This clip for "River's Edge," a highlight off Great Lake Swimmers' '09 LP Lost Channels, is an oldie but a goodie. Director and animator Nir Ben Jacob (well known for his excellent video for "On The Water" by The Walkmen) flexed his impressive stop-motion skills with a flowing, woody animation that matches the earthy eloquence of the tune. "About half a year ago, I stumbled on these wood-chip......read more
If Gumby had gone on a mystical journey through space and time – starting perhaps in an ancient Congolese village, making a left turn in King Louis XV’s court, rolling through an Andy Goldsworthy installation and ending up at an all night Mardi Gras bash – he might end up looking like one of Nick Cave’s freakishly beautiful “Soundsuits.†On display at the......read more
For more, check out the SHFT review of Nick Cave's Fowler Museum show....read more
Kwangho Lee's "Lifelike Design" exhibit at Design September in Brussels, which we discussed here, is up now at Hunting and Collecting. Check SlamXHype for story and pics. Nissan's ludicrous ad spot for the all-electric Leaf sedan is catching flak in the blogosphere. Advertising blog Copyranter calls it an "absolutely outrageously manipulative insensitive hubristic piece......read more
New York Times auto writer Christopher Jensen took the all-electric Nissan Leaf and the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt for a spin. Read his review at NYT Wheels Blog. Principles of sustainability are gaining traction in the fashion world. The new issue of JC Report has a nice feature on trends in sustainable fashion design, covering eco-minded brands like Chistopher Raeburn and Bodkin. Graphic......read more
Electric Avenue: The race for electric car dominance is underway, and GM is emerging as the early front-runner. According to CNN Money, since production began last November, U.S. sales of the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid are three times that of the all-electric Nissan Leaf. On the strength of those numbers, GM is planning to roll out the Volt to all 50 states by the end of the year. Material......read more
With Obama calling for the federal government to lead the way in sustainable practices, government officials have been getting down to business. This week, the feds announced the purchase of the first electric vehicles in the federal fleet. The purchase involved 116 cars -- a smorgasbord of Chevy Volts, Nissan Leafs, and Think Cities -- which will make their ways to 20 different agencies. Martha......read more
Earth is increasingly being touted as the building material of the future, leading to a hot new architectural trend: grass houses. Designed by GRID Architects, the Amalia House in Styria, Austria joins the trend...sort of. The family holiday home is completely covered with artificial turf, highlighting the interchange between indoors and out. We may be taking the idea of "green" design......read more
With the "Trash Cube," Swiss designer Nicholas Le Moigne sets his sights on the small market of green design fanatics who also happen to be narcoleptic. There is no danger of falling asleep sitting on this thing. Created entirely from scrap fibre cement, the Trash Cube is an interesting vision of green furniture — and maybe the least comfortable seat imaginable. Workers at the......read more
Nike's new N7 collection is inspired by the well-known Native American maxim, "In every deliberation, we must consider the impace on the next seven generations." The capsule collection features the N7 Air Pegasus (pictured above), the N7 Huarache, the N7 SMS RT in preschool and toddler sizes, and the N7 Organic Cotton Tee. All profits go to the N7 Fund, which provides grant money......read more