FIELD Art Installation by Richard Box is Crazy

So this field below high-voltage power lines somewhere in England is now covered by these flourescent bulbs which are powered by ambient electricity. Let me clarify: they are not plugged in, they are simply being powered by the electrical field that surrounds these power lines. Slightly less hocus-pocus description of the process below via io9:

A fluorescent tube glows when an electrical voltage is set up across it. The electric field set up inside the tube excites atoms of mercury gas, making them emit ultraviolet light. This invisible light strikes the phosphor coating on the glass tube, making it glow. Because powerlines are typically 400,000 volts, and Earth is at an electrical potential voltage of zero volts, pylons create electric fields between the cables they carry and the ground.

Box denies that he aimed to draw attention to the potential dangers of powerlines, ‘For me, it was just the amazement of taking something that's invisible and making it visible,' he says. ‘When it worked, I thought: ‘This is amazing.''

Yeah amazing is a pretty apt description. It would be quite a spectacle to witness. In a good way though, not like when Britney Spears shaved her head or when Sarah Palin talked about foreign policy. See more of Box's work at his website.

via io9

The Razor Residence by Wallace E. Cunningham

Located above Torrey Pines State Park in La Jolla, California, the Razor is enough to make any supervillain salivate. Lex Luthor pondering Superman's demise while taking in endless views of the Pacific seems like an ideal fit. Or perhaps Jackie Treehorn's La Jolla escape...

Anyway, this thing is just disgustingly sexy, and is probably singlehandedly responsible for the financial collapse of the western world. I don't know what that means either, but whatever the house is crazy. All floor-to-ceiling glass and polished concrete.





via contemporist

POSTS ARE COMING I SWEAR TO YOU

This week, by hook or by crook, I shall provide you with Newrosis' guides to Summer '09 board shorts and sunglasses. I am making a commitment. A promise. A promise that, if broken, will cause me to get really, really choked up. Seriously, I'll be sad. I may also briefly feel inadequate, but I assure that feeling will pass like flatulence on the wind.


Cheers, happy hump day.

Rhymesayers' Soundset 09

Legendary underground hip-hop label Rhymesayers brings back their Soundset showcase for 2009. This year's event will be held at Caterbury Park in Shakopee, MN on May 24. Tickets range from $25-75 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster (booooooo) or Fifth Element* in Uptown (Hooray!).

Performing: Atmosphere, MF Doom, Brother Ali, Sage Francis with B. Dolan, Immortal Technique, P.O.S, El P featuring Mr. Dibbs, Eyedea & Abilities, Abstract Rude and I Self Devine.

Should be a great show, sucks it isn't in the city.

*-Limited number of presale tickets available in-store.

Rock the Garden '09 Features Decembrists, Author Vomits

The lineup for this year's Rock the Garden concert at the Walker Art Center's Sculpture Garden was announced on 89.3 The Current this afternoon, and boy am I not going.

Headlining the event will be The Decembrists, who I loathe because of their lead singer's nasally whine and impossibly emo vibe. Also appearing will be Calexico, who get a MEH out of 10 on my scale of caring. Yeasayers, who I have heard of but cannot place at the moment, and Solid Gold, whom I have discussed previously here, round out the bill.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 22, tickets for MPR and Walker members are on sale now.

Matchstick Minas Tirith

J.R.R. Tolkien's City of Kings, Minas Tirith, built by Patrick Acton out of matchsticks.


I'm gonna come clean: I'm obsessed with Tolkien's world, but not in my wildest daydreams would I ever presume to try and reproduce anything The Master created. This work by Acton, this pile of matchsticks, absolutely works for me. So congratulations Peter Jackson and Patrick Acton, you succeed where all others fail. Minas Tirith is set to be completed sometime in 2010.

Below, check one of Acton's other creations: Hogwart's!


via boingboing

Keybag from Joao Sabino

Possibly my favorite handbag design ever. Why? Two possibilities: it is really that amazing, or I don't ever look at handbag designs because, y'know, that'd be weird.

Available at the designer's website for 130 Euros.


via designboom

And I Thought They Smelled Bad on the OUTSIDE

OK I am having a super busy week from hell, hence the dearth of posting activity, but today I bring to you the Tauntaun sleeping bag from ThinkGeek. This potentially wonderful design has dimensions which can only be described as child-sized, which really puzzles me considering the fact that Han Solo and Luke Skywalker fit into one in The Empire Strikes Back.

I guess the geeks don't give a damn about continuity. Or perhaps they are evil geeks who slaughter Tauntaun...pups? Lambs? Cubs? Whatever, we'll go with Tauntaun young. Its sick no matter which way you look at it. ThinkGeek, more like SickGeek, amirite? Yeah.

$39.99 here

via dvice

Design Collective Gallery and Boutique Write-Up on CH

Design Collective is a showcase for Minneapolis-area designers located on 26th St. West between Hennepin Ave. and Fremont Ave.. Someone else of note lives on that very block, so it should not be surprising that the people from Cool Hunting gave it a positive write-up. Read it here.

Where the Wild Things Are Trailer