Newsletter, vol. 1, issue 7
Friday, April 13, 2007

In this issue of our sporadic newsletter, there is very little news.

But there is plenty of monkey business: designers battling with cheese, simians who play video games, genetic pollution and duct tape wallets.

The most intriguing post comes from Sara Rich of Worldchanging.com on installation artist/activist Michael Rakowitz. His new peice "paraSITE" serves as a case study in problem solving (shelter for the homeless); product design (portable inflatable dwellings); and systems thinking (waste energy from HVAC units recycled as life-giving heat and humidity for the homeless).

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Underground Comix Come of Age

From AIGA by Steven Heller: Miraculously, most of the great underground comix artists of the late ’60s are still alive and kicking. Kim Deitch is one such exemplar of the art of underground “funnies,” an author and illustrator who transcended his beginnings in the age of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll to become a mature comics storyteller. Currently, his collection Shadowland (Fantagraphics) is earning critical acclaim, and anticipation is high for Alias the Cat (Pantheon Books), due out in April. We caught up with Deitch to discuss the longevity of comics, the dubious term “graphic novel” and his constant growth as an artist.

LVHRD

from Studio 360: A creative community called LVHRD, pronounced "live hard," hosts Iron Chef-like contests for creative professionals. Lu Olkowski attended a special LVHRD challenge: two teams of landscape architects going head to head, designing in cheese.

Orangutans Play Video Games

From Forbes.com via Associated Press:
Four-year-old Bernas isn't the computer wizard his mom is, but he's learning. Just the other day he used his lips and feet to play a game on the touch-screen monitor as his mom, Madu, swung from vines and climbed trees. The two Sumatran orangutans at Zoo Atlanta are playing computer games while researchers study the cognitive skills of the orange and brown primates.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/04/
orangutans-play-video-games.html

paraSITE: Inflatable Shelters for Urban Bedoins

From Worldchanging blogger, Sara Rich:
Michael Rakowitz traveled to Jordan in the mid-90s on a study program where he focused in part on the nomadic tradition of the Bedouins, and the architecture of their tents. When he returned to Boston, where he was a student at MIT, the presence of the homeless population in the city triggered a quandary for him regarding the contrast of a nomadic lifestyle by tradition versus by necessity. The nomadic patterns of the urban homeless, particularly in the cold months, were dictated by the location of heating vents releasing exhaust from HVAC systems inside houses and buildings. Many of these systems had been designed like boxes, such that a person could sleep on top of the vent and stay warm; but viewing this as a problem, the city had begun installing vertical vents which slanted downward off the building, making it impossible to rest on them.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/04/
parasite-inflatable-shelters-for-urban.html

ECO-LA Driveby Art Gallery

Article Photofrom Worldchanging LA local blogger, Eliza Thomas:
ECO-LA’s driveby art gallery brings me so much joy. Officially opening on Earth Day, the exhibit, “Off the Wall 3,” will feature original paintings on reclaimed vinyl billboards. These 14’ by 48’ works of art will display both inside ECO-LA’s Gallery, and outside on the buildings exterior.
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006432.html

Brand New

This is a Speak Up spin-off displaying opinions, and focusing solely, on corporate and brand identity work. It is a division of UnderConsideration. The blog compares older brand identities and their recently updated versions. The deconstructions of the logos is sharp, educated and catty. Kind of like a carload of really smart designers, home for the holidays, driving around their hometown riffing on all the strip mall signage.


http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/04/brand-new.html

Damn Cool Pics

Lots more fun photos like this. It's like the old "I'm crushing your head" skit from Kids in the Hall. 'Cept different.

http://damncoolpics.blogspot.com/2007/02/photo-illusions.html

Fake Model Photography

from Receding Hairline: With a very little effort, you can take existing photographs of everyday scenes and make it look like they're actually of miniature models.It doesn't take much to fool the mind of the viewer, but there are a few basic rules you can follow to help convince your audience that they're looking at a railway set rather than the real world; see the section on picking the right photo at the bottom of this page. You'll need a copy of Photoshop CS or later to follow this tutorial.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/03/
fake-model-photography_29.html

Sean Star Wars

This fun, young, modern folk artist received his M.F.A. in 1999 from Louisiana State University and has taught printmaking at several universities including University of Southern Mississippi, Tulane University and has conducted a relief print workshop at Frogman's Print Workshop in Vermillion, SD. Star Wars has been included in many group exhibitions as well as solo exhibitions and his work is in permanent collections including Amity Art Foundation, Philadelphia Print Center, and New Orleans Museum of Art. He currently lives in Laurel,
Mississippi.
http://seanstarwars.com/

Social Software Montage

LOGO2.0 part I, originally uploaded by Stabilo Boss.
Like a coral reef filled with brilliantly colored tropical fish, this montage shows a mere snapshot of the number of social web apps in the Web 2.0 aquarium.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/03/
social-software-montage.html

Design = Business Catalyst or Financial Drain?

Stretching back in time before the era of the printing press or the pyramids, there has been a war raging within the human race--a war between accountants and designers. This Fast Company article describes the struggle to put a price on good design.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/03/
design-business-catalyst-or-financial.html

Changing the World is Not Enough

The Skoll Foundation, started by Jeff Skoll of Ebay, is focused on changing the game for social change and entrepreneurism. In fact, the label "social entrepreneur" is the nom de guerre in the current war on poverty, disease, conflict and intolerance, with the long-time foot soldiers finally gaining popular acclaim.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/02/changing-world-is-not-enough.html

Intervention: Genetic Pollution, Smart Breeding and the Risks of Unregulated Transgenesis

The future may be riskier than we like to think. In her new book, Denise Caruso lays out in chilling detail exactly why even (perhaps especially) those of us who are strong supporters of science and innovation ought to be extremely concerned about the unintended consequences of contemporary biotechnological industrial research.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/02/
intervention-genetic-pollution-smart.html

Duct Tape Wallet Kit

It doesn't get anymore DIY than a duct tape wallet. But simple as they may seem, there's a right way and a wrong way. MyDuctbills Duct Tape Wallet Kits comes with step-by-step instructions written by the pros behind dbclay, the Portland-based company that makes quality duct and (more recently) gaffers tape wallets.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/02/duct-tape-wallet-kit.html

Labels: design, homelessness