sundance

Marina Abramovic: the video game experience

In the overlapping center of a Venn diagram between the art and video game world is this 8-bit side-scrolling online game adaptation developed by Pippin Barr of Marina Abramović’s live installation, “The Artist Is Present,” which was presented earlier this year at MoMA. In one of the more buzzed about art exhibits this year, Abramović sat silent and still in the atrium of the MoMA, where visitors lined up for the opportunity to sit across from her, thus “becoming participants in the artwork.”

The UK’s Liver Building as digital canvas

Luminous Flux from the macula on Vimeo.

“Video projection mapping” is a relatively new technique that has been gaining momentum in the art and advertising worlds for the past five years (did anyone else catch Ralph Lauren’s crazy “4D” demonstration on Madison Ave last year?). In essence, the method uses specialized software to turn any possible surface into a video display, warping and masking the images to fit perfectly on anything you can think of. One of the main advantages of the technique is scale: with minimal resources, video mappers can turn anything into a giant, digital canvas.

One spectacular recent example is “Luminous Flux,” projected last week on England’s Liver Building for the opening of the New Museum of Liverpool.

Now playing on Sundance Channel: NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS

Any movie with full frontal male nudity in the first five minutes is automatically a winner in our book. And that’s what you get with 2008′s NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS, the last in September’s “Lover’s Lounge” series on the Sundance Channel (airing Saturday night/Sunday morn, September 25th at 12:45am and again at Tue night/Wed morn at 2:30am – set your Tivos).

Patagonia’s Common Threads: buy less, buy used

Got your fill of Fashion Week? Feeling a little hung over from the barrage of new designs for next Spring (and perhaps a few after-party cocktails)? If so, what’s on the docket for last Spring’s garb? A call to Goodwill for a pick-up? A sneaky trip out to the dumpster? How about selling last season’s clothes on eBay?

Best of Kickstarter, 9/19

We scoured the pages of Kickstarter to bring you this week’s best projects. Have a great Kickstarter project of your own or see one you think deserves some extra attention? Let us know about it the comments and we may just feature it in our weekly roundup.

TECH
Teagueduino: Don’t know how to solder to embed code? Meet Teagueduino, “an open source electronic board and interface” that shows you “the ropes of programming and embedded development (like arduino). Teagueduino is designed to help you discover your inner techno-geek and embrace the awesomeness of making things in realtime – even if you’ve only ever programmed your VCR.”

Exploited 13-year-old Russians strut in GIRL MODEL, at Toronto Film Fest

Variety applauds the “gritty verite drama,” especially its “knotty psychological profile of [Ashley] Arbaugh, whose own video-diary entries from the mid’-90s – when she was modeling – provide a haunted glimpse into exploited youth. A visit to Arbaugh’s home in Connecticut, a spacious, rambling modernist dwelling with all the warmth of a bus station, is a creepfest: A pair of baby dolls sit upright on the couch in a living room devoid of almost all other decor. Arbaugh comments that she thought it was appropriate when she bought the house to buy the dolls, too. She has an overt desire for children and an apparent inability to have them; her need is palpable and pitiful, and the doll sequence has the mind reeling.”

If you’re not creeped out yet, check out the trailer, and imagine that right now, in some badly lit room in Siberia, a group of “Russian girls hoping to hit the big time, are parading their skinny innocence around in bargain-basement bathing suits.”

A UFO “Welcome Center” in South Carolina

Hopeful cloud-gazers will love the strange new documentary by Michael and Morgan Livingston, WELCOME TO PLANET EARTH. The film, which clocks in just under ten minutes, tells the peculiar tale of Jody Pendarvis, a self-proclaimed “alien ambassador” who maintains an enormous UFO Welcome Center on his front lawn in Bowman, South Carolina. Pendarvis clarifies his mission to the crew during the film’s opening shots, in case they’d somehow missed the giant, wooden spaceship behind them. “I welcome people from other planets – not this one, k?”

The rest of the film follows Pendarvis through a tour of his spaceship, from the Command Center – an amalgam of plastic lawn chairs, christmas lights and old TV monitors – to the Lookout, a circular room on the top level with a porthole window in the ceiling. “This used to be a bedroom, where the aliens could come and stay and sleep,” Pendarvis explains. “This is an air bed so they can just blow it up and be comfortable.”

Countdown to the Emmy’s for CARLOS star Edgar Ramirez

Since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, the five and a half hour long CARLOS has earned rave reviews; “Both the LA and NY film critics named it Best Foreign Language film last December and this January it won the Golden Globe for Best TV Movie/Mini.” CARLOS aired last October on Sundance Channel as a three-part series, and it’s to its credit that people are still talking – and talking excitedly – about the series, especially about its leading man, the very talented (and very hunky) Edgar Ramirez, who nabbed an Emmy…

Deck of cards honoring NYC creative royalty

Class up your next poker game and pay homage to some of the artists, writers, thinkers and provocateurs who injected New York City’s DNA, either directly or indirectly with their creative genius with these casino quality playing cards from Shipley & Halmos. Who said gambling can’t also be both inspiring and educational?

