Control IV busted. Time to move to a real city so we can have some fun.

Great big thanks to Fontmonster.com and Binah.org [viva Chicas Latinas] for linking up Burnlab. Fontmonster is a great resource in tasty bitmap crispness, and Biah is a Costa Rican based site with some great content, run by - from what I gather - a group of very talented Latin chica designers. It was more than flattering to see Burnlab listed between John Maeda and GMUNK. Wish I could read Spanish...

Israel posted this piece of Flash anime over on ARCHINECT, and I still can't figure out if it's for real or not... superbly twisted: Show You, Show Me.

There is a simple web page for The Necto's New Years Eve party up here and the final print graphics are here. Perhaps proof that sick minds think alike, or maybe bubbles<>records are the hot thing in the collective unconscious, Tom M�ller just did a drop-dead gorgeous job for Addiction, with some nicely animated bubbles. He and Ash Wood have also just launched Popbot World. Mr. M�ller is just too good for his own good ;)

Shannon and I are off to Dublin for the holiday, so I will be off-line until next week. [I trust the conspirators to hold down the fort.] Happy Turkey Day to all!

The top 20 Computer.Love poster contest finalists are up here. Apparently the other editors didn't disagree with all of my selections ;) Here were my top five picks:
one two three four five

In the 'thought you had seen it all' category: Eminem's family home is for sale on eBay. Bidding is at over $11 million so far. What would someone with that kind of money do with a dump in Warren? Please don't say museum... The official site is too funny. Here is an excerpt: "Two lower bedrooms, with energy-efficient fluorescent lighting and period suspended ceilings." Sweet.

Minus Records just received a really nice, tight re-design by the talented Craig Kroeger - best known as Milwaukee's god of pixel fonts. The all new Minus site features a wealth of media and information, including some super-rare videos. Check Craig's other work at miniml.com, and see Rich tonight at Filter 14 in NYC, and Wednesday at City Club in Detroit for Control IV.

Rumor has it that both Magda and I are playing records at the Shelter in Detroit on December 26th. You saw '8 Mile', right? You know all about the Shelter then. (Oh, and that's right, I don't know how to DJ.)

John Balousek reports on some great stuff going on around his current home town of Tokyo:



The Electraglide festival at Makuhari Messe [where the Tokyo Motor Show is held] happens Friday, Dec. 13th and features Kraftwerk and Squarepusher. Kraftwerk and Squarepusher! Egh, Sasha is there too... You know what we think of trance around here.

I've been asking for years why Kraftwerk has never played the D.E.M.F., and apparently the reason is $100,000. Fair enough.

Also in the neighborhood, the RESFEST hits Harajuku this weekend, and there is an M.C. Escher exhibit wrapping up at the Bunkamura Museum in Shibuya.

Back in Brooklyn, our good friends at OLEX are throwing a loft party this Saturday with a very impressive DJ line-up. Info here.

[Swiped from NewsToday.com] This is way below our normal standards... well... here: Laptops dangerous to pee-pee.

Liz is moderating a panel discussion on Detroit music this Saturday as part of the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit's LINK series. [Info below and more on Audio Interference.]

Re:sounding Detroit: a comparative presentation and discussion of music created in the Motor City
Participants: Lars Bjorn, Ben Edmonds & Dan Sicko; Moderated by Liz Copeland
Saturday, November 23rd, 3-5 pm
Bernath Auditorium inside the David Adamany Undergraduate Library on the campus of Wayne State University
Free and open to the public

For those who may not be familiar, CAID is a big deal and a great thing for Detroit and the greater art community. The recently reborn non-profit is dedicated to promoting and providing a support network for artists working in various media - from sculpture to music to film. Watch for exciting things from this group, led by Detroit Contemporary founder and Detroit Artists Market director Aaron Timlin and a visionary board of directors which includes Ersatz founder Adam Lee Miller, Pilot Pictures' Riva Sayegh and of course, our own Andy and Liz among other community leaders.

Great big thanks to everyone who made it out for the Engram/Core77 OffSite last night. Over 300 people attended, which is about twice comfortable capacity at Galapagos! Everyone seemed to have great time though. Photos to come.

I was digging around on Core77 and found the great website of Portland based industrial design consultants Fuse. (Not to be confused with SF based design powerhouse Fuse Project.)

More on MoSex: SHoP didn't actually design the Museum of Sex, though they do have an interesting proposal at their site. A firm called Cleanroom is credited. Cleanroom did design a really interesting facade treatment, which should be a cool landmark on 5th Ave, when completed. The interior unfortunately just smacks of being thrown together and the exhibits are an injustice to the content. There are discussions on the design here and here.

