Hasta La Ideas

Mutant enzymes, an unseen film by a French New Wave icon, design-forward campers and more

Mutant Enzyme Breaks Down Plastic in Hours

New research published by French scientists in the journal Nature addresses their discovery and manipulation of a mutant bacterial enzyme that can break down PET plastic into raw materials in a matter of hours. After optimization experiments, Carbios (the organization behind the discovery) broke down one metric ton of waste by 90% in 10 hours. Their scientists then used that material to create new premium plastic bottles. The organization aims for industrial-scale recycling with the enzyme in five years. They’ve partnered with Suntory, Food Europe and Nestle Waters to make this a reality. Read more at designboom.

Unseen Agnès Varda Documentary Available to Stream For Free

Beloved Belgian-born filmmaker and artist Agnès Varda’s previously unseen short film The Little Story of Gwen From French Brittany is streaming on YouTube (for free) thanks to American Cinematheque. Varda—who passed away last year—began shooting the film in 1996 when she met the subject, Gwen Deglise. The two became fast friends and Varda’s film traces Deglise’s move from Paris to LA, and their unique relationship. Now the head programmer for the American Cinematheque, Deglise says of Varda (known as the “grandmother of French New Wave”), “Of her many gifts: her curiosity was limitless, her appetite for life boundless. The endless inventiveness of her art shines through in her films and was inspiring to witness, and a privilege to be close to.” Find out more at Indiewire and watch on YouTube.

Portrait of a Goddess Found in a 3,000-Year-Old Coffin

Inside 3,000-year-old mummy Ta-Kr-Hb’s coffin (which hadn’t been moved or surveyed in a century) archaeologists from Scotland’s Perth Museum and Art Gallery uncovered a stunning series of paintings she was buried with. These two new paintings are located on the lower part of the coffin’s interior and exterior, a place that conservators and archaeologists never investigated before. “We had never had a reason to lift the whole thing so high that we could see the underneath of the trough and had never lifted the mummy out before and didn’t expect to see anything there,” Mark Hall, the collections officer at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery, tells Smithsonian Magazine. The best-preserved image is “that of Egyptian goddess Amentet or Imentet, also known as ‘She of the West,’ who is seen wearing a red dress. The figure has ribbons draped around her arms and is depicted in profile, with her head facing to the right.” Read more at Smithsonian Magazine.

An Affordable At-Home Record-Cutting Machine

Designed by Pentagram’s Yuri Suzuki, the Easy Record Maker can capture audio from any source (connected by an aux cord or USB) and cut it onto five-inch 33 or 45 records. Right now, Japanese publisher and toymaker Gakken produces the machines, which retail for approximately $80 USD. The kit comes with 10 blank records and everything needed to create and play your signature recordings. “Vinyl has more value than other media, in my opinion,” Suzuki tells Design Week. He imagines a world where vinyl voice recordings are mailed between friends and independent bands and artists can press their projects in small batches. Read more at Design Week.

Explore ASMR at the “Weird Sensation Feels Good” Exhibition

Inside Sweden’s national architecture and design museum in Stockholm, ArkDes, the first-of-its-kind exhibition Weird Sensation Feels Good investigates autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)—a phenomenon now 13 million videos deep on the internet. ASMR—chilling, pleasurable tingles instigated by common sounds, like rustling, scratching or crinkling—grew beyond a niche subset. The exhibition examines the pre-internet history of ASMR, its development into an advertising and design tool, its explosive popularity today and the gender parity within. Weird Sensation Feels Good runs from 8 April through 1 November—with imagery online, and digital programming (including a virtual vernissage). Read all about it at Surface.

New York Academy of Art’s 2020 Tribeca Ball Online

One of the most cherished annual art community gatherings, New York Academy of Art’s Tribeca Ball acts as an introduction to hundreds of emerging artists, a platform to buy their work, and fundraiser for the entire institution. For 2020, the event moves online, now through the end of April with sales of art (that would have been on display in studios on site) once again directly benefiting the artists—continued corporate sponsor Van Cleef & Arpels gave NYAA a direct donation this year, for the same amount they would have spent presenting the Tribeca Ball. New art will be added to the site each week. NYAA‘s student programming also continues, from MFA classes to critiques from art world icons and even drawing parties, through Zoom.

Free Documentary on Hayao Miyazaki, Co-Founder of Studio Ghibli

A free, four-part documentary on Hayao Miyazaki—co-founder of the beloved and iconic Studio Ghibli—is now streaming, thanks to Japanese broadcaster NHK. 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki first aired last year and delves into the animator, manga artist, filmmaker and author’s artistic process and personal life—with a focus on his relationship with his son Gorō, who worked on Studio Ghibli films From Up on Poppy Hill and Tales from Earthsea. Fans can watch the series now at NHK. Find out more at Dazed.

