Popwuping - design and the culture of mobility

Diary of a Weaving Story

I seldom see artist with such a personal connection to her artwork. Showing at the ARDEL Gallery of Modern Art, Diary of a Weaving Story by Imhathai Suwatthanasilp details the love and connection in her family. From the artist:

"Diary of a Weaving Story" is the latest solo exhibition by Imhathai Suwatthanasilp a young female artist from Silpakorn University whose artworks have been awarded in many art competitions. She also has been granted several scholarships from international art institutes. Imhathai's works of art originate from the love and connection in her family. To stress this idea the artist uses her own hair, which have been collected after her father had cut his hair and given it to his 4 daughters, as a key medium that reflects love and union between family members. Having been the representative of the whole family as the symbol of the family's blood and soul, the hair that were weaved together also serves as a diary that keeps reminding her of the memorable experiences and the relationship that have been transferred from generation to generation.

Openaire - Laptop Case & Portable Workstation

Openaire is an interesting portable worrkstation concept from Nick and Beau Trincia.

Openaire combines is a hybrid of a laptop carrying case, work surface, and chair. The system consists of a semi-rigid protective sleeve designed as an ergonomic laptop work surface and a protective shell that also functions as a comfortable seat. Together, they offer the portability and comfort to support work anywhere.

Popweekly: Digest for 02.08.10

Bangkok mail box

Popweekly is a weekly report (at the beginning of the week instead of the end) which contains a digest of news, events, and issues of interest to Popwuping readers.

Computational couture: wearable digital technology fashion design

Mobile computing, handheld gaming, geolocation technologies and multimedia music players are intricately woven into the fabric of our culture, and now they are making their way into our clothes.

From miniaturized processors and embedded electronics, to luminous fabrics made from fiber optics and clothes that change color or have hemlines that rise and fall at the touch of a button. As we become increasingly inseparable from our cellphones, laptops, and mp3 players--interest in wearable computing is growing--and those at the forefront are getting mainstream media coverage. Fashion designers experimenting with and embracing connective threads are definitely being taken more seriously by the mainstream fashion industry and by digital culture creatives and marketers.

Latest Japanese phones not looking good

Japanese phones used to be years ahead of anything we had here in Europe and decades ahead of those in the US, but not any more. The latest US and European smartphones are super-slick devices with gorgeous user interfaces, while the latest Japanese phones are almost the exact opposite.

Global cell phone sales on the rise

Sales of cell phones around the world rebounded in the fourth quarter, indicating that the recession may be over for the beleaguered mobile handset market, according to figures compiled by market research firms.

Global handset shipments were up 10 percent to 324.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to 293.8 million phones during the same quarter a year ago, said Strategy Analytics. This is the first quarter of growth the industry has seen since the third quarter in 2008.

Urban sensing via mobile phones

Arup Australasia has published a three-part technical overview on its research blog of its 'urban sensing via mobile phones' project.

The research project, in collaboration with the UTS Centre for Real-Time Information Networks, explores technical approaches to sensing the presence of mobile phones in transit environments (bus, train, ferry etc.) as well as pedestrians, in order to provide real-time data on such activity, potentially informing urban planning and transport planning decisions. Such approaches might reveal how the city is being used, in real-time.

Can your cell phone tell if you're happy or overworked?

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology think it can do that and more--separate the rich from the poor, the sick from the healthy, even the outgoing from the introverted. Sandy Pentland, director of MIT's Human Dynamics Research program, has focused his work on that unlikely task: using gadgets as simple as a cell phone to better understand the quirks and patterns of human behavior.
Pentland's experiments began with what he calls a "sociometer," a simple badge-like device that hangs from a subject's neck and records his or her movements, tone of voice, and location. With just those signals collected from large groups of subjects, Pentland says he was able to perform a kind of data analysis he calls "reality mining," finding patterns that reveal a surprising range of information--from how a population breaks down into groups, to which groups are most social and productive, to the personality traits of single individuals, all based on measuring tone of voice and body language.

