Ugo Rondinone: air gets into everything even nothing & get up girl a sun is running the world

by Wendy Dembo

If you happen to be walking in Battery Park City over the next few months, you might be surprised to see two leafless white trees that look like they were plucked from the enchanted forest in the "Wizard of Oz" and plopped down in Lower Manhattan. Don't be scared, they aren't evil anthropomorphized trees, but rather a new project by Ugo Rondinone, called "air gets into everything even nothing & get up girl a sun is running the world," presented by Creative Time.

Rondinone picked two 2,000-year-old fruit-bearing olive trees in a field near the town where his parents were born and cast them on-site in rubber. Then the 17-foot trees were cast in aluminum; each weighs almost a ton (that is a lot of cans). This project continues the artist's fascination with trees and forests. The placement the trees in an urban setting deals with his preoccupation with "themes of time and displacement, and the relationship between natural and artificial environments." I can't wait to see how they blend in with the snow, if it ever gets warm enough to snow.

air gets into everything even nothing & get up girl a sun is running the world
1 February-30 April 2007
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park
2 West Street
New York, NY 10024
tel. +01 212 206 6674

coo.boo Digital Cookbook

by Tim Yu

You might have heard, but soon there will no longer be a need to risk your laptop in precarious situations in the kitchen. Modeled after a spatula, coo.boo is a digital cookbook that fits into the kitchen environment better than any laptop or printed cookbook. Recipes stored on the user’s computer are automatically synchronized through a wireless docking station and displayed on the face of the device. Digital function allows the cook to choose the degree of support wanted, from simply displaying recipes to full audiovisual cooking lessons. Not fragile like other high-tech digital devices, coo.boo is washable and can be placed on the counter top or hung up next to other kitchen utensils. Designed by Philipp Gilgen, a student at the University of Applied Sciences in Northwestern Switzerland, it recently won the IF Concept Award 2007. Still in prototype stage, there is no word yet on release or price. Contact Philipp Gilgen for more info.

Galeria Melissa

by Ami Kealoha

Much in the spirit of the high design collaborations that plastic footwear maker Melissa has become known for in recent years, Galeria Melissa, their flagship São Paulo store was designed to be constantly updated with new graphics both on the exterior facade and on interior walls every three months.

Rio-based designer Muti Randolph (also responsible for the retro-futuristic design of the São Paulo club D-Edge) creates the bold compositions on a computer and prints them on a Vutek inkjet printer, a process that takes 24 hours. (Click images for detail.) The current installation (pictured far right) features bright green palm leaves and blocky, biomimetic-looking shapes in yellow, brown and fuschia that look like they could be plants from the future. Among the rows of mostly drab boutiques on Oscar Freire (São Paulo's Rodeo Drive), the "new rave" art announces that the Brazilian shoemaker is up to something new. Up next, logically, Randolph will invite guest designers to art direct the space. Check out previous incarnations, interior and detail shots here and Frame's online article for more info.

BestWorkOutMusic.com

by Tim Yu

Listening to music during workouts is essential, but sometimes it can do more harm than good. The problem is, I can't help but run to the beat of the music. Finding a song with a tempo that matches your exercise pace does the trick, but building perfect gym playlists takes time. Bestworkoutmusic.com is a site where you can search for and purchase songs to help solve this dilemma. After starting by figuring out your preferred pace matched to beats per minute (bpm), the BeatScanner feature allows you to select tracks from your library using the bpm rate that you specify. Even better, for all of your favorite songs that don't quite match your pace, there is the Repacer which changes the beat of any song to match your work out, a feature formerly only available to aerobics instructors and DJs. The great service would benefit greatly from a site redesign and unfortunately, it is only PC compatible for now.

Pkoh NYC Silicone Travel Bottle

by Ami Kealoha

Timely and clever, Brooklyn design firm Pkoh NYC's new silicone travel bottle solves the problem of containers that are tough to use and leak-prone, while keeping the design to a size that meets the new security regulations for carry-on liquids. Made from pliable translucent silicone, the bulb shape is easy to squeeze and seals securely with an O-ring. A wide mouth makes for easy cleaning and filling of the two-ounce bottle and the inverted design takes advantage of gravity, eliminating struggles to dispense product. One standout among the many details proving designer Paul Koh has keen sense of functional design is the rotating indicator ring that elegantly labels the bottles. Pick up a two-pack that includes one blue and one clear bottle (both are transluscent) for $20 from Pkoh NYC.