September 15, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Michelangelo Pistoletto: Serpentine Gallery

A leading figure in conceptual art, Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto has combined several elements from previous works to create the site-specific installation The Mirror of Judgment at the Serpentine Gallery in London. In the labyrinth of corrugated cardboard one comes upon sculptures/objects that include a Trumpet of Judgement, a Buddha, and a prayer kneeler, to name a few. Pistoletto says the gallery is like a temple – in a spiritual sense, not religious – where we come up against the mirror and are meant to judge ourselves.

From the gallery’s website:
Pistoletto’s exhibition will draw visitors through the galleries, leading them via a winding maze to hidden installations and sculptures. Responding to the architecture of the Serpentine galleries and using an economy of materials, the exhibition will manipulate visitors’ perceptions of space, making them an integral part of the work itself.

The exhibit runs through Saturday, September 17th, so if you’re in London, rush on over and check it out!

via Serpentine Gallery

Photos courtesy of: Serpentine Gallery, Galleria Continua; Politicus; Sebastiano Pellion; Bertrand Huet; and Oak Taylor-Smith. ©2011 Michelangelo Pistoletto

September 15, 2011 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

BP Refinery in Rotterdam

Click to enlarge.

It may not be PC to feature an oil refinery, especially BP’s with its recent history, but we’re here to talk about design and this is a rather stunning structure. Designed by Dutch architects Group A in Rotterdam, this 10,500 square meter building takes into consideration sustainability and safety in addition to aesthetics.

The beautiful and dramatic curved glass atrium wasn’t without its challenges. To keep the costs down, rectangular glass panels were used in as few different sizes as possible. By using the geometric primitive of the cone the architects were able to bend and twist the roof while the panels remained normal rectangles within a structure of tapered aluminum and steel profiles.

The building is hidden in an artificial dune which adds to the dramatic look as well as helping to meet safety requirements.

From the Group A:
On the north side the building is hidden in a new artificial dune, while it appears to be ‘crawling’ out of the dune on the south side. By embedding the building in the landscape, safety measures against the explosion hazard posed by the refineries are being met with. The head office is a dynamic expression of the connection between landscape and building mass.

The dune is also actively and dynamically part of the interior. A large atrium is situated between the offices and the dune. The efficient and flexible offices can be connected to each other, and open up towards the atrium, creating a dynamic and interactive environment.

The expansive timber clad wall enhances the presence of the dune landscape on the interior of the office. The varying wood tones echo the qualities of rock and sand formations. At the same time, the curved front facade emerges from the artificial dune, while the grassy hill hides the building from the road.

via The Archhive

September 14, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Sena Arcak: Scale Room

I had to smile when I came across Sena Arcak’s installation Scale Room/These Scales are Correct. I would imagine this would be many people’s worst nightmare.

The Istanbul based artist installed eighty-four bathroom scales on the floor of a 6-meter square room. The scales act as tiles making up the floor. Love it.

From the artist:
The idea of producing this project emerged as a reaction to the societal pressure that is induced by a constant flow of images of thin women in print and digital media. But more than that, I feel much more troubled by the competitive and judgmental pressure imposed on each other by women.

Also part of the Scale Series is Just, only (three bottom photos) displaying a pair of armless hands pressing down on a scale.

Photos courtesy of Sena Arcak.

September 14, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Ardan Özmenoglu: Post-it Art

In recent years, there has been quite a bit of Post-it based art, taking advantage of its pixel-quality square shape. Turkish artist Ardan Ozmenoglu’s Post-it art seizes upon a different quality of the note: the transient nature, such as curling or falling over time as well as the disposable aspect. Whether using a grid of Post-its as her canvas, or printing on each individual Post-it and overlapping them en masse, Ozmenoglu counts on the changing quality of these notes as part of the work, creating an interesting result.

From the artist:
… I subject images to reproduction on that most ubiquitous yet disposable of modern conveniences, the Post-it. Social commentary enters into the experience as the images eventually curl and fall away like so many autumn leaves.

Check out more of her work here.

September 14, 2011 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Just Fold It by Kutarq

Kutarq, a multidisciplinary firm led by Jordi López Aguiló in Valencia, Spain, has just come out with an interesting design for a room divider. “Just Fold It” is flexible, easy to assemble and disassemble, and the individual models fold compactly making them convenient to store or transport. The length of the screen can be adjusted by adding or subtracting the number of modules. Perforations on the surface increase stability by counteracting wind resistance in addition to varying the porosity which creates a nice visual effect that varies depending on the angle and distance from which it is viewed.

Be sure to check out the rest of Kutarq’s products and projects on their site.

September 13, 2011 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Chus Garcia-Fraile: Protected Zones

More work from Chus Garcia-Fraile (see previous post). Protected Zone Sea and Protected Zone. Both are photo stills and videos, and both are eerily surreal.You can see the video of the bottom image, Protected Zone, here.

