Category: Art

ArtCamp Vancouver

Here in Vancouver they got themselves a pretty groovy idea called ArtCamp
based off of other “unconferences”. An unconference is a conference that is organized by the participants and this proves to be no exception (well, if we ignore the funding they’re getting).

From their wiki’s About page:

ArtCamp 07 follows on ArtCamp 06 ArtCamp06, the World’s First Un-Conference on Art, was a groundbreaking day-long event co-produced by New Forms Festival and Upgrade! Vancouver in September, 2006, which was attended by over a hundred artists, designers, programmers, critics, theorists, curators and practitioners from all fields who presented over 30 workshops, talks and hybrid events throughout a single inspiration-filled day.

By the way, I’m sorry about the irregular posting while I’m in Vancouver. If you’re in Vancouver you should come out to Manhunt Vancouver tonight to get inspired for ArtCamp!

Euro-centric Thinkers Humbled

In every science text book I’ve seen only European thinkers are praised for their discoveries and this was to go unquestioned. As a result of my education I take great pleasure when those who wrote the books (so to speak) are proven horribly wrong. It boils down to the fact I like seeing credit given to those who deserve it.

Sir Isaac Newton is credited with discovering a cornerstone of modern mathematics, but in reality a group of Indians made that discovery 250 years before Newton!

The team from the Universities of Manchester and Exeter reveal the Kerala School also discovered what amounted to the Pi series and used it to calculate Pi correct to 9, 10 and later 17 decimal places.

And there is strong circumstantial evidence that the Indians passed on their discoveries to mathematically knowledgeable Jesuit missionaries who visited India during the fifteenth century.

That knowledge, they argue, may have eventually been passed on to Newton himself.

Ship it safe, ship it popcorn

Until now Lush, a British cosmetics company, used shredded paper in the boxes in which it sold soaps, massage bars and other delicate items. As part of its drive to be greener, Lush has come up with a great solution for packaging: instead of using polystyrene chips to keep fragile items intact in the post, the chain is now using an edible and far more biodegradable solution: popcorn!

Popcorn packaging is just another example of how natural materials can replace many supposedly superior man made materials. The popcorn packaging will obviously reduce the amount of paper used by the chain. I would like to see if the popcorn will be grown locally and organically and reused or at least eaten. However, a side effect of this is that transport emissions will also be reduced, since popcorn is 60% lighter than paper.

Those Crafty Japanese!

First it was paper cranes, now it’s bridges. Architect Shigeru Ban is moving us along the twenty-first century by using very old technology: paper! Ban has created an cardboard bridge in France.

Weighing 7.5 tonnes, the bridge is made from 281 cardboard tubes, each 11.5 centimetres (four inches) across and 11.9 millimetres thick. The steps are recycled paper and plastic and the foundations wooden boxes packed with sand.

It’s environmentally friendly, can be rebuilt and totally cool.

Carpeted Financial District in Switzerland

Thanks Cory!

In the financial distrct of St. Gallen, Switzerland there is now carpeting. It’s an art installation named Stadtlounge that has covered the entire district in red broadloom – including cars!

The winning “Stadtlounge” or “city lounge” proposal, by artist Pipilotti Rist and the Carlos Martinez architectural firm, features a bright red surfacing that appears to have swept in like the tide, covering everything in its path. At night, the streets are illuminated by blimp-shaped objects that hang from cables strung between the district’s modern office buildings.

When I grow up I want to be astronaut, from Switzerland!

Via Boing