“Rising from Ashes” is a feature length documentary charting the impossible triumph of cycling’s Team Rwanda. This trailer does exactly what a brilliant trailer should, it makes you desperate to see the film!
Two worlds collide when cycling legend Jock Boyer moves to Rwanda, Africa to help a group of struggling genocide survivors pursue their dream of a national team. As they set out against impossible odds both Jock and the team find new purpose as they rise from the ashes of their past.
As a lighting designer I’m often collecting images and bookmarking articles of inspiration in my work, but when I came across Arcades by Troika it was too good not to share.
Balancing simple principles of physics it took careful experimentation to transform the initial concept image into reality.
Cleverly, this doesn’t just alter the direction of the beam of light, it bends it hyperbolically to create the mysterious arches.
The installation venue was deliberately chosen as a space with strong brick walls and exposed beams to further enhance the notion of “inscribing one architectural space within another”. The light forms something almost tangible, must be quite a surreal sensation to walk through it.
I’ve featured some fascinating ideas from TED Talksbefore, they always explore cutting-edge thinking and (in their words) “convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses” from around the world. Naturally some of the topics interest me more than others, but their latest video I found genuinely enthralling and was completely captivated by it.
The internet. Nowadays it is such a simple idea, the availability of WiFi and data connectivity through your phone network means that the majority of us are almost always connected to the internet, by some means, all the time. But in the midst of all this wireless capability there needs to be hard-wired connections. We need to be “plugged in” to the internet somewhere for all of this to be possible.
If you go behind the scenes and trace the origins of the plethora of cables and wires that come into your home or business, just as Andrew Blum did when a squirrel chewed through his home broadband line, your personal intrigue may well unravel more than you thought.
the underwater cables, secret switches and other physical bits that make up the net.
As Andrew says, the materials and science behind it is extremely complex, but the physical process is so simple. And a physical process it is.
The internet is unequivocally physical, and surprisingly intimate. It has to be by its very definition. You could be on a video chat with someone on the other side of the world and it might not seem very real or tangible, or even very connected, but by some route or other there is a physical connection between you, it might be through 8,000 miles under the ocean, but it is there.
I’m notably guilty of forgetting that the Internet doesn’t just come from my telecoms supplier, but that there is a host of technology before the utility company gets it.
The idea that you need to “plug in” an entire continent is hard to comprehend, even at a basic level. But the really fascinating series of images showing how part of Africa was merely plugged in and, despite the technology and processes, shows perhaps just how fragile our connections really are.
Those Who Make is a blog I’ve recently discovered about just that. Those who make things. Traditional and crafted techniques in a “carefully curated collection of videos and interviews”.
My favourite clip of late is The Sound of Dust. A short video documenting the work and philosophy of Tim Stamps, with an insight into the world of quality and craftsmanship that his profession as a surfboard shaper in California demands.
There’s something quite emotive about these sorts of videos – traditional hand-crafted techniques that are void of machinery and typical manufacture, but full of quality, care, and immense attention to detail of a continually evolving and developing design.
It was with great sadness that late last night I read that Jonathan Speirs had passed away after a long battle with cancer.
You may not know who Jonathan Speirs is, but I am sure you will know his work. Speirs is the lighting designer responsible for such incredible designs as the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, Barajas Airport in Madrid, and the Gateshead Millenium Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Working as a lighting designer myself I am more than aware of his work and what he has done for the industry. I never met the man, but like so many others, was continually inspired by his works. My Creative Director at Neolight Design knew Jonathan well and worked with him for many years, not least on the facade of one of the world’s most iconic structures – the Burj al Arab, with nothing but praise for him.
Through others I was very much influenced by his teachings and works, the cleverest of details simply transforming buildings and projects to something awe-inspiring.
Jonathan is a huge loss to all involved in the creative and design industry, not just constrained to either lighting or architecture. I even noted Speirs as one of my greatest sources of inspiration when Lighting Magazine interviewed me last year!
