Words // Mike Newman Cool Material

Anything Aston Martin puts out is going to get our attention, but this is crazy. The CC100 Speedster Concept was crafted by the evil geniuses over at Aston Martin in less than six months, and is a thing of beauty (what else would you expect). Taking cues from the DBR1, the CC100 Speedster Concept perfectly combines classic Aston Martin looks with a bit of futuristic styling. The concept car made its debut at the Nordschleife in Germany and is capable of hitting speeds of 180 mph. Can this go into production and for some odd reason cost less than $30,000 please?!

Words // Graham Hiemstra Cool Hunting

As one of the more exciting seating designs to be introduced to Herman Miller‘s already near-comprehensive offering of home and office furnishings, the Wireframe Sofa Group blends a comfortably minimal aesthetic with a visual and physical lightness. After first catching the design in Milan last month during Salone del Mobile 2013, we recently had the chance to get a closer look on our home turf as the Wireframe Sofa Group made its American debut during NYC Design Week.

Designed by Sam Hecht and Kim Colin of London’s Industrial Facility for Herman Miller, the sofa plays on the iconic company’s long-standing use of wire framing with a soft and comfortable core to address the evolving desires of consumers. Hecht and Kim designed the sofa cushions to be freely removable from the single-body steel-wire frame, making cleaning and moving in tight quarters significantly easier. And by relying on a trampoline-like suspension system—originally developed by Herman Miller for the healthcare industry —the sofas are extremely comfortable and durable.

 

Come Fall 2013 the Wireframe will be available in a one, two or three seater in multiple frame finishes and Kvadrat and Herman Miller fabrics. Taking a similar aesthetic, an ottoman will be available as well. Keep an eye on Herman Miller for extra information in the coming months.

Studio image courtesy of Herman Miller, all others by Graham Hiemstra

Words // sleepboy Arrested Motion

Currently at Sprüth Magers, George Condo has a selection of new paintings and sculptures on display, his third solo exhibition in Berlin. The series of large-scale works are are the results of his ongoing reference to art history with the focus this time being Abstraction – i.e.: the lines of de Kooning, the forms and colors of Matisse, Tanguy and Klee, the all-over of Pollock, and Picasso. Rounding out the showing is a series of five bronze sculptures, taken from the familiar facial profiles seen in his imagery. The show will be on view through June 22nd.

Discuss George Condo here.

Words // Staff

Bumble Bee Tuna tastes great while being packed with essential vitamins and nutrients. Great for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Available at major food retailers including Walmart $6+.

Words // Staff Designboom

Constructed out of prefabricated high insulation timber panels and energy-efficient glazing, the well crafted Cuboid by Frankfurt-based Ian Shaw Architekten generates spectacular light throughout the interior fabric of the bathroom. Articulated as a classic modernist intervention; a box set into a traditional pitched roof atop a standard three-story house. The light within is ethereal, the washroom and stairwell exploits their south facing aspect through the use of extensive roof glazing. This creates a dramatic interplay of light and shadow. By contrast, the scheme’s large north facing window evenly illuminates throughout the day. As one enters the plan on the second floor, the depth, texture and colour of the oak floor and staircase amplifies the scene – heightened by the quality of light as one ascends. The structural clarity of the glass balustrades on the first level, juxtaposed by the white monochromatic tiling. The bespoke transparent screen provides a seamless interface between two vertical louver panels – acting as natural ventilation.

image © felix krumbholz

image © felix krumbholz

image © felix krumbholz

image © felix krumbholz

image © felix krumbholz

image © felix krumbholza

image© felix krumbholz

image© felix krumbholz

image© felix krumbholz

Words // Diana Adams Bit Rebels

If you were to visit a place called the Museum of Unnatural History, what do you think would be there? There would be a bunch of fun stuff that was fake but that we all wished was real, right? It would have a koala containment unit, bottles of unicorn burps and unicorn tears, and of course, it would have that missing link we’ve all been looking for.

As it turns out, these things may be more real than you realize. There is a non-profit organization called 826DC which helps young students develop their creativity and writing. The front of their location in Washington, DC is the Museum of Unnatural History. It’s a museum (store) that showcases (sells) fascinating artifacts from a history that never happened.

What a perfect thing to have as the storefront to a place that helps people develop their creativity. I love stuff like this. It will take your imagination on a wild ride if you let it. Everything you see here, and more on the website, was designed by Oliver Munday. As of right now, they don’t sell any of these online. Bummer! That koala containment unit is so cute, but I wouldn’t stuff a koala in there, would you? Did you know that koalas aren’t really bears? Hmm… These remind me of that article I wrote about how to make Unicorn Poop Cookies.

Words // Christopher Colossal

You’re walking down a street in Brooklyn, gnawing on a piece of gum that’s past the point of flavorful.. In a hurry, you spit it on the ground without a second thought and continue about your day. Hours later, a mysterious woman arrives, surreptitiously collecting the sticky gum from the sidewalk and dropping it into a clear plastic bag which she then carefully labels. Flash forward a month later: you’re walking through an art gallery, and there, mounted on the wall, is a familiar face staring back at you. Astonishingly (or terrifyingly), it’s a 3D print of your face generated from the DNA you left behind on that random piece of gum that now appears in a petri dish just below the portrait. A few years ago this would have seemed like science fiction, the stuff of films like Gattaca, but to information artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg, it’s how she makes her artwork here in 2013.

