Chris Jordan

04 Nov 2010, Posted by Kylie in art, awareness, events, 0 Comments

Garbage and industrial wastes are overflowing in capitalist societies and endlessly polluting the global environment. It is not the fault of one; we are all wrong. Seattle-based photographic artist, Chris Jordan, conveys a message about mass consumption and human selfishness through his artwork series “Running the Numbers.” Most of his works are huge-sized pieces from mind-blowing data about consumption. Based on one of his interviews, Chris came to the topic of consumerism by chance; he photographed a pile of garbage and found beauty in the complexity of the great colors. Here are some examples of  his works.

Plastic Bottles,2007     60×120″
Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.

Light Bulbs, 2008     72×96″
Depicts 320,000 light bulbs, equal to the number of kilowatt hours of electricity wasted in the United States every minute from inefficient residential electricity usage (inefficient wiring, computers in sleep mode, etc.).

Cans Seurat, 2007     60×92″
Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.

It takes a few weeks to create each piece of work. He photographs a few hundred objects over and over instead of tens of thousands. Then he constructs his images digitally. He also researches statistics from articles, government databases, websites, and other sources.

Barbie Dolls, 2008     60×80″
Depicts 32,000 Barbies, equal to the number of elective breast augmentation surgeries performed monthly in the US in 2006.

Dog and Cat Collars, 2009     60×67″
Depicts ten thousand dog and cat collars, equal to the average number of unwanted dogs and cats euthanized in the United States every day.

Skull With Cigarette, 2007     98×72″
Depicts 200,000 packs of cigarettes, equal to the number of Americans who die from cigarette smoking every six months. Based on a painting by Van Gogh.

Gyre, 2009     8×11 feet, in three vertical panels
Depicts 2.4 million pieces of plastic, equal to the estimated number of pounds of plastic pollution that enter the world’s oceans every hour. All of the plastic in this image was collected from the Pacific Ocean.

Shark Teeth, 2009     64×94″; based on a watercolor painting by Sarah Waller
Depicts 270,000 fossilized shark teeth, equal to the estimated number of sharks of all species killed around the world every day for their fins.

He currently has an exhibition at David Brower Center in Berkeley, California. Unfortunately, New York is not on his upcoming exhibition list yet. I hope to see his work In the near future.

Sources: http://www.chrisjordan.com, Youtube, TED, Environmental Graffiti.

Why Design Now?

30 Sep 2010, Posted by Rupam in art, awareness, design, events, 0 Comments

Couple weeks ago I visited the “Why Design Now” exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, taking advantage of the free entry on labor day weekend.
Why Design Now? focuses on designers from around the world answering the question by creating products, prototypes, buildings, landscapes, messages and much more – all aimed at addressing the social and environmental issues of the world.

How can we power the world with clean energy? How can we shelter communities in sustainable environments? How can we close the loop of materials extraction and disposal? How can we enable people around the globe to generate and share wealth? How can we improve the quality of life for all people through health-care innovations? How can we communicate ideas effectively and creatively?

These were some of the questions designers were trying to solve. As designers are beginning to be more conscious of the issues happening around the world, the context of social design will gradually become a dominator in the design industry. Designing products and services that solve problems is needed in order to improve the lives of human beings.

These two were my favorite:

The Solvatten Solar Safe Water Purifier makes unsafe water drinkable by using solar energy. By combining UV, heat, and a filter to purify water, the Solvatten allows families and households a means to attain water that meets World Health Organization’s guideline of safe water. Simply putting the container in the sun for 2-6 hours, people will have access to safe drinkable water immediately.

The issue of unsanitary water can be eliminated with Solvatten where sun is abundant.

This jerry can design fills up to 10 liters of water.

Kind of reminds me of the Aquaduct project, IDEO created few years ago.

Ad Specs offers low-cost corrective eyewear to underserved patients, allowing them to fill their own prescription without expensive optical equipment. World Health Organization estimates over half a billion people in the world need vision correction, but have limited access to resources.

Designed by Joshua Silver, the lenses are filled with fluid (clear circular sac of silicone oil) which has a high refractive index that fits between two clear and durable plastic membranes. A syringe is connected to the lenses by a tube, which allows wearers to adjust the amount of liquid in each sac according to their prescription. Sacs are sealed off with a valve once the correct vision is adjusted.

Uncorrected vision impacts people’s ability to read, write, learn, work, and their daily life. However, with the low-tech solution of Ad Specs these glasses can be deployed easily at $19 a pair.

http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Why-Design-Now

Lego Store Opening @ Rockefeller Center, NYC

03 Jul 2010, Posted by Joan in brands, current events / news, design, events, lifestyle, topics, 1 Comments

On June 29th, the new Lego store in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center opened its doors to the public. In hopes of catching the tail end of the Grand Opening festivities (held over the course of the first three days), we took a trip over to Rockefeller Center on Thursday to explore the new Lego store and witness the exciting outdoor activities.

