art

china bans plastic bags

Wowzers… awesome!

“It started with San Francisco, Hong Kong, then Melbourne and other cities, and now, beginning in July, all plastic shopping bags in the entire country of China will no longer be free. As part of China’s attempts to reduce their extreme pollution problem, the policy will call for a small charge for plastic bags in China that must be shown clearly in all supermarket receipts.

Furthermore, ultra-thin plastic bags are now banned from being produced at all. As part of this effort, the government is encouraging the use of reusable bags and cloth sacks, and increasing efforts to recycle all plastic bags still in use.”

Via Inhabitat (Source IHT)
Australia does the same via Treehugger.

I’ve have a few reusable bags, but always forget to bring them to the store. Until it’s law, I’m going to forget, and besides, I use my paper bags as trash cans which has been handy.

FYI: statically and visually according to Chris Jordan, we use “60,000 plastic bags every 5 seconds in the USA alone!” (1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags are used in the USA every hour.)

I guess it’s time to go pick up one of those cool reusable bags:
Porter Grocery Tote (paper like plastic bag)
– Muji portable Bag, (I can’t find online, but it’s in the nyc soho store)
Flip and Tumble (A bag that turns into a puck)
AMT Shopper Bag (Louis Vuitton like print bags)

update: I was just at Wholefoods and they said they were starting to ban usage of plastic bags this week/month! Ah, heres an article.

Go karting racing at pole position vegas

Quote: “Pablo Picasso: Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up“.

Makes me think about creativity as well..so, stay young, take risks and chances, be curious…and of course watch the “must watch” lecture by Sir Ken Robinson on creativity!

– Neat: Engagement Ring.
– Funny: Gizmodo Pranks CES, funny and mean.
– Woa: A monstrous wooden mechanical creation.
– Space: Shigeru Bans very cool Shutter house project.
– Cool: Shadow Blocks.
– Weird: Tree that bears 11 fruits.
– Inspiring: The 61 yr old farmer that won the worlds toughest race!
– Video: Hilarious, Plunger Dart throwing.
– Video: Very cool spinning egg+cut trick!

Derrick Wang piggybank
Derrick Wang piggybank

Hahaha, this made me smile in an odd happy nodding my head sideways kinda way. Derrick Wang brings to us a delicate white piggy bank that has a hidden little agenda… when ya bust it open to collect your sweet savings, it spills out the pigs red guts with it! yikes! Yeah, I know kinda disgusting but kinda cool!

It does make me question how did the piggy bank start and why a pig…ahhh, here it is!

This comes to show that if you treat certain ritualistic objects with a bit more reality(humor) it makes ya smile and buy stuff!(though I’m not a huge advocate of Consumerism)

via YankoDesign

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ted 2008 th big questions

The 2008 TED Conference schedule of speakers has just been announced! This years event will take place in sunny Monterey CA as well as a new simulcast lounge in snowy Aspen CO for some lucky individuals!(major party!)

Lots of big questions, unknown exciting speakers, and ideas to numb your brain!…this should be good!

If you have not heard of the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference, catch up to their videos on TEDtalks , my 2007 TED recap, or some of my favorites.


I love it when artist question definitions.

Artist Michel de Broin guts out a 4 person car and adds pedals to it rendering it a 4 person bike to some extent with a skin like a car. Is it a bike or a car? Car’s need a license plate, bikes do not.

The trekkers ride it onto the streets and get stopped by cops eventually. The best part is that during their stop a fleet of police bikes pass by.

Rules and definitions are meant to be broken, questioned, redefined. I love it when these instances are documented!
via Glumbert

toe come play

Thought of the week: What happens in Vegas never happened! 😉
Goal of the year: Be a design disruptor!

Funny: Best Wedding Dance Ever!
Read: Time Managment eBook for the Creative!
Tech: Aptera Car(300+mpg) Test Drive via PopularMechanics
Consumer: 5 yrs, 6 ipods, $1495!
Neat: A worthy travel pillow!
Art: Nice drawing!
Cool: Scissor Bracelet via Notcot
Challenge: National Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge

315 billion visual dollars

Have you ever wondered what $315 billion dollars looks like? If so, check out this link visualizing $1 stacks in comparison to a person and car!

