SCOPHY

Funny what a simple sticker on a building can do!  This brillant illusion is the Hana Bank Building in Seoul, South Korea.

Ahhh….true classic.

Flightaware gives you live flight information for airborne planes which includes GPS location on a map and altitude among much more (with a US-focus).

Link to site 

Restaurant dinners are lame. For a genuinely off-beat Valentine’s, head with that special someone to the Pecha Kucha organized by the Japanese Embassy. As per usual for a Pecha Kucha, the presentations will broadly be about architecture and design. Each presenter is limited to 20 slides and 20 seconds for each slide. The presenters will be:

Jonathan Barnbrook - graphic designer; Kenichi Iwasa - filmmaker; Julia Lohmann - designer; Maria Marshall - artist; Claire Merry - Japanesey; Emi Miyashita - artist; Emiko Oki - designer/ceramicist; Sachiko Paris - vision Hairdressers; Christopher Purvis - Japan Society; Fenna Haakma Wagenaar - architect.

Be quick and email to rsvp pechakucha@jpembassy.org.uk

Frederic Gautron uses a bit of photoshop to highlight how some urban environments conflict with natural environments.

Link to photographer’s site 

Using 4638 flip-dots that can turn from ‘silver’ to black, Troika  presents a digital take on clouds.

Link to artist project site 

The Duvet Sweater, by Whang Zhuo, takes the meaning of getting cozy under the blanket to a whole new level.

Link to project page (in French) 

The ISSHO architectural design office in Japan has created an apartment building called Fudomae with differently-shaped windows for a change.

Link to project page 

Thanks, but no thanks.  I’ll stick to good ole fashioned burger on a grill rather than in a can.

Link to product page (in German) 

Link to someone who tries it 

It is possible.  And website 192.com is offering them.  For now, the service is limited to London.  Compare the resolution on images of the London Eye.  The first one is with 192.com and the second one is with Google Earth.  Scary stuff…

Link to site 

Bug is a regular event showcasing some of the most creative and offbeat music videos of the moment.  Come see some of the up and coming film directors of London.

Link to event page 

The animated photographs of Ruchome Obrazki create uncertainty about whether the subject or place is moving leading to a re-examination of that relationship.  The faded nostalgic tones suggesting old photos or memories further reinforce the point.

Link to site (with more photos) 

Using no chisels or hammers, artist Duncan Elliott spent 3 years assembling rocks which fit perfectly with one another to create a human sculpture.

Link to article 

Because sometimes you just don’t feel like ‘home sweet home’

Designed by Jeni Rodger.

Link to designer’s site 

How’s that for swimming into the distance?  This swimming pool, part of a 5-star boutique hotel in Dallas, is located on the 10th floor of a downtown building.

Link to article 

Today, at 6:30pm at the Bartlett School, Geoff Manaugh will be discussing the quirkier side of architecture… ranging from how artifical reefs form, how urban soundscapes are created, and the creation of offshore utopias among others.  Get ready to be thoroughly entertained

Link to event page 

Photographer Joachim Lapotre creates illusions to play with or ambivalent attitudes about taste and health.
Link to site 

Mark Khaisman uses ‘a light easel, applying translucent brown packing tape on clear Plexiglas panels, the layers built up to create degrees of opacity’ with stunning results.

Link to artist site

Designed by  Thomas Jaillot together with Marco De Michelis, this silver bracelet will stay attached to your wrist and cut things up at will.

Link to design site

In none other that Vienna, Alt-Erlaa, a social housing complex built between 1973 and 1985 for 10,000 low-income residents. On top of each of the 27-storey cascading blocks, there is an outdoor swimming pool used regularly by 70% of the residents. Too cold outside? You can use one of the myriad indoor swimming pools. How about a bit sauna? A little trip to the solarium? Some tennis? All that, and a whole lot more facilities are available to the residents. And of course, there is ample greenery to make you forget you are in a city let alone a housing project concrete block.

Link to interview with architect Dr. Harry Gluck

Link to official website for housing complex (in German)

Link to Google satellite map

Oh boy…  a bit before my generation  but still brings back fond memories of school dances with awkward routines that by some very long stretch of the imagination seemed cool at the time

More or less, that is… OpenCongress is a free, open-source, not-for-profit, and non-partisan public resource that tracks every bill and the position of every legislative maker…so at least you know where they stand on the issues that matter to you.

Link to site

Blurring the lines between fine and performance art, Jasper Joffe is organizing just such a show in order to explore whether this set-up will affect how the pieces (which are incidentally on the theme of beauty) will be received.

