1. NERDS, we <3 them
2. Interesting lectures, not just technical stuff
3. Hackers On Planet Earth care about human rights, as Saturday's Keynote Address was given by Jacob Appelbaum from Wikileaks
4. Federal agents come and sometimes… this happens
5. Art/tech/philosophy group monochrome
6. The ratio of women to men :)
7. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA references, they happen.
8. YOU WILL LEARN STUFF.
9. INTERNET MOTHERFUCKERY. Come for the lulz!
10. To help save the Hotel Pennsylvania from demolition

I didn’t personally know Tobias, but in 2007 he was a guest critic for our annual design charrette at the University of the Arts. He said that large groups scared him, but thankfully Rama Chorpash had convinced him to come. I’m so thankful that I had this opportunity.

Then in 2009 I sent Tobias this image of a laser cut pendant I made,
a nod to his Smoking Mittens.
He was so incredibly kind, and said he thought it was hilarious.
I was completely elated to have heard back from him.

On behalf of bew.cc and myself, we would like to extend condolences to friends and family of Tobias Wong.

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1. Tobias Wong, Ju$t Another Rich Kid, & Charles Bukowski

The exhibit is a continuation in the development of Saraceno’s work from the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009: Galaxy Forming along Filaments, like Droplets along the Strands of a Spider’s Web.
Along with the new work the exhibition includes a number of photos, drawings, and texts which describe Saraceno’s work and process.
14 Billions is on display at Bonniers Konsthall in Stockholm, Sweden through June 20, 2010.

via Cool Hunting

*Also, would be lovely if they could revamp this rack too.

via dezeen

According to The Skeptical Environmentalist, concrete is used more than any other construction material in the world. I imagine this is because it’s fairly cheap, and resources for making concrete are practically unlimited. The down side to this is that concrete contributes to global emissions (3%, again in reference to The Skeptical Environmentalist). However I find concrete can be aesthetically pleasing. Great examples include the Roman Coliseum and Ronchamp. So I’m glad it remains a material of considerable value in material science, art, and design applications.

Of the material science applications, some of my favorites include: LitraCon, Chronos Chromos Concrete, ‘Clean Air’ Concrete, and Soft Concrete.

LitraCon combines concrete with optical glass fibers, creating a harmony between material strength and translucency.

Chronos Chromos Concrete uses nickel chromium wires to send current beneath the concrete. The electric current causes the temperature to rise enabling numbers, patterns, text, and color to be displayed via thermochromic ink. Unfortunately their website, chromastone.com, is no longer available. Their video can still be found on youtube.

‘Clean Air’ Concrete contains titanium dioxide and absorbs sunlight to convert nitrogen oxides in the air into harmless nitrate.

Soft concrete contains polymers that increase the concrete’s elasticity and is used to produce the Drop tiles designed by Jenny Oldsjö and Ragnar Hultgren.

While art and design applications include:

Kathy Dalwood‘s black concrete figurines



Fragrance by Alexa Lixfeld

Concrete rings by 22 design studio

and Recycled Concrete Sink by Gore Design

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1. Studio Libertiny Vases

Beautiful Dieter Rams interview, Less and More, @ Gestalten.

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1. Tobias Wong (1974-2010)

Atypyk‘s Shut-Up Tape

and Allison Riley’s Stop Talking business cards

Antonio Murado’s porcelain Salome Coffee Set

Kacper Hamilton’s 7 Deadly Glasses

Bob Partington‘s Blood Pen

Featured above: Chongqing IV (Sunday Picnic), Chongqing Municipality from his work Yangtze, The Long River.
Below: advertisement from his series of photos for Absolut.

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1. Tattoos & Design

Back in 2007, Design Miami featured a three day tattoo parlor furnished by DWR. Organized by Tobias Wong, Josée Lepage, and Aric Chen, “As Long As It Lasts,” featured tattoos designed by Hella Jongerius, 5.5 Designers, Yves Behar, Tord Boontje, Vito Acconci, KAWS, Juergen Meyer H, Andrew Allenson, and Lawrence Weiner.
Some photos on sallyTV’s flickr.

Tord Boontje’s work translates beautifully:


revengeofthe




Boontje’s Cut Here temporary tattoos


OOF also makes a series of fun temporary tattoos.


