Stephanie Backes: Wolkengraber

by Jacob Resneck

Dortmund-born sculptor Stephanie Backes is making her solo debut at Berlin's Loop gallery.

Entitled Wolkengraber, that's “cloudgrabber” in German, this exhibit of sculptures melds the aesthetic of biology with bionics, suggesting alien-like skeletons and spindly arthopods.

Wolkengraber
Opening reception: 24 October 2008, 8pm
24 October-13 December 2008
Loop
Jägerstrasse 5
10117 Berlin-Mitte map
tel. +030 28 39 00 28

GE OLED Light Printer

by Doug Black

It might be time to rethink that new floor lamp you're considering. If GE's latest invention (a new form of OLEDs or organic light-emitting diodes) lives up to its claims, incandescent bulbs will start to be a thing of the past as early as 2010. Which is a forward-thinking move on GE's part considering the impending ban on traditional bulbs. In their place, GE's OLEDs boast remarkably versatile proportions. The lights are paper-thin sheets of luminescent plastic that lights just as well as conventional bulbs with more energy efficiency and the ability take any shape.

GE's printer, which is roughly the size of a Mack truck, is currently operating in Upstate New York. It prints out eight-inch wide OLED sheets that consist of two layers of plastic film filled with chemicals and metallic foil. When connected to an electric current, the sheet emits a bluish-white glow.

To some, the OLED's most distinctive feature is its pliability. Flexible enough to wrap around poles, it can conceivably be "printed" in any desirable design. GE has already expressed intentions to create OLED window blinds that initiate when windows are covered as well as OLED wallpaper that produces a diffused light, blanketing an entire room evenly. So convinced of the market value, a recent report predicts that by 2015, the OLED market will top $1.1 billion. Somewhere in New Jersey Edison is rolling in his grave.

Comme des Garçons for H&M

by CH Contributor

by Ariston Anderson

We haven't been so excited about a diffusion line since Proenza Schouler came to Target. Comme des Garçons, literally "like some boys," is about to take H&M by storm with a men's and women's collection that pulls up some of the avant garde design house's signature trends, like mad polka dots, externally embroidered jackets, wool suits, skirts and shorts with disjointed pieces.

The signature dress costs $350, not quite an H&M pricetag but it sure beats a several-thousand-dollar Comme des Garçons price tag. And with several mix-and-match cheaper options, a wardrobe can be had with a few separate tops and bottoms.

The collection hits stores 13 November 2008 and if previous releases are any indication—the Roberto Cavalli collection sold out of H&M in less than two hours and anyone that made it there can recall a vicious battle over animal-printed frocks from New Jersey teens who ventured to midtown Manhattan—you may want to get there early. But with the edgy styling of Comme des Garçons, it's no telling who will be lining up to rush the stores come November.

More images from the look book and U.S. store locations after the jump.

Eduardo Srur: Sobrevivencia

by Phuong-Cac Nguyen

Known for his headline-grabbing, large-scale public interventions—like the one in which he placed giant PET bottles along the Tiete River in São Paulo to make a point about the notoriously filthy waterway—Brazilian artist Eduardo Srur's latest campaign, "Sobrevivencia" (survival) is irreverent but nonetheless carries a sincere message.

Using a ladder, nylon, stuffing and rope, he's decked out dozens of statues around the city in bright orange life jackets and life savers, an action that could be interpreted by passers-by as a college student prank, especially the ones where fountains spewing water are part of the display.

Anything but a joke, it's actually his statement about the need for the public to rescue the decaying, neglected stone and bronze figures who represent important politicians in Brazil's history and are at risk at falling progressively farther and farther away from relevancy if they are not saved.

Srur's action was approved by the city government, though it's strange they haven't found the issue important enough in the past few years to find the funds to maintain the memory of their former colleagues themselves.

Hands on with the T-Mobile G1

by Josh Rubin

When it goes on sale tomorrow, the T-Mobile G1 will be the very first mobile device to utilize Google's open source operating system, Android. I've been using a G1 for the last couple of weeks and am really impressed—a relief because since the iPhone there really hasn't been a mobile that I've been excited about.

While the G1 comes in a nice form-factor with a slide-out keyboard and a beautiful screen all designed by HTC, the hero is Android. Out of the box you're prompted for your Google username and password (or given the option to create a new account). Once entered, all of your Google data is downloaded to the device in the background over EDGE, 3G or WiFi and pretty quickly your contact list, Gmail inbox and calendars are readily available. These applications are always in sync; changes made on the device are reflected online or wherever you experience Google data.

Android is an incredibly fast operating system. I have yet to see a pinwheel, spinny beach ball or delay of any sort. The use of animation is modest but effective and layers are easily accessed for the main application menu and the notifications panel. There aren't multi-touch features, though other touch screen innovations, like gesture unlocking, are a nice addition. Unlike the iPhone, Android does offer basic copy and paste functionality, however there's plenty of room for improvement for that feature.

Today the Android Market only has a handful of applications available for download directly form the device, but that's sure to change very shortly after launch. The best thing about Market apps is that they can integrate very deeply in to the Android operating system. I downloaded one application that let me adjust animation speeds (Spare Parts) and another that turned the camera button in to an application switcher (Task Switcher). The best in this category is Locale, an application that lets you associate ringtone and alert settings to specific geographic locations (the G1 has both GPS and cel triangulation).

Because all of your personal data syncs over-the-air there really isn't a need to connect your G1 to a computer. If you do, however, it just shows up as a storage device and you'll see folders in place for music and pictures. These folders are on the removable SD card; you can use the folders or not because whenever an application loads it looks to the card to find files it can read regardless of where they're located.

So yeah, I'm excited about the G1 and Android. I'm not quite ready to ditch my iPhone for it, but have willingly carried both devices for a couple weeks and intend to do so for as long as T-Mobile lets me keep the review unit.