"Can we harvest the energy expended from footsteps and the vibrations from trains? Architect Claire Price describes how this can be put into practice..."
W: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5009358.stm
art, design, web culture, ideas, inspiration, community, lifestyle, environment
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Feeling fed up? Don't worry, you'll snap out of it in your 70s
"People in their mid-20s and early 70s are the most satisfied with their lives, while those around 50 have the lowest life satisfaction levels, according to the Bureau of Statistics' measure of progress report.
People tend to be less content in their 30s, 40s and 50s than other age group, apart from the very old, it found..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/05/24/1148150330929.html
People tend to be less content in their 30s, 40s and 50s than other age group, apart from the very old, it found..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/05/24/1148150330929.html
You snooze, you lose: weight linked to sleep patterns
Article in SMH: "Compared with sound sleepers, women who slept no more than five hours a night were 32 per cent more likely to experience major weight gain - defined as an increase of 15 kilograms or more - during the course of the study.
They were also 15 per cent more likely to become obese compared with women who slept for at least seven hours..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/05/24/1148150330954.html
They were also 15 per cent more likely to become obese compared with women who slept for at least seven hours..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/05/24/1148150330954.html
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I want it that way - spoof video clip
I got shown this clip from YouTube. It's two Chinese guys living in a university dorm in the States having a bit of fun miming to the Backstreet Boys 'I want it that way clip'. They're natural comedians and they're really fun to watch.
W: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFYDBtKeG2k
They've got a blog too called: The Dormitory Boys - Life is short, make fools of yourselves while you can. They've published more clips on their blog.
W: http://twochineseboys.blogspot.com/
Rotaloo
20% of all household water is flushed down the toilet. ROTA-LOO composting toilets DO NOT use any water!
W: http://www.rotaloo.com/
W: http://www.rotaloo.com/
Giacometti
Sculptures, prints & drawings from the Maeght Foundation
Art Gallery of New South Wales
18 August until 29 October 2006
"One of the most original and inventive artists of the 20th century"
The Art Gallery of New South Wales brings to Australia for the first time an exhibition of some 79 works by Alberto Giacometti. Renowned for his relentless investigation of the human figure and his unique and singular vision, Giacometti stands beside Picasso and Matisse as one of the towering masters of 20th century art.
The 35 sculptures, 22 prints and 22 drawings in the exhibition span the two most intense phases of Giacometti's career - the surrealist period from 1929 to 1934 and the post World War II period from 1947 to 1965, when he produced the thin and unnaturally elongated figures for which he has become best known.
The works have been drawn from the Marguerite and Aimé Maeght Foundation in the south of France, which holds one of the most significant collections of Giacometti's work..."
W: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artmail/media/giacometti
It takes a village
"New planned communities are designed so that people can live and work with everything they need nearby...
Today's home shoppers demand better homes and neighborhoods than ever, and developers are meeting the challenge. The best communities are places where people can build their lives -- where everything they need -- schools, stores, jobs and meaningful social relationships -- are nearby.
Driving America's housing trends are changing demographics. The nation's population is getting older and more diverse, with recent immigrants make up a growing share of the mix. Households are increasingly made up of smaller families, non-families and single people. A majority of women now hold jobs outside the home. All of these factors influence the kinds of homes and neighborhoods people want.
Less than a quarter of all households are the "traditional" married couples with children, while more than a quarter consist of a single person. Despite decreasing household size, the average size of new homes keeps increasing -- 2,140 square feet today, up from about 1,600 square feet 20 years ago..."
W: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060521/OPINION/605210396/1002
Today's home shoppers demand better homes and neighborhoods than ever, and developers are meeting the challenge. The best communities are places where people can build their lives -- where everything they need -- schools, stores, jobs and meaningful social relationships -- are nearby.
Driving America's housing trends are changing demographics. The nation's population is getting older and more diverse, with recent immigrants make up a growing share of the mix. Households are increasingly made up of smaller families, non-families and single people. A majority of women now hold jobs outside the home. All of these factors influence the kinds of homes and neighborhoods people want.
Less than a quarter of all households are the "traditional" married couples with children, while more than a quarter consist of a single person. Despite decreasing household size, the average size of new homes keeps increasing -- 2,140 square feet today, up from about 1,600 square feet 20 years ago..."
W: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060521/OPINION/605210396/1002
Lawn or latte?
"Wake up and smell the coffee: these days, cafes are the new backyards... And with Sydney becoming an increasingly high-rise city, with more apartments being built with cafes and restaurants underneath, it seems a good time to take stock...
