Cool Hunting
| 10 March 2008view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
Olaf Breuning
by Ami Kealoha
In honor of Swiss artist Olaf Breuning's inclusion in the 2008 Whitney Biennial, this video visits his Manhattan studio. In the midst of working on his two-part installation for the show, Olaf takes the time to explain his inspiration and thinking behind his mini army made of readymade objects and a recreation of a 1932 photograph. There's also plenty of examples of his other playfully absurd photographs, videos and sculptures as well as a few comments about how materials spark his creativity, pop culture and the differences of working out of a place of pleasure vs. struggle.
Etch-A-Sketch Clock
by Watchismo
Angela Yuan, a young NYC-based mechanical engineer, has built a fun little clock from an Etch-A-Sketch. Each minute that passes, the machine tilts the toy, shakes it clean and mechanically draws the correct time.
Camaleonte Animal Benches
by Phuong-Cac Nguyen
Although they look fit for a kid's room, these novelty animal benches, made by the careful hand of São Paulo artisan Ted Benvenuti of Camaleonte, are gorgeous enough to grace the world of adults. Each one, weighing 77-88 pounds, takes him anywhere from 10-15 days to build, from fitting the wood pieces together to sanding and sealing the overall work. Benvenuti uses Brazilian bentwood that's been certifiably reforested, but he also hunts for leftovers from carpentry shops specializing in furniture creation.
Because of the handcrafted nature of the benches, each animal—like in real life—possesses its own personality. Benvenuti's real-life best friends are a Lab and Golden Retriever, but he's quick to point out that his wood dogs are ultimate companions because they don't require a veterinarian nor cleaning up after. You can find his four-legged creations in São Paulo exclusively at Conceito Firma Casa.
The animal benches are just one example of Benvenuti's inventive woodwork. We also recommend checking out his bicycles and (wonderfully politically incorrect) Favelas, which would make a great doll house for a modern kid.
Death/Traitors: Spring 08
by Doug Black
It's hard for a t-shirt operation to define itself when it seems like everyone and their friend-who-dropped-out-of- art-school is printing their own line. That hasn't been a problem for Brooklyn's Death/Traitors, who recently added to their inimitable collection of loosely cult-themed streetwear. The spring line offers a healthy dose of satanic messages and roman numerals, with enough pyramids and all-seeing eyes to fill an Illuminati membership bulletin. In addition to tees, they're currently offering sweatshirts and some remaining cold weather gear.
You can buy Death/Traitors goods in a handful of shops or on their internet store, which is the only place you'll find their historically-conscious Anne Frank "Stop Snitching" tee.
The Endless City
by Doug Black
Phaidon's latest tome eschews art-and-design for facts-and-figures. The Endless City features essays by prominent architects, urban planners and other metropolitan experts who examine the modern urban condition and back up their conjectures with raw data. Edited by Ricky Burdett, a professor at the London School of Economics, and Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, London, the book is a print companion to the Urban Age project, a study conducted by the LSE and Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society. It springs from the realization that, in 1900, only 10% of the human population lived in cities, while today it's 50%. Added to that the expectation that it will reach 75% by 2050, and there's just cause for a thorough reevaluation of our urban environments. And it's thorough, indeed—with more than 500 broad pages, the book can't be faulted for undue brevity.
The writers attack their challenge with six case studies: New York, Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Johannesburg and Berlin. These particular cities hold a wealth of unique challenges. (Mexico City sprawls ever larger by the minute, while Berlin is relatively stagnant; Shanghai is growing upward with thousands of new buildings, while Johannesburg has citizens shifting to the periphery.) Through these examples, we learn about the issues facing us related to globalization, immigration, jobs, social exclusion and sustainability with some prescriptions for the future. All of this is accompanied by hundreds of arresting images, and lots of numbers.
"The Endless City" will be available 15 April 2008 on the Phaidon website, or you can pre-order it on Amazon. Also, a website dedicated to the book will launch this week.