September 13, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

PSLAB: Mybar

Lebanese design firm PSLAB designed the lighting concept and fixtures for HGroup Architects on the restaurant/bar project MyBar in downtown Beirut.

Three distinct areas needed to be addressed: the long entrance corridor; the bar; and the dining area. The challenge was to provide a trendy and edgy atmosphere for the evening crowd while keeping it sophisticated to avoid alienating the business professionals who work in the same building and have lunch there.

All the lighting and decor is quite striking, especially the oddly shaped hanging lights. I’d say they succeeded in mixing trendy and sophisticated.

via restaurant and bar design awards

September 12, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Baguettes to Bentleys: Vending Machines

This week as part of Fashion Week here in NYC, the Hudson Hotel’s already impressive, over-sized Semi-Automatic vending machine has been stocked with products from up and coming designers. Some of these include: Alice Ritter, Grey Ant, Jolibe (rabbit fur jacket), Public School (wool ties), Sang A (python clutch), and Ruby Kobo (Diamond bracelet). This is just one of many in a growing trend of nontraditional vending machines. The Mondrian Hotel in Miami has had their purple-illuminated machine for a couple of years, offering everything from sundries to extreme luxury items including a Bentley.

Recently the three of us (plus cousin Moni) were on the The Standard Hotel’s rooftop (Le Bain) checking out the view as well as the waterbed poofs and jacuzzis, when we noticed a vending machine selling bathing suits on our way out.

In Paris, French baker, Jean-Louise Hecht invented and installed a 24-hour baguette dispensing vending machine this past summer. The loaves are partially precooked and finish baking after the customer makes their selection.

Two summers ago on a trip to Barcelona, we happened upon the largest vending machine we had ever seen right in a subway station next to the turnstiles. It looked like the refrigerated section of a deli built right into the station wall.

And in Nanjing, China, a crab-selling vending machine has been installed with much success, selling live crabs in specially patented plastic cases!

Photo credits: top two Hudson Hotel; Mondrian Hotel; Baguette machine photos: Michael Euler, AP. Crab photos: screen shots from Hood News Network.

September 12, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

University of Sistan & Baluchestan Restaurant

Click to enlarge.

Located in Zahedan, Iran, as part of the Sistan & Baluchestan University, this restaurant, designed by Lida Almassian and Shahin Heidari of New Wave Architecture, has a dramatic folded skin that works beautifully sitting over the water. By breaking the mass into two volumes, the architects were able to make the building communicate nicely with the surrounding landscape.

Consisting of two dining halls, each seating 400 people, deliberately separating the two genders. The total built area is 3000 sq. meters. The building was originally designed in 2006 but was just completed in 2010.

via e-architect

September 9, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Marcin Faber: Magnetica Type

Polish designer and coder Marcin Faber wrote some code in Processing – using approximately 10,000 particles – to create a visual approximation of what the lines of a magnetic field would look like if you used magnets in the shape of letters instead of a typical magnetic bar. Voila! Magnetica.

via typetoken

September 9, 2011 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Frank Kunert: Small Worlds

German photographer Frank Kunert creates intricate, flawlessly detailed miniature models, full of humor and satire, and then photographs them. I’ve come across one or two of these photos before, but visiting Kunert’s website to see his extensive collection was a real treat. I felt myself grinning stupidly at the computer screen.

It’s too bad these can’t be enlarged to see more of the detail. Pretty incredible work. For one more week you can see a couple of Frank Kunert’s photographs live at the Museum of Art and Design as part of the Otherworldly exhibit.

via MAD

September 8, 2011 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Chus Garcia-Fraile: Barcode

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Chus Garcia-Fraile lives and works in Madrid, Spain. She works in all mediums, fluctuating between photography, drawing, sculpture, video and installation.

Barcode is an oversized sculpture that she created as part of the International Festival of Bennicassim — a music festival on the eastern coast of Spain, north of Valencia — a few years back. Nice!

Photos from fiberfib’s flickr

September 8, 2011 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Cuarto Pensante: Interior Design

Spanish architects Cuarto Pensante like to say (at least on their website) that they are “creators of spaces and emotions.” Seems to be especially true in their design for the offices of Hidrosalud, a water treatment company in Spain. Everything about the space, from the white walls tinted blue by the winding recessed lights, to the shapes and curves of the walls, has a very flow-y, water-like feel. In addition, some of the glass walls/windows utilize an Xray lighting system that, when off, allows the glass to be transparent and, when the electric current is on, makes the glass opaque. (Very Bar89-bathroom.)

You can see more of Cuarto Pensante’s projects on their site.

September 8, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Nada Sehnaoui: Bringing Order to Chaos

Beirut-based artist Nada Sehnaoui creates installations that deal with issues of war, history and identity. In her installation Haven’t 15 Years of Hiding in the Toilets Been Enough?, Sehnaoui installed 600 toilets in downtown Beirut in memory of the 15-year long Lebanese war, a time when people used to hide from bombs and shrapnel in the bathrooms. She invited residents of the city to sit on the toilets, rest their feet and contemplate what had taken place.

