Inside Rochester, New York’s Strong National Museum of Play, the National Archives of Game Show History will present memorabilia from the nearly 100-year history of competitive broadcast programming (which actually began with quiz shows on the radio). TV producers Bob Boden and Howard Blumenthal founded the archive from their extensive personal collections but currently seek “scripts, set designs, props, technical plans, marketing materials, creative plans, …
A company dedicated to transparency within its supply chain and salaries, Pura Utz makes playful, intricately beaded jewelry, bags and other accessories. Based in Guatemala, they pay their craftspeople four times the market standard there, and are committed to existing beyond fair trade. This yin yang necklace is entirely handmade (no two are exactly the same) and crafted from freshwater pearls and glass beads. It …
Kyoto’s defunct Nintendo Uji Ogura Plant will host the Japanese video game company’s forthcoming museum, tentatively named Nintendo Gallery. The site, constructed in 1969, used to produce playing cards and Hanafuda (a traditional card game, referred to as “the battle of the flowers”). The company—whose hardware includes Game Boy, Wii and Switch, and whose games range from Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong and Legend of Zelda to …
Though scientists have long understood the basic mechanism behind auroras (aka the northern lights or southern lights), a new paper published by Nature Communications offers “definitive evidence” on the spectacular physical process behind the brightest auroras. These colorful, undulating displays typically occur when particles charged by the Sun enter into Earth’s magnetosphere, collide with molecules and generate energy. However, physicists from the University of Iowa; …
In the forests of Jupiter Artland—the 120-acre outdoor sculpture park near Edinburgh—Scottish artist Rachel Maclean installed an eerie, graffiti-covered toy store with upside-down attributes aplenty. The sinister structure houses unsettling doppelgänger dolls, as well as Maclean’s new 10-minute animated film, which explores the pressures upon youth (from self-esteem to consumerism and predatory behavior) through the struggles of a cartoon princess. It is the artist’s first …
The beloved New York Public Library has undergone a massive $200 million renovation that’s resulted in an extra 180,000 square feet of space and amenities. Across the street from the well-known Stephen A Schwarzman location (replete with the familiar marble lions) now sits the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library which features “an increase in public seating areas, a whole floor dedicated to children, a new …
Madder- and natural indigo-dyed, hand-embroidered and hand-sewn, the Helix Jacket from STORY mfg. is (like all their products) carefully crafted and built to last. Inspired by a vintage helicopter mechanic jacket the design team found, it’s boxy but not too rigid. Its diamond-shape dye pattern has been achieved through a fold and clamp resist method, and no two will be precisely the same. Price is in …
Certified B Corp and fair trade, international chocolate company Tony’s Chocolonely works to end child labor and modern slavery in cocoa farms across the world (which is the result of large corporation purchasing power and ensuing conditions). For their chocolate bars, Tony’s Chocolonely adheres to five transparent sourcing principles that include longterm investments in farmers and their communities. Once limited edition, their four beloved Sweet …
Lewes, UK-based artists (and sisters), Liv and Dom Cave-Sutherland make a number of lovely stoneware candlesticks—each one hand-built and hand-glazed, with no cast or moulds used. Selene, the goddess of the moon, inspired the the Luna iteration. Standing about 19cm (7.5 inches) tall, the piece is perfectly functional, but looks glorious even when not in use. Price is in Pounds.
A portrait through poetry of a trans person’s experience, Kayleb Rae Candrilli’s Water I Won’t Touch runs powerful, emotion-laden language through moments of trauma, tenderness and joy. Candrilli’s accolades—as a 2019 Whiting Award Winner in poetry, a 2017 finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in transgender poetry, and many more—are deserved, and this latest 96-page book further reveals their distinct, necessary voice.
Off San Diego musician and visual artist TEMPOREX’s multidimensional 10-track LP Bowling, the single “New Lane” infuses ’80s and ’90s cartoon and video game pop culture into funky, electric bedroom pop. TEMPOREX (aka Joseph Flores) recorded most of the album at home, aligning layers of diverse sonic influence into imaginative tracks that sometimes encourage wonder and other times instigate dance parties.
South London-based, French-Senegalese soul artist anaiis returns with the laidback, jazz-tinged “reverie.” She composed the pretty song—which is written through the eyes of somebody watching a loved one deal with fear and regret—with Itai David Shapira. With slightly raspy, breathy vocals, delicate percussion and soft horns, the song is set to appear on her upcoming second album.
Measuring 50m by 40m, with a 16-meter-wide shaft plunging to a depth of 50m, the research pool within Cornwall, England’s Blue Abyss aquatic center will be the biggest and deepest in the world. When it is completed in 2023, it will contain more than 42,000 cubic meters of water—and its salinity and temperature will be able to be controlled. Designed by British architect Robin Partington, …
From Alice Coltrane’s Kirtan: Turiya Sings (out in July) comes “Krishna Krishna,” one of the nine devotional songs on the record. In 1981, Coltrane (aka Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda) first put the music on cassette for members of her ashram—and now the tranquil tunes are being released into the world. “Krishna Krishna” almost immediately puts listeners in a meditative state, thanks to its soft organ and …
From Fousheé‘s debut album, time machine, “my slime” provides fans with more of her mellifluous melodies, honeyed vocals and whimsy. The track is accompanied by a playful, modern-day Bonnie and Clyde (or Harley Quinn and Joker) type video—perfectly fitting considering the lyrics, “You’re my slime / my partner in crime / we just blew a day but you’re still on my mind / let’s go to …
Franny Choi explores queerness, femininity, identity and autonomy as an Asian American woman in Soft Science, a book of poems that often center on futurism and technology in a remarkably human manner. While cyborgs feature as a vehicle for otherness, Choi also uses them in many other nuanced ways. Rhythmic and melodic, her poems enthrall readers.
New from LA-based, Japanese-Dutch artist Yumi Nu, “Pots and Pans” exudes a breezy, dreamy and summery vibe—despite its subject being the demise of a relationship and the rebuilding that comes next. The singer-songwriter and model says on Instagram, “After long relationships end, sometimes that means rekindling old friendships, getting a new apartment (new kitchenware) and starting fresh.” This theme follows through to the artwork by …
A second release from The Felice Brothers’ forthcoming From Dreams To Dust album (out 17 September via Yep Roc Records), “Jazz On The Autobahn” finds the band at their finest, from engrossing narrative lyricism to vibrant alt-folk sonic stylings. The track is accompanied by a stop-motion music video, painted and put together by band member Ian Felice. He explains in a statement, “This song is …