"I think it's really the way to go," says Chris Johnson, the executive director for urban renewal at the NSW Planning Department. "Apartments are changing the way we live. Instead of using the kitchen and dining room in our own houses, we're using the broader precinct outside as part of the home.
"We have breakfast downstairs, lunch around the corner, dinner close by and then meet up for coffee underneath," Johnson says. "It's a totally new style of how we live."...
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/property/lawn-or-latte/2006/05/12/1146940713204.html
"I think it's really the way to go," says Chris Johnson, the executive director for urban renewal at the NSW Planning Department. "Apartments are changing the way we live. Instead of using the kitchen and dining room in our own houses, we're using the broader precinct outside as part of the home.
"We have breakfast downstairs, lunch around the corner, dinner close by and then meet up for coffee underneath," Johnson says. "It's a totally new style of how we live."...
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/property/lawn-or-latte/2006/05/12/1146940713204.html
Monday, May 22, 2006
Experimenta New Visions Commissions 2006
Call for applications
"For the 2007 exhibition Experimenta Play, Experimenta is commissioning new interactive works that allow the audience to play, and be played upon.
Up to $6,000 per project is available for emerging and mid-career Australian artists to create new interactive media art works for an exhibition of Australian and international media artworks to be launched in Melbourne in September 2007.
Extending ‘play’ beyond the realm of games, Experimenta is looking to commission works that have humorous and unexpected outcomes, involve an element of chance, toy with preconceptions and assumptions, provide a journey or an opportunity for discovery. Within this playfulness lies the potential for deviousness, trickery, teasing, surprise, humour, inversion/subversion and delight. What are the possibilities for playful new media artworks? How can we play with technology to create new experiences?
Sources of inspiration might come from traditional narratives, labyrinths, puzzles, everyday environments, re-imagined objects or activities, re-purposed toys. The commissions are for interactive media artworks that can be: audio/visual, installations that play with scale and perspective, immersive environments or small, intimate and object based.
Please visit http://www.experimenta.org to download the Guidelines and Application Form. Contact Emma McRae, Experimenta’s Curatorial and Project Coordinator to discuss your projects. emma@experimenta.org
There is no cost to apply and applicants need not be members of Experimenta Media Arts.
The closing date for applications is Friday 21 July 2006"
Experimenta is supported by the Australia Council, Australian Film Commission, Film Victoria, Arts Victoria, The City of Melbourne and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory governments.
"For the 2007 exhibition Experimenta Play, Experimenta is commissioning new interactive works that allow the audience to play, and be played upon.
Up to $6,000 per project is available for emerging and mid-career Australian artists to create new interactive media art works for an exhibition of Australian and international media artworks to be launched in Melbourne in September 2007.
Extending ‘play’ beyond the realm of games, Experimenta is looking to commission works that have humorous and unexpected outcomes, involve an element of chance, toy with preconceptions and assumptions, provide a journey or an opportunity for discovery. Within this playfulness lies the potential for deviousness, trickery, teasing, surprise, humour, inversion/subversion and delight. What are the possibilities for playful new media artworks? How can we play with technology to create new experiences?
Sources of inspiration might come from traditional narratives, labyrinths, puzzles, everyday environments, re-imagined objects or activities, re-purposed toys. The commissions are for interactive media artworks that can be: audio/visual, installations that play with scale and perspective, immersive environments or small, intimate and object based.
Please visit http://www.experimenta.org to download the Guidelines and Application Form. Contact Emma McRae, Experimenta’s Curatorial and Project Coordinator to discuss your projects. emma@experimenta.org
There is no cost to apply and applicants need not be members of Experimenta Media Arts.
The closing date for applications is Friday 21 July 2006"
Experimenta is supported by the Australia Council, Australian Film Commission, Film Victoria, Arts Victoria, The City of Melbourne and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, State and Territory governments.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Inside magazine no. 41
Features in the latest issue of (inside) australian design review magazine include:
Michael Wolf’s Hong Kong density photography projects p62-68; and the
Tokyo Hipster’s Club in Tokyo, designed by Tom Dixon and written by Jean Snow p98-103
(inside) has a new editor - Robyn Gower. I found this issue quite jam packed with interesting articles and snippets.
