IBM’s THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video)

Leaving the confines of a Manhattan apartment, Lincoln Center has the uncanny ability to make one feel dwarfed. Home to the performing arts and haunt to New York City’s glitterati, the landmark received the IBM makeover as part of the company’s THINK exhibit — an interactive installation designed to weave the story of technology as it applies to the fabric of life, achievement and change.

The first thing that catches the eye is IBM’s sparkling 123-foot long, 12-foot high LCD wall lining a tunnel leading into the bowels of the NYC landmark. The “living” wall thrives off the surrounding environment, visualizing traffic patterns and analyzing corresponding air quality from nearby Broadway. It also shows the solar potential of every rooftop in the city, financial transactions and the amount of water leaking from the main aqueduct. As the event’s producer Lee Green simply put it, the idea behind the set up is to “delegate understanding” to “intrigue and inspire” even the least technologically-inclined.

Continue reading IBM’s THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video)

IBM’s THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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97 Images of Our Fragile, Rotting Infrastructure

We think steel, glass and concrete will live forever. Then we look at the things we’ve built that don’t last. These 97 images from this week’s Shooting Challenge are deflating, haunting…and a bit reassuring. At least nature will go on. More »

55 Pieces of Art Made from Cheesy Photo Filters

Cheesy photo filters. You know what I’m talking about. Those horrid, unusable, who-the-fuck-coulda-invented, one-button smears of digital feces that have infested Photoshop like cockroaches. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, Gizmodo readers mastered the tacky photo filter to create…art? More »

The Electree: finally, a bonsai tree that uses solar power to charge your gadgets

So you’re tres green chic with your solar-charging jacket, and that Ralph Lauren backpack keeps your gadgets energized even off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. But what about stylish photovoltaics for your home, dear earth-friendly aesthete? We humbly submit the Electree, by French designer Vivian Muller. Shaped like a bonsai tree, each of its 27 leaves is a solar panel that helps charge a 13,500mAh battery. A concealed USB connector and A/C outlet will feed your gadgets while minimizing unsightly wires, and rotatable branches let you customize the look. Muller’s looking for 400 presales to make the Electree a reality: for early birds, the price is €269 (about $370). If this sounds like the sort of thing you’d put on your windowsill, hit the source link to commence with the purchasing.

Continue reading The Electree: finally, a bonsai tree that uses solar power to charge your gadgets

The Electree: finally, a bonsai tree that uses solar power to charge your gadgets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceVivien Muller, Ulule  | Email this | Comments

Pharrell “Tokyo Rising” Documentary Looks at Creative Japan

Last week we posted about the short film which looks at a parallel world in a “post nuclear Tokyo”, and over the weekend we came across another amazing film here called “Tokyo Rising”. The 30 minute documentary features Pharrell Williams, the American music producer and musician behind N.E.R.D and The Neptunes label, and produced in association with the American footwear brand Palladium Boots.

Pharrell-Williams-Tokyo-Rising

The documentary is by no means the usual dry disaster, “end of days” style piece that has been all over the media but instead a fantastically well made film that features some of Japan’s most interesting creative personalities and focuses on how Japan is rebuilding itself and using its creative strength to push on regardless of the problems 6 months ago. “Tokyo faces a new reality after the tragedy of 3/11. While persistent challenges still lay ahead, the city’s creative class is hell-bent on making sure that their hometown thrives. Innovative and resilient, they are defining the future of Tokyo on their own terms.” Pharrell takes us below the streets into the worlds largest underground aqueduct and introduces us to a number of groups and spaces that aim to show the creative energy in Tokyo.

Tokyo-Rising-Aquaduct

The film explores underground artists as well, including Chim-Pom, the group responsible for the alteration of Okamoto Taro’s nuclear apocalypse mural “Myth of Tomorrow” in Shibuya station. Trying to describe how the disasters themselves and the actions of the government in the wake of the disasters have brought about a resurgence in people expressing themselves through various different and creative ways, I particularly liked the line form Kunichi Nomura, the editor of Tripster, when he says “I hope the young kids get more angry because the old folks wrecked the country”.

Kunichi-Nomura-Tokyo-Rising

Williams’s involvement in the documentary comes from his long standing relationship with the country, along with being the co-founder of the “made-in-Japan” brands Ice Cream and Billionaire Boys Club, he tells us how he, as many other artists are, has been influenced by Japan in many ways.

I recommend watching the full 5 parts of the documentary all available on the Palladium website here. The documentary, as well as being a fantastic piece of film work, is an amazing bit of branding for the company, who not only get the endorsement of Pharrell, but also association with an underground scene that shows some fantastic creativity.

Related Posts:
Blind: Short Film of a Post Nuclear Tokyo
Muji’s Emergency Kits Focus on Design and Function
Designing Japan for Tomorrow

Artists hack Sony Ericsson’s Xperia phones to see the unseen universe, use fire as a flash

For most of us, cellphones are for texting, calling and maybe the occasional tweet, but what happens when you hand them over to some of the world’s most creative minds? Giving hackers, artists and intellectuals free reign to mess with the various Xperia phones, Sony found out just how capable its handsets really are. Using a few tweaks and hacks, artists were able to create an installation that breathes fire when you snap a photo, a remote-controlled boat with GPS and a bike that uses colored lights to spell out secret words only visible when captured on camera. When Sony asked astrophysicist Joshua Peek to give it a go, he took full sky maps and telescope image data to build an app with an up-close view of electromagnetic patterns in the sky. To round out the project, musician Annabel Lindquist composed a song based on the sounds of Paris she recorded with an Arc. Now, if they could just mod one to avoid dropped calls, we’d be all set. Videos of their ingenuity in action after the break.

Continue reading Artists hack Sony Ericsson’s Xperia phones to see the unseen universe, use fire as a flash

Artists hack Sony Ericsson’s Xperia phones to see the unseen universe, use fire as a flash originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 04:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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41 Amazing Photos that Capture Day and Night Simultaneously

Day and night. They’re two polar ideas—complete opposites. But the following photos capture day and night simultaneously, two times occurring in the exact same spot. How is this possible? Some say sorcery. Others, simply GIMP. More »

12 Stay-Dry Glimpses Into the Subaquatic

Underwater photography is inherently intriguing. Colors cool and gravity gives way to currents. Here are your 12 underwater entrants from this week’s Shooting Challenge. More »

9 Pieces of Scrap Electronics Repurposed as Art

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Memory


When his company sent 30 computers to be junked at the local recycling center, Arizona artist Joe Dragt had an epiphany.

“Seeing the stack of old computers, the idea just struck me,” he says. “The motherboards can make for a really neat canvas. The complexity and patterns of all the circuits could make for stunning backgrounds.”

Dragt picks over computers like an eco-conscious vulture, saving motherboards for canvases and eye-catching circuits for sculptures. Leftover plastic and scrap metal are recycled. Hazardous elements go to a computer-disposal plant in Phoenix. Any cash he earns recycling all this stuff buys more paint.

Here’s a look at some of his work.

Above:

Memory

Here, as with his other pieces, Dragt gives a sly nod to his canvas’s original purpose. The motherboard processes data like a brain. The circuits move information like synapses.

“My decision to paint a brain in a mason jar was quite simple,” Dragt says. “I have a deep interest in human anatomy and love creating anatomically themed images.

Image: Joe Dragt

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31 Shadow People Caught on Camera

Shadows. They’re our dark doppelgängers tracking our every step. They’re also excellent subjects for your photographs from last week’s Shooting Challenge. More »