Jun 17
Jun 17
Ragnar Kjartansson
Posted in: Uncategorized 
Daring newcomer Ragnar Kjartansson made his first major splash in the art industry when he became the youngest Icelandic artist at the Venice Biennale. There Kjartonsson made “The End (Venice),” a six month performance piece, both homage and satire of Venice’s rich artistic and cultural history.
For the exhibition Kjartansson recreated a medieval-era artist studio, complete with semi-nude model, with the artist in the role of classic painter. Smoking, comprehending Truth, Love and Art, Kjartansson (above left) deftly challenged and celebrated his artistic ancestry. The new exhibition at Luhring Augustine exhibits the resulting paintings from the biennale—144 in all—as well as a new video piece.
Titled “The Man,” Kjartansson filmed renowned blues pianist, and eldest living member of the Delta Blues musical movement, Pinetop Perkins. The short functions as a dialogue between Perkins and Kjartansson, in which the musician plays with the artist’s theories on art and piano.
The exhibition opens 25 June 2010, and runs through 13 August 2010 at Luhring Augustine Gallery.
See more images in the gallery below.
Image courtesy of the artist, Luhring
Augustine, New York and i8 Galleri, Reykjavik. Ragnar Kjartansson: “The End (Venice),” 2009 (performance photo).
Jun 17
The Big Butt Book
Posted in: Uncategorized
I like big butts and I cannot lie. As a female constantly preoccupied with how mine looks in pants combined with my experience living in Brazil—the very land that invented the thong bikini and where baile funk girls become overnight celebs based just on the girth of their behinds—I find Taschen’s fatty tome “The Big Butt Book” fascinating and a must-buy for discerning and refined fans of the gluteus maximus.
Dian Hanson, who also helmed the other titles in Taschen’s blush-worthy but mesmerizing series on body parts (The Big Penis Book and The Big Book of Legs), edited the 400-photo hardcover book spanning 372 pages. It follows the butt’s course through history and how it became not only such a thing to behold across different cultures but what it symbolizes from one to the next.
While the more ample of them get worship status, the book doesn’t discriminate against other-sized buns, thus giving the subject a balanced view. Interviews with porn star John (Buttman) Stagliano, famed artist and illustrator R. Crumb and Eve Howard, an author whose erotica stories are centered around spanking, accompany the photos of tushes. Famous behinds featured include Bettie Page, Buffie the Body and Brazil’s Mulher Melancia, aka “Watermelon Woman.”
The book sells from Taschen or Amazon. A book signing party with Hanson and the book’s cover star, Alexis Texas, will take place Wednesday 30 June 2010 from 7 to 9 pm at Taschen’s Beverly Hills store.
Jun 17
Rare example of extreme streamlining show car resurfaces after 60 years
Posted in: Uncategorizedpimg alt=”01948streaml.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/01948streaml.jpg” width=”468″ height=”699″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p
pI take back anything bad I ever said about engineers doing design./p
pImages have started popping up online of this recently-restored Buick Streamliner, a working show car that was originally designed and built in 1948 by mechanical engineer Norman E. Timbs. As the name implies and your eye can confirm, the car is the epitome of the streamlining style; it’s also got an aluminum body that was hand-formed over a wooden form and ate up 80% of the entire cost of the car (ten large in 1948 dollars)./p
pPractical? No. Insanely beautiful? Yes. /p
pThe car was “discovered in the desert” and restored by the California couple who purchased it at auction, and recently appeared at the 2010 Concours D’Elegance. There’s a must-see gallery of the car A HREF=”http://www.thecoolist.com/1948-buick-streamliner-by-norman-e-timbs/” here/A./p
pvia A HREF=”http://www.supercars.net/cars/4688.html” supercars/A and A HREF=”http://www.thecoolist.com/1948-buick-streamliner-by-norman-e-timbs/” the coolist/Abr /
/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/rare_example_of_extreme_streamlining_show_car_resurfaces_after_60_years_16763.asp”(more…)/a
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Jun 17
Times Square Alliance Seeks Proposals for Public Art Projects
Posted in: Uncategorized
Times Square: it’s not just for mesmerizing billboards and chain resturants anymore. In the wake of crowdpleasing public art projects such as Sofia Maldonado‘s 42nd Street mural and the spectacular Ice Heart designed by Moorhead & Moorhead, the Times Square Alliance today issued an open call for project proposals. Art organizations and artists in all creative disciplines are invited to submit letters of interest to produce a single art project or a series for any time between September 2010 and December 2012. “We are looking for projects that will have an impact in a neighborhood that is defined by dynamic activity and competing visual stimulation,” said Glenn Weiss, manager of public art and design at the Times Square Alliance, in a statement announcing the initiative. “We want ideas that consider how their projects will change or affect the space and how it will interact with more than 350,000 people each day.” Projects that address “the unique nature and rich history” of Times Square are also encouraged. What’s off-limits? Parades are pretty much out, and be mindful that anything over ten feet high requires a building permit. And while projects can’t sell anything, voluntary donations may be solicited. Letters of interest are due by July 15, so get cracking.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Jun 17
Presenting the Winners of the Betacup Design Competition!