Inspiration: Yao Lu

Yao Lu - Viewing the City's Places of Interest in Springtime
Yao Lu - Viewing the City's Places of Interest in Springtime

Chinese artist Yao Lu's pictures of traditional Chinese landscapes, mountains shrouded in mist, are created by digitally manipulating photographs of mounds of rubbish. His work lying somewhere between painting and photography, expresses the changes affecting the environment in China as it undergoes rampant urbanization and faces numerous ecological threats.

Webclock by Vancsa Domokos

webclock

Vancsa Domokos webclock tells the time and what is happening at that moment somewhere on the web:

For every minute of the clock, a fragment of text is taken from a webpage which contains the current time, but from a different day and / or year in history.
The WebClock contains text traces for 1440 minutes of the day and reflects the relation between man and time. It is a collection or subjective time experience, relatively, even though the absolute clock is represented as numbers.

Her conclusions based on her analysis of the text:

In the morning people are more interested about the weather. Even if they have different motives in finding out we ather than a farmer who works outdoors!
The Night-owl type of person tend to talk about sleep. When they watch the clock they realize that they are distanced to what they should normally expect to do at this time.

Webclock by Vancsa Domokos. Via Mocoloco.

On Fashion Blogs

A Video that was presented at PREMIUM Exhibitions panel on Fashionblogs, asking Suzy Menkes, Yvan Rodic (Facehunter), Jennie Tamm (The Coveted) and Julia Knolle and Jessie Weiss (LesMads) to share their opinion.

Via Designnotes.

Escotype Flag Bag

One of the latest trends I've noticed lately is adding a shoulder strap to a small tube sized bag which for women functions as a sportier replacement for a purse and for men a replacement to the ubiquitous handheld shaving kit bag. Anything that stops Chinese guys from carrying around those bags is a welcome development. What these new bags generally lack is versatility and is many case quality construction. The Flag by Escotype has the versatility, quality and importantly style that so many of these bags lack.

Flag is a mixed leather/nylon collapsible utility bag, featuring a large internal cell with a smaller secondary pocket. 'Flag' may be worn off the shoulder or across the body, fully extended for maximum internal space, or folded in half for maximum portability.

Beautiful details.

Escotype Flag

Incase Coated Canvas Laptop Backpack

The Coated Canvas Laptop Backpack by Incase features simple lines and a modern, if boxy, design. Made of a heavy-duty weather resistant cotton canvas, the backpack has a reinforced notebook compartment with quilted interior lining, heavy-duty YKK zipper pulls with closed-seam construction, a faux fur lined iPod pocket with headphone port, padded shoulder straps and back panel. The interior lining color provides a nice contrast. A great looking bag to carry your laptop (up to a 17" screen).

Special Ops Backpack

Killspencer's Special Ops Backpack

I'm not into the name, nor the pretense it implies, but I am attracted to the simple silhouette and quality materials in Killspencer's Special Ops Backpack. It shares many similarities to Black Diamond's Bullet pack but it's certainly an upgrade in terms of durability (and price). The Special Ops Backpack features "military spec" hardware including Aquazip water resistant zippers, cobra buckles, 4000 lb test black webbing and retractable wall mount system. To help you survive your corporate war room this backpack will carry your 15" Macbook in a padded pocket and has small pocket perfect for your business cards. Made in Los Angeles.

Killspencer's Special Ops Backpack

Link Love: Fashion

linklove2

Small pieces, loosely joined.

A Look Inside Wm. J. Mills & Co. nautical inspired Mills canvas bags

Fabric Etiquette: Tweed, one of those timeless fabrics

Martha Davis: From industrial designer to women's shoe designer

Made in Americana | Red, White, Blue ... and Black

China's Luxury Consumer: Young, Individualistic, And Ready To Shop

From the archives ...

Von Sono Summer 2010 Collection

Von Sono Summer 2010

Found @design milk, the Summer 2010 collection of Von Sono by German designer Stephanie Oberg. Wonderful concepts, humor and cultural references in clothes that anyone can wear. Love her palette and the textures I can see in her materials.