June 2013 – Page 2 – Kristen Baumlier

Month: June 2013

Landfill Dogs: Photographs of Dogs Without a Home

Posted on June 13, 2013June 21, 2013 by Kbaumlier

I recently came across the photography of artist Mary Shannon Johnstone, in doing research about artists in the Raleigh, NC area, where I recently moved. Johnstone’s current project, called Landfill Dogs is a yearlong project where she photographs dogs from the county animal shelter at the local landfill.

Each image of the different dogs is unique, and the expressions of the animals vary from image to image. One of my favorite images is taken near the time of sunset. With red clouds behind, the dog is hopping up into the air, as if he/she is about to catch a Frisbee (or a treat) in the air.

The image of the dogs are beautiful, but also quietly haunting once your learn that each dog is close to euthanasia if they do not find a home. Each of the dogs have been homeless for at least two weeks before they are photographs. Each week for 18 months (late 2012–early 2014) the artist is taking one dog from the county animal shelter and photographing him/her at the local landfill. The landfill site is used because this is where the dogs will end up if they do not find a home, and the dogs are photographed at the site of their potential end.

Johnstone also uses the site of the landfill because the county animal shelter is managed under the same management as the landfill. The artist writes, “This government structure reflects a societal value; homeless cats and dogs are just another waste stream. However, this landscape offers a metaphor of hope. It is a place of trash that has been transformed into a place of beauty.”

As part of her photographic process, each dog receives a car ride, a walk, treats, and about 2 hours of d individual attention. The artist writes that her goal is to,”…offer an individual face to the souls that are lost because of animal overpopulation, and give these animals one last chance. This project will continue for one year, so that we can see the landscape change, but the constant stream of dogs remains the same.”

To see more images of the Landfill dogs, you can check out the Facebook page, where you can keep up with the project.

Image Source:
www.shannonjohnstone.com/landfill_dogs/landfill_dogs.xml

Links:

www.facebook.com/LandfillDogs

www.shannonjohnstone.com/landfill_dogs/landfill_dogs.xml

Edible Spoons: Eat your Soup and the Spoon Too

Posted on June 10, 2013June 21, 2013 by Kbaumlier

A disposable plastic spoon in the best conditions will take more than 20 years to decompose. Under less than ideal conditions, such as in a landfill, plastic will take more than 1000 years to decompose. The design firm Triangle Tree has created Edible Spoons, a eco-spoon design that can replace our plastic spoons.

The spoons are made of corn flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, eggs, separated milk, spices and herbs and comes in three flavors: plain, spicy, and sweet. When you use one of the Edible Spoons, you can either compost or eat them. The spoon is also designed to break apart when you eat it, making the spoon into an easier snack to eat.

Triangle Tree who designed the spoons talk about the principle of uniqueness, and on their site they state the following values:

– Less is more. We are inspired by the simplicity of genius and the satisfaction of using a lovingly made product.

– Hybrids are hot. We endow long-familiar objects with new functionality borrowed from other objects or invented outright.

– Green or bust. Every one of our products considers the environment first and foremost.

– Objets d’art. We make beautiful things, pure and simple.

Want to eat your soup, ice cream, or noodles then eat the spoon? For more information about the spoons, you can read more on Triangle Tree’s website.

Image Source:
triangletree.com/index.php/industrial_design/edible-spoon/
Links:

triangletree.com/index.php/industrial_design/edible-spoon/

Zeega: A New Web Storytelling Tool

Posted on June 7, 2013June 13, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Every few months, I get an email about a new online storytelling tool. I have tried some, but few of them seem to provide an experience that is visually interesting. I’m not exactly sure how I ended up on the Zeega website, but I was immediately drawn in to click on and watch a piece called KOSMO KAT – Silk Water. This Zeega piece was a combination of music and animations that featured a 3d wireframe cat, sushi, and electronic music that sounded like the band Kraftwork.

So what is Zeega? It is a free online website where you can make an account, and use music, gif animations, and movie clips in order to create cinematic experiences comprised of looped clips. The project promotes itself as, “Make the web you want.” I recently navigated to the site, and when watching “The Most Insulting and Offensive Pizza in the World,” I was able to click on strange shaped pizza images, and read text about pizza while a rap song about pizza played. The experience is kind of like an interactive youtube – but the high-quality image, and loops of the videos somehow make it into a new experience.