Posted in: Uncategorizedpimg alt=”betacup-logo-white.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/betacup-logo-white.jpg” width=”468″ height=”250″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p
pSix months ago, a href=”http://www.thebetacup.com/team/”Toby Daniels and the product development firm Mutopo/a set their minds to eliminating the wastage of paper coffee cupsmdash;North Americans consume 58 billion year, most of which end up in landfills. To solve this problem, the team turned to design and set up a href=”http://www.thebetacup.com/”emBetacup/em/a, an open innovation challenge with a $20,000 incentive. With the backing of Starbucks, who aims to serve all their beverages out of recyclable and reusable cups by 2015; Denuo, community management experts; and Jovoto, an open innovation platform, the competition ran from April 1st through June 1st. We were proud to be their media sponsor and to send our editor-in-chief, Allan Chochinov, to join the panel of judges. /p
pThe jury was out, now it’s back in, and we’re thrilled to announce the results./p
pimg alt=”betacup-karmacup.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/betacup-karmacup.jpg” width=”468″ height=”759″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p
pThe overall winner of the $10,000 Jury Prize is:/p
pbKarma Cup (a href=”http://www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/ideas/4751″link/a)br /
Design: Mira Lyn, Gillian Langor, Nick Partridge, Zarla Ludin, Ruth Prentice/b/p
blockquoteA chalkboard sitting by the register. Every guest who uses a reusable mug marks the chalkboard. Every 10th guest receives a free item./blockquote
pThis brief description conveys the idea of Karma Cup with great economymdash;a no-tech, no-brainer solution that encourages consumers to use a reusable coffee cup in place of a disposable through collective reward. All that’s needed is a chalkboard and the participation of coffeehouse customers./p
blockquoteThink of it as one big rewards card for us all. There are plenty of great reusable mugs out there, perfect for one’s unique needs. But what people really need is an incentive to make the behavior change―a free cup of coffee and a bit of peer pressure. Giving incentives to use reusable mugs doesn’t have to be costly to implement or complex to manage./blockquote
pJuror Graham Hill chose this project because of its easy implementation and reverberating, social effects. /p
blockquoteKarma Cup is extremely easy to implement, has minimal costs and, most importantly, could get everyone in line at the coffee shop to think about why they are or aren’t using a portable mug. I believe that this is a subtle but powerful difference from other incentive schemes. I really like the “we’re all in this together” feel. By making the incentive a group thing, it makes it more community minded. This system could be taken up by any coffee shop, would help portable coffee cup owners to use theirs more often and would help non-converts to finally buy and use a portable coffee cup. Combined with some of the other great ideas for more compelling portable coffee cups, the tide could be turned and set the stage for some legislation in order to get the massive change we need./blockquote
pJuror Nick Gogerty commended the Karma Cup for being a holistic solution, revealing opportunities to work from all sides of the problem, from materiality to brand affinity. /p
blockquoteI think that the Karma cup approach was holistic in that it acknowledged the ability for positive social pressure and social signaling for extrinsic motivations. The approach involved something which probably aligns with corporate goals of greater affinity with customers and a potential intrinsic motivation alignment between consumer and company. The cost and ability to slipstream the Karma cup into various processes made it appealing as an ecosystem for other marketing and messaging concepts around it. Badging, loyalty, affinity etc. can all be built around the Karma Cup concept./blockquote
pHonorable mentions after the jump./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/presenting_the_winners_of_the_betacup_design_competition__16755.asp”(more…)/a
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Jun 17
Engrave Your Book
Posted in: Uncategorized
The same company behind bamboo iPhone cases, Engrave Your Book has been delighting pen-and-paper stalwarts with its artful collection of Moleskine notebook covers since their debut last year.
Available for both pocket and larger Moleskine notebook sizes, the slip-on covers feature a growing collection of works by artists and illustrators, including most recently Spanish artist Pepa Prietro (design below right) and Marc Aspinall of the U.K.-based firm The Tree House Press. Japanese-born designer Junichi Tsuneoka—best known for creating the Japanese-American pop blend “California Roll Stylie“—also contributed his hallmark illustrations (below left) to the mix. These latest additions typify a broad and international scope of work, further proof of Moleskine’s worldwide fan base.
The designs are laser-etched with remarkable precision on all-natural, vegetable-tanned cowhide, and smart details include an inner card pocket and an elastic closure strap. As a contemporary component to an old-school product, the Portland, OR-based company takes it one step further by letting you create your own custom case with uploaded images. And unlike technology, these covers look better with age.
Pocket-sized artist series covers start at $60, while larger-sized covers run about $80. Custom covers start at $60. Order them online.