Brian Kritzman and I went to The Changing of the Avant-Garde exhibit at the MoMAQns on Saturday - which is to die for. I fell in love with drawing all over again. The on-line exhibit is stunning as well: the handiwork of For Office Use Only. The Drawing Now exhibit is also brilliant, and the 'greatest hits' from the MoMA's permanent collection just floored me. I'd seen all the pieces before, but never have been in a room of such an intense concentration of pivotal work. Wow. Great new building as well. This was a real treat after being swindled out of $17 each for admission to the recently opened and much hyped Museum of Sex. This is hands down the WORST museum I've ever been to. Junk exhibit design, junk floorplan, junk craftsmanship, junk lighting, junk, junk, junk. I think I actually heard that it cost about two dollars per square foot to build, and I think they were ripped off. The staff was nice enough I suppose, and the content was what it was. I guess its impressive to build a space with nothing but a stack of drywall, a Sawzall, chewing gum, and some left over latex paint. It seems like they're trying to make some money fast and close up in a few months. Maybe its business as elaborate performance art? Even so... junk. MoMA... rocks.

See all you NYC kids at Galapagos tonight!

Its time for me to start pitching ideas for Urb Magazine's Next 100 issue. Anyone have some ideas? Electronic artist who are just on the cusp of breaking though? Don't worry too much about if they're too old or too obscure. Throw me an e-mail with names (and maybe a url if its convenient) and i'll figure if its do-able. send 'em joshua_glazer@hotmail.com

Thanks for the input.

Motor is gone. Sardine Bar is gone. What to do in Detroit on New Years Eve? Above is a sneak peek at the flyer for the NYE party at The Necto in Ann Arbor Michigan: featuring John Acquaviva, Matthew Dear and Paxahau. Stay tuned right here for more info in the coming week.

Thinkblank is sponsoring their Secret Santa gift giving program again this holiday season. All you need to participate is an Amazon wishlist. You tell Santa a little about yourself and then on December the 10th you find out who you're buying a present for. Check it out here.

I started two discussion threads to generate data for the previously mentioned IDSA conference. Please feel free to add your opinions, as the more responses the more dynamic the final visualization will be. Also, this is not restricted to industrial designers or designers at all. Design by democracy!
IDSA survey thread at Archinect | IDSA survey thread at Core77
Thanks in advance

Recent additions to the library...

I think it's apparent to most readers just how much I adore the work of Elizabeth Diller and Ric Scofidio. I'm also a huge freak about the aesthetics of science and documentation, and study of the creative process [hence an obsession with artists like Candy Jernigan, Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Cornell.] For those who may not have picked it up yet, Diller+Scofidio's latest publication, Blur: The Making of Nothing just collapses my world. It is one of the most exhaustive documentations of design process ever put to print. Weighing in as a hefty little brick of a book [something Koolhaas surely approves of], Blur follows the story of their "non-building" created for the 2002 Swiss National Expo from the initial invitation through the physical realization. It collects faxes, e-mail correspondences, thumbnail sketches, meeting notes, newspaper clippings, hundreds of never before published drawings, photos and test results. This compendium of raw data is organized and presented chronologically with little editorial filtering. Every idea, ego clash, stumbling block and solution is presented as it happened - often with letterheads, e-mail addresses and the like intact. As extraordinary as Blur [the building] is, Blur [the book] is a remarkable work of art and science in its own right.

Another great book about documentation I recently picked up is Mapping: An Illustrated Guide to Graphic Navigational Systems, edited by Roger Fawcett-Tang for RotoVision Publishing. Mapping provides up-to-the-minute examples of information design and cartography for print, web and physical environments. Some featured designers include Imagination, Sagmeister, Attik and Lust. The editorial content is straight forward and insightful, and the selected projects are strictly content driven, yet show a broad range of highly creative communication techniques.

I'm honored to announce that Engram Design has recently been appointed Graphics Chair for the 2003 IDSA National Conference in New York City. This is a pro-bono project of a scale I have yet to fully comprehend, but am excited to be working with heavy hitters Smart Design, Ecco Design, and our good friends at Core77. To prepare for this project I'm currently re-reading Invisible Cities and Delirious New York. I'm also preparing a survey which will possibly determine some of the content of the print collateral, web site and on-site multimedia. More info soon.


