The other day I passed by Fresco Gelateria/Café and was reminded of the last time I was in there with a friend who noticed an interesting gadget on their counter. “Meet DipJar—” as the sign reads, “the first ever tip jar for credit and debit cards.” This nicely designed (by industrial designer Simon Enever) stainless cylindrical vessel charges your credit card a dollar tip with one quick swipe or, more precisely, “dip” of your card. This clever product is the brainchild of Ryder Kessler who, after chatting with several baristas, learned that along with the uptick of credit and debit card use for small purchases came the plummeting of cash jar tips. In a world where printed currency is fast becoming a thing of the past, replaced by credit and bitcoins, this is just another example of smart design following in the footsteps of Square and the less successful waving-of-cell-phones for subway entry. This is good news for industrial designers! Bad news for cheapskates: not having change or singles is no longer a valid excuse to avoid tipping.
Author Archives: collabcubed
Sarah Oppenheimer: Spatial Confusion
NYC-based artist Sarah Oppenheimer‘s work blurs the line between sculpture and architecture. Her amazing installations usually involve moving walls, slanting floors, and creating apertures—sometimes symmetric, sometimes asymmetric, and often with mirrors—that would mesmerize (and confuse) the most resistant of gallery/museum guests. Much in the way James Turrell or Doug Wheeler can create spatial confusion with light, and Richard Serra can take over a space with his torques, Oppenheimer makes the gallery itself—and the experience of walking through it—the art. All her works are identified by letters and numbers such as D-33 (second photo from top) making them all the more abstract. Each work is meticulously planned with mechanical drawings and engineered load tests, then executed with precision. I can’t wait to see one of these in person.
via ppow gallery
FlipBooKit Moto
Who doesn’t like a good flipbook, right? And your very own? Even better. A few years back I made a couple of flipbooks of my kids when they were little via flipclips which were a hit, but now kinetic artists Wendy Marvel and Mark Rosen have taken the concept to a whole new level with their FlipBooKit Moto, a motorized animated flip book. Based on their own artworks inspired by the motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge, the duo applied the same techniques they use in their sculptural mechanical flipbooks to a DIY kit. It’s easy to assemble— you’ll only need a screwdriver—and will take less than an hour to complete. You can use the included art or use your own images, the possibilities are limitless! Looks like a great gift idea. You can hear more about it in the video below and you can purchase it here.
via swissmiss
Chameleon Cabin: White Arkitekter
The Scandinavia-based architecture firm White Arkitekter has created a tricky all-paper cabin titled Chameleon Cabin. Made of corrugated paper and weighing roughly 100 kilos, looks like white marble from one angle and black marble from the opposite one. Using a simple system of tabs and slots, 95 paper modules—printed in white on one side and black on the other—were attached to form a cabin the proportions of which were based on those of a Swedish friggebod, a shed that can be built without planning permission. The modular system could be used to create longer structures as well. The bright yellow interior is a great glowing touch.
Photos by Rasmus Norlander
via designboom
Blaqk: Greg Papagrigoriou & Simek
Blaqk is a collaboration between Athens-based design duo Greg Papagrigoriou and Chris Tzaferos who goes by Simek. Their street art mixes geometric forms with typographic letterforms—much of which is calligraphy. Whether black on white or white on black, on gallery walls, building façades, or abandon lots, their graphic style definitely pops. You can see much more of their work on their site.
via IdN
Plasti-Scenes: Movie Scenes in Plasticine
I came across a contest on Little White Lies magazine from a while back that made me smile. The creative brief asked that participants “recreate an iconic movie scene out of modelling clay” also known as plasticine, hence their title Plasti-Scene…yes, it’s clever. I’m not sure if the entries are exclusively from artists, or non-artists as well. Some of the entries were very slick and well done but, honestly, some of my favorites tend to be the less perfect ones. All the films and creators are identified next to their piece except the bottom two which are scenes from “Psycho” by Sarah Randell and “The Big Lebowski” by Gordon Shaw. These are just a sampling from the 60 entries. You can see the rest here and the winners here.
3D Printed Prosthetics: Bespoke Innovations
The three of us have been fascinated by 3D printing since we first saw a demo a few years back, and the fascination keeps growing as the possibilities keep expanding. Sure, we’ve seen all kinds of jewelry, housewares, sculptures, even a bikini, but these prosthetic fairings (coverings that surround an existing prosthetic leg) are lovely pieces of design serving a decorative as well as personalizing function. Industrial designer Scott Summit joined forces with orthopedic surgeon Kenneth Trauner, MD and founded Bespoke Innovations with the mission of bringing more humanity to people who have suffered the loss of a limb. The process and design are individualized by using 3D scanning technology to capture images of a person’s sound leg as well as their prosthetic one. The wearer is given their body symmetry back by superimposing the sound leg shape onto the prosthetic one. Customization of the Fairing is overseen by the user who can pick and choose materials and patterns to achieve a personalized result. It’s all so smart and impressive.
