reactions

With all the 3D hype James Cameron has been getting with Avatar, you might think that the only 3D experience is to be had on screen. Too bad, as the effect is gone the minute the film is over, back to our dull existence. Well, it turns out that the world of 3D is alive and well, and there’s a new revolution going on that appears as though it will could change the very products we purchase, the houses we live in, the foods we eat, and even the way we heal our bodies. What is this new revolution?

3D printing.

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Our friends over at IvanExpert just sent us some great information for NYers wanting to recycle their old electronics. Just in time for spring cleaning.

Why is this so important? According to WiseGeek:

“…computers and cell phones actually contain toxins that can leach out into the soil and damage the environment. The problem is further compounded by the fact that many of the elements used in the construction of consumer electronics are quite valuable, leading companies to attempt to recover them from abandoned electronics, and discard unwanted parts in a manner which is unsafe.”

Click below to find out the many convenient locations you can safely dispose of the digital detritus that’s taking up needless space…

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Readymade, the book by the founders of the magazine with the same name, is a perfect marriage between sustainability and stellar book design. It features dozens of useful projects (organized by material: paper, plastic, wood, metal, glass, and fabric) most of which can be created with discarded materials from around the house. Although the publication has been out for a few years, I constantly return to appreciating the clarity of its design vision. If you love DIY and/or an amazing book with tons of projects and humorous tidbits and facts, this is the must-have for your library.

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Skipping the plastic bag while shopping isn’t just great for the environment – the alternatives can also be so much more fashionable. Stockholm’s Stadsmission, the Swedish equivalent to the Salvation Army, repurposes clothes and fabrics that can’t be retailed into super eco-friendly shopping bags. Created in collaboration with the renowned Swedish architecture group Claesson Koivisto Rune, this line of shopping bags is marketed under the brand Remake.

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Despite the frigid cold after a giant snowstorm, a glimpse of spring was in the air today as I walked by the Anthropologie flagship in Rockefeller Center. Their store window displays were not only spring-themed, they also have a wonderful eco-theme, too. They’re made from plastic bottles collected from their customers.

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MSLK’s two eco-art installations “2663 Urban Tumbleweeds” and “Watershed” are featured in a new art compilation entitled “Urban Interventions – Personal Projects in Public Places.“

The editor, Matthias Huebner, states:
Evolving from graffiti and street art, urban interventions are the next generation of artwork to hit public space. Using any and all of the components that make up urban landscapes, these mostly spatial works bring art to the masses. They turn the street into a studio, laboratory, club, and gallery and challenge us to rediscover our environment and interact with it in new ways. This is the first book to document these very current, personal art projects in a comprehensive way. It shows the growing connections and interplay of this scene with art, architecture, performance, and installation as it turns public spaces into surprising and provoking individual experiences.

To order an advanced copy, click here.
For more information, follow the jump…

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This spring, Socrates Sculpture Park will be producing a show that seeks to examine the presence of nature within the fabric of urban life. We at MSLK are always looking for opportunities to create awareness on the impact of our mass consumption and have retooled our two eco-art installations to fit this bill. Since we believe in acting locally and thinking globally, we’re always thrilled when we get the opportunity to display our work in our own Long Island City community. Here are our two proposals:

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This is the kind of design innovation we all should all be doing. Why can’t all our outdoor lighting be solar powered? It’s an even input to output exchange, no coal power should be expended.

From lanterns, to garland, and pathway lighting it looks like IKEA’s got you covered. Look for the items to enter stores near you this spring! If you see them let me know; I’ve got my eye on some myself.

MSLK’s AIGA award arrived last week in a most unusual form: as a stool.

A shallow USPS Flat Rate Box containing confetti, five pieces of particle board, and a sheet containing brief 3-step instructions was all there was. This was a bit of a head scratcher at first, yet the instructions explained the following:

“Tasked with designing and manufacturing 26 awards for the 2009 AIGA (Re)Design Awards, cypher13 teamed up with Rocket-fly to create a sustainably-minded and eco-friendly award. Desiring to design an award that would prove useful, be fun to interact with, and that could not be deemed a waste of time, materials, and energy, cypher13 and Rocket-fly settled on the notion of a stool. With Their only real design limitation being size due to the awards having to ship in flat rate USPS boxes(12″ x 12″ x 5.5″), a flatpack design was chosen.”

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