To make pieces, any media can be used in any cloud or online space, and the entire screen is a canvas to create in. When navigating Zeega, and playing the featured pieces we are instructed to “Turn up the volume, and use arrows and hotspots to explore.” Currently the website features virtual exhibition the creators’ of the website favorite pieces, which were chosen from 1,000 contributions from 60 countries and 6 continents. I must not be the only person who has gotten drawn in to playing Zeega pieces, the project was recently featured at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Some of the pieces featured on the front of the site include The Making of .. Journeys, Ghosts and Thunder, Traveling Man, The Making Of. The City, and Ode au bungalow. Zeega originates from one of the startups in Matter, a San Francisco-based accelerator for mission-driven companies committed to changing media for good. The site is made to be used by anyone, and when you goto the website, make sure you have at least a few minutes free, it’s easy to spend time there checking out the pieces.

Image Source:
zeega.com/

Links:

zeega.com/

El Arbol – The Bike Tree

Posted on June 4, 2013June 10, 2013 by Kbaumlier

El Arbol, the Bike Tree, is a unique bike that looks like a large green tree on wheels (with two people pedaling on the structure.) The bike was made by Rock the Bike, a group which originates in Berkeley, CA and is comprised of bike users and advocates who create unique bikes and events in order to get people in touch with issues of climate change. The goal of the project is to spread “the spirit of the bike to others.” The group aims to inspire others to want to ride bikes by organizing, entertaining, inspiring, and inventing new ways to get others excited about books.

The tree is made of a hollow and see-through trunk, has lighting and speakers. At events, the bike is setup and hooked up to a fleet of other bicycles that together create power for the Bike Pedal Powered stage, a concert event where individuals ride the bike to power up the sound system. El Arbol provides the sound, with its 2500-Watt double-stack main speaker that is inside of the trunk, and aerialists can hang off the top branch and perform at shows.

The Bike Tree took over 4 years to make, and can be seen both at events, as well as being ridden in the street. The bike is a top/bottom tandem bike, which can be ridden on the street while pumping out music, and also has “roots” that can be used to swing out a lower speeds, to make it into a stable four wheeled structure. Images of the bike being built over time can be seen on the project can be seen online

What has 2-4 wheels, is tan or green, and makes loud sounds? El Arbol – the Bike Tree!

Image Source:
Rock the Bike

Links:

El Arbol – Construction Process Images

Rock the Bike

Butt x Better – Upcycling and “Trashion” in Berlin

Posted on June 1, 2013June 10, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Ever see someone wearing a cardboard box, a paper outfit, or an acrobat on tightrope wearing a outfit made of upcycled materials? The fifth Butt x Better will be held on July 7^th in Berlin, which is an event for alternative designers, artists, and activists to use creativity and upcycling to bring attention to some of the negative practices in the fashion world and provide a critique of consumer culture.

The event has a number of events that culminate in a large show that will be in the center of Berlin, at the Friedrichstrasse, which is a major shopping street. Anyone is invited to participate, and the organizers write, “We want to call on EVERYBODY, to get involved! Friedrichstrasse is open for us, let’s start a parade which will blow off people’s clothes! Fight Fashion-Terror, Present Alternatives -that’s the motto!”

There are tents with upcycled materials, and participants also are invited to exchange clothes with others. At the event there will be a parade, performances, art installations, music, and a fashion show on a large catwalk structure. Speechs at the event will talk about issues, facts, and also communicate a call for change in the fashion industry.

The event is open, but the organizers promote several values that include:

– We promote ideas, attitudes and actions directed towards a more sustainable society. That means: We are not a promotion platform for products.
– We especially support unconventional forms of activism. Political correctness may be bent.
– We strongly encourage to irritate rather than affirm stereotypical images (e.g. about gender, ethnicity, bodies, etc.)
– We are against aggressive behavior and violent actions.

I watched a couple of videos of last year’s events that show people wearing amazing wing structures made of paper, stilt walkers wearing a cape made of post-it notes, and a woman wearing a bra that looks like it is made of fried eggs. I can’t make the event this year, but I am keeping the website in my things to participate in the future folder on my computer – for the future. Check out the videos, which are pretty interesting to watch (and funny.)

Image Source:
Fashion Circus “But and Better”: beatings on the catwalk Online Article (Translated to English

Links:

Fashion Circus “But and Better”: beatings on the catwalk Online Article (Translated to English

Video about the event

Video from the Butt x Better Event 2003