In This Too Shall Pass (a prayer), Sehnaoui positions a large number of rolling pins in a circle, almost as if holding hands and united in prayer against the constant threat of war. And in Plastic Memory Containers, Nada Sehnaoui, surprised by the strong connection people felt with their 6000-year old history yet complete alienation from the more recent history of the civil war, she filled 100 plastic buckets with 3000 crumpled up pieces of paper with the question “How meaningful is it to have a 6000-year old history when we have no memory of our recent past?”

via moversnshakers

September 7, 2011 by collabcubed - 16 Comments

EARonic iPhone Cases

We are very (no, really, VERY) excited to announce the launch of our first CollabCubed production: EARonic iPhone cases. Designed by Daniela Gilsanz – a cube root of CollabCubed – the EARonic iPhone cases are EARefutably EAResistible. Available in our new shop, in five different styles, it’s your chance to don that multi-pierced ear you’ve been wanting, or maybe just the opposite.

Daniela first came up with the idea last fall when applying to art schools. She was getting a portfolio together and while sketching some ears in her sketchbook (one of the prompts from a school) the initial EARonic mockup and portfolio piece came to be. (See spread with sketches second from top.)

Since then, we’ve improved on the original concept, photographed many an ear, and produced the actual phone cases. So, go take a look at our new shop and check them out for yourself.

UPDATE: We are giving away three EARonic iPhone 4 Cases. To enter, just like us on our facebook page by September 27th. We will announce the winners on our facebook page on Wednesday, September 28th.

UPDATE on November 27th: Starting today, shipping is free within the U.S. for standard first class mail and $5 for international shipping via USPS air mail.

September 6, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Urban Daddy Cycling Classic

This looks like it must have been a lot of fun. As part of the E2NY Festival this summer in the Hamptons, Red Paper Heart – a collective of artists and coders who make music videos, installations and games by combining interactivity and animation –was asked to create an installation for UrbanDaddy. They proposed a head-to-head bike race with a design focus, mapping forests, foxbears and orbs to the speed of the bikes, giving the rider a sense of their speed. The rides lasted 60 seconds. The faster the cyclist the farther they got unlocking multiple environments. Some even made it to space.

Here’s a video worth checking out for a better sense of the event as well as the added treat of listening to a Collabcubed favorite: Ed Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ song “Home”.

I think they should implement something like this in my spin classes…

via TagoArtwork

September 6, 2011 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Joshua Stern: Spitball Portraits

To see him, you wouldn’t think Joshua Stern to be the spitball-throwing type, and you’d probably be right. He is, however, a spitball-creating type who, instead of firing spitballs at others, chooses to make the tiny objects into sculptures of heads. He then proceeds to photograph them and magnify these miniature spitball sculptures onto 4 x 6ft. prints, or a least that’s what the artist did for his solo exhibit at Parker’s Box in Williamsburg, Brooklyn titled Straw Economy. “Magnifying the grandness of the insignificant” seems to be a theme in Stern’s work with some of its significance relating to art market values today.

You can see more of Joshua Stern’s work here and here.

September 6, 2011 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Bosphorus Bridge Nightly Light Show

When we were in Istanbul last month we spotted the Bosphorus Bridge on multiple occasions, usually during the day. One night, however, we passed and witnessed a sort of LED light show with changing colors and animation. We wondered if it was a Ramadan-related occasion or some other special event, but as it turns out it’s more of a we-just-like-our-bridge nightly event.

Built in 1973 and linking Europe to Asia, the 1500 meter bridge has been illuminated at night since 2007. It’s a pretty impressive show. Watch it in action in the video below. The light show begins midway into the video.

Photos courtesy of: Serpentine Gallery, Galleria Continua; Politicus; Sebastiano Pellion; Bertrand Huet; and Oak Taylor-Smith. ©2011 Michelangelo Pistoletto

Click to enlarge.

The dune is also actively and dynamically part of the interior. A large atrium is situated between the offices and the dune. The efficient and flexible offices can be connected to each other, and open up towards the atrium, creating a dynamic and interactive environment.

Photos courtesy of Sena Arcak.

From the artist: … I subject images to reproduction on that most ubiquitous yet disposable of modern conveniences, the Post-it. Social commentary enters into the experience as the images eventually curl and fall away like so many autumn leaves.

Photo credits: top two Hudson Hotel; Mondrian Hotel; Baguette machine photos: Michael Euler, AP. Crab photos: screen shots from Hood News Network.

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge

Photos: Wikipedia and Stockholm Lighting

From the artist:
… I subject images to reproduction on that most ubiquitous yet disposable of modern conveniences, the Post-it. Social commentary enters into the experience as the images eventually curl and fall away like so many autumn leaves.