Michael Wolf: http://www.photomichaelwolf.com/intro/index.html
Tom Dixon: http://www.tomdixon.net/
(inside) - media kit and blurb about the magazine only on the website: http://www.niche.com.au/in/inside.html
Other links from this issue I've noted down to have a look at:
MagScapes - magnetic wallpaper (I've been looking for ways for conveniently hang things on the wall like a visual reference wall, but without putting holes through the plasterboard, and being able to frequently change the things I put up): http://www.magscapes.com
Shigeru Ban architects: http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com
Recyclicity - will need Alta Vista's Babelfish http://babelfish.altavista.com/ to translate the website: http://www.recyclicity.net
Eric Markow and Thom Norris - Woven Glass: http://www.wovenglass.com/
Dotgroup - movable Door company - may come in handy one day: http://www.dotgroup.com.au/
moth design - was interested in their 'In the Shed' installation at Federation Square, Melbourne: http://www.mothdesign.com.au
Andrea Zittel: http://www.zittel.org/
Lucas Ihlein's Bilateral Petersham exhibition - May 26, 27
"EXHIBITION
SATURDAY 27 May, from 2.30pm to 6pm
Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Pidcock Street Camperdown (off Mallett Street, and not far from Parramatta Road).
with afternoon tea, a little excursion to Johnston’s Creek, and, if we’re lucky, a ribbon-cutting by the Mayor Himself, Sam Byrne.
It’ll be your chance to get a hard copy printout of the blog to put next to your toilet…
DINNER
FRIDAY 26 May, 6pm
Petersham Bowling Club, cnr The Avenue and Brighton Street.
with delicious dinner cooked by Fiona, bowling shenanigans, and a slide show by some amazing visiting Filipino artists who are here for the Biennale, Alfredo Juan Aquilizan & Maria Isabel Gaudinez-Aquilizan. There’ll also be a powerpoint presentation by yours truly, which hopefully will satisfy the likes of Tully and his household.
Dinner available at the cheap Big Bowl prices. RSVP to Fiona on 0434813926"
W: http://www.squatspace.com/petersham/
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Graphics Alive
Graphics Alive: A world of graphic arts appearing on our daily items
Edited by Victionary
"In this book, we talk about graphics that create relationship with us. It is not only a relationship between audience and the entity, like what we would get from reading a flyer or seeing a poster, but a more intimate relationship with our lives. This relationship encompasses all design disciplines - including graphic design, fashion design, interior design and industrial design, etc.
Most of us can recognize the value of good design in major undertakings such as building a house; few of us give it much thought in our daily items. To a lot of people, design is like a trend, but rather an art of making objects look beautiful. It is true that many designers are going under the trend, however, good design isn’t reliant on anything. ‘Graphics Alive’ brings you to discover this omnipresent power of ‘graphics being alive’ around us. From big to small, from head to toe, the survey comprises of study of top international brands to unique projects by design experts and also up-and-coming designers..."
I came across the book last week. Decided to buy it. $85 from Kinokuniya. It's a great visual reference book. The book features lots of cool, illustrative graphics on the walls of hotel rooms, ipod skins, bags, canvas shoes, shirts, t-shirts, blinds, soft-toys, cushions and more. Designers' work featured include: Jeremyville, Chillichilly, Simone Legno, Kingpro, Viagrafik and others.
W: http://www.victionary.com
Google finally puts Australia on the map
"Google overnight sneaked out much anticipated street mapping data for Australia and New Zealand cities within Google Maps in a move that is likely to spur a frenzy of mapping mash-up activity.
While the Google Earth application has captured the imagination of the world with its 3D satellite images, Google Maps offers businesses a means of overlaying their own data or statistics over detailed street maps on their web site..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/05/19/1147545488274.html
While the Google Earth application has captured the imagination of the world with its 3D satellite images, Google Maps offers businesses a means of overlaying their own data or statistics over detailed street maps on their web site..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/05/19/1147545488274.html
Switched on, burnt out
Article in SMH: "Mobile phones, email, Blackberries - technology has made us available all day, every day. But at what price, asks Karen Kissane..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/switched-on-burnt-out/2006/05/19/1147545525644.html
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/switched-on-burnt-out/2006/05/19/1147545525644.html
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Design Festa - Tokyo, May 20-21
"Design Festa is a freestyle International Art Event open to all creators, both professional and non-professional from all over the world to exhibit their creative talent. Design Festa is the biggest art event in Asia, with approximately 51,000 visitors and 6,000 exhibitors... This art event is held twice a year in spring and fall at Tokyo Big Sight, the biggest event hall in Japan."
They've got live bands, a projection space for video art, short films, and lots more going on.
There's such a buzz happening and there's lots and lots of cool handmade things available from some very talented designers. If you're in Tokyo, it's definitely worth a visit!
