Cool Hunting
| 10 July 2008view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
Pulse: An Emotion Visualization Organism
by Doug Black
Pulse is a live visualization project by Berlin-based artist Markus Kison. It's based around a shapeshifting, heart-like object that reacts to the emotions expressed by the authors of private weblogs on blogger.com. A program aggregates words in blogs' text and scans for synonyms that correlate with the emotional concepts in Robert Plutchik's three-dimensional circumplex model describing the psychoevolutionary theory of emotion. The more one a the emotions is represented, the more corresponding portion of the organism is mechanically activated. Blurring the lines between art and technology, Pulse uses data to create the very organic visualization.
A similar concept underlies Jonathan Harris' "We Feel Fine" project (as seen in a previous CH video), but instead of Harris' digital depiction, it takes a tangible form. Watch a video of Pulse in action below.
via Computerlove
Zillion Kimono Fabric Streetwear
by Evan Orensten
Using the traditional patterns of Japanese kimonos, Tokyo-based French designer David Guarino's line Zillion reinvents the fabric by making caps, belts, shoelaces, hoodies and other modern staples out of the delicate material.
The resulting contemporary shapes contrasted with detailed graphics quickly became some of our favorite accessories. We particularly like the shoelaces and belts for the subtle style they add to basics. In addition to the standard seasonal fabrics many of the items are available in limited edition vintage fabrics (our favorites) though these are often not listed on the site.
To learn more about Zillion, see PingMag's excellent interview with David from last year.
Caps are available from Rare Device for $55 and the collection also sells at a few other stores which are listed on the Zillion site.
Parrworld: Objects and Postcards
by Jonah Samson
Known for his images of colorful and humor-filled worlds, legendary British photographer Martin Parr recently released a luscious two-volume set entitled "Parrworld: Objects and Postcards." While Parr has been widely recognized for his vast collection of photography books, these particular volumes depict him as an obsessive collector of postcards and themed objects—all presented with the typical Parr sense of humor.
The first volume features pictures of objects he has collected over the past 25 years ranging from figures of Lenin to the Spice Girls, and even some wrist-watches featuring the face of Saddam Hussein. Other objects focus on the kitsch, such as wallpaper and trays commemorating everything from Sputnik to the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
The second volume is a selection from Parr's immense collection of over 20,000 postcards. The entertaining, yet serious, study of postcard history includes cards depicting news events such as car crashes and murders, and finishes with an entire series of "Boring Postcards," which promote the mundane history of things like motorways and shopping.
Parrworld is available from Aperture for $63.