Weekly movie trailer roundup: George Clooney gets screwed – twice!

George Glooney stars in two of the majorest motion pictures to hit theaters this Fall, and while the films couldn’t be more different (a family drama and a political thriller), they do have one thing in common: George Clooney gets screwed. In THE IDES OF MARCH, which opens on October 7th, Clooney plays an upright presidential candidate whose press secretary, played by Ryan Gosling, turns against him right before the Ohio primaries, threatening his entire campaign. Does the aptly chosen title ring a bell to anyone? The phrase was made popular by Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, and refers to the date that Caesar was killed, or rather assassinated, when he was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators and fellow politicians. The trailer for IDES OF MARCH doesn’t include any such scene, but while political backstabbing may have become less bloody, it’s not any less treacherous.

Fashion Week finale

How did we rate what fashion powerhouses Calvin Klein, Proenza Schouler and Philip Lim sent down the runway?

Rag&Bone shows us how to rock the poncho with their tailored, fringed version, and Paula Abdul provides a regrettable how-to-most-definitely-not.

The walk through Lincoln Plaza from the street to the guarded entry of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week can be an intimidating stretch of pavement, lined with fashion bloggers and street style photographers snapping away. It’s almost like fashion’s final judgment day: make it all the way without getting your picture taken at least once and it’s as if the gods of fashion are booming down, “Your outfit sucks!” See who our street style team deemed worthy enough to stop and shoot.

The coolest presentation of sex survey results ever

Lists of survey percentages can feel so blah on the page, even when they’re about sex. Not anymore! Introducing The Sexualizer 1000, an interactive visualization of the twenty-question sex survey results of 1,000 Brits. (And the fact that it’s about UK citizens only makes it slightly less interesting). The Sexualizer, an offshoot of the Sexperience website from the Channel 4 Sex Education Show, allows you to ask questions and follow each individual’s response:

Q&A with Core77 design winner: Pure Water bottle

Ben Kaufman’s company, Quirky, is all about finding great ideas from regular people and turning them into real, marketable products, and Core77 is all about covering the best and latest in design and technology. Throughout the Quirky series, we’ll be bringing you stories from designers, inventors and entrepreneurs who’ve either already brought their product from concept to completion or are right in the middle of that process – and all without the help of a company like Ben’s.

Today we bring you the story of the Pure Water bottle, winner of the Core77 Design Award for Social Impact. Designed by Timothy Whitehead.

Run for your life – it’s the shredded newspaper man!

I really love this new costume/sculpture “We are all here to do what we are all here to do,” by Fabio Lattanzi Antinori and Alicja Pytlewska. Resembling something that emerged from the imaginations of Maurice Sendak and Guillermo del Toro, it was constructed using “shredded newspapers found around East London” and is perhaps an unsubtle visual metaphor for the declining state of the traditional print news industry and the ongoing Murdoch/News International phone hacking scandal.

Green tech finds, 9/15/11

Pig poop, coconuts, and seaweed: all the stuff of good green tech finds this week.

An affordable, fast and tip-proof electric motorcycle: Lit Motors CEO Daniel Kim claims all of those qualities come together in the C-1 concept, which could be available as early as 2013. Check it out in the video above. (via GreenTech Pastures)

Meet Unleashed by Garo’s Sequinette

Watch UNLEASHED BY GARO every Friday at 9P.

There’s no way Garo could pull off his extreme and outrageous designs (working, flapping wings, anyone?) without an incredibly talented team. In fact, they’re such a hardworking bunch that even though Garo’s assistant, Sequinette, has been on tour in South America, she still managed to work a quick interview into her busy performance schedule so we could get to know one of the unsung heroes at Garo’s studio.

Active parenting reduces testosterone in men

Guy 1: How are things going with your new baby?

Guy 2: Oh, you know, that’s pretty much Amy’s deal.

We swear to god, this is an exact transcript of a conversation that took place between a friend of ours and one of his college buddies. Sure, it’s an extreme example, but it’s not an isolated incident. Another guy told Em’s husband that his social life had altered “about 10%” since having a kid. And even many evolved, sensitive, awesome guys that we know can hover around the perimeter during the early stages of fatherhood, more like a friendly uncle than a parent.

Fashion Week recap: bright colors attract big crowds

Best of Day 6: mod looks from Milly, Southwestern sexy from Jeremy Scott and sleek lines in fab color blocks by J. Mendel wouldn’t be complete without some snaps of the faces (Zoe Saldana, Alexa Chung, Sofia Coppola, Ashlee Olsen anyone?) lined up to see them.

Fashion Week recap: prints and patterns and ombre, oh my!

