Ebe Salad Serving Set

by Ami Kealoha

Designed by Romain Vauchez, the Ebe salad bowl comes with a lid that has built-in slots for the tongs and also doubles as a stand for serving, making transport effortless and keeping salads and other foods fresher longer. The design of the stainless steel bowl and plastic lid is perfect for potlucks, picnics or your next space age-themed party. It's not cheap at $115, but you can choose between orange, blue, white or green lids from Unica Home. (Uncommon Goods also carries orange, but it's currently on backorder.)

Dustin Lynn

by Leonora Oppenheim

When not traveling to far-flung places to shoot the documentaries he's reknowned for, film maker Dustin Lynn calls NYC home. He's acclaimed for his cinematography and art direction work with musician Jack Johnson, as well as for his beautiful short films, such as "Tranquil Music," about the summery musical vibe in a pre 9/11 NYC, "The Half Way Tree," a tale of Jamaican surfing made with Dan Malloy, "Oxfam Make Trade Fair," documenting Minnie Driver's trip to Cambodia to raise awareness on sweat shop labor. Ever the observant adventurer, Dustin is now involved in the Adventure Ecology expedition series. (Cool Hunting has featured several artists that have shown at The Gallery run by Adventure Ecology in London here and here.) Dustin was invited by AE founder David de Rothschild to join the creative field mission team, whose members also include photographers Ollie Chanarin and Adam Broomberg of Chopped Liver and artist Gabriel Orozco. The Adventure Ecology Mission series, ARTiculate, aims to raise awareness of environmental issues around the world through creative media.

I was lucky enough to catch up with Dustin in Quito, Ecuador when the Adventure Ecology team visited last month for the Toxico Mission. We discussed how he got into film, his inspirations and the collaborative experience of the Adventure Ecology mission. You can find out more about Dustin’s work at Blachrome and see his reel here.

Dustin, how did you get into film making?
I bought a 16mm camera when I was 19 or so off eBay and I decided I wanted to start making films. I went to New York and made a short film, "Tranquil Music," about my brother who's a DJ in the city. It was the first film I ever made, it was about 10 minutes long. I looked on the internet for film festivals, I thought maybe I'd try and send it in, I really had no clue what I was doing. I found out later that I was loading the camera wrong the whole time! But, I got the film back and I couldn't believe it, it just looked great. It felt like I didn't even shoot it.

A natural, as they say!
Well, so I found the Tribeca film festival on the internet. It was the first one they were doing. I shot the movie a couple of weeks before 9/11—it was a really nice summer before that happened, beautiful things going on. We went to a lot of outdoor parties, with my brother deejaying, lots of really good vibes in the city, people dancing. There was a unity there that got destroyed after 9/11—it's different city now. The Tribeca film festival started up to rejuvenate that area, I sent the film in and before I knew it I was sitting across the table at lunch with De Niro and Scorcese.

Are you serious?
Yeah! My film opened the festival.

And Scorcese just called you up?
Yeah.

That must have been an interesting meeting?
It was! De Niro didn't say much. He would just smile and nod a lot, and I would smile and nod back.

And what was the next project after that? Did you work with Scorcese?
No, not yet!

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Atelier Urbano, São Paulo

by Phuong-Cac Nguyen

São Paulo’s Atelier Urbano is a house of style and inspiration when it comes to their chic bags. The handmade Winter 2007 collection (northern and southern hemispheres have opposite seasons) employ macramé weaving, special leathers, hardware details, mosaic and quilted patterns into purses that urge their owners to consider them the first integral part of an outfit rather than just a final complementing component. There are a variety of sizes and styles, from smaller snakeskin clutches to bigger, weaved leather varieties.

Motivated by the lack of innovative and modern designs in the accessories market, Aline Prado and Michele Yumi launched Atelier Urbano in 2004. Their idea was to incorporate macramé, Arabian techniques and special materials to attract customers.

Atelier Urbano bags are available at select stores world-wide including Harrods and Selfridges in London, Surface to Air and Doc Dog in Sao Paulo, and NYArtifical in New York. Check out the full Winter 2007 line here.

Michael Fakesch: Dos

by Tim Yu

Imagine an alternate universe where Jamie Lidell sits high on top of the Billboard charts, enjoying Justin Timberlake-sized superstardom, while Matthew Herbert gets paid seven figures to make beats for P. Diddy. It's in this bizarro world that you might hear the likes of Michael Fakesch's new solo album Dos on the radio.

What makes Dos work is the inclusion of vocalist Taprikk Sweezee, who is a guest on most of the album and injects a pop sensibility to dense rhythms blending an unlikely combination. Similar to Lidell's 2005 masterpiece Multiply, Sweezee's vocals make for a warm and accessible sound. However, when combined with Fakesch's unconventional breaks we get a musical gem combining the familiar and the experimental in rare form. Listen to the tension thick "Escalate," or the broken grooves of "Dot" for some shining examples.

Formerly of the now defunct electronic duo Funkstorung — well known for its remixes of the Wu-Tang Clan and Bjork — Fakesch continues to inject a heavy dose of otherworldly teched out sounds concocting a collection of grimy, feedback-laden beats of all tempos.

Dos will be released on 31 July 2007 on K7 Records and Musik Aus Strom. It is available to pre-order now on Soulseduction.

By Jesse Mann