Fashionable Technology

by Ami Kealoha

A massage-based video game controller, panties with wings and an inflatable dress were just a few of the concepts exhibited recently at the NYC gallery Eyebeam to launch Sabine Seymour's new book "Fashionable Technology." In this video, we interview Sabine about the burgeoning field and her lifelong obsession with fashion. She also helps us peruse the exhibit, chatting with the designers and artists behind each piece to learn about their inspiration and process.

To see all the projects, buy the book from Amazon.

Marlies Dekkers Lingerie Exhibit

by Leonora Oppenheim

“Women who exude power are also sexy. They do not necessarily have to be the head of a multinational; there is also power in the little things.” These are the words of Marlies Dekkers, the famous and infamous Dutch designer whose “little things” are namely lingerie. A courter of controversy and a pusher of boundaries, empowering women everywhere, Dekkers has spent years making very sexy waves in the world of underwear.

The show began in 1991 when Dekkers paraded her graduation project “bare bottom dress” through the streets of the red light district in Amsterdam, deliberately playing with the notions of "the gaze" and the objectification and empowerment of women. Now in 2008 she is celebrating 15 years of her own design label with a retrospective show in Rotterdam's Kunsthal.

The show takes a journey through the various inspirations of Dekkers, from high renaissance art amd bondage to architecture and theater performance. Ideas of eroticism, femininity and control run throughout the differently themed spaces. Most important, the concept of hiding and revealing makes intimate parts of the body at once more mysterious and more of a feature. As she says, "Just as in the past a glimpse of an ankle or wrist was erotic, I aim to make breast look erotic again, even after topless fashion and feminism."

Dekker's iconic imagery visualizes the ingenuity of her highly structured underwear and swimwear, but it can only really be fully appreciated on the body. It's the experience of wearing a Marlies Dekkers design that really completes the power she invests in her art. While clearly a very talented designer Dekkers, is also a very successful business woman, winning the Prix Veuve Clicquot for Businesswoman of the Year in 2007. This experimentation and innovation combined with commercial success is what makes her brand so exceptional.

Catch the last two days of the retrospective this weekend (see details below) or visit Marlies Dekkers stores in Holland, Antwerp, Berlin, Paris and Bangkok.

15 Years Marlies Dekkers
through 29 June 2008
Kunsthal Museumpark
Westzeedijk 341
3015 AA Rotterdam map Netherlands
tel. +31 (0) 10 44 00 301

SurfaceClean All-Purpose Electronics Cleaner

by Evan Orensten

With the glut of devices comes an abundance of cleaning products tailored to each, adding unnecessarily to our already cluttered lives. SurfaceClean, a new solution due out this September, makes it simple with one product suitable for keeping all technology, from phones and plasmas to eyeglasses and earbuds, ship-shape.

Made without alcohol or ammonia, it won't drip or leave streaks on screens and it's still tough enough to clean layers of grime off laptop keyboards without damaging delicate components. (Do make sure to spray the solution on the microfiber directly; in concentrated form it could discolor some surfaces.)

SurfaceClean comes in a few different forms, but the simplest way to go is the self-contained bottle—a pill-shaped design that conceals a microfiber cloth in one end and the spray tip in the other—also an easy way to stay organized.

For the fussy (that includes yours truly), the Detailing Cleaner Swabs are a particularly ingenious way to get into small places that are tricky to clean with cloths. Breaking off the end of a small vial filled with multi-purpose cleaning solution releases the fluid to the tip for a no-fuss way to clean corners and crevices.

Ride the City

by Doug Black

To those who enjoy their status as breathing, sentient beings, riding a bicycle in New York City can be daunting. Aggressive taxis, delivery trucks and carelessly opened doors create a minefield that makes casual cyclists want to hang up their Schwinn. But New York can be safely navigated. Though it's painfully inferior to European cities, it does have a growing network of relatively safe bike lanes (thanks largely in part to Mayor Bloomberg). Ride the City, currently in beta form, is a site launched earlier this month to help aid the process.

Much like Google Maps or HopStop, Ride the City takes two addresses and details the shortest route between them. But unlike the aforementioned sites, it zeroes in on existing bicycle lanes and ignores inhospitable roads like the Queens Midtown tunnel or the BQE. Users can choose between the most direct route, the "safe route" (as many bike lanes as are convenient) and the "safest route" (more bike lanes, especially designated "greenways"). RTC adds "caution" signs as well when the route traverses portions that have a history of accidents.

I used the site to map out a ride to work, and it was remarkably close to the route I've painstakingly devised over numerous trips back and forth. It did, however, faithfully abide by the direction of traffic on a couple portions where I usually go against the tide. Which isn't a bad thing. It's comforting to know that the site treasures my well-being even more than I do.

Smart Spice

by Evan Orensten

Spices tend to come in a pretty standard size; they also spoil within a few months of opening. For most home cooks that means a lot of waste and jars of stale spices sitting in a cabinet.

Smart Spice solves this problem by packing its organic spices in several single use servings (four to a box), ensuring that you'll always have a fresh supply on hand.

We're typically not fans of over-convenience and packaging, but in this context the method makes a lot of sense. You'll start seeing Smart Spice's organic herbs, spices, peppercorns and seeds in stores in Fall 2008.