Then there are concept tattoos, like in Fredrickson Stallard’s “Pantone.”

Tattoo furniture



Minima Tattoo Chair



Reddish’s Yakuza table



Polka Tattoo Furniture/Notcot

Tattoos of furniture

By Nick Baxter

Beck Linneman’s Eames Wire Chair tattoo

And to sum it all up, beautiful tattoos of work by Audrey Kawasaki:


photo from Assburrito!’s flickr


sleepboy’s flickr


and Kiki Smith via Eyeteeth

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1. Lucy McRae and Bart Hess
2. Dutch Design Love: Kiki van Eijk

Bart Hess graduated from the from the Man and Identity department at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, Netherlands. This department focuses on forecasting trends and finding new materials. For his material collection, “A Hunt for Hightech,” Hess was inspired by archetypes of animals, human instinct, robotic forms, prosthetic technology and fetishism.

Bart Hess and Lucy McRae collaborated on a number of projects. One of their projects was for the Philips Design team, called Electronic Tattoo. The tattoo creates a new way for people to communicate, as it reacts to touch, gesture, and emotion. The idea is that the ink is electronic, and unlike other tattoos, can morph and change.

WMMNA Interview with Bart Hess

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Kiki Smith is a sculptor, printmaker, photographer, and installation artist. Her subjects range from anatomy, art history, mythology, science and feminism. She’s known for her provocative sculptures of the body and its anatomical parts. Typically they express vulnerability through potentially humiliating yet natural functions, such as urination and menstruation. She works in a variety of mediums including wax, ceramic, plaster, paper, glass, and bronze, to name a few.

A few weeks ago Smith gave a lecture at the University of Pennsylvania Humanities Forum on Origins. To Smith, Origins is about not having control of how she stays inspired. Being an artist is about sitting, waiting, and listening. Smith presented slides of her work at random, as she explained the origins of her ideas. She talked about how she accumulates “convoluted configurations” of her resources, and often “cannibalizes” her subjects. “Cannibalized” was her way of describing rehashing, or investigating of work.

Kiki Smith chose not to discuss certain slides, claiming they were “secret.” However, her other slides were presented with small anecdotes. For her sculpture of fallen Jesus (Untitled 1995),

the figure is half man/half woman, as her male neighbor had to go home before she finished. Another slide she showed was that of a terra cotta rib cage. The piece is actually glued together, breaking after her return from Germany.

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1. Dutch Design Love: Kiki van Eijk

Hella Jongerius, Soft Urn 1995

Karim Rashid, Butterfly chair 2003

Ipod Nano

Tord Boontje, Blossom chandelier 2002

Campana brothers, Anemone chair 2001

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2. Tattoos & Design

With a mass adoration for her work, prints are consistently sold out.
I recently received her Mizuame (seahorse) print (above), as well as a Gelaskin of Odaijini.

Her work is often featured in lowbrow art publications, and she participates in a number of shows. In a past show at Subtext she painted a Kokeshi doll:

And artist Mike Leavitt sculpted an Audrey Kawasaki action figure, for his Art Army exhibition at CoproNason:

For more info, check out her livejournal and myspace.

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My favorite spaces are Body-Inner and Memory/Data:
Body-Inner Space features Cosmic Wonder’s Magic Village 2004, Hussein Chalayan’s LED dress from his Readings collection 2007,

and Ernesto Neto’s Humanoids 2001.

Memory/Data space features Sanaa’s Flower House 2007, French architectural firm R & Sie(n)’s Olzweg 2006,

and Demakervan’s Lace Fence 2005.
Space For Your Future closes January 20, 2008, for more information visit http://www.sfyf.jp/

Happy Bew Year!

The Hispanic Project Correction: The Hip Hop Project Thanks, Danna!

The Lesbian Project

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1. Nadav Kander Photography
2. Kiki Smith @ UPenn

Speaking of dutch design, I think I might have to wishlist EKWC’s brick book.

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1. is it love?
2. Kiki Smith @ UPenn

left: original, right: perforated and torn

The final pdf needs some finessing, but until then, here are the videos we presented:

brabag

pantylines

fumbler

from left: brabag, pantylines, fumbler

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