Art -- Engadget

Video: Self-Portrait Machine binds your hands then bends your will

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 3rd 2009 at 3:44AM

Drawing faces is hard; and as children suckled at the teat of MTV we posses neither the patience nor the discipline required to learn the skill. So imagine our surprise to discover the Self-Portrait Machine, a device that snaps your photo and then forces you to draw your own face by dragging your bound hands around until the portrait is complete. Jen Hui Liao's project is the result of an observation that "our personal identities are represented by the products of the man-machine relationship." So it's like art and the intersection of philosophy... only it's not -- it's just a robot too lazy to make the portrait itself. See the video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Self-Portrait Machine binds your hands then bends your will

Pixel jewels not made of real jewels, still likely unaffordable

by Laura June, posted May 27th 2009 at 2:13AM

It's not every day you see fine jewelry that looks this... blurry. Stolen Jewels are the creation of Mike and Maaike, who did a Google for low-resolution images of various famous, priceless pieces of jewelry -- such as a ruby and diamond necklace made by Van Cleef and Arpels for Imelda Marcos -- and then made them even lower-res before transferring them to leather. The result is what you see above: stunning, and arguably much, much preferable to their original, heavy counterparts. There's one more photo after the break -- hit the read link for the whole, beautiful line.

[Via Neu Black]

Continue reading Pixel jewels not made of real jewels, still likely unaffordable

iPhone-generated artwork featured on cover of The New Yorker

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted May 25th 2009 at 10:16AM

Well, what do you know? It looks like our favorite fingerpainter is really making a name for himself with his handset artwork. Like his other New York City-scapes, Jorge Colombo's cover for the June 1, 2009 issue of The New Yorker was composed entirely in the Brushes iPhone app. And it looks like the artist's switch to a digital format is no gimmick -- he tells The New York Times that the device allows him to work "without having to carry all my pens and brushes and notepads with me." And he can work in anonymity -- to complete the cover he spent about an hour on 42nd Street, with no interruptions (try doing that with a canvas, an easel, and a full compliment of art supplies). Mr. Colombo, if you're out there: we'd like to add you to our Mafia Wars family. Drop us an email.

The real Human Interface

by Nilay Patel, posted May 22nd 2009 at 5:47PM

Deep down, don't we all think they work like this?

[Via Aza Raskin]

iri5 releases the ghost from the cassette machine

by Thomas Ricker, posted May 8th 2009 at 8:23AM

Over the last few months, artist iri5 has been compiling a collection of work on Flickr under the heading, "Ghost in the Machine." The pieces start with old cassette tapes and end in awesome. To quote the artist:

The idea comes from a philosopher's (Ryle) description of how your spirit lives in your body. I imagine we are all, like cassettes, thoughts wrapped up in awkward packaging.

Indeed. And they don't come much more awkwardly packaged than The Cure's Robert Smith immortalized above. Check out a close-up of his tussled chromium-dioxide hair after the break and be sure to hit the read link for iri5's full collection. The Jimi Hendrix experience alone is worth it.

[Via GearDiary, thanks schillmoeller]

Continue reading iri5 releases the ghost from the cassette machine

Dell Design Studio blows it out with more than 120 new options

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 30th 2009 at 11:39AM

Dell's "stick some art on it" approach to laptop design got off to a bit of a rocky start, and the stylized lids can still be a tad incongruous with the rest of the laptop's staid design (Design Studio laptops are still limited to the Studio 15 and Studio 17), but there's no faulting Dell for volume. They just added 120 new designs, a slick new way to browse through the looks, and most importantly: some pretty good choices (along with enough stinkers to keep it interesting). New artists include Deanne Cheuk, Maya Hayuk, Jason Holley, TWEEQIM, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Filth, Robert Hargrave, Peter Stevens, Keith Warner and OBVLN. It's $85 a pop, and (PRODUCT) RED designs include a $20 contribution to Bono.

NES gamepad mouse is the most amazing piece of industrial design in the history of humankind

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 30th 2009 at 9:47AM

Apparently as of right now, this stunning piece of high art is just a foam model mock-up, but listen to us, mouse manufacturers of the world: if you build this, we will give you every penny we have to own it. Our only gripe? The D-pad should definitely be up top for navigation duties. Still... where's the waiting list?

[Via Technabob]

Video: La Machine à Ecrire le Temps writes time, mesmerizes brains

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 27th 2009 at 6:51AM

There are horologes, and then there's La Machine à Ecrire le Temps, known less formally as "The Machine that Writes the Time" -- which is exactly, literally what it does. This stunning masterpiece was recently unveiled at Baselworld 2009, and while only those obsessed with time will really appreciate the 1,200 components needed to make this thing tick, anyone into whiz-bang gadgetry will find themselves impressed by the vid of just past the break. Oh, and if you're looking to buy one to dress up your new sitting room, you should be fully prepared to liquidate nearly $350,000 of whatever you have left to squeeze.

