If you're in the NYC area and you haven't made it to MoMA in a while, now would be the time to do so. Design and the Elastic Mind is a new exhibit which examines how designers of all kinds are exploring advances in science and technology—not to mention the changes in how we both view and relate to the world around us—in order to rethink who we are and how we spend our limited time here on spaceship Earth. This exhibit, which takes a few hours to really soak in, makes it clear that we are on the verge of, if not deeply immersed in, a fundamental leap in our thinking, doing and being. There are sublime examples of how data sources such as internet traffic and prison incarceration-vs.-spending can be visualized in new ways and for new means. The innovative concept of "thinkering" is often evoked in the demonstration of how everyday objects can have uses and lives beyond their original purpose. In many of the projects on display the roles of scientist, inventor and designer are virtually interchangeable though they are mainly presented in the context of design. Even if you do make it to the exhibit I highly recommend spending an afternoon clicking around the wonderful website that MoMA created which reflects the character of the exhibit in its approach to user experience and information design. As a visual designer I was inspired by Design and the Elastic Mind to look beyond the current hype of green and sustainable design and reexamine not only what I do but how and why. I'll keep you posted on what I discover.

Labels: Art, design, environment, information design, MoMA, New York

Pedal on over to Taliah Lempert's unique collection of bicycle "portraits" and see if you can find your own...model that is. The bikes in her artwork belong people she knows and, she claims, represent an extension of their personalities. She has a loose painterly style that fits the portraiture concept and clearly has developed a mastery of capturing her subjects' likeness. Oh, and check out her coloring book, while you're there.

Labels: Art, bicycles, Drawing, environment, hand-painted

This is good stuff. If you're as annoyed as I am at those stupid "Let it out" ads, check out what the jammers at Greenpeace's Kleercut site are doing to spoil Kimberly-Clark's tear-jerking, pseudo-sentimental TV spots and get the message out that Kleenex Tissues are made with "100 per cent virgin fibre and contains no recycled fibre." Well, what they don't say is that this virgin fibre comes from clear-cutting ancient forest including North America's Boreal forest.

Labels: boycott, criminals, culture-jammer, environment, Greenpeace, logo parodies