Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Marni’s lawn chair collection, Google’s Project Glass, Bow Ribbon’s bedroom performance and more in our look at the web this week
1. Caine’s Arcade
Caine’s Arcade tells the heartwarming story of a creative young boy in East LA who made a DIY arcade using cardboard boxes from his father’s auto parts store. Discovered by an encouraging young filmmaker, Caine has what he calls the “best day of his whole life” when the city rallies his efforts in a surprise tribute arcade flashmob.
2. Marni Chairs
Consuelo Castiglioni applies her acute knack for color to a range of wicker furniture for Marni, which will debut at the upcoming Salone del Mobile in Milan. Made by former Colombian prisoners, sales from the 100-piece collection will benefit ICAM, an organization that helps foster the relationship between imprisoned mothers and their children.
3. Beautiful and Bald Barbie
Created by cancer survivor Jane Bingham, “Beautiful and Bald Barbie” eschews blonde locks in favor of a hairless scalp to remind cancer stricken women and children that beauty and self-worth are “not dependent upon their hair.” Mattel plans to produce the Barbie, and stock hospitals around the U.S. with the altruistic doll.
4. BZR Tights
A budding designer out of Atlanta has been turning heads with a line of ombré tights, created in a range of colors. Tiffany Ju’s perfect gradients are created through a hand-dyed process and are made-to-order for $45 each through her Etsy website.
5. Happy Show
Celebrated designer Stefan Sagmeister questions whether you can train your mind to be happy, and has spent the past year researching self-improvement techniques. With a film dedicated to the topic still in the works, some of his research is now on display at Philadelphia’s Institute of Contemporary Art in an exhibition aptly dubbed “Happy Show.”
6. Bells Ring
Check out this beautifully simplistic music video for Bow Ribbon‘s track “Bells Ring”. The static frame provides the perfect platform for Willow Gibbon’s acrobatic performance as she rolls around in a continuously color-shifting universe.
7. Zeen
From YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen comes a secretive new project that looks to “discover and create beautiful magazines”. While the details surrounding Zeen remain obscure, Digital Trends predict a fusion of Paper.li and Pinterest.
8. Surfs Up Daikanyama
No one sells the surf style, culture and coffee quite like Surf Saturdays NYC. Riding high on being named one of the best new designers in America by GQ, the brand went international this week with the opening of their second shop in Daikanyama, Japan. With a carefree, yet calculated approach to design across the board, the lifestyle brand offers the most fashionable reason to start surfing.
9. Seattle Art Museum Mirror
No stranger to large-scale projects, American artist Doug Aitken has been commissioned to produce his first permanent museum installation—on the exterior of the Seattle Art Museum. The series of LED panels will display footage of the surrounding Seattle landscape, from Puget Sound sunsets to local neighborhoods. While we won’t completely know its impact for some time, it’s sure to be a welcome alternative to Frank Gehry’s garish EMP.
10. Pebble E-Ink
We’ve seen several smart watches for Android phones, but the Kickstarter-funded Pebble E-Ink Smartwatch caters to both iPhone and Android users. The Pebble promises to link seamlessly with your smart phone, letting you read messages, control your music and much more. Back the project now for a chance to be the first to get your hands on one.
11. Google Project Glass
Google’s latest concept, Project Glass showcases the search engine’s ideas for the future of personal computing and what could be the next step after smart phones. The augmented reality tool promises total natural integration into your everyday life, a piece of wild science fiction that might end up preceding the flying car.
12. Linotype: The Film
Named the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by none other than Thomas Edison, the Linotype type-casting machine forever changed printing by replacing hand-set type with elaborate mechanics. The decayed and rusting machines are now the subject of a documentary film that pays respects to their impact on the spread of information in the 19th and 20th centuries.