Carapate’s Cozy New Design-Forward Campers

New French camper brand Carapate has released its first two editions: the eponymous Carapate and its counterpart, the Carriole. Using natural wood elements throughout the 65-square-foot campers, designers Fabien Denis and Jean-Marie Reymond invoked a sense of openness, and touted a connection with the natural world. Clever compartments provide inhabitants with the option to use the kitchen outside the confines of the camper. The whimsical campers start at $12,500 and can be towed by most cars. Read more at Dwell.

Watchsmith App Grants Further Apple Watch Face Customization

For all the customization allowed to the Apple Watch face—including theme, style and numeral type—developer David Smith’s iOS app Watchsmith unlocks even more. Watchsmith allows users to assemble dynamic feature combinations that can be scheduled to change throughout the day. Users can affix the weather to their Apple Watch face in the morning or activity data toward day’s end. Sources range from astronomy and tide information to time zones, battery status and the simple day and date addition. Read more about all the functionality at 9to5Mac.

Austin Kleon’s Guide to Making a Zine From One Sheet of Paper

Writer and artist Austin Kleon recently shared his simple guide to making a zine from a single sheet of paper, a variation on what he learned from the book Whatcha Mean, What’s A Zine? Resourceful and enchanting, the one-sheet project requires just four steps, which Kleon lays out in a penciled how-to guide and a helpful YouTube video. Click through to his site to learn how to make your own.

The Tangled History of the Letter X

As porn consumption reaches what may be an all-time peak, MEL Magazine writer Chris Bourn wondered “How did X become the edgiest letter?” The 24th letter in our alphabet is the second-least used, but has come to represent all things “adult” and is intrinsically connected to porn. This can be traced back to the introduction of 1968’s audience-advisory ratings, which attributed X to movies with erotic content. Eventually, more Xs were added to denote the extremity of that content. Bourn traces the history and uses of the letter, “once the holiest of all alphabetic symbols.” Read more at MEL.

Health-Tracking “Smart Toilet” Discerns Users by Their Unique “Analprints”

Mountable on standard systems, a new “smart toilet” concept debuted in the scientific journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, in a research paper by Sanjiv Gambhir of Stanford University. The health-tracking system within the device scans biological waste and uploads the data found to the cloud. It builds unique user profiles based on “analprints,” or the distinct shape of everyone’s butthole—which it captures through a camera within the bowl (in addition to a fingerprint scanner on the flush lever). Tracking this information over time can alert healthcare professionals—with actionable data—about changes or the onset of disease. Read more at Gizmodo.

Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.

Nine leading Italian design brands have joined forces to urge the government to allow them to restart production after Easter amid concerns “it could take 20-30 years” for the sector to recover from the impact of coronavirus.

A manifesto signed by the brands calls for lockdown restrictions to be lifted on 14 April to avert an “industrial and economic catastrophe that would destroy thousands of businesses, meaning hundreds of thousands of jobs lost.”

“Today the main objective of the group, and of the entire sector, is to ensure that production will recommence as foreseen on the 14th April,” says the manifesto, which is titled “Design Doesn’t Give Up”.

Manifesto calls for 50 per cent rent reduction

The document has been signed by luxury furniture brands B&B Italia, Cappellini, Cassina, Flexform, Giorgetti, Molteni Group and Poltrona Frau, plus mosaic company Bisazza, and kitchen and bathroom maker Boffi.

“It is a very important, almost decisive choice that will have a profound impact on the industrial, economic and social future of our country.”

The manifesto also reveals that the brands have called for landlords of showrooms and offices around the world to slash rent in half to help companies’ cash flows.

“The group’s first tangible result was a document drawn up two weeks ago to request a rent moratorium for all commercial properties that are currently closed,” the manifesto says.

“The companies proposed to reach an agreement that would reduce the cost of rent by 50 per cent from April to December 2020. The request was immediately sent to all landlords of rented properties throughout the world and today constitutes an important tool and an effective basis for discussion.”

Hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk

The manifesto makes bleak predictions about the impact that coronavirus, and the lockdown imposed across Italy last month, could have on the furniture sector.

“We continue to support the manufacturing sector as central to Italy, but it is important to remember that in 2017 in the European ranking we lost the long-maintained second position, following Germany, to France,” the manifesto states.

“It is therefore fundamental that together we address the issue of returning to work and recognise the importance that this decision will have in preventing a great human and social tragedy transforming into a consequent industrial and economic catastrophe that would destroy thousands of businesses, meaning hundreds of thousands of jobs lost.

The manifesto highlights the importance of the sector to the Italian economy.

“The furniture and design sector constitutes one of the three strategic sectors of Italian production,” it states. “With the strength of its 20,000 active companies and 130,000 employees, the sector generates 23 billion in turnover with an export level that exceeds 60 per cent.

The wider timber and furniture industry in Italy consists of 75,000 companies employing 315,000 people, according to the manifesto, and has an annual turnover of €43 billion.

Strict lockdown could reduce competitiveness of Italian companies

Last week, Italian brands were cautiously optimistic that they would be allowed to reopen their factories after Easter, following their enforced closure on 21 March.

