Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Women of NASA Legos, Jack White’s Detroit record-pressing factory, the “death” of street-photography in Japan and more
1. NYC Gallerist Denied Entry to the USA
As longtime fans (and neighbors) of NYC’s design gallery Chamber, we were shocked to hear that its owner, gallerist Juan Garcia Mosqueda, was detained upon re-entry to the US and sent back to Buenos Aires recently. Mosqueda, a legal resident of the US for the last decade, who lives on the Lower East Side, was returning to oversee the opening of the gallery’s latest exhibition. After a 14-hour interrogation and waiting process, Mosqueda was denied entry. In an open letter, he vocalizes his opposition to the 45th President’s overall immigration policy and staunchly anti-art stance, while encouraging all to contact your government representatives and ask for a more inclusive nation.
2. SpaceX is Taking Regular Passengers to The Moon Soon
Two non-astronauts with the desire to get lunar and a “significant deposit,” are the initial people SpaceX will be taking to the moon next year—according to founder Elon Musk. While the cost for the commercial space trip hasn’t been officially announced, nor the travelers’ names, it’s sure to be somebody with some seriously expendable cash. Carried by the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket, two humans will take the galactic trip in the Dragon 2 spacecraft and have tales to tell that regular folks won’t be able to beat.
3. The Death of Fashion in Harajuku
For 20 years now photographer Shoichi Aoki has documented street fashion in the hyper-stylized Tokyo neighborhood of Harajuku. Despite the neighborhood’s small size, its impact on Japanese culture has been expansive—especially in fashion, where it made popular bold, colorful and cartoonish sensibilities. The area and its occupants have changed, however, with mass-market clothing brands dominating. This has led to Aoki’s pronouncement that street-style photography here is dead, and with it, Aoki’s longtime magazine documenting it, FRUiTS.
4. Design a New UK Passport Ahead of Brexit
With a top prize of £1000, Dezeen has launched a competition to design a new UK passport—ahead of the controversial Brexit implementation. While many artists and designers most certainly see this an an opportunity to depict the heartbreak, anger and absurdity of the decision to leave the European Union, organizers have specifically said they are calling for “designs that present a positive vision of the post-Brexit UK.” (Though we do hope to see some of the humorous, albeit disqualified, entries.) The winners will be exhibited at London’s Design Museum and Clerkenwell Design Week. Find out more at Dezeen.
5. Lego’s “Women of NASA” Set
MIT News science editor and writer Maia Weinstock created a project that feels like it’s a very, very long time coming. As part of Lego Ideas (the company’s branch that allows the general population to send through concepts) Weinstock and Lego have announced the “Women of NASA” set. With figures of a bunch of significant NASA employees, the set is planning to include the likes of Mae Jemison (the first African American woman in space) and Nancy Grace Roman (aka Mother of Hubble). Surrounded by tech, books, rockets and more, Lego’s Women of NASA will surely be inspiring for young women—and another way to make them feel visible and important.
6. Jack White’s Vinyl-Pressing Plant in Detroit
Occupying part of a 10,000-square-foot warehouse space in Detroit’s Cass Corridor, Jack White and Ben Blackwell’s Third Man Records vinyl-pressing facility is finally in motion. The plant features two custom Newbilt vinyl presses for seven-inch records and six for pressing 12-inch records. All of the machines are manually operated—a departure from the industry norm. This has already led to 16 manufacturing jobs and Blackwell hopes to hire up to 50. “For Detroit to continue moving forward, you need to have different ideas,” Blackwell explained to Rolling Stone. As they print music from various labels and eras, this one idea is now preserving a beloved format, lots of Detroit musical history and making jobs along the way.
7. The New Medium of Mixed Reality
As Artsy notes, the last few years have seen virtual reality advancements in the art world never before thought possible. It’s a medium that’s long-been labeled the next big medium. At this week’s Armory Show art fair in NYC, however, a new medium has taken hold and it’s all thanks to a new development by Microsoft. Amsterdam-based art duo Studio Drift has debuted the first artwork made within the Microsoft HoloLens. Unlike VR, an immersive world, or Augmented Reality, where objects are layered into the real world, the HoloLens allows for a fusion of both using high-definition holographic technologies. The installation, commissioned by Artsy Projects, is known as “Concrete Storm.” Three static concrete pillars in real life almost quadruple and animate when the HoloLens is worn. For anyone familiar with both VR and AR, there’s nothing quite like this yet—and it gives reason to be excited.
8. IDEO’s “The Future of Moving Together”
More than just an autonomous car, IDEO’s “The Future of Moving Together” vision also promotes fostering community and connection between real-life people by encouraging ride-sharing. Essentially, humans are removed from the scenario, only to be added again—albeit in a much more social way. Core77 spoke with Danny Stillion (Partner and Executive Design Director of IDEO) to discuss the company’s most recent transportation project and how they see us using and interacting with cars in the future—and his insights and ideas are quite fascinating, and (importantly) hopeful.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