Rodarte’s bold prints and bright colors carry on into their Spring 2012 collection with Van Gogh’s iconic sunflowers featured in a show-stopping, prairie-meets-sci-fi dress.

See what we think of crowd-pleaser Tory Burch’s collection of 20s-inspired frocks.

Go backstage at Juma, Toni Francesc and Herve Leger.

Joe Zee’s Fashion-Rescue Series Returns to Sundance Channel with New Labels and New Buyers!

JOE ZEE’S FASHION-RESCUE SERIES RETURNS TO SUNDANCE CHANNEL WITH NEW LABELS AND NEW BUYERS

Nicole Miller Among the Designers Seeking Zee’s Help in Season Two of “All On The Line with Joe Zee” Premiering November 25th

Guest Stars This Season Include; American Fashion Designer, Rachel Roy, Socialite and Fashion Trendsetter, Olivia Palermo, Rock Musician Adam Lambert, Mark Badgley and James Mischka of Badgley Mischka and Model, Veronica Webb

New York, September 23, 2011 – Sundance Channel is putting a new group of designers through fashion rehab in season two of the critically-acclaimed series, ALL ON THE LINE WITH JOE ZEE. Starting Friday, November 25th at 9:30pm et/pt, Creative Director of ELLE Joe Zee, who The New York Times deems, ‘Fashion’s approachable ambassador,’ will come to the rescue of designers in need of a makeover on their business, design or both in what The Huffington Post called a “must-see” show. Among the designers featured in the upcoming season, is modern-day fashion legend, Nicole Miller, who will work with Zee to launch her newest line at New York Fashion Week 2011.

Returning slightly altered, this season Zee will enlist the help of some of his industry friends including American fashion designer, Rachel Roy, socialite and fashion trendsetter, Olivia Palermo, rock musician Adam Lambert, Mark Badgley and James Mischka of Badgley Mischka and model and actress Veronica Webb, to help judge the designer’s ability. Each label will be put to the challenge when Zee asks the team to design quickly and outside of their comfort zones for one of these celebrities, who may or may not be typical of the label’s core clientele.

Four minute film about the LITTLE BOAT that could

Little Boat from nelson boles on Vimeo.

CalArts student Nelson Boles created this beautifully animated, four minute short film LITTLE BOAT. It has a tremendous visual and emotional depth for a deceptively simple concept, story and style. It starts off slow with a small sail boat that floats along and passes a variety of seascapes and environments, including some harsh conditions. However, the payoff near the end is worth the time.

Soderbergh’s CONTAGION: a no-thrills thriller

I saw CONTAGION last weekend and by God it’s the first thriller I’ve ever seen where a lingering shot of a coffee cup (or martini glass, or door handle) recently fondled by the recently infected is one of the scariest shots. A coffee cup! And it actually is scary. The camera holds just long enough to make the object – and the unseen germs just deposited there – terrifying. I’m not talking about a gasp-out-loud- sort of terrifying, but a sick to the stomach, this-could-surely-happen-to-me sort of terrifying.

Friends on Facebook have cried “Blah!” as in, “It’s boring!” Well, maybe. Moments, I admit, feel slow. But isn’t that refreshing for a thriller? Nobody but Soderbergh could impose a new pace on a well-worn genre, and nobody could rally such high power stars to, one by one, froth at the mouth. They die so well.

Quiet Ensemble turns your fish tank into a concert hall

Quintetto promo from Quiet ensemble on Vimeo.

A new installation by Italian art collective Quiet Ensemble will have you looking at your goldfish bowl in a whole new way. Called “Quintetto,” the collective took five enormous water tanks, each harboring a cheery little fishy, and videotaped their movements. A custom software program then interpreted their (generally pretty erratic) motion to produce subtle electronic sounds that change depending on the position, orientation or direction of the fish. The resulting songs are surprisingly beautiful, even kind of soothing. The sort of thing you would listen to in the bathtub, contemplating buying a goldfish.

Organic farming in Uganda: can pineapples lead to prosperity?

I admit that I know very little about Uganda: Idi Amin (gathered largely from THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) and news reports of the bizarre “Kill the Gays” bill pretty much sums it up. I learned a bit in January about efforts to protect their coffee crop from the effects of climate change, but still wouldn’t want take a test on the country. So perhaps my pleasant surprise at news of a growing organic agricultural movement in the country is just a sign of my ignorance, but it strikes me as a really positive development in a nation that has been torn by by political and social unrest for decades.

Designer Q&A: Killspencer bags by Spencer Nikosey

Ben Kaufman’s company Quirky is all about finding great ideas from regular people and turning them into real, marketable products. Throughout the Quirky series, we’ll be bringing you stories from designers, inventors and entrepreneurs who’ve either already brought their product from concept to completion or are right in the middle of that process – and all without the help of a company like Ben’s, like Spencer Nikosey and his Killspencer line of bags made from repurposed military truck tarp.