Teddy’s Atonomy
Wool sculptor Stephanie Metz researched the meaning of ‘cute’ through the morphology of some Teddy bear species.
Related posts: PacMan’s Scull | Animatus
What is Next Nature?
With our attempts to cultivate nature, humankind causes the rising of a next nature, which is wild and unpredictable as ever. Wild systems, genetic surprises, autonomous machinery and splendidly beautiful black flowers. Nature changes along with us.
Posts Tagged ‘Biomimicmarketing’
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Wood of logo’s
A wood of logo’s. Installation created by Karl Grandin – yup, same guy made the nextnature.net wallpaper– at the powershow in Paradiso, Amsterdam 2005. See also: Animal Sweater.
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Simulacra for Imposters
“Transformation” is the title of the video by a group of bio–industrialists called Foster Farms. They also sell chicken products, but that’s just to fund their quest for fair food.
thefosterimposters.com (games) | fosterfacts.net (the making of)
Related posts: Simulacra for Dummies | Beauty is a product | Featherless Chicken -
Photoshop reporters in China
China’s high-speed train from Qinghai to Xizang worried environmentalists well before its launch in July 2006. Concerns increased after a photograph of Tibetan wildlife near a high-speed train appeared in hundreds of papers – until Web viewers began to argue it had been doctored. The paper that first printed the image has now apologized.
Source: Wall Street Journal. See also: The Photoshop Reporters. Thanks Tinkebell.
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Fake for Real video
Video of the Fake for Real Memory Game, presented by Hendrik-Jan Grievink & Koert van Mensvoort at the Style First exhibition in the museum Mudac, Lausanne, Switzerland. Watch the YouTube.
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Föhn le fenêtre
Tired of looking out on a grey wall and in dire need of a green touch? Then Föhn le fenêtre has got just what you need. The concept is simple enough: artist Karel Verhoeven offers you his services and in return you’ll get a lovely green view: he’ll decorate your windows with flowers, plants or thistles, which you can choose from a catalogue of 32 plants. What’s interesting about this project is that the selected plants are all part of the Ghent Altarpiece by the brothers Van Eyck. So not only will you get a greener view, you’ll also be the proud owner of a unique piece of art, not to forget that you’ll be supporting an artist.
Visit his stall at Vooruit during the game is up! and read more on www.liquidcactus.be. (reservations can be made from Wednesday 5 March on 0485/14.29.35)
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Catch and eat fishing by phone
For mobile gamers in western Japan, a hearty seafood dinner awaits just a few key clicks away, thanks to a unique new cellphone fishing game that rewards successful players with home deliveries of fresh, real-world fish. The game — called “Ippon Zuri” (which means “pole-and-line fishing”) — was created by FIT, a Fukuoka-based system development company who teamed up with a local seafood shop.
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Simulated Diamonds
That shiny sparkling stone you got from your lover… is that a diamond? Lab manufactured diamonds are getting exceedingly good. They have the same color, clarity, cut and carat as minded diamonds and —since they are created in a laboratory— you can be sure they are ‘conflict free‘. The one in the picture (below) is from Israel (speaking of conflict free zones) and can be bought here. Of course, if you really want something exclusive for your lover, you should forget about diamonds altogether and get some biojewellery.
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Green Blues: Biofuels add to Global Warming
It is official: the Green Blues has begun. Almost all bio-fuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two new studies published in the top-tier journal Science have concluded.
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Meet the worms, viruses, and trojans
Now there is an interesting biomimicmarketing technique we had not seen before. For their new marketing campaign internet security company Messagelabs worked with digital artist Alex Dragulescu to graphically show what cyber threats actually look like. The images are generated from the actual code from each of the threats.
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Treetrunk Trashcan
The Nanputo Temple in Xiamen (Southeast China) is an oasis of quietness, religious practice and leisure for Chinese amidst the hustle and bustle of one of the fastest growing economies is the world. From all over the country, pilgrims and tourists come to the temple to pray, enjoy climbing the numerous stone steps up the rock and enjoy their view over the city. They don’t want to have their experience of this harmonious environment spoilt by ugly things like trashcans, would you? But you have to leave your coke bottles and soymilk packages somewhere, so what do you do? Of course, you design a trashcan that beautifully mimics the trees surrounding it!