Here are some of the sights and sounds of what went on that morning:

PS1, Greater NY 2010

24 May 2010, Posted by Kylie in events, 0 Comments

The Greater NY 2010 exhibit opened at MoMA PS1 yesterday. The exhibit (which is curated every 5 years) highlights 68 artists and collectives who live and work in the greater New York metropolitan area. The multimedia exhibition features pieces that were created in the last 5 years, as well as live-studio works in progress.

Greater NY 2010 runs through October 18, 2010.

all photos from ps1.org

Ghada Amer Exhibition

21 May 2010, Posted by Kylie in events, 0 Comments

Ghada Amer creates dynamic large scale “paintings” by stitching thread on canvas. The thread drippings from afar appear as abstract art. At closer inspection one can abstract images that explore the cultural role of women and sexuality. Her work is simultaneously playful and poignant. I saw an exhibit of her work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art two years ago and was deeply inspired. I highly recommend checking out her current exhibit at Cheim & Read, 547 W. 25th St., which runs through 6/19.

New York Gallery Week May 7 -10

04 May 2010, Posted by Jason in events, 0 Comments

The New York Gallery Week is only from May 7 -10 and links up the countless galleries of Manhattan for all to enjoy. The week includes gallery tours by well know curators, artist forums, and more. Definitely take advantage of the talks and tours if you can, but if not, visit your local gallery soon!

From the official site:

New York Gallery Week is a series of art events in the spring of 2010, celebrating the most vital gallery community in the world.
NYGW will be an annual event, concentrating on programmatic and artistic rigor, with a mission that aims to ignite the New York art scene and direct focus back to artists and galleries.

Come play with us.

11 Mar 2010, Posted by Kylie in events, 0 Comments

If you are smart, hard working, passionate about creativity and like to have a bit of fun, then you might just qualify for an internship at CO-OP. Don’t get the wrong idea, we take internships very seriously and have great respect for young talent. So much so that you may just wind up with us full-time.

If your interested in working with a branding agency that develops distinct brand stories that get told through unique communication channels, then get in touch with us.

We are looking for web and print designers, as well as designers who have an expertise in social media. To find out more about CO-OP, the type of people we are and the work we do take a look at our website, co-opbranding.com.

For internship inquiries email your resume and a link to your website (or a pdf of your work) to kylie@co-opbranding.com.

Tim Burton Career Retrospective @ MOMA

17 Nov 2009, Posted by Jason in events, 1 Comments

Taken from the MOMA’s website:

This major career retrospective on Tim Burton (American, b. 1958), consisting of a gallery exhibition and a film series, considers Burton’s career as a director, producer, writer, and concept artist for live-action and animated films, along with his work as a fiction writer, photographer and illustrator. Following the current of his visual imagination from early childhood drawings through his mature work, the exhibition presents artwork generated during the conception and production of his films, and highlights a number of unrealized projects and never-before-seen pieces, as well as student art, his earliest non-professional films, and examples of his work as a storyteller and graphic artist for non-film projects. The opposing themes of adolescence and adulthood, and the elements of sentiment, cynicism, and humor inform his work in a variety of mediums—drawings, paintings, storyboards, digital and moving-image formats, puppets and maquettes, props, costumes, ephemera, sketchbooks, and cartoons. Taking inspiration from sources in pop culture, Burton has reinvented Hollywood genre filmmaking as a spiritual experience, influencing a generation of young artists working in film, video, and graphics.

Burton’s films include Vincent (1982), Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), The Nightmare Before Christmas (as creator and producer) (1993), Ed Wood (1994), Mars Attacks! (1996), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Big Fish (2003), Corpse Bride (2005), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and Sweeney Todd (2007); writing and Web projects include The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories (1997) and Stainboy (2000).

For more info and tickets, go to the MOMA link

Psychoanalyze this.

30 Oct 2009, Posted by Kylie in events, 0 Comments

In the spirit of RMA’s exhibition The Red Book of C.G. Jung, personalities from many different walks of life will be paired on stage with a psychoanalyst and invited to respond to and interpret a folio from Jung’s Red Book as a starting point for a wide ranging conversation. The guests include composer John Adams, performance artist Marina Abramovic, director John Boorman, musician/artist David Byrne, actress Kathleen Chalfant, Zipcar entrepreneur Robin Chase, Smashing Pumpkins lead Billy Corgan, director Andre Gregory, New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik, author Andrew Harvey, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, documentarian Albert Maysles, graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist of Doubt, John Patrick Shanley; poets Linda Gregg and Tracy K. Smith, painter Philip Taaffe, novelists Gloria Vanderbilt and Alice Walker, and philosopher Cornel West.

The Red Book dialogues run from October 19 through – January 24. Visit the Rubin’s website for more information.

1919-38 Bauhaus Retrospective @ MOMA

30 Oct 2009, Posted by Jason in events, 0 Comments

Curator Barry Bergdoll will lead a tour of the exhibition Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity, the first comprehensive treatment by MoMA of the Bauhaus since 1938. The show with over 400 works examines the Bauhaus in its historical moment from 1919 to 1933—the exact years of the tumultuous tenure of the Weimar Republic—and considers it as a vibrant school rather than solely as an artistic movement.

For more info: follow me…