Hasta La Ideas

Shipping container houses, childhood memories as art installations, medicinal psychedelics and more

Pin-Up Houses’ Tiny Cabin from an Upcycled Shipping Container

Utilizing an upcycled marine shipping container, international design studio Pin-Up Houses has developed “Gaia,” an off-the-grid housing experiment with its own solar panels and wind turbine. The spruce plywood interior softens the visual design of the tiny cabin, which also includes a convertible sofa-bed, as well as stools and a table. Its outdoor terrace can be retracted, using a winch, to increase privacy. Read more about its technical specifications (including insulation and its water-retaining system) at designboom.

Image courtesy of Pin-Up Houses

“Deep Time” Scientific Study Had Participants Live in a Sunless Cave for 40 Days

15 volunteers have emerged from a sunless cave in Southwest France, where they resided for 40 days without clocks or outside contact as part of a study on time. The experiment, referred to as “Deep Time” and conducted by the Human Adaptation Institute, removed natural cues and chronological bearings to see how the participants reorient themselves and relationship to sleep. Volunteer vitals were monitored “by a team of researchers through sensors used for the duration of the experiment. The volunteers even ingested tiny thermometers inside capsules that transmitted body temperatures inside the digestive system, until they were excreted,” according to Vice. Read more about the process and the results there.

Image courtesy of “Deep Time”/Human Adaptation Institute

First Color Photo of Mars Taken by Aerial Vehicle

The first color photo of Mars taken by an aerial vehicle—the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which hovered 17 feet (or 5.2 meters) above the surface—has been published by NASA. In the image, one can see track marks that the Perseverance Mars rover made on the dusty, rocky terrain. The upper right portion of the image reveals a peek of the horizon. While it’s not the first image to come from the Red Planet, it’s a new perspective—and an exciting one. See the full image at NASA.

Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Step Inside Artist Levan Mindiashvili’s Childhood Memories at Marisa Newman Projects

A magenta-bathed amalgamation of childhood memories, artist Levan Mindiashvili’s current installation at Marisa Newman Projects, what color is the Black Sea?, melds together many tactile, multi-sensory moments. Mindiashvili mined a family vacation to the Georgian Black Sea, and all the emotions that accompanied the experience, to populate this time-capsule-like artistic assemblage. The exhibition is alive—from the fur-coat-adorned palm tree to the tangerines dangling beneath the grow lamp. Altogether, it’s a transportive experience and each attribute requires careful consideration (including the iPad playing night-vision footage of a hedgehog). Read more about it at Hyperallergic.

Image courtesy of the artist and Marisa Newman Projects, by Marcie Revens

Psychedelic Drug Developers Go Public

When New York-based psychedelic drug developer MindMed went public this week, they sought funding to continue work on mental health treatment that looks to LSD (a Schedule 1 drug) as its active ingredient. They’re the second psychedelics company to go down this financial path in the US, with a third not far behind. This news warrants attention because of the lack of legalization for psychedelics across the country and trepidation investors have long felt around LSD—despite medical proof of its benefits—so far (in the US, that is; MindMed already went public in Toronto last year). Read more at Axios.

Image courtesy of MindMed

Curator, Critic + Author Antwaun Sargent’s Guide to Looking at Art

For Interview, The New Black Vanguard and Young, Gifted and Black, author Antwaun Sargent (an art critic, as well as a director at Gagosian) penned an eight-step guide on how to really look at art. Sargent’s thoughtful guidance encourages viewers to dedicate time to take in all aspects of the work, question what they’re seeing and address the emotional and tactile experience. The often intimidating task of analyzing an artwork is softened through Sargent’s instructions, which aim to broaden viewer perspectives. Read all eight steps at Interview—and then apply them at a gallery or museum near you.

Image courtesy of Interview Magazine, photographed by Adrienne Raquel

Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning. Hero image courtesy of courtesy of Levan Mindiashvili and Marisa Newman Projects, by Marcie Revens