via formfiftyfive
Ice Castles: 20,000,000 lbs of Ice
I’ve been through a corn maze and even visited an ice bar, but I had never heard of these incredible Ice Castles created in Colorado, Utah, and New Hampshire. As an homage to the Polar Vortex we’re presently experiencing here on the east coast, I thought I’d post some photos of these castles/mazes that are built by hand from more the 20,000,000 pounds of ice. These glacial formations include caverns, archways, paths and tunnels inviting visitors to wander through in awe. If the ice itself isn’t amazing enough, at night these structures are illuminated by colored lights for additional dramatic effect. The castles begin by ‘growing’ more than 5,000 icicles per day which are then sculpted together. By dipping the icicles in freezing water they then stick to each other and with the combination of wind, temperature fluctuation, and water volume a variety of effects can be achieved. The process takes a few weeks of growth and artistry, repeating the process twice daily, until the final ice masterpiece is completed. If temperatures don’t change much around here, we may be able to build one of these in Central Park any day now…
Take a virtual walk through with this video:
Photos courtesy of icecastles
via atlasobscura
Piston Head: Cars into Sculpture
Last month at Art Basel Miami, Venus Over Manhattan Gallery curated an exhibition titled Piston Head: Artists Engage the Automobile. Fourteen cars converted into sculptures by well-known contemporary artists since 1970 were on view at the spectacular open-air parking garage, 1111 Lincoln Road, designed by Herzog & deMeuron. The exhibit included works by Keith Haring (top), Damien Hirst (dotted Mini Cooper), Kenny Scharf (3rd from top), Ron Arad (pressed car), Bruce High Quality Foundation (VW Beetles), Franz West’s 1970 Rolls Royce, as well as eight more artists.
And here in an unrelated yet related (in that he’s drawing on a car) video is Jon Burgerman doing his thing on a zipcar:
Photos: HuffingtonPost and The Hundreds
teamLab: Homogenizing & Transforming World
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Tokyo-based teamLab is a group of ultra-technologists including programmers, user-interface engineers, mathematicians, CG animators, as well as architects, designers, artists and editors, who blur the boundaries of their respective fields to create and discover new ideas and push limitations. Presently, their interactive installation Homogenizing and Transforming World is part of the exhibition Distilling Senses: A Journey through Art and Technology in Asian Contemporary Art, at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. Individual balls floating within an enclosed space communicate to each other via wireless connection. They change color and emit different sounds when touched by visitors or bump into each other or other objects. The balls send color information to other balls which in turn spread the information to other balls, changing all the balls to the same color. The piece is a metaphor for the internet and globalization in general. People act as intermediaries for information which so quickly travels via the internet globally, transforming the world in an instant and unifying at the same time.
You can see the installation live through January 12, 2014 or in the video below anytime:
via gestalten
Audra Hubbell: Letters at Large
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I love everything about Chicago-based designer Audra Hubbell‘s project Letters at Large. For starters, it’s type. Large type at that. Then the combination with architecture and the effect of each on the other is pretty fabulous. Somewhat reminiscent of Jenny Holzer’s Projections, but here it’s all about the one letter as opposed to text. Hubbell unleashes full-scale typography in public spaces as a visual research project exploring the interaction between projected large scale letterforms and the urban Chicago surroundings. Wouldn’t it be great if the poster set were available for purchase.
via behance
Duke Riley: Homing Pigeon Performance Art
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Brooklyn-based artist Duke Riley describes his work this way in his artist statement:
My work addresses the prospect of residual but forgotten unclaimed frontiers on the edge and inside overdeveloped urban areas, and their unsuspected autonomy. I am interested in the struggle of marginal peoples to sustain independent spaces within all-encompassing societies, the tension between individual and collective behavior, the conflict with institutional power. I pursue an alternative view of hidden borderlands and their inhabitants through drawing, printmaking, mosaic, sculpture, performative interventions, and video structured as complex multimedia installations.
His piece Trading with the Enemy seems to fit the bill perfectly. Riley trained 50 homing pigeons to travel from Havana to Key West, Fla. Half the flock were smugglers of Cuban cigars while the rest documented their travels on film. The cigar-laden pigeons were given names of notorious smugglers such as Pierre Lafitte, while the filmers were given names of famous film directors who have had run-ins with the law: i.e. Roman Polanski and Mel Gibson. I imagine there’s a certain thrill to subverting hi-tech drones with good old fashion homing pigeons. Riley’s connection to the birds goes back to his childhood, after rescuing one, letting it go free, and finding that it returned to him. Trading With the Enemy is part of an exhibit titled See You at the Finish Line currently at Magnan Metz in Chelsea. Two of the pigeons are for sale at the gallery along with the art. The show will run through January 11, 2014. For those who can’t make it in person, you can watch the video of the pigeons’ adventure, below.
