SteriPEN Adventurer

by Tim Yu

Lighter, faster and half the size of its predecessor (the Classic), the new SteriPEN Adventurer uses UV light to sterilize sketchy water in under a minute. Ensuring safe drinking water where ever your travels take you, I would not have survived without it on my recent travels to countries like Cambodia and Laos.

Just press the button and place the lamp end in the water and stir. If you prematurely take the lamp out of the water, the purifier will warn you with a red light that the water is not ready to drink. There is no need for chemicals or harsh treatments that leave your water tasting like metal. Using the same sterilization technique as hospitals, the Adventurer can purify 16 ounces of water in 48 seconds, killing bacteria and viruses related to Dysentary, E. Coli, Salmonella, Cholera, Typhoid Fever and Giardia, among others—ailments could ruin your trip or even worse.

A must have for summer travels, the Adventurer SteriPEN is available at Amazon for $130.

Venice Biennale 2007

by Wendy Dembo

The 52nd Biennale di Venezia opened to the public this week and runs until 27 November 2007.

I was in Venice for the vernissage, which takes place a few days before the official opening. During that time Venice is filled with curators, artists, collectors, enthusiasts and fashionistas, all trying to see as many pavilions before it gets too crowded and snag press bags and invitations to as many parties as possible.

I tried to see as much of the pavilions and the Arsenale (the more alternative show housed in the Corderia, an old rope making factory). The French Pavilion had an amazing show by Sophie Calle that tasked 107 ladies with translating and dissecting a “Dear John” letter that she received. Videos by Feist, Peaches, Laurie Anderson, Daim and Susan Deyhem interpreted the letter. One woman translated the letter into Latin and a psychologist took a hard look at it as well. The German Pavilion, only letting 25 people in at a time, had a wait to see “Oil” by Isa Genzken. It was an odd show. I liked the hanging hanging astronauts (above right).

The Russian Pavilion had a great installation called “Click I hope.” My favorite part was by Andrey Bartenev, his section contained 50 spinning LCDs that said “Connection Lost.” (Pictured above left.) Andrey was representing, wearing fabulous outfits every day and night. Northern Europe had fun show including an entire wall of dart boards. How could you not get a bullseye? (Pictured above right.)

The Italian Pavilion “Think with the Senses—Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense,” a survey curated by Rob Storr, was filled with some great art. I loved Bruce Nauman's “Fountain for Venice,” referring to some of his earlier photos that depicted him as a fountain. Congo's Cheri Samba's room was amazing. His work is very powerful and political. The pavilion is vast—even though we thought that we saw everything, we may have missed a bit. After a quick lunch I stopped in the African Pavilion, catching "Check List Luanda Pop" a show of contemporary African artists and really liking it. The room was filled with great energy. (Pictured above.)

One of the best treats about going to the Biennale in Venice is getting into all of the Palazzos that are usually closed to the public. At the Ukranian Pavilion, I ran into Dzine, who showed us his tricked-out boat (left) with two DJ decks and TVs which is part of the pavilion and travels to a show in Rome next. After a bit, I went back to the Arsenale in hopes of seeing the “Hamsterwheel.” The illusive Hamsterwheel was across the water from the Corderia and to get there you had to be ferried by the Gelitin boys, who had made little boats out of scrap wood. The crossing was very slow and seemed like the boys were more interested in nude sunbathing than rowing. There was supposed to be an alternative shuttle, but after waiting for almost an hour, we sadly gave up.

LED Art Fan

by Ami Kealoha

Much like the 3-D display in our latest video, this LED art fan displays moving images on a rotating blade in 2-D. We've seen similar versions before, but this makes strides with color and programmability.

With 42 LEDs mounted on the blades the LED art fan spins and flickers to create beautiful images. Holding up to 128 individual pictures in its built-in memory, the LED art fan displays animated gif files in an 85 diameter pixel resolution while circulating the air and lowering room temperature. Although it only works with a PC, the fan is classically designed in chrome art deco style and is programmable with the included IR transmitter. Available for $400 from ThinkGeek.

via Make.

by Seth Brau

Green Project

by Ami Kealoha

A fresh take on disaster relief, the New Orleans-based Green Project is a positive approach to the deconstruction of damaged or collapsed homes and buildings. Rather than simply tearing the destroyed properties of new Orleans apart to make room for new structures with bulldozers, the Green Project carefully salvages and deconstructs the buildings by hand. Focusing on the importance of New Orleans' unique architectural history and respect for personal property, the hand-done process saves between 45 and 70 percent of the materials. They even have their own garden and interactive community space promoting recycling and salvaging garbage for everything from soil to artistic material.

Whether assisting individuals to reconstruct their homes, selling high quality, salvaged building materials at low cost or promoting recycling and rebuilding in the community, the Green Project has played an integral part in the rebuilding of New Orleans. We have a few Green project t-shirts to give away so follow the contact link at the bottom of the page, select "Green Project" from the pull-down menu and tell us your favorite architectural example of creative reuse before this Thursday, 14 June 2007, 11:59 EST. We'll choose a winner at random.

by Seth Brau