Jun 17
Betacup Community Prizes: The Top 5 Vote-Getters
Posted in: UncategorizedpWe’ve just announced the winner of the $10,000 Betacup jury prize, but an additional $10,000 has been set aside to be split among the top 5 community favorites. These are The Betacup and Betacup Campaign (one of the jury’s honorable mentions), the Cuptokeep, the NextCup, the Neutral Resource Coffee Cup, and Networked Loyalty. /p
div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/06/betacup-campaign.jpg” width=”468″ height=”261″ alt=”betacup-campaign.jpg”//div
pobject width=”468″ height=”263″param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true” /param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always” /param name=”movie” value=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12642552amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=0amp;show_byline=0amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=00ADEFamp;fullscreen=1″ /embed src=”http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12642552amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=0amp;show_byline=0amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=00ADEFamp;fullscreen=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”468″ height=”263″/embed/object/p
pbCommunity Prize #1: The Betacup The Betacup Campaign (a href=”http://www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/ideas/4646 “link/a)br /
Design: Jesko Stoetzer/b/p
pThis entry combined a 100% biodegradable cup made from rice husks with a comprehensive options for an incentive program to encourage users to keep bringing their cups back. Cups might come with an RFID-embedded sleeve, helping users keep track of their use and get discounts every time they bring their rice husk cup in. Users could be further motivated by team competitions to save paper cups or by their individual usage to social causes. Every time the reusable cup is brought in, the money they save is donated to a charity./p
hr size=1 noshade
pimg alt=”betacup-cup2keep.jpg” src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/betacup-cup2keep.jpg” width=”468″ height=”300″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p
pbCommunity Prize #2: Cuptokeep (a href=”http://www.jovoto.com/contests/drink-sustainably/ideas/4608 “link/a)br /
Design: Katarina Mattsson Angelica Lindgren /b/p
blockquoteCuptokeep is a new eco friendly take-away cup that you bring with you to the coffee shop. But this is not another of those clumsy reusable cups. Cuptokeep is made of an elastic plastic material with a construction that allows you to collapse the cup to 1/5 of its size. Cuptokeep has a similar design to a traditional paper cup for the simple reason that we want to maintain the same loveable feeling of drinking coffee. The drop safe lid makes the cup safe to fit in your pocket or handbag on your way to your coffee shop. Cuptokeep is the solution for coffee lovers to enjoy their coffee on the go with a green conscience./blockquote
pRead more at a href=”http://www.thebetacup.com/”Betacup./a/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/featured_items/betacup_community_prizes_the_top_5_vote-getters__16756.asp”(more…)/a
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Jun 17
NeoCon 2010: Interface FLOR pulled out the Memphis big time
Posted in: Uncategorizeddiv style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/06/interface07.jpg” width=”468″ height=”313″ alt=”interface06.jpg”//div
div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/06/interface04.jpg” width=”468″ height=”313″ alt=”interface04.jpg”//div
pemGuest post by Thom Moran/em/p
pPossibly the most visually striking showroom and collection at NEOCON this year is a href=”http://www.flor.com/”Interface FLOR’s/a “Memphis Under Foot.” Beyond the boldly patterned carpets, the showroom featured a whimsical romper-room like installation, an augmented reality game based on said romper room, boldly patterned wallpapers, and a wall of stacked objects painted white including televisions playing 80’s inspired videos like La Roux’s “Bullet Proof.” All of this added up to a brightly-colored overload of eighties-ness that was successful in creating a totalizing atmosphere./p
pBorrowing heavily from the now notorious early eighties Italian design collaborative Memphis, the company’s collection centers around “Memphis inspired” carpet tile systems designed by David Oakey. Interface’s and Oakey’s ambitions for the collection is to lighten the mood a little. As the American economy (hopefully) pulls out of this latest economic downturn, the idea is that design can be a source of joy and fun, instead of dour seriousness. Hence the return to the irreverence and levity of the Memphis group’s iconic and instantly recognizable style./p
div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/06/interface02.jpg” width=”468″ height=”313″ alt=”interface02.jpg”//div
div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/06/interface05.jpg” width=”468″ height=”353″ alt=”interface05.jpg”//div
pThe elephant in the room, however, is the elephant down the hall. Another of Interface’s initiatives for this year was to bring artist Andries Botha of the a href=”http://www.humanelephant.org/”Human Elephant Foundation/a and his life size elephant sculpture made entirely of recycled tires called “Nomkhubulwane” to NEOCON. This move was meant to underscore Interface’s commitment to sustainability and to highlight their campaign, called “mission zero,” to have no impact on the environment by 2020. What was peculiar is that the sculpture was outside in front of the merchandise mart and all of the information about the elephant campaign was not in the showroom, but down the hall. This physical separation of the “fun” design of Memphis from the “serious” problem of the environment was emblematic of a deeper ambivalence running through the show./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/events/neocon_2010_interface_flor_pulled_out_the_memphis_big_time_16762.asp”(more…)/a
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