Photos courtesy of MagnanMetz & The New York Times
via nytimes
Janice Lee Kelly: Balloon Sculptures
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Initially inspired by working with balloons in her retail business, architect/photographer/entrepreneur Janice Lee Kelly (originally from Kentucky) began developing the medium into her own personal art form, eventually creating her studio FLOAT. Creating gravity-defying, kinetic and ethereal sculptures, Kelly captures and records their interaction with the environment through photography and video. In addition, Kelly creates balloon pieces and installations for exhibits and event spaces that range from smaller private ones to Lincoln Center for the Big Apple Circus.
via risdxyz
Pammy Pea by Pamella Lessero
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Our friend—as well as local NYC artist and lifelong vegetable lover—Pam Lessero just published a fun and friendly educational illustrated book for kids which focuses on the importance of eating healthy. The book’s protagonist (and Pamella’s alter ego?) Pammy Pea, “…wants to inspire and teach children everywhere to be healthy and eat all of their vegetables. When she is not dreaming of landing on your plate, you can find her happealy rolling around the garden with all her pea family and friends.” Pammy Pea is targeted at the 3 to 6-year-old set and can be purchased over here. Stickers are available too, and a plush toy of Pammy Pea herself will follow shortly. You can follow Pammy Pea on facebook for updates too.
Hello Wood: 365-Sled Christmas Tree
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Imagine 365 wooden sleds stacked in the form of a Christmas tree. Now imagine each of those sleds going to a child in need once the structure is dismantled. Nice, right? Well, that’s just what architecture/design studio Hello Wood (previously here) is doing at the Palace of Arts in Budapest. In the span of one week, they built an 11-meter tall tree that can be viewed from inside as well, giving the impression of being in the middle of a giant snowflake. The base is made of steel to keep things safe in case of strong winter winds. A tall wooden frame was built with the help of a crane and some welding, in which the sleds were fixed upon. Once the temporary installation comes down, Hello Wood will donate the sleds to the children at SOS Children’s Villages, keeping things reusable and charitable as the holidays should be.
Here’s a video of the installation process:
Photos: Daniel Dömölky
via architect
The Snails are Coming! The Snails are Coming!
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Well, actually, they’re already here. These eight foot snails are part of the REgeneration Art Project and are made of recyclable plastic obtained from landfills. The snails are a creation of the Cracking Art Group (previously here) consisting of six international artists whose intention is to change art history through both a strong social and environmental commitment, and a revolutionary and innovative use of different recyclable plastic materials. The snails were “living” at Rumsey Field in Central Park up until last week before moving (okay, they were more moved/transported than moving themselves) to Columbus Circle last week. You’re gonna have to trust me, they’re there. That’s where I spotted them earlier today, but no time for photo-taking. Apparently there’s at least one at Eataly on 23rd Street as well. These snails seem to keep with the scavenger hunt street art theme that has descended upon our city since the fall, first with Banksy, then Invader, and now, in a smaller, yet at the same time larger, scale, the invasion of the red snails.
The snails will be up at Columbus Circle through January 6th, 2014, so if you happen to be in the neighborhood, do keep an eye out for them.
Photos: Timothy Clary/AFP; Captain Kidder; Silverscreen Productions; gigi_nyc;
George Ferrandi: It Felt Like I Knew You…
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For some, regularly dozing in moving vehicles and inadvertently leaning against random strangers while doing so, is a common occurrence (ahem…Em), but in the case of Brooklyn-based artist George Ferrandi, it’s completely intentional. For her ongoing project It Felt Like I Knew You… Ferrandi rides the subway (her choice for these interventions because of its packed quality and the loneliness one can feel despite the physical intimacy) during rush hour and tests the limits of this shared confined area by reshaping the space between her body and a stranger’s sitting next to her.
I focus on the shape of the space between the person sitting next to me and myself. I attempt to mentally and emotionally re-sculpt that space. In my mind, I reshape it- from the stiff and guarded space between strangers to the soft and yielding space between friends. I direct all my energy to this space between us. When the space palpably changes, and I completely feel like the stranger sitting next to me is my friend, I rest my head on that person’s shoulder…
Ferrandi started the continuing project in 2012. The endearingly humorous results are documented by co-conspirator Angela Gilland on her phone. So, the next time you feel a woman’s head rest on your shoulder in the subway, it’s likely to be George Ferrandi…or, Em.
It Felt Like I Knew You can be seen at the Abrons Arts Center as part of the exhibit GUTS through the end of December.
12 Shoes for 12 Lovers: Errazuiz
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NYC-based Chilean designer Sebastian Errazuriz (previously here and here) enjoys playing with the offbeat and wacky in his designs while pushing boundaries. His latest project, currently on exhibit at Miami Basel, is titled 12 Shoes for 12 Lovers. Consisting of twelve shoe sculptures, each representing the memory of twelve previous relationships, the project is an attempt to go through the reminiscence of former lovers who are the inspiration for each Shoe Sculpture. The shoes are accompanied by photos and stories in which Errazuriz reveals a glimpse of each relationship and in the process exposes himself to scrutiny and judgment. Some sculpture titles include: Cry Baby, Jetsetter, Gold Digger, The Virgin, GI Jane, and the Rock. You can see the rest of the set over here.
via core77
CollabCubed 