[Via OhGizmo]

Continue reading Video: La Machine à Ecrire le Temps writes time, mesmerizes brains

Giant keyboard art in Shenzhen metro station offers tech-friendly seating

by Laura June, posted Apr 23rd 2009 at 4:51PM

If you're at the Shenzhen Metro station any time soon, you'll unlikely happen across the beautiful, beautiful sight above. The station -- which is in Shenzhen just north of Hong Kong -- has installed some keyboard art that really speaks to the typist in our souls -- we even type in our dreams occasionally. The keys function as seats to relax in while you wait for your train, though why they chose the keys they chose (Enter, M, <, L, P and ;) is anybody's guess.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton make QR codes fun again

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 23rd 2009 at 9:44AM

Bland, black and white QR codes got you down? Well leave it to artist Takashi Murakami to shake things up. Creative agency SET has laced the psychedelic-anime expert's playful, colorful imagery into versions of the machine-readable code for Louis Vuitton that -- amazingly -- still work. The company has also done similar work for Coca-Cola, though nothing quite as luxuriously squeezable as this multi-colored panda. Now, if someone could just dress up those drab bar codes...

[Via DVICE]

Touchscreen calligraphy tablet concept gives linguists hope

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 21st 2009 at 9:08AM

Ah, now this is the spirit. Rather than concocting yet another handheld tablet that's good for nothing more than checking email and wowing onlookers, designers Soonkyu Jang, Chung Lee and Yonghuk Yim have come together to put linguists on the front burner once again. This here touchscreen concept is a calligraphy board that enables you to practice your stroke without ruining reams of paper and blasting through countless bottles of ink. Initially, at least, the board would only come loaded with teaching tools for the Korean language, but you know Leapfrog could hook this thing up with Lithuanian, Maltese and Slovak should it ever get involved.

Space Observer to innocently watch you at San Jose's airport

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 20th 2009 at 7:08AM

It's every child's dream to one day walk through a trio of space robot legs as entering Silicon Valley, and if a proposed art project goes through, said dream will become a reality for budding tech superstars who land in Mineta San Jose International Airport. The $300,000 initiative would see a so-called Space Observer built and showcased prominently in the venue, allowing patrons to walk underneath its two-story-tall body and emit all sorts of "oohs" and "ahhs." The monolithic space robot would sport three legs and propeller-tipped kinetic camera arms, the latter of which would collect live video to be displayed on embedded monitors within its body. San Jose Public Art Director Barbara Goldstein has already stated that "it won't follow you anywhere," but it's not like she really has the power to control what this obviously sentient creature does / doesn't do.

Braille e-reader concept can't be far from reality

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 20th 2009 at 4:22AM

The technology's already here, we just need a venture capital firm and a determined entrepreneur to make it happen. A foursome of designers -- Seon-Keun Park, Byung-Min Woo, Sun-Hye Woo and Jin-Sun Park -- have banded together to create the above pictured concept, an e-reader for those with limited or no vision. Their Braille E-Book concept theoretically relies on electroactive polymers in order to change the surface's shape as pages are turned, and while we fully expect the battery life to suffer due to all the necessary commotion, it's definitely a start that needs to happen.

Ora ilLegale clock tips to compensate for daylight savings time

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 18th 2009 at 9:12AM

Genius. Pure genius. In order to save us all from smashing buttons on our digital alarm clocks or stripping the gears in our analog ones, designer Denis Guidone has dreamed up this masterpiece. The Ora ilLegale clock boasts no numbers and is obviously missing a significant portion of its base; these two factoids enable it to become the easiest clock to adjust to changes in daylight savings... well, ever. The best part? We're told that it'll actually hit production soon, though there's no indiciation of just how pricey it'll be. Not like it matters -- you're totally buying one, and you know it.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

Homemade NES purse is so voguish, so for sale

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 11th 2009 at 12:33AM

C'mon, don't even front here -- you can't deny the frisson in taking one look at the masterpiece above. We know, there's a never-ending stream of NES-related doodads flowing from every possible direction, but it's not everyday that you get the opportunity to actually purchase one of these amazingly beautiful creations. Designer inhope has clearly and definitively one-upped that other NES purse with the Nintendo Controller Purse, and you can be the proud owner of one for just $39.99. An irrefutable bargain, we say.

[Via technabob]