These are some photographs I took at Kinetica Art Fair back in March. I wanted an excuse to play around with the GIF Maker on 15 Folds using my own photographs; these images were perfect because I could easily align the spheres to be the same size on Photoshop.
I know that this new iPhone advert is supposed to be poignant and heartwarming, but I actually find it a little but creepy and unnerving. I’ve probably watched too many episodes of ‘Black Mirror’, because this advert just reminds me that we’re under constant surveillance.
Everyone wants to take pictures of everything! I don’t like to think about it too much, but it really freaks me out to think that there is a very real possibility that a complete stranger has taken a picture of me either passed out or wearing a badly-chosen outfit, just so they can upload it to Facebook and get a few derisive ‘Likes’ at my expense. It’s even worse when you think about how this kind of attitude can escalate – like in the recent Steubenville rape case. It’s definitely got to the point now where taking photos all the time hasn’t just become mundane and disposable – like the scenes in the iPhone ad. Gawking and voyeurism is so deeply embedded in contemporary society that it’s become quite disconcerting. Especially because, to some extent, we’re all guilty of it.
With the recent introduction of Google Glass, a campaign group called Stop The Cyborgs have called for the gadget to be banned in certain areas – something which I am definitely in favour of. The BBC article covering the story raises a lot of interesting questions. While it’s definitely true that technology and innovative design makes our lives faster and easier, these new inventions are also shaping our attitudes in ways that very few could have predicted.
Another microsite from Coca-Cola – not as fun as Happiness Islands, but thankfully not as patronising as the Work It Out site either. This time, Coca-Cola have decided to create a game called, umm…Cat Or Not. Basically, everyone on the internet loves cats, so it strikes me as a bit of a lukewarm crowd pleaser. The game is harder than you’d think, although ultimately it’s fairly pointless. It never seems to end, nor is there any logical conclusion to it.
Come on, Coke, cut the bullshit. When are you going to just roll out more of those free money ATMs? We all know you can afford it!
This elaborate, lattice design dress is a collaboration between stage costumier Michael Schmidt and the innovative Francis Bitonti Studio, based in Brooklyn, New York. Michael Schmidt has created stage outfits for some of the most outlandish and exciting performers – from Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Courtney Love and Grace Jones to Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and – obviously – Dita Von Teese. Schmidt’s design for the gown is based on the Fibonacci sequence and was 3D modelled by Francis Bitonti, before finally being 3D printed in Nylon by Shapeways. Once the 17 separate pieces of the garment were completed, they were dyed black, lacquered and embellished with over 13,000 Swarovski crystals.Dita also wore the dress at the unveiling at New York’s Ace Hotel last night.Although the cartoon-like burlesque star said that the dress was quite comfortable and ‘super light’, I’m not entirely convinced. Undoubtedly, the dress looks pretty cool, but it seems like it didn’t take her long to change out of the gown into a more practical Roland Mouret shift dress.
These vibrant compositions aren’t abstract paintings or prints – they are photographs! The pictures were taken by Montreal-based photographer Jessica Eaton, who uses a method called ‘additive colour separation’ to create these effects. By photographing blocks using motion blur or stepped multiple exposures, Eaton causes the blocks to blend together. There is no digital trickery involved, either. Although Eaton says that digital photography and Photoshop helped her to conceive her work, she uses an analogue 4×5 large format camera.
While the solidity of Jessica Eaton’s pieces make them really intriguing, these light studies by Kim Pimmel possess a fluid movement that works well with the translucency of the neon lights. The San Franciscan UI designer and photographer creates mesmerising long exposure light photographs. To achieve these images, Pimmel uses common objects and simple technology; such as LEDs, phone screens and ping pong balls. More of his light studies are on Flickr, but you should definitely watch his ‘Light Drive‘ video – a stop motion sequence of his light study photographs.
Smile Makers, the manufacturers of cutesy sex toys named after traditionally desirable male stereotypes (‘The Millionaire’, ‘The Fireman’, you get the idea…) have created this microsite which allows you to create a ‘fantasy man’ and put him in a ‘fantasy setting’ and then, um…email him to your friends? The whole exercise feels a little pointless, but I suppose it’s just a bit of promotional fun.I ended up half-heartedly making this, so I suppose it means that I’m subconsciously attracted to Patrick Bateman types, which is kind of soul crushing. Actually…doesn’t this guy remind you of Scott Disick? Oh dear.
I guess, it could be worse, when this is an option…Yep, that’s right, it’s the sweaty anorak-wearing weirdo who’s often in your local Spar. Except he’s now wearing animal print underpants and he’s ready for action on, presumably, an 8-year-old girl’s bed. What the fuck?
Following Charlie Brooker’s second installation of the futuristic ‘Black Mirror’, and with London Fashion Week just around the corner, it feels apt that Crane TV have featured Studio XO – a fashion collective who I had never heard of until today. These fashion and technology pioneers make science and robotics integral to their pieces, pushing the boundaries of fashion and making garments interesting through interactivity, projection mapping and lighting. Despite the possibilities that new technology has brought us, fashion seems to have remained mostly unchanged by it. While we have developed new fabrics, these are not as comfortable or aesthetically pleasing as their natural counterparts – traditional materials like leather, silk and cashmere are still preferable to polyurethane, polyester and acrylic. The image below shows the amazing dress that Studio XO created with Philips for their Design Probes initiative. It was this brand collaboration which got them noticed and led to them working with the likes of JLS, Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas and Azealia Banks. Watch the video with Crane TV to get more of an insight into their intriguing work.
‘Format: A Brief History of Data Storage’ is a slickly animated infographic by Alan Warburton, which shows just how sophisticated our modern data storage options are. It’s bizarre to think that, when I was a kid, I used to put my school projects onto a floppy disk – something that you’d struggle to fit a high resolution image onto these days, let alone an MP3 or a AVI file. I like that Warburton has compared digital media with print media. It’s amazing to think that you could fit the contents of ‘a small library’ on one 16GB USB stick, although one has to assume that the library is a very traditional one, and doesn’t loan out books or DVDs.
Do you like weird facts and knowing what time it is? Great! You should go to Factoclock – you learn something new every minute.
Following Charlie Brooker’s second installation of the futuristic ‘Black Mirror’, and with London Fashion Week just around the corner, it feels apt that 
Watch the video with Crane TV to get more of an insight into their intriguing work.
