Conspicuous consumption
bioephemera | July 18, 2009
While browsing etsy this weekend, I was impressed with some of the unusual pieces from seller 19moons. These salvaged, chimeric pieces look much more expensive than they are.
from their etsy profile:
19 Moons is an eco-conscious creation of San Francisco Bay Area native Niffer Desmond. Inspired by re-use, machinery and DIY culture, her designs integrate these concepts into fashion. Vintage and recycled materials are combined to create wares that are both unique and Eco-friendly. If you like to stand out in the crowd, 19 Moons is your lunar gear station!
While I'd love a little more detail…
bioephemera | July 6, 2009If anything can put you off bacon, this awesome vintage French ad will!
While the ad appears bizarre to us today, it makes sense in a different social context - one in which animals exist primarily to serve human needs, and all's right with the world when they're fulfilling that function.
I find it especially interesting to consider the parallel between this ad - a happy pig slicing itself up for consumption - and the tradition of human anatomical models holding their own innards open for examination. Bizarre and disturbing, yes - but mainly because we're looking at them with modern eyes.…
bioephemera | June 23, 2009
Clocky sounds like R2D2 and looks kind of like an ATV's single-axled, pastel cub. In other words, it's really, really cute. Which is why when Clocky wakes you with its piercing warbles, crashes to your floor and rolls under your bed, you won't want to smash its little display with your fist. At least, we hope not! Click through for more details.
Clocky is a clock for people who have trouble getting out of bed. When the snooze bar is pressed, Clocky rolls off the table and finds a hiding spot, a new one every day. Clocky began as a class project. After graduating, Gauri Nanda turned Clocky…
bioephemera | June 22, 2009
Artomatic is one of my favorite things about DC: a cooperative unjuried art gallery in a vacant high-rise, staffed by artists, with live performances and mini-bars on every other floor. It's free (except for the bars). What's not to like? The icing on the top (floor) this year is Draw A Robot - a collective crowdsourced fundraising experiment by the team at RobotDisorder.com.
Draw A Robot is a deliciously haphazard mashup of new tech and low tech. Starting at the low tech end of the process, you sit down with the pens and paper provided at the Draw A Robot booth, and you - wait for it - draw…
bioephemera | June 13, 2009As a fan of maps, typography, and anatomy, I think this is a pretty sweet mashup.
From orkposters.com via Street Anatomy.
bioephemera | May 29, 2009
Thank goodness Science has finally given us protection against. . . Kooties!
Kootie Killer promises to "kill 99.9% of germs & Kooties without water!" This claim is clearly rigorously lab-tested and evidence-based, but although I wouldn't dream of questioning its veracity, it does invite the question. . . what the heck is a Kootie?
Personally, I always thought cooties (with a "c") were symbiotic, invisible organisms that spontaneously accrued on children, causing healthy developmental conflict with members of the opposite sex. Shows you what I know. Apparently, the Kootie is a yellow-…
bioephemera | May 18, 2009My first thought on seeing the new Toyota Prius commercial was, "are those cells and membranes?!" No, they're people in costumes, but the resemblance of the Prius' cartoon world to a cell animation is pretty remarkable. The sun TOTALLY looks like it has transmembrane receptors on it.
My second thought was, wow, this is perhaps the first commercial I have seen to really make compelling use of high-definition TV. I kept getting closer and closer to my screen. So do yourself a favor, and click through to watch it in high-def if you have a decent connection. It's hypnotizing.
bioephemera | May 10, 2009
Okay, these dolls by David Foox are just plain disturbing. And they're not just a concept - you can actually BUY ONE.
Via Street Anatomy.
bioephemera | April 29, 2009Let etsy seller foliage help you fight swine flu with this bagful of handmade soaps in "skin-ish colors"!
I vascillate between finding them cute, and thinking they resemble a crowd of damned souls reaching out for help from my soap dish. Weird.
Dedicated to John O., who truly appreciates disembodied hands. Via DailyArtMuse.
bioephemera | April 26, 2009
One of the sucky things about viral interest in offbeat art from small vendors is that it always immediately depletes the supply. Like this fabulous minimalist plywood octopus from inthewoods' etsy shop. Sure, you can still get a plywood squirrel with a plywood acorn, but where's the sinister, feverish Cthulhulian majesty in that? Frustrated now!
