PowerShovel, Ltd. and the super cool, New Museum in New York will be teaming up NEXT FRIDAY for an exhibition dedicated to the Digital Harinezumi camera! The name of the exhibition, “Imperfect As They Are” is far from the impressive pedigree of video artists they have lined up to showcase their unique take on their Harinezumi world. Unfortunately, this event is invite only, and for one night, but we are sure some these artists will be posting their videos online after the event, and maybe inspire a new generation of video artists around the world!

Some of the artists being exhibited at this event include:

Agnes B, So Yong Kim, Bruce La Bruce, Harmony Korine, Isabel Coixet, Patrice Leconte, Claire Denis, Albert Maysles, Christopher Doyle, Jonas Mekas, Mount Eerie, Erroll Morris, Charlotte Gainsbourg (!!), Chan-Wook Park (!!), Kim Gordon, Kelly Reichardt, Miranda July (!!) and more…

Here are some of the ethereal videos Vimeo users have captured with their Harinezumi’s:

Play all three at the same time and you have an instant video art installation!

We have only a few more in stock at Poketo.com, so get ‘em while they’re still hot!
Digital Harinezumi

Here’s your weekly dose of interesting products we think will make your life more interesting.

1. The “Ink” Calendar:

See time pass through the magic of ink! This calendar slowly absorbs the ink, revealing a new number representative of the date.

2. Book themed Bookmarks

Instead of ruining the pages of your book by folding corners, why not use these bookmarks which have been carefully crafted to match the theme of the book. An idea created by Igor “Rogix” Udushlivy.

3. “Crtl + Z” Cards

These super geeky “sorry” cards should “un-do” whatever it is you did.

4. Sudoku Toilet Paper

Toilet paper really doesn’t have that much use for anything else other than wiping bodily fluids. Until I found this! Ingenius! Kills two birds with one stone. Saves paper!

5. Portable Lunch Setting

Designed by Demelza Hill, this portable lunch setting is so cool! But it still hasn’t really addressed the biggest issue of portable eating which is cutting food with a knife and fork. Yes, those utensils are present, but dont you still need to sit down at a table to do that?

All Via Design Fetish

Non-profit organization, 826LA presents Chickens in Love, an online pledge-a-thon, fundraiser, full-length album, and one-day music festival. 826LA workshop students, ranging from 7 to 13 years, wrote these songs in an 826LA workshop titled Songwriting with The Submarines, led by singer/ songwriters John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard of The Submarines.

From there, the kids had the opportunity to write their own music and lyrics in their own bands. The result was a full-length album titled, Chickens in Love, with 12 songs from 826LA students who then had their songs covered by Los Angeles-based musicians including, She & Him, Fiona Apple, Cold War Kids, Tim and Eric, The Submarines, Summer Darling, The Happy Hollows, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Dum Dum Girls, The Growlers, Crystal Antlers, and The Pity Party. Check out some videos of the original songs, followed by a sample track of the recording artist who covered it:

The Peeps: “Mamacita”

Coldwar Kids cover of “Mamacita”

The Taco Shells: “Mexican Food”

Summer Darling cover of “Mexican Food”

The Gummy Bears: “So Sleepy”

Fiona Apple’s cover of “So Sleepy”

The public can listen to these songs and bid on their favorites, with all proceeds going directly back into the organization itself, that will help fund writing and tutoring workshops for kids in L.A. (Pledges of $30+ will also be tax deductible!) When the bid closes on April 30th, 2010 the band that raises the most money will win the ultimate bragging rights with the 826LA Gold Record! The one-day Mini Music Festival showcasing Chicken in Love songs will also be held at the Echoplex on March 6th

Support children’s literacy and creativity through this great cause! Pledge now!

I don’t even know where to start with this post. The videos pretty much speak for themselves. NAKeD COMPAGNIE a motion design company based in Paris that create STUNNING visuals for concerts and live shows. I’ve never seen anything like it. Their strengths definitely lie in their ability to capture the essence of dance music, with technology and visual art. Many of their collaborations so far have been in Europe, but I pray that they do more events in the States, especially at dance clubs.

You bobbed your head a little, didn’t you?

Not not our Ted. The TED Conference 2010!