Link to gallery (with event details) 

Students from the LCC (London College of Communication) are putting on a show at the Dazed Gallery starting this weekend and running until February 5th.

Link to event page (with details)

Amanda Benson and Andy Cohen comment through artwork on the trend for property makeovers at Studio 1.1.

Link to gallery 

RedPlanet is organizing the London premiere of the copyright documentary ‘Steal This Film’ at the plush Rex Cinema + Bar this Friday January 18th.

Link to movie  site (available for download)

Link to event page 

London-based photographer Holger Pooten creates surreal photographs of inanimate objects that have seemingly suddenly blown up suggesting intensity is not always apparent.

Link to photographer site

Designed by Berlin interactive artists Gunnar Green and Frederic Eyl, Aperture includes dozens of tiny aperture holes that (with a slight delay) open if there is no light and closes if there is. The result is the silhouette of passersby.

Link to artist site

Link to YouTube video

In keeping with the LED theme, these solar street lamps are made to look like trees. Designed by Ross Lovegrove, the lamps are equipped with light detectors to turn on and off at sunset/sunrise. A preliminary test in Vienna turned out to be a success.

Link to article

Link to designer’s site

Designed by architect Jean Nouvel, the Agbar Tower in Barcelona has over 4000 LEDs across 38 stories which can be synchronized by computer.

Link to website of building

Link to YouTube Video

Available in Japan, these christmas ornaments arrive in a petri dish and grow up to be full-size ornaments with just a little bit of water.

Link to site

Known as the Bubelle Dress and designed by electronics giant Philips, this unique piece of clothing will change colour if certain physical changes that are associated with certain moods are detected (e.g. sweat with stress).

Link to article  

This plugin by Simplify Media allows you to view and stream the music collections of up to 30 friends online.

Link to site 

Tomorrow night, there will be a closing party for the Street Art show…bound to be a good one.

Link to site

Laurent La Gamba comments on personal relationships with materialism in his see-through camouflage photography series.

Link to site

Open Studio Space has invited a few prominent and upcoming street artists to create and sell their works live.

Link to website

Link to photo gallery

Designed by Canadian firm Rethink for Vonnegut Dollhouse, this cd package is bang for the buck to say the least.

Link to design firm

Where else?  The world’s architectural playground, also known as Dubai, is soon to be host to a building that actually tilts at 7 degrees.  Besides this quirkiness, the floors will rotate giving you panoramic views.  You can project views from streets around the world on your windows.  Central servers in the building allow the downloading of audio and video entertainment.  The list goes on…

Link to project site 

This past Saturday, I participated in London’s Santacon.  Amazing is simply an understatement…pure hedonism.  This documentary (more of a mockumentary) chronicles one of the original Santacon’s in Portland, Oregon (USA) during the 1996 christmas season.

Link to video 

Click Clak is a computer-anmated chain reaction short film produced by Victor-Emmaneul Mill, Aurelie Frechinos, and Thomas Wagner.  Each reaction is associated with a word.

Wikinomics explores how the emergence of particpatory communities on the internet is changing business.

Link to Amazon 

Talk about an expensive drink!  Called ‘The Flawless’ and on the menu at London nightclub Movida, this cocktail is mixed under the supervision of security guards and includes an 11-carat diamond at the bottom.  If you even care about the ingredients, it includes Louis XII cognac, half a bottle of Cristal Rose champagne, some brown sugar, angostura bitters and a few flakes of 24-carat edible gold leaf.

Link to article

Making live tv if you’re not a large television company with million-dollar equipment need not be a distant dream anymore.  Qik has developed software that allows you to turn a mobile phone’s camera into a live video tool that streams over the phone’s internet connection.

Link to site

The newly created Street Clash pits the street styles of two different cities and lets visitors vote.

Link to site

What better way to get into the xmas spirit than to have hundreds of Santas run around all over London? Believe it or not, the day-long event will be taking place this Saturday December the 15th. This is by no means a new phenomenon. The first Santa Flash Mob can be dated back to at least 1996 in Portland, Oregon (USA). In fact, an entire documentary was made about the event. Here is a Camden store where you can get your costume. Contact me if you want to get with our crew. Part-eeeeee woooo!

Link to video summary from last year

Link to site

Let the inner wordsmith in you come out on the 17th of December at the one and only Troubadour. Words can seduce, uplift, connect, bring down empires and a whole lot more… but they can also make a party a great party. Check it…

Link to event description

Markus Kison cuts out the contours of individuals on polaroid photos to create a perception of depth and 3D illusion.

Link to artist site

Alexandre Farto takes an original spin on the now common sprayed street art stencil.

Link to artist site