COMPUTER.LOVE poster contest update

The deadline has ended and all 350+ submissions are available for viewing at COMPUTER.LOVE.net The editors now begin the process of selecting the top 20 finalists, which will be narrowed down to three designs. These will be produced and distributed to the media and leaders in the design world to celebrate COMPUTER.LOVE's anniversary and kick off version two this winter.

Sometimes you fall for the hype. Sometimes you don't.
I'm totally feeling the new (first?) UK hip-hop sensations, The Streets. Despite the name, it's a one man project by Mike Skinner, whose debut album Original Pirate Material, is a fantastic mix of garage/two-step beats and ultra-laddish British rapping about smoking spliffs and taking mushrooms and raving til dawn. Its enough to make you jealous, thinking about how the cultural cross-over of dance/indie/hip-hop is so prevailant in the UK. Just to give you an idea how British this is, Skinner peppers every track with the word "Geezer", the same way US rappers gotta pack "N***er" into every verse. It's total -flavor of the month-, but if nothing else, "It's Too Late, is definately the pop song most likely to get stuck in your head for a week or two.

And speaking of hip-hop hype...
I gotta say how dissapointed I was with 8 Mile. And for all the reasons you wouldn't expect. In its effort to be a serious film, showing Eminem as a break-though talent, the movie honestly could have used some more Hollywoodization because it is BORING. Eminem doesn't sing one friggin' song. Imagine Purple Rain without any of the music scenes. Pretty lame huh? The Detroit aspect is nice, although the suspension of disbelief gets tested when you see the kids park their cars in the Michigan Theater, then walking on over to the Chin Tiki. As if those two places are right next to each other (As If both those places weren't chained shut). And it turns out the "Shelter" is actually a facade that they built amongst some taller buildings down around Griswold area. Its surreal. You know its not the Shelter, but there is a side-alley scene just like the one next to St. Andrews. So actually, the film might be worth it to natives just for the Bizarro Detroit effect. But overall, 8 Mile isn't anywhere near Oscar quality. And its far too flat for mindless pop-movie appeal.

Apparently this week's theme is infrastructure, urban ruins and trains. Sorry for the late posting of this, but for those who can make it, well worth checking out:

Ars Subterranea: An Exhibit on Underground New York

Ars Subterranea celebrates its inaugural event - an art exhibit about subterranean New York - by taking its audience underground. Literally.
�� �
Sunday, November 10, 2002, 12 to 4 PM in the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel

Corner of Court St/Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn
Meet at the clock of the Independence Bank
$10, $8 for senior citizens/students with ID

The exhibit features photos, videos, a sound installation and a site-specific performance piece relating to the history and topography of subterranean New York. This is the first art presentation about this city's underground that is held in an actual underground location.

Contributing artists include:
�
Photos by Margaret Morton, Julia Solis, Joseph Anastasio, Chris Beauchamp, Christos Pathiakis, and others
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Sound installation by Hans-Christoph Steiner
� �
Videos by Bryan Papciak and Jeff Sias
� �
� and a special performance by Sxip Shirey at 3 PM

The setting for this exhibit is the historic Atlantic Avenue tunnel, the world's first train tunnel built below a city street. The event is organized in cooperation with the tunnel's proprietor, Bob Diamond, and the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association.

Please be aware that the tunnel can only be entered via a short ladder inside a manhole and that you may want to dress accordingly. We will assist anyone who may require help.
--

For those who may not be familiar, the Atlantic Avenue tunnel was literally lost and forgotten for 140 years. [Somewhat like the old flushing tunnel for the nearby Gowanus Canal which was recently reopened, bringing marine life back to the industrial heart of Brooklyn.] Through personal research, Bob Diamond pinpointed the only existing egress to the 2000' tunnel in the 1980s and has become its caretaker. Mr. Diamond also operates the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association and continues to work toward restoring trolley service [right through my neighborhood] along New York harbor between Red Hook and Brooklyn Heights.

anyone living in new york and interested in jazz should check out the mingus big band at the time cafe in the east village. this 14-piece band is dedicated to playing the work of jazz giant charles mingus, the late bassist, pianist and composer of the 50�s 60�s and 70�s whose turbulent group-improvisational compositions differed greatly from those of his solo-oriented contemporaries. i had a chance to see them last night at la palau de la musica (a concert hall in the "modernista" style typified by antoni gaudi) as part of the barcelona jazz festival. if you�re not so interested in jazz but like music, check it out anyway. you�ll probably be surprised

Next Thursday Kaiju Big Battle returns to Manhattan for a night of mayhem at the Roxy, with special guest DJs Nikki-Z and Justine D. "Kaiju Big Battle is a modern conflict of epic proportions." If grown men wrestling in foam rubber monster suits LIVE is your thing, don't miss this.

