Hasta La Ideas

An official Banksy stunt, just a regular stunt, or someone who genuinely believes he’s found something special? There’s no way to tell at the moment, following the brief period that, among antiques and worthless Beanie Babies, eBay had an auction featuring “The Identity of Banksy.” In a long, long series of attempts to out the reclusive, mysterious street artist (including this big 2008 effort by the Daily Mail), the person behind the auction claimed to have uncovered his identity and was willing to sell it to the highest bidder. No bids had yet come in when eBay swooped in and removed the auction, so you’ll just have to keep your wallet closed and your knowledge of Banksy’s true identity out of your grasp. Fortunately, before it was removed, IFC‘s blog grabbed the copy included in the listing:

“If you win this auction I will reveal to you the true identity of ‘Banksy.’ I have uncovered his identity by matching up the prices of his sold pieces to corresponding tax records. I will reveal no more details.

The winner of this auction is the only person that I will ever share this information with. I will simply tell you his name. I cannot offer anything more. I give you 100% assurance that it is most certainly the full name of the street artist known as ‘Banksy’.

Seems a bit like a Banksy stunt, though we could tell you right now that Banksy is sitting right next to us and you’d be hard pressed to prove that accurate, too.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Line shoes with lambswool to warm feet all winter long

Urban living means you don’t always need all the trappings of a technical boot but if your city-slicker shoes are lacking in warmth, you may want to consider the instant coziness an insole can add. While some of my favorites are a pair hand-felted by a family friend, I was lacking time for a crafternoon so I was happy to find these 100% lambswool versions at NYC’s Cowboy Shoe Repair.

Made from cuddly fleece, the wool layer is bonded to a latex rubber layer so that they stay put inside shoes. I’m not sure why Germans excel at foot care products exactly, but the Polar model is one of several that the German maker Tacco offers on their site. Pick it up directly from Tacco’s site for €3 or from Shoe Hardware for $5.

Taking a page from the playbook of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, which a year ago announced that Jeffrey Deitch would be exiting his various projects to come west and lead the institution, London’s financially shaky Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) has appointed veteran art dealer Gregor Muir as executive director. He succeeds Ekow Eshun, who resigned last summer. Muir has spent the past six years as director of Hauser & Wirth London, organizing gallery exhibitions in London, Zurich, and New York with artists such as Francis Picabia and Louise Bourgeois as well as emerging artists including Jakub Julian Ziolkowski, Anj Smith, and Monika Sosnowska. And he is no stranger to the museum world. He spent three years as Kramlich Curator of Contemporary Art at Tate and before that led Lux Gallery, which he founded in 1997. It was around this time that Muir curated a few exhibitions for the ICA, including “Assuming Positions” (1997) and “Liar” (1994). “He brings to the ICA many years of experience from both public and private sectors at a time when knowledge of both is so important,” said Alison Myners, chair of the ICA’s governing board, in a statement announcing the appointment. “Gregor will once again place artists at the heart of the ICA, making it a forum for new ideas and discussion, exciting audiences and restoring the ICA as a destination.” His first day on the job is February 7.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Congratulations to the “Sustainable Refrainables” Poster Design Competition winners as voted by the Core77 community. First place goes to the playful entry pictured above Reduce, Reuse. by framecio who wins a copy Adobe’ CS5 Master Collection and $500 cash–Nice!

Second place went to Buy. Bye. by Fabio Furlanis, Ivo Arzenton, and Francesca Lorenzon, third to Hey. Clean Up Your Mess by Laura Polkus, and fourth to There is no Plan(et) B by Lee Willett who each score a copy of Adobe’ CS5 Master Collection.

The Jury choice will be announced live on stage at Compostmodern, January 22 & 23 in San Francisco. Thanks to everyone who participated, voted, commented and helped to make the challenge a success (we had over 400 entries), and a very special thanks to our sponsor Adobe for making the generous prize packs available. Check out all the entries here, and don’t forget there’s still time to get a video response in for our Powers of 10 competition.

See you in San Francisco!

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Winning the Best of Innovations Award for CES in the Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology Category was JOOS Orange Personal Solar Charger. Designed to charge all personal electronic devices including cell phones, smart phones, GPS devices, etc., JOOS Orange Personal Solar Charger has a thin, rectangular shape and weighs about 1.5 pounds. It’s also the only portable solar charger that will charge an iPad. Adjustable legs make it easy to point toward the sun and the durable, waterproof design ensures that it can withstand not only the hiking trail, but the line at the airport! As Warren Satler, CEO explains, the product was “designed by a village.” It was initially envisioned as a technology product for emerging markets vs. the mainstream consumer market. As such, Solar Components focused primarily on the technology. As the product evolved, mechanical designer, Bruno Richet and electrical designer, David Blau knew it would be imperative to work with an industrial design team. They selected Mike & Maaike, the San Francisco-based, progressive industrial design studio led by Mike Simonian and Maaike Evers to add their expertise to the product design. Tom Crabtree of Manual San Francisco created the product name, designed the branding and the look and feel of JOOS Orange. That’s one smart village.

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