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The copypaste Bird
One might think this video is just another witty flick made by some media artist. It is not. This is a real bird living in Southern Australia. In order to attract females, the Superb Lyrebird (aka the copypaste bird) sings and mimics all the calls of other birds as well as other sounds he hears in the forest -even chainsaws and camera shutters!
For me the Lyrebird is not only amazingly peculiar, but also very inspiring; it learns us that simulation and imitation are a natural phenomena in life. This bird forces us to look differently at our mediated society. Since I’ve met the Lyrebird, I perceive Disney castles, video games, breast implants, online shopping carts and indoor beaches differently.
I wonder if the famous French hyperreality philosopher Jean Baudrillard knew about the Lyrebird?
See also: Walking Leaf, Simulacra for Dummies.
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Solar Trees
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Fake for Real: Ceci n’est pas une Montagne
Ask a child to draw a mountain and you will get something like the Matterhorn. The shape of this famous mountain, situated on the Swiss-Italian border in the Alps, is one of the most iconic pictures of nature; almost a caricature of itself. The summit of the Matterhorn was first reached in 1865. Today, it is a popular destination for climbers. Each summer, guides take a large number of people up the route, which is equipped with fixed ropes. The climb is difficult, but possible for skilled mountaineers. Because of the scale of the trek, dangers like falling rocks, naïveté, and overcrowding, though, several climbers die each year. At Disneyland in California, the Matterhorn has been reproduced as a bobsled attraction. Passengers board sleds, ascend to the top of the mountain, and then speed down through ice tunnels, finally splashing into a small lake. Both the real mountain and the amusement park ride seem to turn our vision of nature into a cliché.
From our Fake for Real series. See also: Summit of the Mount Everest on Tour, Ceci n’est pas une Montagne.
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New York City Waterfalls
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Fake for Real: Pharmaceutical Candy
Valium, Prozac, Placebo, Viagra, Candy: can you say which one doesn’t belong? Or, to rephrase the question: can you say exactly where the boundary lies between medicine and entertainment? It is difficult to judge: both aim to increase quality of life. But what that means is arguably a matter of taste.
From our Fake for Real series.
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Clear Blue Sky
Who likes clouds anyway? Especially for the people still living in the suburbs of Venray (small town in the Netherlands), artist Helmut Smits made this billboard depicting a clear blue sky.
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The Top 10 New Organisms of 2007
Genetic engineering isn’t just for scientists in ivory towers or corporate R&D labs anymore. Researchers are still creating new mice and crops every week, but the tools and knowledge necessary to create organisms never before seen on Earth have pushed out to pet breeders, artists and college kids. Wired counts down the top 10 of new organisms of 2007.
1. Ashera GD hypoallergenic cat
Lifestyle Pets has created a cat it calls the Ashera GD, which has been genetically engineered to be hypoallergenic. The high-tech blend of exotic cat varieties doesn’t come cheap: This kitty in the window retails for $27,000 — nothing to sneeze at. The ultra-rich around the world, however, don’t mind the price tag. Six of the cats sold in December, three of them in the company’s best market: Russia. Next year, expect a transgenic cat, which will remain kitten-size throughout its life.2. Butanol-producing E. coli
Genetic engineering is getting so easy, even a kid can do it. A team of students from the University of Alberta, “the Butanerds,” competed in the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition, creating an E. coli strain that produces butanol fuel (albeit rather inefficiently). The Butanerds have competition from a host of well-funded startups, like Synthetic Genomics and LS9, which are trying to genetically modify single-celled organisms to create the fuels of the future.3. Artful fluorescent tadpoles
At an Ohio State art show earlier this year, Russian artist Dmitry Bulatov presented his genetically engineered tadpoles, which glow red and green. Bulatov, the curator of the Kaliningrad Branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Art in Russia, is one of a handful of artists around the world using biotechnology to create art. The field is controversial, because it involves experimenting with living things without a medical or therapeutic purpose. Bulatov edited a collection of essays on these issues called Biomediale: Contemporary Society and Genomic Culture.