Via monoscope
bioephemera | April 17, 2009Jewelry designer Delfina Delettrez is young, a fourth-generation member of the Fendi family, and apparently obsessed with anatomy. Her most intriguing creation is a Skeletor-like carpal gauntlet:
The silver hand will cost you about $24K. If you haven't got that much disposable income, she also does smaller pieces: earrings and necklaces inspired by eyes, lips, spiders, cephalopods, frogs, etc. They're pretty, but I keep coming back to that hand and thinking it's so cynically appropriate to put a bony skeleton hand on a fashion model.
Found via haute macabre
bioephemera | April 15, 2009
This chart shows where your federal tax dollars go, based on Feb 2008 budget numbers (note: this shows discretionary budget, or appropriations, only - go here for more details, or look at the inset in the lower right corner to see where the other two-thirds of the budget are).
Visit wallstats.com for a giant version.
bioephemera | April 11, 2009Say you end up transported back in time, you can read English, and you're still on Earth: this T-shirt is your crib sheet for a successful career as visionary, inventor, and entrepreneur! Either that, or it will get you burned as a witch.
View larger here.
Wear/read/implement at your own risk. . .
bioephemera | April 11, 2009Last night, I dreamed that I had a closet full of seriously amazing shoes, from strappy stilettos to lace-up boots. When I awoke and remembered that my closet is actually full of uncomfortable work pumps and trail runners, I was disappointed. But I knew who to blame for my dream: Isis!
Ever since Isis arrived at Scienceblogs, I've been meaning to post something about shoes. When our resident domestic and laboratory goddess saved me a couple hours of driving to and from the office on Saturday by emailing me a journal article I'd forgotten, I promised to write her a thank-you post all about…
bioephemera | April 9, 2009
Algae filament necklace
Pam at Phantasmaphile alerted me to Nervous System, a jewelry company founded by MIT grads Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg. Nervous System "creates experimental jewelry, combining nontraditional materials like silicone rubber and stainless steel with rapid prototyping methods. We find inspiration in complex patterns generated by computation and nature."
While their various lines don't look quite as I expected - I was anticipating something Haeckel-like for "radiolaria" and neuronal for "dendrite" - they are intriguing and definitely "feel" organic. Their…
bioephemera | April 5, 2009Bora's comment on my previous post (Could beautiful design save newspapers?) got me thinking about the distinction between aesthetics and advertising. Here's one Twitter-worthy take on it:
Available at the Grandburo online store.
Via Kingdom of Style
bioephemera | April 2, 2009
Lately, I've been seeing a lot of dinnerware that's just too fascinating to cover with food. Like Hiroshi Tsunoda's Bodylicious plates, available at DesignCode. According to Street Anatomy, Tsunoda was
inspired by Nyotaimori, a tradition where food is presented on a naked woman's body and used as a tray. Nyotaimori is also referred to as body sushi, and requires the person to practice laying for hours without moving.
Wow, I'm not sure what to say. But at least the plates are equal opportunity: there's a Bodylicious Y set too!
Moving from Homo sapiens to marine invertebrates, these…
bioephemera | March 25, 2009
Richard Avedon, The New Yorker, 1995
Via Haute Macabre, an unbelievable fashion editorial created by Richard Avedon for the New Yorker. I have no words.
Richard Avedon, The New Yorker, 1995
See the complete editorial at Haute Macabre.
bioephemera | March 21, 2009
This revealing anatomical card by Oregon designer Nathan Chrislip can be had for only $9 plus shipping on etsy. (Chrislip calls it a "valentine," but unless your beloved is also an avowed anatomophile, be sure to enclose a message making your nonviolent romantic intent clear.)
Via Rag and Bone Blog
bioephemera | March 19, 2009
After reading my pitiable lament about the demise of several domestic artisan chocolate factories, my friend wunx sent me two bars of Amano chocolate! Yum! I don't know why it seems so odd to me that good dark chocolate is being made just outside Salt Lake City, but Amano's product is delicious. I highly recommend both the Madagascar and the Ocumare; the Madagascar is sharp with a tangy citrus note, while the Ocumare is smoother. I can tell you that both go wonderfully with a nice pinot noir.
Amano also has a rather nice chocolate blog - check out their historical look at a chocolate factory…