Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Hand-stitched typography, a skate park gallery, Nina Simone and more in our weekly look at the Web
1. The Listening Chair
Combining comfort and design, Imogen Heap’s latest project turns a pod-like chair into a recording studio that asks fans the question, “What song still needs to be written?” “The Listening Chair“, comprised of speakers, a microphone, LED strips, and camera, records its guests listening to an Imogen Heap song and following along the visuals on the the screen. Their experience can either be sent to the performer in form of a personal message or may end up being used in the video.
2. Hand-Stitched Typography
In a cheeky comment on digital ease, designer Briar Mark decided to hand-stitch a typographical illustration using three colors and tens of thousands of individual stitches. The completed piece appropriately reads, “I could have done this on my Mac.”
3. Amelia Earhart’s Lost Plane Expedition
Famed aviatress Amelia Earhart disappeared 75 years ago on July 2, and her mysterious legacy continues to captivate generations of Americans. A recent NPR interview with researcher Ric Gillespie reveals new information regarding her crash, including the fact they may have even found her physical remains on an island in the South Pacific.
4. #Euro2012
Showing that football fans support social media nearly as much as their team, Twitter data visualization scientist Nicolas Belmonte tracked tweets by following the #Euro2012 hashtag during the 2012 European Cup. The graphical spikes indicate high and low points in selective matches, giving insight to decisive moments when physical words were simply not enough to voice the levels of excitement.
5. My American Dream Sounds Like Nina Simone
UPenn professor Salamishah Tillet contributed a brilliantly written piece to NPR’s music blog on the indelible Nina Simone. Tillet guides readers through history, pointing out the copious ways in which Simone continues to not only influence music, but American culture at large.
6. At First We Take Museums
Much like art, skateboarding is a product of its surroundings, always adapting as society’s perception of it changes. To address the issue of public space sculptural artist Rich Holland presents “At First We Take Museums”, a large scale skateable installation at Finland’s Kiasma Museum of Modern Art.
7. Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters
Ten years of sporadic filming has come to fruition for director Ben Shapiro–his new documentary Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters explores and exposes the life and artistic conceptions of photographer Gregory Crewdson. Crewdson’s documentation of American life, in particular small towns and the people in them, has gained with the credit of “conceiving a new, expansive photographic language.” Shapiro’s documentary was an Official Selection at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival. Keep an eye out for screenings at local art house cinemas.
8. Keiji Shinohara
With a look that falls somewhere between Wes Anderson and Katsushika Hokusai, artist Keiji Shinohara uses traditional woodblock printing to create serene landscapes. The coloration is remarkably varied, a testament to Shinohara’s hands-on approach and his insistence on overseeing the entire printing process.