Israel's mother will be proud: here are photos of a garden installation he just completed at the Greystone mansion in Beverly Hills. I've also been encouraged to check out the Blue Diamond 68 exhibit at the Artisits Space in SoHo, featuring some work Mr. Kandarian did while with George Yu Architects. Organized by Michael Speaks and Neil Denari, the exhibition "explores the frameworks of time and scale in contemporary design practice [and] rethinks conventions." Any excuse to go to SoHo is a good excuse to go play at the Apple store and slide down 'the wave' at Prada on a potato sack.

I came across two great portfolio sites yesterday >>
From Core77: Brian Michael Gossett, a.k.a. Gray Matter Dsgn.
From Archinect: Josh Ashcroft, a.k.a. Surphasia/Psycho-Mullet.

Apple announces new PowerBooks today which are both less expensive and much better equipped than expected: 1GHz G4, 64MB video card and the first slot loading DVD-writer. (New iBooks too.)

i had basically given up on looking for decent dj mix cd's when one caught my eye by being culled from a night in nitsa in barcelona.. globalunderground's james lavelle:barcelona is a heavy, brooding but very danceable 2 cd set from the mo' wax founder and UNKLE co-founder. the first (and more interesting) cd is mostly breakbeat -dubby,electro,tribal- while the second is mostly house -deep,techy,electro...not an easy one to describe (which is good) and a surprise from a label known more in the past for its deep, trancey house compilations. highly recommended for anyone who likes their dancefloor to surprise a bit more than it does

Levi's RED has the latest Donald Graham photos online, which are also appearing in this month's PAPER magazine, including Ladytron, Princess Superstar and the girls from W.I.T.

Our friend Jared in London sends along two great links on modern ruins:

Aptly titled, Modern-Ruins.com showcases the photography of Phillip Buehler, who has been documenting 20th century ruins such as Cape Canaveral, Coney Island and ARMAC ("the airplane graveyard") for decades. The 360� QTVR images are stunning.

An old favorite, Lowell Boileau's The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit remains an essential living document of the city. I've spent hours here exploring the city I thought I knew - always finding new bits of information or hidden architectural gems.

Jared also encourages us to check out the work of science fiction author Steve Aylett. The comprehensive world of the Accomplice series is documented here. The artifacts section is rather interesting, with references to Max Ernst and automata masters the Brothers Quay.

And a big welcome to our newest conspirator Marcus, who represents the great state of Missouri and consistently provides some of the wittiest commentary on the ARCHINECT forums. Check out some of his work here. This is a guy who designed an architectural device for having conversations with aliens. Right on.

Photos from the Devil's Night party here.

Speaking of NYC trains, Friends of the High Line is a community group dedicated to the preservation and transformation of the unused elevated freight track running though Chelsea. Check out their well designed and informative web site.

NYCsubway.org is an unbelievably comprehensive resource for all things related to the largest subway system in the world. There are thousands of photos, diagrams and maps covering everything from construction techniques to car rosters to maintenance facilities and scrap yards. The collection of construction documents for the 1939 World's Fair Railroad is a fine example of the beauty of the internet as an information resource.

Geek speak:
I've been hanging on to a trusty G3 500/20 PowerBook for exactly two years now, in anticipation of purchasing a new Titanium model this fall. This was hinging on wide speculation that Apple's pro laptops would sport a 1GHz G4, a faster system bus, a 64MB graphics card and possibly DVD-R/W. The latest reports in the rumor mill point to 867 and 933 MHz models with none of the other improvements [motherboard speed my biggest chagrin.] Hm. We might wait and see if Apple rolls out the almost mythical 64-bit G5 models at MacWorld Expo in January. Or not. In any case, if you're thinking about a new PowerBook, wait at least until November 6th!

There's also this thing, which appears to be magazine ad paste-up for a new device. No telling if it's just a fake or not, but certainly interesting - considering that Microsoft is supposed to release its Tablet PC on November 7th. [update]: The above 7.4" PowerBook 'thing' is a indeed a Japan-market only Sony Vaio U1 with an Apple logo PhotoShopped on and the keyboard lopped off. Someone's wishful thinking.

The beautiful new-to-the-US-market Sony Vaio W-series still looks really good as a digital home entertainment center. Check out the nice Flash piece for it: styled, designed and directed by our own BitBoy.