Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Prince’s Paisley Park opens to the public, our nearest habitable planet, the history of chairs and more in our look at the web
1. Prince’s Paisley Park to Open to the Public
Most people will remember exactly where they were when they heard that His Royal Badness, Prince, passed away. The tragic news then led to many wondering what would happen to his immense backlog of work, and his beloved home/studio Paisley Park. The trust that’s running the late musician’s estate announced that—starting 6 October—Paisley Park will be open daily for public tours. The Minneapolis complex is 65,000-square-feet and was “the center of Prince’s creative endeavors” since 1985. Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson says, “Opening Paisley Park is something that Prince always wanted to do and was actively working on. Only a few hundred people have had the rare opportunity to tour the estate during his lifetime. Now, fans from around the world will be able to experience Prince’s world for the first time as we open the doors to this incredible place.”
2. Save Your Soggy iPhone With This Dryer
Apparently some 43,000 Americans per week drop their phone in water—then presumably run to the pantry for rice and hope for the best. But Redux (created back in 2013 by by Reuben Zielinski and Joel Trusty) is a commercial-grade machine that promises to dry your phone much more effectively than a bowl of rice can. With a success rate of almost 84% the drying machine has saved thousands of phones “damaged by immersion in water, beer, wine, soup and other fluids.” Read more at Inc.
3. A Brief History of Chairs
On the Paris Review, an excerpt from Witold Rybczynski’s forthcoming book “Now I Sit Me Down: From Klismos to Plastic Chair: A Natural History,” delves into the development of chairs as we know them. Beginning with a survey of how cultures across the globe choose to sit (and how it pertains to their region, climate and more), Rybczynski then segues into the history of the furniture and its correlation to our posture. Chairs were created to be a reprieve from standing and have, in some instances, changed quite substantially. But Rybczynski points out that our behavior might not have—nobody really sits still, most people shift actively regardless of what design elements have been added.
4. Our Nearest Habitable Planet
As the Atlantic puts it, the exoplanet Proxima b exists in its galaxy’s “Goldilocks” habitable zone and “no one will ever find a closer alien world than this.” The reason this happens to be a big deal: all signs point to the planet being able to support water and arguably existing life. There are still plenty of variables that could negate all of this wondrous news: does it have an atmosphere? Is its fixed-position rotation inhibiting development? But these are all questions likely to be answered during the lives of the next generation. For now, we are left wondering about the planet’s potentially rocky nature, purple-orange skies, and, if there are plants, the fact that they would be crimson and not green (which we can intuit because of the color of its sun-like star Proxima Centauri).
5. Magic Powder Blocks Bitterness in Your Food
The human tongue has 25 different kinds of bitter receptors—so if you’re not a fan of dark chocolate, Campari or black coffee, you can blame your body’s make-up. Those receptors, however, also live in “your gut, your lungs and your brain” so it seems there’s no escape. But a new bitter-blocker called ClearTaste will apparently remove the bitterness from all foods, thanks to its magical mushroom powder that stops signals to your brain about just how bitter your food is. More than just a flavor to be blocked, it seems bitterness is “an essential component of digestion and metabolism.” Read more at Wired.
6. Fat Brad: a Cookbook Inspired by On-Screen Eating
Described as “an edible ode to the movie star who eats like no other, Brad Pitt,” a new cookbook called “Fat Brad” has been inspired by the actor’s on-screen diet. From Rusty’s carpark burger in “Ocean’s 11” to chicken and potatoes inspired by “Snatch,” the dishes have been photographed beautifully—with plenty of thematic touches. Part cookbook and part film studies, this book is apparently the first in a series from Long Prawn. Read more on It’s Nice That.
7. Optical Illusion Metal Shelves
Ukrainian designer Dmitry Kozinenko’s “Field” shelving system gives the illusion that all objects placed upon it are floating, when viewed head on. Composed of bent metal rods—which create resting positions for books, vases and other homewares—the structure’s subtlety tricks the eye into believing everything it holds rests upon nothing. When viewed from the side, however, all ledges are visible. It’s a lovely, unexpected touch from the industrial designer.
8. Artist Jon Burgerman’s Classic Specs Canvas
As we all know, just about everything can be an art canvas. And Brooklyn-based Jon Burgerman has taken his charmed illustrations to eight Classic Specs sunglasses boxes. The entire piece is on display at Classic Spec’s Brooklyn Denim Company location, but each individual component can be won by way of an Instagram contest running right now. Burgerman is the latest artist to pair with the brand, after Jean Jullien, Tim Lahan and Margherita Urbani all designed custom sunglasses (still available for purchase). For any Burgerman fan, it’s a fun way to snag a one-of-a-kind piece.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
