture in remote winter scenes comes the Timmelsjoch Museum Pass. High up in the Austrian Alps, this cubist pod is inviting yet dangerously precarious jutting out from the rock surface. Too bad it is only used as an observatory. My question is, why aren’t chalets built like this? It would be a dream!
Werner Tscholl ARCHITECTS
Scientists from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China have come up with a unique cotton material that can clean itself when left under ordinary sunlight. The fabric includes a coat of nanoparticles made from a compound of titanium dioxide, nitrogen, silver and iodine. From a test experiment, the special coating was able to remove an orange stain when exposed to sunlight for just two hours. Furthermore, the coating remained intact even after washing and drying.
Researchers Mingce Long and Deyong Wu published their findings in the American Chemical Society Journal Applied Material & Interfaces. However, it is not expected that the breakthrough invention will be hitting retail shelves anytime soon.
Jioa Tong university
Designer: Riley Sanders
BASE IMPACT JERSEY
The Base Impact Jersey is an unobtrusive solution to personal protective equipment specific to snow sports. It reduces the chance of serious injury occurring, while still allowing the user to perform at their peak without being restricted by their equipment.
A personal snowboarding injury was the inspiration for an investigation of the issues surrounding personal protective equipment (PPE) specific to snow sports. The project was an attempt to develop an improved product that will reduce the chance of serious injury occurring to a skier or snowboarder while maintaining comfort and mobility.
Research methods including focus groups and one-on-one interviews with snowboarders, skiers, and industry-related professionals highlighted the need for more refined PPE specific to snow sports. The study helped the designer to understand the most common injuries that occur during snow sports, how the injuries have occurred, and the best methods for their prevention. It was made evident through the research that there was a lack of PPE that could provide sufficient support to the user upon impact while maintaining their freedom of movement and comfort.
The solution was Base – an upper-body personal protective system specific to snow sports. The patented Base protective material was developed to assist with the prevention of unnatural movements of jointed body parts. The material consists of two main components: the displacement hexagons, which determine the overall locking angle of the material, and the flexible clipping layer that holds the displacement hexagons in place. The material has been utilized in the Base Impact Jersey to protect the elbow from overextension, the shoulder from dislocation, and the back from hyperextension.
The delectable Marion Cotillard shows how it’s done here on the new Dior campaign trail. Slugging it out in LA never looked better.
In a very poetic interpretation of flowers and their power to inspire and mesmerize, Nick Knight elevates his metier to an extraordinary level. Like a page from Li Edelkoorts’ Bloom magazine come alive, Nick Knight’s genius let’s it all unfold elegantly.
Credits:
Photography: Nick Knight
Models: Jac at IMG and Ben
Styling: Alister Mackie
Hair: Brent Lawler
Make-up: Petros Petrohilos
Tailor: Paul Strotton
Photographic Assistance: Zoe Hitchen, Laura Falconer, James Robotham and James Nicholson
Styling Assistance: Ellie Cumming and Melissa Thompspn
Runner: Shaun James and Andrew Smith
Production: Charlotte Knight
In an innovative move, Dutch firm Phillips moves with the times and introduces an off-grid solution to lighting using everyday waste products…Utilizing the principles behind biological luminescence such as fireflies and deep sea creatures which provide light through bioluminescent BACTERIA. This bacteria, in theory, could be collected and mixed with kitchen and even bathroom wastes in individual pods where the reaction takes place. Further uses could fuel outdoor low-light venues like roadway edge indicators. There is no heat produced by this reaction and would not require further energy supplies. Saving the world seems just a tiny bit closer.
More: PHILLIPS
milan-based collective carnovsky (francesco rugi and silvia quintanilla) presents ‘RGB’,
an exhibition which showcases a series of wallpapers that mutate and interact with different chromatic stimulus.
the wall coverings consist of three different patterns (in red, yellow and blue respectively) that when overlapped,
result in a disorientation of images. when colors and patterns mix up, the lines and shapes entwine becoming oneiric
and not completely clear. through a filter (a colored light or transparent material) it is possible to see clearly the layers
in which the image is composed. each one of the red, green and blue (RGB) filters serve to reveal just one of the three images.
Somewhere between Marcel Duchamp and Jeff Koons lies the dark humour and intriguing sculptural approach to Trong G. Nguyen’s work. Think outside the box.
LOL (Lady of the Lake)
2011, silicone, toy lightsaber, acrylic paint
24 inches tall (puddles variable)
Library
2007-Present, Rice kernels, ink, gold paint, gold leaf, clear mylar.
Each grain of rice contains a single word written in ink – with the book titles written on grains painted gold. The complete text or individual chapters written word for word on rice kernels.