This comparison reminds me of Chris Jordan’s photography on consumerism comparing our horrifying means of waste in smaller numbers we can understand…amazing work. It disturbs me that we consume “60,000 paper bags used every 5 seconds”, “2 million plastics bottles consumed every 5 minutes”, or “130,000 aluminum cans used every 30 seconds.” Also reminds me of the recent news about the dude that saved his trash for 1 year!(video)

The visual guide might be a bit deceiving though when compared to the famous $207 million drug bust some time ago. Either way, I’ll imagine being Scrooge McDuck in DuckTales swimming through it all!

315$ billion visual dollars via necromanc
Chris Jordan on Consumerism (pbs video)(poptech recap)
207$ million cash drug bust
Pictures after jump

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john maeda president risd 2008

Just before the holiday break RISD announced that in June of 2008 John Maeda would be RISD’s 16th president taking over RISD’s longest-serving president (15 yrs) Roger Mandle. This is HUGE news. Watch the introduction of Maeda here.

Being a RISD alum (2002) and having some experience at the MIT MediaLab I’ve mixed feeling about this decision. Maeda is a really well known person coming from the prestigious MIT MediaLab. He’s very smart and inspirational, has an incredible history, probably has some great insights for RISD’s future, BUT I’m just not sure if he is the right fit..only time will tell. It’s a bit tough to follow Mandle.

A few thoughts:
– RISD is a very traditional hands on school and this is their strong point. Hands on is one of those things you can’t just read about or type…you just have to experience it. How does one manage an education system without experiencing it themselves and all the other disciplines? i.e drawing nude people all day all year, knowing materials, understanding students of a different nature, inhaling charcoal, the freshmen experience, doing 3 all nighters a week for 4 yrs, cross pollinating disciplines, sustainability, etc.

– John comes from a very modern digital world. His thoughts on creativity are very statistical which is not bad, but just very different than how most RISD kids think. I’m still not sure why Maeda is that famous besides his mathematical art pieces and his “simplicity” route, but it’ll be interesting to see how Maeda adopts to the physical design world. RISD does lack digitally, but keep in mind RISD is a school of tradition and physicality.

– Maeda comes from a very corporate background, getting projects, funding, lots of media attention, etc. Does RISD want this? RISD is good at leaving students alone in such a way that they have to discover themselves and be unique to the rest of the world. Many schools prep students for what the world wants but RISD’s culture almost forces you to discover yourself over manipulating you into what’s already out there. This can be good or bad. Think of it like an indie band signing onto a label or a street fashion that makes the shelves of wal-mart or corporate life compared to a small firms culture.

– Who adopts to who…does Maeda Adopt to the RISD culture, or will RISD have to adopt to Maeda’s culture?

Watch the two videos of Maeda vs Mandle. It’s pretty obvious who understands the RISD culture more, but Maeda definitely sounds like he’s ready to dive in and learn a ton and become a RISDoid; Ball, Nad, Sack (the RISD sports teams). I do wish the best for Maeda+RISD but as an alum I naturally question changes for the future. Hopefully Maeda launches his own RISD blog as he has for his simplicity forum here. He’s also created a few pretty cool open discussion groups in Facebook asking the RISD community to feed him info on whats good, bad, and ugly.

Any thoughts, please comment! All the best to RISD+Maeda’s future!

This past year I’ve been incredibly fascinated and inspired by Adam Kalkin’s disruptive, poetic, rustic, and rather playful spacial creations redefining what things could and perhaps should be. His projects show exploration, curiosity, and an incredible sense to imagine like a kid again while being stuck in an adults body which I love.

Check out this great video summary of Adams work and personality via Dwell Daily Blog. For a peek at some of his other whimsical creations:

12 Container House
– Push Button House, NY Times or TheCoolHunter.
Bunny Lane House via ApartmentTherapy
QuickHouse via inhabitat

Adams work reminds me of one of my other favorite sustainable architectural firms: Lot-ek (video, Recycled Airplane Library)

Paper Logs Log

Here’s a pretty nifty way to be a bit more sustainable. Take all that paper you waste daily and mash it up into usable paper logs for bonfires during the frigid winter. I’ve always made knots out of newspapers to start up fires, but this ideas pretty cool if it works. Reminds me of those can crushers for recycling, but now ya just mash up layers of paper, and you get “paper logs” for usage 😉

via ApartmentTherapy
DIY Source: two3five.com

update: A Newspaper Brick Maker! Buy Here!