After many months of planning, organizing, and designing, we’re finally there: our eco-art installation is ready to be shipped to Burning Man’s Playa! Again, thanks to all of you who’ve donated plastic bags. Special thanks to our summer intern Janelle, who did a great job counting, sorting and linking the 2663 bags. Yesterday afternoon, we made some tests with 1/20 of the entire chain – the distance between two signs which will be integrated periodically throughout. Even this tiny part of the 0.33 miles long installation was pretty impressive…Below are some photos of our test run.
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| Jul. 17, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
2663 Urban Tumbleweeds Progress
| Jun. 26, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
Nastrovje! Thoughts After a Little Odessa Night Out
Last weekend, we went to a birthday party for our Russian friend, Andrey, at the Tatiana Restaurant on Brighton Beach’s boardwalk. I’ve been to Coney Island before, but this was my first experience at Little Odessa, and it was quite memorable. If you’re looking for a great summer weekend trip to Brighton Beach: lunch or dinner at Tatiana is highly recommended. Even better, if you have something to celebrate…
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| Jun. 18, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
2663 Urban Tumbleweeds at Burning Man
We’re preparing for our art installation “2663 Urban Tumbleweeds” at the Burning Man Festival this summer. Please help us gather 2663 plastic bags by July 15th!
| Jun. 12, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
Pop Art on the Roof
One of the things I love about summer in NYC, is hanging out at a rooftop garden or bar and enjoying the view. My favorite “local” rooftop is the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden at the Metropolitan Museum. This place offers an amazing summer mix: a spectacular view of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline, great drinks, and, of course – art.
Last Friday night I checked out their current summer exhibit, “Jeff Koons on the Roof”. The three giant, colorful Pop sculptures, mounted in this beautiful and dramatic outdoor space, are worth a trip to the Upper East Side…
| Jun. 5, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
Art instead of Ads
Reading the news online can be very annoying. There are so many ads, pop-up windows and banners on the screen that you can hardly focus on the copy. So why not banish the ads and replace them with something more enjoyable? Last week Katie told us about a customizable open source add-on by Firefox: Add-Art replaces advertising with art images. The art is updated every two weeks and features contemporary artists and curators.
| May. 27, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
Get Out The Vote!
The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) invited designers to participate in a get-out-the-vote campaign for the US national elections in fall 2008. The objective was to create a poster series showcasing the power of design for the public good with a nonpartisan message to encourage voter turnout.We created five posters targeting different audiences with unique messages: from a call to either vote or veto a candidate, to humorous statistics encouraging the 18-25 demographic to vote, or a fictitious personal ad showcasing that voters are in demand. Click below – the posters are available as online PDFs for anyone to download, print and post independently.
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| May. 21, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
Swiss-US Furniture Design Highlight
Being a big furniture design enthusiast, I was excited to go to the 20th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) last weekend. The Javits Convention Center bustled with a vibrant mix of interior designers, architects, retailers, designers, and manufacturers. The national and international exhibitors offered an interesting insight in the latest trends in contemporary furniture. In my opinion, the star of the show was Loadbearing, a US/Swiss company providing furniture for the home and casual office. I swear, I fell in love with this shelving system before I even knew it was designed by a Swiss.
| May. 15, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
Red Velvet Birthday Surprise
Today MSLK surprised me with a sweet little birthday celebration. Ellen made the most delicious and beautiful cupcakes I’ve ever had. Keeping in line with MSLK’s motto Design with Style + Substance, her cupcakes weren’t only beautiful to look at, but also made with (some) eco-friendly ingredients. Thanks, MSLK, for singing “Happy Birthday” and special thanks to Ellen for spoiling us with your awesomely sweet treats!
| May. 8, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
Why Google When You Can Blackle?
Have you ever thought of saving energy by changing the color on your monitor? I just learned that it requires more power to display a white screen than a black screen. That’s why Heap Media created Blackle, a search engine that is powered by Google but displays the results on a predominantly black screen.
What if Google, the world’s most popular search engine, adopted this idea and entirely switched to a black version? In 2007 a blogger figured out that the change would save 750 Megawatt-hours a year — this is where the idea for Blackle came from.
| Apr. 29, 2008 | Posted by: claudia |
Savage Grace – Beautifully Disturbing
Last weekend I saw two films at the Tribeca Film Festival. The long and annoying standing in line almost made me regret having bought the tickets. But the movie I saw on Saturday rewarded me for my patience. I was truly impressed by the New York premiere of “Savage Grace”, directed by Tom Kalin. The film dramatizes the real-life story of the charismatic high-society mother Barbara Daly Baekeland and her son Tony. Their close, incestuous relationship, ended as one of the most memorable American tragedies: Tony murdered his mother in their London apartment in 1972.
A sensual and grand decadent tour. Queasily fascinating, coolly compassionate, “Savage Grace” is a mesmerizing portrait of love run wildly, tragically amok. (David Ansen, Newsweek)
Amazing. The early vote for best portrayal of social life in a 2008 film is Savage Grace. Like “Death in Venice” meets “The Great Gatsby” on the “Psycho” lot. (Billy Norwich, Vogue)
I didn’t know much about this film and was therefore pretty surprised and disturbed by the film’s intensity and subject…