It’s Friday afternoon and the sun is shining gloriously so it seems only fitting to share something amusing and entertaining with you all.
Meet Melvin the Mini Machine who will “sign and stamp a postcard in a way that’s completely inefficient but rather entertaining.” A perfect way to end the week!
Inspired by the likes of other Rude Goldberg-esque Machines, Melvin is the creation of Dutch design agency HeyHeyHey and even features a smartphone attached to one lid to record it’s surroundings and upload the results to Twitter and Facebook.
I recently stumbled across the inspirational work of Jennifer Maestre. On the surface they appear as wonderfully organic shapes, sharp and spiky yet evoking visions of flowing sea urchins and other natural creatures.
Jennifer achieves this somewhat juxtaposition of emotions by sharpening numerous coloured pencils to a dangerously sharp point and linking them with a beading technique, known as peyote stitch, that softens the overall sculpture and leaves them somewhat flexible and alluringly fragile.
There is true a fragility to the sometimes brutal aspect of the sculptures, vulnerability that is belied by the fearsome texture.
At work we have recently started on a couple of new projects in India. Having never been there yet (fingers crossed!) I have absorbed myself in researching the country, the culture, the festivals, the people. Quite frankly everything I can in order to assist in understanding India as a whole.
Part of my research threw up this wonderful snapshot of the Holi Festival shot by Variable in the incredible detail that 2500 frames per second can offer.
Holi is know an the Festival Of Colours, or the Spring Festival due to when it falls in the year (typically beginning of March). It is celebrated with Holika Dahan prayer, and then the following day features the more expressive celebrations with people throwing coloured and lightly scented powder at each other shown in the video above.
Reading The Basic Elements Of Creativity over on swissmiss the other day jogged my memory into digging into the early 90s and rediscovering John Cleese’s lecture on creativity. Yes, John Cleese.
He’s probably better known for the likes of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers, but let’s be honest – those two shows alone are some of the most wildly creative work you’ll ever see!
The lecture comes across as John Cleese’s own amalgamation of cultural experiences and utter comedic genius, specifically “the 5 factors that you can arrange to make your lives more creative”.
Space - “You can’t become playful, and therefore creative, if you’re under your usual pressures”
Time - “It’s not enough to create space; you have to create your space for a specific period of time”
Time - “Giving your mind as long as possible to come up with something original”
Confidence - “Nothing will stop you being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake”
Humour - “The main evolutionary significance of humour is that it gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else”
If you can spare 36 minutes this evening, or perhaps even over a sandwich at your desk tomorrow lunchtime, it really is worth a watch. The flow of eloquence and his delivery are simply impeccable, of which, from John Cleese, we’d expect nothing less.
If you can’t spare the full 36 minutes there’s an excerpt from the full lecture here. Again, well worth a watch.
Another year, another April Fools’ Day. Following on from last year‘s superb efforts, today saw some wildly creative “fools” that caught a lot of people out on this Sunday morning.
Google Maps A new 8-bit version of Google Maps for the “long neglected” Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Fantastic stuff, right down to the detail of the Street View character, and the “Quest” option for planning your journeys.
Love the sound effects and classic “cleaning” technique for those of familiar with cartridge-based games consoles to “blow on the cartridge to fix bugs”.
Gmail Tap The official Google Blog introduced us to the idea of Gmail Tap, a two-key typing interface called to replace the typical 26-key QWERTY keyboard.
New features promise the future of writing emails on the go – tap without looking at your screen, and even multitask to double your productivity by typing two emails at once!
“Loved a video so much that liking it, favoriting it, sharing it and even subscribing to the channel wasn’t enough? Just had to hold it in your grasp and never ever let it go?“
A tantalising prospect I’m sure you’ll agree, and so the The YouTube Collection is born. Available for you in a new “holdable” version: DVD.
Love the feedback and thumbs up options with this!
IKEA IKEA even chipped in their wonderful effort with a product recall notice on their “erroneous” left-handed allen keys.