Yesterday marked Day 1 of the four-day conference that is happening at this moment in Long Beach and Palm Springs. This year TED has really reached out to some big-name celebs like comedian Sarah Silverman, TED Prize winner, chef, and activist, Jamie Oliver, and most surprising….director James Cameron! It will be interesting to see what words of “wisdom” Cameron will share with the world, but it’ll definitely be worth watching.

But while the rest of the general public will have to wait for these talks to be posted on TED.com, there are a ton of other videos updated daily to ensure that no one is denied access to participate in intellectual and inspiring conversations with some of the brightest minds in the world. Here’s a video that blew me away the other day. Architect student extraordinaire, Magnus Larsson and his idea on creating visually striking sand dunes in desert areas. This not only is an innovative way of using sand, but more importantly, an opportunity to create thriving communities in increasingly desolate deserts around the world.

Oh the possibilities! Free your minds!

“Buzz” Aldrin-1969

Amidst the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives, we never really take the time to realize the quiet and powerful beauty of the universe we live in. Nasa Images recently came out with a digital archive of their space images taken from the past 50 years and made it available for the the public to see, and share with others.

Kepler’s Supernova Remnant

“Mountains of Creation”– Where stars are created.

As an attempt to make space exploration and all of its esoteric mysteries a topic of real collaborative discussion here on Earth, Nasa created the “Guest Showcase” series, where various authorities in the fields of art, science, entertainment, business and academia curate exhibitions. The first was Pasadena Art Center’s Art Director, Stephen Nowlin who created a video titled, Things That Float. So sit back and relax with a glass of a fine red:

Funny thing is when scrolling down the list of names, all these potential ideas for awesome screen names or pseudonyms came to mind. These NASA guys really thought about the captions for some of these images! My favorite? The Sombrero Galaxy. teehee Don’t judge me, but I also tried looking up “alien” in the search box. A crap shoot, but secretly hoping…

The Sombrero Galaxy

All images from Nasa Images

Ever since I first watched the memorable business card scene from American Psycho, I became obsessed with business card design.

While I still appreciate the beauty of the classic off-white business card, there are so many beautifully inconsistent, hand-written, uniquely shaped business cards that have morphed into an extension of one’s personal identity rather than profession. Personally, I’ve started my own collection of business cards myself. Let’s take a look at some of my favorite designs from the business card flickr page:

World reknown Bouchon restaurant in Napa Valley with beautiful and understated industrial text.

Graphic designer, Jose Antonio Contreras had a lot of fun designing his card.

Burgers deserve cards too!

Beautifully imperfect, delicate, handcrafted

Looks like a travel/ ticket tag done in the early 1900’s

The burnt edge is a nice touch

The art of surprise is hard to achieve!

Fabric tags for a t-shirt company

*Sigh* A number worth remembering

More can be seen here!

For those of you living in Los Angeles, you know how confusing freeway signage can be–especially on the 110 North headed towards Pasadena. There’s one point in particular on the 110 N, where up to six freeways merge. Being a conservative driver, I know there were many times when I diligently stayed in one lane thinking it would lead me to the 5 North, then curiously ended up in Pasadena. Artist Richard Ankrom felt the same way too. Instead of contacting Caltrans and possibly waiting 5+ years for the problem to be fixed, he did it the bad ass way and changed the signage on the 110 North himself.

In August 2001, Ankrom along with his team of guerrilla artists created a steel plated sign that was en exact replica of the Caltrans “North” sign and the “5″ shield. Even after Ankrom had divulged his secret to Caltrans, eight years had passed and the sign silently remained intact. It wasn’t until the day after Thanksgiving 2009, that Ankrom discovered through a blog that his sign had been taken down by Caltrans, sent to an aluminum recycle center, ready to be delivered to China in neat cubes.

His work did not go unappreciated by Caltrans, however. To his delight, Caltrans merely upgraded and replaced the old signage on the 110 North with shinier, less suggestive signage. It’s a decade-long secret that I had never known about until last weekend. (Thanks GOOD magazine!)

We Angelinos may be some of the crankiest drivers out there, always in a rush, but if you’re ever on the 110 North take a second or two to admire Ankrom’s beautiful and fearless piece of guerrilla work.

More information on the project can be found here.