Sarah Beetson's 50 Bucks: Bring On The Sluts Art Vending Machine

by Lost At E Minor

Melbourne-based illustrator Sarah Beetson has her second solo exhibition opening this Friday, 6 June 2008, featuring Australia's first Art Vending machine. Titled "50 Bucks: Bring On The Sluts," is a collection of 500 Moleskine-sized artworks which will be priced at $50 each. Those interested in buying one will be able to make their purchase through a donated Pepsi vending machine, which will be dispensing the artworks in a "message in a bottle" fashion. Should be fun.

50 Bucks: Bring On The Sluts
Opening reception: 6 June 2008, 6:30-8:30pm
6-22 June 2008
The McCulloch Gallery
8 Rankins Lane Melbourne
Victoria 3000 Australia map
tel. +03 9602 1101

70 Unique Business Cards

by Tim Yu

As we continue to fiddle with our own business cards, it was nice to come across a comprehensive list of 70 original and clever designs.

The site features a range of different shapes, sizes and forms, but my favorites are ones that have some sort of interactive or playful feature, like the pull-tab (above left) and scratch-off (below left). Obviously, the most important objective is to get the message across and in that respect some are definitely better than others. Nonetheless, it's always a fun excercise to see how designers utilize a limited amount of space so have a look for yourself at Fubiz.

via Computerlove

Frank Willems: Madam Rubens

by Brian Fichtner

After studying advertising and presentation techniques at St. Lucas College and the Design Academy Eindhoven , Frank Willems worked briefly with rising design luminary Joris Laarman. Now participating in various group exhibitions and creating unique studio work, Willems has joined the ranks of many young Dutch designers for whom personal expression is paramount.

The Madam Rubens collection, his most fully realized furniture design, saw its gestation in an Eindhoven research project into the life of waste materials. Frank explained in an email: "At a visit to a waste processing facility I learned almost all types of waste appeared to have a destination, except mattresses. They cause trouble because they get stuck between the shredders...For this reason, I started to work with old mattresses."

Willems repurposes old mattresses, bending and folding them like giant pieces of bubblegum, then lashes the volumes to the bases of antique furnishings, creating quirky hybrids. The entire piece is then sprayed with a hygienic, water-resistant foam coating, and finished with a pliable, soft paint. Two of the most recent additions to the concept are the chair, Plus de Madam Rubens (top right, click for larger view), and the Petit Pouf (above right). The original stool, Madam Rubens (above left), is currently featured in a group exhibition devoted to seating (or non-seating) elements called Please Do Not Sit!, at Tools Galerie in Paris. It is the first time his work has been shown in France.

Signal Patterns

by Ami Kealoha

Though personality tests generally remind us of the creepy eHarmony guy, are never really as accurate as they claim to be and results usually lack any creative presentation, when we saw the new site from Signal Patterns we were impressed. It's surprisingly accurate, fun to use and looks good too.

The year-old company is made up of hardcore science wizards, and Signal Patterns built these surveys on literally decades of scientific research and study. They've currently got a personality survey and a music survey, but are planning more in the near future.

We took the personality survey to see what all the hype was about and were pleasantly surprised. While we admit that the number of questions seemed a little daunting (90?!), clicking through them was simple, quick, and the questions were thought-provoking.

What really makes these surveys stand out are the results. While most survey sites give you a numeric score or a simple (and often confusing) color pattern with some descriptive text, Signal Patterns' results are completely interactive and so creative and innovative that the company is patenting them. The Flash-based personality pattern lets you dig around and explore your results in depth, breaking down each of your strongest personality factors into specific traits. For instance, if you score strongly "Agreeable," you can dig deeper to learn more about traits such as "Warmth," "Empathetic," and "Cooperative" to learn why you scored the way you did. You can also use the same results to examine your opposite traits to learn more about yourself through contrast. You can view results by all traits, your top 10 traits or by factors.

They take it a step further too, making your results usable as criteria for comparing yourself to others—you can quickly explore people who have gotten similar scores, opposite scores, or compare yourself to specific individuals by overlaying sets of results. By tweaking the results overlay, you can really explore your differences and similarities. And of course, you can take your results with you onto MySpace, Facebook, your blog, etc. with the results widget, and a mobile version to be released soon. Currently in private beta, you can go to SignalPatterns.com to learn more. CH readers can click here to sign up.

Thanks to our friends at Bond Art + Science for sending this our way!

Guillaume Bresson Paintings

by Jonah Samson

Perhaps his paintings are not for the faint of heart, but if you're like me and like art with a sinister edge, take a look at the work of French artist Guillaume Bresson.

Bresson's sombre paintings are like choreographed scenes of urban violence. Painted in a dark and monochrome palette, his subjects lurk in the shadows of dimly lit parking garages or they riot in the streets. Despite the violence of many of his scenes which include muggings and beatings, we appreciate the fact that his paintings still manage to retain some of the grace that can be found in staged dance routines (click on images for detailed view). View other works by Bresson at Lacen Galerie.

Marlene Marino Photography

by Lost At E Minor

With so many photographers these days making over-stylized digital images, it's great to see someone like Marlene Marino still working in 35mm. The New York-based photographer's use of only natural light, and her languid, straight-forward framing result in intimate, grainy and candid-feeling pictures that feel like they've come out of a forgotten drawer somewhere.