1. Carsten Höller: Experience
Turning the New Museum into a high-design amusement park, “Carsten Höller: Experience” immerses art fans in interactive play with the artist’s work. Among the attractions are the “Mirror Carousel,” the sensory-deprivation “Giant Psycho Tank” and a multi-story slide, all currently showing at the New Museum in NYC.
2. Zaha Hadid for Chanel
Spring 2012 was a collection certainly deserving of a stage borne from the brain of the Pritzker Prize-winner, and the set collaboration between Hadid and Karl Lagerfeld froze what would have been just a fashion show into an Artic dream sequence. Models stepping around a seemingly random span of icy-white floor amidst the signature soaring lines of the architect’s fantastical hand enchanted even the most jaded industry cynic.
3. Phillips Concept Beehive
Besides being beautifully nifty and producing an unlimited supply of free, safely retrieved honey, this “beehive” makes a one-home-at-a-time attempt to support the pollination crucial to the world’s agricultural system. The wall-mounted system gives bees access to the outside and human hands a trap door through which to get all the sweet stuff they want. Though the beehive hasn’t been produced, the process—push a button to release a puff of smoke to relax the swarm, open the trap door for honey and close without releasing bees into the house—seems simple enough and plenty rewarding on all fronts.
4. Mirage – The Full Experience
Brilliantly harnessing the power of the GoPro HD, Rip Curl produced this amazing surfing video. Using a 30-camera array, they created wild tilt-shift effects that offer a Matrix-like look, rotating around the riders for immersive imagery.
5. Stoner Cinema Through the Years
From Cheech and Chong to Harold and Kumar, Time tracked the best of stoner cinema over the years, beginning with the 1936 cult classic Reefer Madness. The compilation makes for a great way to spend a lazy Sunday.
6. Canon EOS C300
After a dominating entrance into the film world with their HD video-capable DSLR cameras, Canon has finally brought to market the long-awaited, fully feature-packed, cinema-centric camera with the EOS C300. The $20,000 rig packs all the elements needed for pro video work and is billed as direct competition to the RED line. Keep your eyes peeled for this awesome body and accessories, which will be coming soon.
7. Moby Dick in Pictures
Former high school English teacher Matt Kish has artfully illustrated each of the more than 500 pages in the Herman Melville novel. After completing one page per day for nearly two years, Kish compiled his drawings for this newly released book, accomplishing the feat as an homage to what he calls the “book about everything.”
8. Color Blind
Exploring the increasingly useless exciting realm of aesthetic science, Dr. Gregg Homer claims to have found a way to permanently change eye pigmentation from brown to blue. While we adore your hazel orisons, you can now see the world from a whole new color.
9. A Zero in the System
Design studio Something Savage produced the gritty title sequence to introduce the new indie film “A Zero in the System.” Using custom textures and matte animations, the unique stop-motion production was done entirely by hand with paper, paint and photographs, all scanned and edited digitally.
10. Chalkeeper
Frustrated teachers will be glad to hear about Chalkeeper, a device that turns chalk dust back into useable sticks. Though still just a concept, the vacuum is conveniently shaped to run along the chalk tray and boasts some sleek packaging to boot.
11. BRKRM
Wintercheck Factory’s new playful offshoot is a line of casual athletic wear inspired by the the fictional Technical Feeder High School. With Satan as the mascot, BRKRM clothing includes brightly colored tanks and a camouflage backpack.
12. Bright Blind
Makoto Hirahara’s Bright Blind won’t necessarily cure seasonal affective disorder but the tongue-in-cheek lighting option will lighten up any dull room that lacks a view.