5 x 3-1/2 x 1/4 inches each
Sweet and simple…
True luxury has only one color – gold. A nanometer-thin layer of pure gold now lends ties and pocket handkerchiefs that authentic gold sheen, thanks to a new Empa-developed process. The yarn, which is coated using a high-tech plasma process, is soft and easy to weave. It is also washing machine compatible. A limited number of gold ties will be placed on the market before Christmas, making a truly exclusive present. Further fashion accessories will follow in 2012.
Caption: Tie, bow-tie and pocket handkerchief made of high-tech gold fabric. Plating: 8 grams of 24 carat pure gold for 7500 Swiss Francs.
Gold radiates with a violet hue, at least when it is sprayed onto a surface atom by atom, as can be seen by looking into a plasma coating plant when in operation. This particular plant, which is about as large as a household refrigerator, can be found on the premises of the Tersuisse spinning mill in Emmen. Inside the apparatus a piece of gold is bombarded with fast moving argon ions which knock atoms off the metal surface. These gold atoms fly off and land on a polyester fiber which is slowly pulled through the machine. This is the beginning of the production process which for the first time in the world creates a textile material permanently coated with a durable layer of gold. The precious metal remains attached to the fiber even when it is rolled, kinked, woven in a loom and given a final wash.
The culmination of 10 years of research work
The textile specialists at Empa in St Gallen had been researching for ten years to find a method of finely dividing titanium, aluminium, steel, copper and silver and then allowing these powdered metals in atomic form to rain onto polyester fibers. Originally the project aimed to create silver coated fibers, for which there were ready markets. Silver coated fibers possess an antibacterial effect, something which is of interest to sock manufacturers. In addition fashion designers were seeking durable silver coated textiles. And furthermore, silver conducts electricity extremely well, making the Empa-developed fiber eminently suitable for use in various sensors and as an antistatic filter material for industrial applications.
Sooner or later the project partners had the idea that what was possible with silver might also work with gold, so in January 2010 they began work on the “Gold Fiber Project”. Nowadays production in the coating plant has reached a stable level. The first kilometer was generated in the summer of 2011 and in 2012 production is expected to increase further. Further processing of the fiber is completed by two project partners, the Weisbrod-Zuerrer AG spinning mill in Hausen am Albis and the embroidery firm Jakob Schlaepfer in St. Gallen.
The Jakob Schlaepfer company, embroiderers and manufacturers of decorative textiles, will also use the gold yarn for items in its Winter 2012/13 Haute Couture collection.
The AeroShot Pure Energy delivers a fine powder containing vitamin B and 100 mg of caffeine that dissolves instantly in the mouth. That’s around the same amount of caffeine found in one large cup of coffee … without the calories or coffee breath.
Tom Hadfield from Breathable Foods mission statement is “to bring the aesthetic experience of aerosol cuisine to commercial markets.” It can even be taken on an aircraft.
With the new shots, Le Whif and AeroShot, along with the AWOL, means it’s now possible to enjoy some chocolate flavor, get yourself inebriated, then try and sober up with a jolt of caffeine – all without food or beverage actually passing your lips…
see more here: AEROSHOT
Sandra Davolio’s ornately delicate white porcelain vases are shown at the Modernity galery in Stockholm. An Italian ceramicist living in Denmark, the pieces combine typically-Scandinavian aesthetic restraint with the floral Italian character of spiraling petals.
See Sandra Davolio
Coming to rainy city near you, the EN-V electric pod car series which are now in testing phase from General Motors. Not for everyone, but it sure beats a moped on windy, rainy or chilly days…
From Bio: Peter Gronquist was born in Portland, Oregon in 1979. Growing up in a creative family, he began drawing and painting at a very early age. This led to obsessive artmaking throughout his childhood that continues today. After highschool, Peter attended the School of Visual Arts for two years, then finished his bfa at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2001. Peter currently resides in Oakland California (EAST BAY!) and tries to paint every day.
His latest project just opened in Venice. If only I had more room…
See more here: PETER GRONQUIST
As if taking a scene from the beautiful French film, “Le Parfum” and reeling it into the 21st Century, a new chapter unfolds.
Introducing, SWALLOWABLE PARFUM, a innovative solution that permits the user to swallow a capsule and produce a fragrance that is generated from WITHIN.
Lucy McRae and synthetic biologist Sheref Mansy from Amsterdam, have produced a capsule with synthetic fragrant lipids that mimic the structure of the fat molecule found in the body, this when those lipids get metabolized by the body’s enzymes, fragrant molecules are released and excreted through the skin’s surface through perspiration. The skin acts like an atomizer for the fragrance and the resulting scent is determined by the individual: current temperature, stress, exercise or sexual arousal. Have a glimpse below:
SWALLOWABLE PARFUM® from Lucy McRae on Vimeo.
Website: www.swallowableparfum.com
Contact: Lucy@LucyMcrae.net