They say inspiration can strike anywhere. For Dewey-Hagborg, it happened in a therapy session. While staring at a framed print on the wall, she fixated on a tiny crack in the glass into which a small hair had become lodged. As her mind wandered, she imagined who this seemingly insignificant hair belonged to, and, more specifically, what they might look like. After that day, she became keenly aware of the genetic trail left by every person in their daily life, and began to question what physical characteristics could be identified through the DNA left behind on a piece of gum or cigarette butt.

Sample Location 6. January 6, 2013 at 12:25pm; Wilson ave. and Stanhope St. Brooklyn, NY; MtDNA Haplogroup: D1 (Native American, South American); SRY Gene: present; Gender: Male; HERC2 Gene: AA; Eye Color: Brown

Stranger Visions is the result of her fascinating, if slightly disconcerting, line of questioning and experimentation: 3D printed portraits based on DNA samples taken from objects found on the streets of Brooklyn. Dewey-Hagborg worked with a DIY biology lab called Genspace, where she met a number of biologists who taught her everything she now knows about molecular biology and DNA. Via an interview with the artist:

So I extract the DNA in the lab and then I amplify certain regions of it using a technique called PCR – Polymerase Chain Reaction. This allows me to study certain regions of the genome that tend to vary person to person, what are called SNPs or Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms.

I send the results of my PCR reactions off to a lab for sequencing and what I get back are basically text files filled with sequences of As, Ts, Cs, and Gs, the nucleotides that compose DNA. I align these using a bioinformatics program and determine what allele is present for a particular SNP on each sample.

Then I feed this information into a custom computer program I wrote which takes all these values which code for physical genetic traits and parameterizes a 3d model of a face to represent them. For example gender, ancestry, eye color, hair color, freckles, lighter or darker skin, and certain facial features like nose width and distance between eyes are some of the features I am in the process of studying.

I add some finishing touches to the model in 3d software and then export it for printing on a 3d printer. I use a Zcorp printer which prints in full color using a powder type material, kind of like sand and glue.

The resulting portraits are bizarre approximations of anonymous people who unknowingly left their genetic material on a random city street. So how accurate are the faces created from this genetic experiment? The artist likes to say they have a “family resemblance” and no, unlike the scenario depicted above, a person has never recognized themselves in any of her exhibitions. Yet. There are some things such as age which are virtually impossible to determine from DNA alone, so Dewey-Hagborg casts each portrait as if the person were around 25 years old.

Sample Location 2. January 6, 2013 qt 12:15pm; 1381 Myrtle ave. Brooklyn, NY; MtDNA Haplogroup: H2a2a1 (Eastern European); SRY Gene: present; Gender: Male; HERC2 Gene: AA; Eye Color: Brown

Artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg with a genetically derived self-portrait.

Dewey-Hagborg will be giving a talk with a pop-up exhibit at Genspace on June 13th, andQF Gallery on Long Island will host a body of her work from June 29th through July 13th. You can follow the artist via her website and also her blog. All imagery courtesy the artist.

Words // Taylor Berman Gawker

Virginia Maiden had an unusual Tuesday, to say the least. She awoke that morning to find that her 1995 Toyota 4-Runner had been stolen. “She was so confused, didn’t know what was going on, it was just gone,” a co-worker would later tell the press. So Maiden hitched a ride to McDonald’s, where she worked the drive-thru window. At some point that day she spotted something in the drive-thru line that shocked her: a 1995 Toyota 4-Runner.

At first Maiden wasn’t sure if the car was hers, but as she was talking with the customer she noticed her McDonald’s visor hanging from the rearview mirror. Then she knew.

“You would think whoever stole the car would say, ‘I’m not going to go to McDonald’s because the owner works there,’” Rebecca Guerrero, second assistant manager at the McDonald’s in Kennewick, Washington said.

The woman driving the stolen car had ordered ice cream, so the quick thinking Maiden told her the ice cream machine was temporarily broken, and that she should pull up to the next window. Maiden then called police, who arrived in time to arrest the suspect.

“What if she [Maiden] was off? What if she was on a break and not at the window? What if she looked away … It was meant to be,” Guerrero said. ”It was at the right time and the right moment.”

A search of the car revealed clothes allegedly stolen from J.C. Penney’s and Sears. No charges have been filed yet.

Words // Staff

Toyko-born artist SKOLOCT recently held an art exhibition entitled “One Finger” at Stussy Japan. On display were many of the contemporary artist’s work along with special pieces made with the streetwear label. A recap of the event can be viewed in the video above.

Words // Caroline Williamson Design Milk

We’ve all had our fair share of heartbreaks throughout our lives and there’s nothing better than those tried-and-true items we take comfort in during those painful times. Melanie Chernock set out to make a first aid kit that combined all the things to help mend a broken heart and she calls it Love Hurts.

The kit definitely brings in a bit of humor because frankly, we all need to laugh through the pain, am I right? The essentials included are: dark chocolate, vodka, a candle with matches, bubble bath, candy hearts with choice words, a mix CD, and if all else fails, a pack of tissues.

All the items come neatly contained in a compact kit.