W: http://www.designfesta.com/02_en/index.html
dfactory: High Tea with Mrs Woo - June 29
dfactory: The Business of Fashion
"Host and fashion aficionado Nell Schofield talks to fashion designers High Tea with Mrs Woo and others about the thrills and spills of Fashion Week."
W: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dfactory/
High Tea with Mrs Woo: http://www.highteawithmrswoo.com.au/
dfactory: Pop ups, fold outs and other design adventures - 25 May
"What are the ingredients for a stand-out children’s book? Help our charismatic host, Nell Schofield ponder this question with Mark Macleod, one of Australia’s best known publishers for children and teens; Anna Fienberg award winning children’s author and Sandra Nobes, designer shortlisted in the APA 54th Annual Book Design Awards. In an already saturated market, is it the story, the illustrations or the overall design which gives a new children’s book the edge? Presented in conjunction with the 2006 Sydney Writers' Festival."
6pm – 6.30pm Drinks and music in the Café with guest DJs “those two girls”
6.30 – 7.15pm Pop ups, fold outs and other design adventures talk
7.15 – 8.30pm Drinks and more music by ‘those two girls’
"Hopscotch Film Pass Giveaway: Receive a complimentary preview double pass to the wonderful new film Wah-Wah, written and directed by the one of the worlds best-loved and most versatile actors of his generation, Richard. E. Grant, when you attend d factory on Thursday 25 May."
W: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dfactory/
6pm – 6.30pm Drinks and music in the Café with guest DJs “those two girls”
6.30 – 7.15pm Pop ups, fold outs and other design adventures talk
7.15 – 8.30pm Drinks and more music by ‘those two girls’
"Hopscotch Film Pass Giveaway: Receive a complimentary preview double pass to the wonderful new film Wah-Wah, written and directed by the one of the worlds best-loved and most versatile actors of his generation, Richard. E. Grant, when you attend d factory on Thursday 25 May."
W: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dfactory/
Couture teddies to raise money for children affected with HIV/AIDS
marie claire and Mercedes Australian Fashion Week Designers United for UNICEF Campaign.
"Over 40 of Australia's top designers have styled couture teddies to raise much-needed funds for children affected by HIV/AIDS. The statistics are shocking: according to UNICEF, every day 1400 children die of AIDS-related illnesses and 1800 are newly infected.
Each bear will be auctioned to raise funds for children affected by HIV and AIDS. If you want to own one of these gorgeous teddies, simply bid for the teddy of your choice..." Auction ends: June 6, 8pm.
Designers include: Akira Isogawa, Alannah Hill, Marnie Skillings, Alice McCall and many others.
W: http://www.marieclaire.com.au/display.cfm?objectid=23D157C5-018C-4139-89368410A4BA0D4B
Nicole Colovos - new designer for Helmut Lang
Article in SMH titled: Denim day and night: it's all in the jeans.
"Apart from a short course at the Parsons school in New York, she (Nicole Colovos) has no formal qualifications in design: she developed her eye while working as a stylist.
Now 36, she is the new designer for Helmut Lang, a label known for its minimalist, elegant style. She describes herself as a proud New Zealander who thinks of Australia as home. She spent 12 years in Sydney in what turned out to be a longish pit stop on the way to New York, where she worked on Harper's Bazaar.
She and her husband Michael started the label Habitual in 2002. "It was about taking denim, and elevating it, and pushing it round," she says. Then there were few upmarket denim labels. "We were trying to elevate the perception of denim," she says..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/fashion/denim-day-and-night-its-all-in-the-jeans/2006/05/16/1147545325921.html
"Apart from a short course at the Parsons school in New York, she (Nicole Colovos) has no formal qualifications in design: she developed her eye while working as a stylist.
Now 36, she is the new designer for Helmut Lang, a label known for its minimalist, elegant style. She describes herself as a proud New Zealander who thinks of Australia as home. She spent 12 years in Sydney in what turned out to be a longish pit stop on the way to New York, where she worked on Harper's Bazaar.
She and her husband Michael started the label Habitual in 2002. "It was about taking denim, and elevating it, and pushing it round," she says. Then there were few upmarket denim labels. "We were trying to elevate the perception of denim," she says..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/fashion/denim-day-and-night-its-all-in-the-jeans/2006/05/16/1147545325921.html
The must-have job ticket
"Bianca Burd used computer qualifications to get into fashion. Graduates in other fields are following..."
W: http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/the-musthave-job-ticket/2006/05/15/1147545259526.html
W: http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/the-musthave-job-ticket/2006/05/15/1147545259526.html
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