Life & Research Notes

The folks here at Electric Works have a new online version of their store, bringing their delightful and rare merchandise to a much wider internet. Some of the highlights:

The Magic Garden makes a wonderful inexpensive gift for that special someone. Simply add the magic solution and watch it grow.

The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie surprises and delights.

Crocheted Owls (amigurumi) are a top seller, from what I hear.

Beeswax crayons are high quality and come in a variety of thicknesses.

Link: http://store.sfelectricworks.com/

Via arikan.

I felt a lot of PLW and MIT Media Lab pride reading John’s RISD inauguration speech, Start Here. I particularly enjoyed the last bit:

The creative mind is not limited to black and white. It is comfortable with ambiguity, and “doing both,” as I like to say. You can be both a designer and an artist, a humanist and a technologist, a student and a teacher, a hand craftsman and a Photoshop guru, a global and local thinker, a leader and a servant, a president and a citizen. And we can start as many times as we like when we are open to the spirit and rigor of the creative way of being.

It’s a wonderful start to just the sort of boundary-bridging creative imperative kick in the ass I’d hoped he’d bring to his new role. Read the whole speech…

Pretty incredible video and images of the latest project – “La Princess” – from the La Machine group who put together Sultan’s Elephant two years ago. See also Laughing Squid’s post.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

“an ambiguous animation painted on public walls.”
http://www.blublu.org/sito/video/muto.htm

via coolhunting.

A zen moment of modern performance art from choreographer Pina Bausch. Perfect surreal start to the week. Thanks mudd up.