We hope to open soon,” furniture brand Molteni&C told Dezeen while a spokesperson for Zanotta told Dezeen they were “anxiously” awaiting the all-clear from the Italian government.

The manifesto warns that the strict lockdown imposed in Italy could damage competitiveness against countries that have introduced less stringent measures.

“If the closure continues further then the endurance of the industrial system will be severely tested,” it states. “Many of our competitors, for example in Germany and Scandinavia, continue to operate regularly in these weeks.”

“For many companies in the sector, this would mean that they would no longer be able to open again. We could lose 20-30 per cent of our industrial heritage and witness serious damage to the industry. All of this would inevitably result in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. It could take 20-30 years to recover what we would lose in a few weeks.”

The manifesto is signed by B&B Italia CEO Gilberto Negrini; Bisazza communications director Rossella Bisazza, Boffi CEO Roberto Gavazzi; Cappellini CEO Kurt Wallner; Cassina managing director Luca Fuso; Flexform CEO Matteo Galimberti; Giorgetti CEO Giovanni del Vecchio; Molteni Group general manager Marco Piscitelli; and Plotrona Frau general manager Nicola Coropulis.

The post Italian design brands warn of “economic catastrophe” unless factories reopen next week appeared first on Dezeen.

C’est à Bâle, en Suisse, que Claudio Rasano vit et travaille. Quand Claudio Rasano photographie des individus, il les capture dans des paysages qu’ils connaissent tout particulièrement. Sous la lumière naturelle, Claudio Rasano a à cœur de montrer le visage le plus authentique de chacun des sujets qu’il photographie et du contexte dans lequel ils évoluent.

Quand est-ce que la photographie a marqué un tournant décisif dans votre vie ?

Je me souviens regarder les albums photos de mes grands-parents quand j’étais petit, avec leurs merveilleuses images en noir et blanc. Je suppose que c’est durant cette époque que je suis tombé amoureux du médium photographique. J’étais si fasciné que j’ai moi aussi commencé à prendre des photos, de ma grand-mère d’abord, puis de toutes les personnes qui m’entouraient. 

Vos photos mêlent l’image portrait à l’image documentaire. Quelle série photographique de votre cru vous a le plus marqué ?

Même si je ne suis pas certain que cette série soit ma préférée, je ressens une attache toute particulière à “Same Place”. Je souhaitais capter l’essence des espaces publics et intérieurs où les personnes que je photographiais se déployer chaque jour, ainsi que la variété de leur culture, ce qui est très palpable dans cette série.

Vous exposez votre travail dans de nombreux pays, du Musée du Design Africain à Johannesburg aux Rencontres d’Arles en 2020. 

J’aime l’idée que mes photos, qui capturent des endroits très différents dans le monde, se retrouvent elles-mêmes dans des espaces d’exposition eux-aussi pluriels. Tout se déroule comme si l’essence même des photos, cette variété des espaces intérieurs et extérieurs qu’elles présentent, obtenait une qualité tridimensionnelle en rencontrant d’autres espaces, les lieux d’exposition, et d’autres personnes, les spectateurs. C’est une pensée qui me ravit.

Comment faites-vous pour produire un travail photographique toujours innovant ?

Mon inspiration vient en expérimentant. Pour moi ce processus est très important, parce qu’en travaillant j’oublie le temps et je dérive dans un sentiment d’éternité. Je m’intéresse vraiment aux gens et aux cultures. La photographie me donne à la fois éternité et actualité. Ce sens me fait avancer et m’inspire et m’excite profondément. Le processus créatif est un véritable besoin dans ma pratique.

Maverick creator Love Hultén is turning drumming into a visual art form of sorts! Slagwerk-101 is an audiovisual sculpture that uses a series of percussive instruments and turns them into a physical interpretation of a digital drum-machine. By simply mounting sticks on, which are actuated using a signal board that reads MIDI signals and converts them into real beats, Slagwerk-101 is perhaps one of the most tongue-in-cheek interpretations of the words Electronic Dance Music.

The setup involves individual instrument units that come together in a modular setup. This modular nature allows Slagwerk 101 to expand or contract, and be laid out in a variety of different ways. The individual drum modules include everything from kick drums, to snares, toms, and hi-hats, to even some unusual ones, like the tambourine, a pair of hands (they’re wooden), and a Saturday Night Live classic, the cowbell. Sticks are attached to electromagnetic solenoids, and can be plugged right into individual modules using quarter-inch jacks, and can be routed to the signal board, which translates beats playing from a connected laptop. The result is a set up worth geeking out over. The laptop sends beats to the drum-kit, which play the loops back in real-time with stunning response time… Professor Terence Fletcher from the movie Whiplash would be pretty proud of this machine’s tempo.

Designer: Love Hultén

With electro-rock incisions, NYC-based duo Satellite Mode (Jessica Carvo and Alex Mark) dissects our obsession with technology in their vibey new single “Click Now.” From their debut EP, Robots Vs. Party Girls (out this summer), the track’s chapters marry lyrical gravity to tight sonic layers. Carvo’s vocals bundle it all together nicely.