Diesel's Viral Dance Disco Lesson with Aarlf Smarks

The last time I heard viral and feet mentioned in the same sentence I had to buy some cream for athletes foot. This time thankfully it is a lot more fun than a fungal infection.

Diesel’s latest online campaign for their Freezy Sneaker shoes takes a 1970’s video of a Finnish Disco Celebrity, mashed up to promote a new sneaker design, that is decidedly 80’s. Try and make sense of that.

Don’t blame it on the sunshine. Don’t blame it on the moonlight. Don’t blame it on the good times. Don’t even blame it on the boogie. Blame it on Aarlf Smaks, This native Finnish disco dancemeister was ‘THE’ man that any self respecting disco-goer aspired to be like, and is single handedly to blame for the way your dad deploys those sexy moves on the dance floor (the ones that obviously got your Mum so hot all those years back). So maybe, just maybe, he is in a strange way responsible for your being born?

While part of the emerging trend of video remixing, in this case the remix and music was created by Hexostatic - Diesel’s choice of Aarlf Smaks to promote their new Freezy Sneakers pokes a big glittery finger in the eye of the current trend of big name celebrity product endorsement. That said, if this campaign video goes viral Aarlf may just may get again?

I remember being shown the original film by an old Finnish colleague of mine, and it made me laugh so much at the time. I am glad that some how Diesel have been able to bring this video into a piece of communication.

Oh yeah, I hope it has a viral effect, rather than a fungal effect, but either way it still makes my feet itch for some reason.

Pet Shop Boys 'Integral' Video Features QR Tags

The new video from Pet Shop boys is such an intellegent and witty comment on the Big Brother society we are building around us. Containing QR tags that link to online articles about privacy and rights, the actual aesthetic of the video is based on these little digital bar code devices. Ironically the look is very remenicent of the 80's computer game aesthetic that is having such a revival, yet in this case it is actually something very much about now.

Thanks to Martina for sending me this.

Honda's Asimo robot appears in company commercial

Honda's revolutionary robot 'Asimo', one of the first humanoid robots to be able to walk on two legs, appears in this commercial for the company.

Giant Crack Appears In Tate Gallery

As visitors to the Tate Modern gallery in London enter the galleries giant turbine hall, they are confronted with the disturbing sight of a giant crack. Starting as a small fissure, the 167 metre fracture grows wider and deeper as it snakes the entire length of the hall.

Created by Columbian artist Doris Salcedo, the piece is titled "Shibboleth," after a Biblical massacre in which members of a defeated tribe were identified for slaughter based on the way they spoke. The artist describes the sculpture as laden with meaning as deep as the crack itself. It represents the divide and gap between Europeans and the rest of mankind.

Personally I enjoy the concept of creating a scultpure that is more about the space it does not fill, rather than the space it actually occupies. It is in effect a hole. An empty space, that due to it's dynamic and powerful nature created a piece that is thought provoking and demands time and contemplation to get the most out of it. In this respect it is very different from some of the previous commissions to the yearly installation, that have been more immediately involving of the viewer, such as the giant slides by Carsten Höller.

The crack, cast in concrete and lowered into a hole dug along the length of the hall will be filled in next year, leaving a permenant and giant scar.

Martin Klimas - Smashing Art

I have just returned from a shoot that used a camera that could capture video at 1000 fps, and the results were beautiful. I can't wait to post the resulting project here soon. High speed photography can create amazing results.

With a desire to see what else people were doing with this technology I had a look around and came across the work of Marting Klimas. We are all familiar with images of bullets speeding through apples, and the shattering of glass, but Marting Klimas has gone beyond the 'simple' cliche and made images that really create something unique. The smashing porcelain figurines not only look dramatic as they explode, but the way that the figures are fragmenting, and the fragments themselves complete a scene.

The magic split second moment when the figurines and their exploding fragments create a scene that perfectly expresses the original expression of the figurine. Each one amazing in its improbability of capturing such a perfect scene. The fragments seem to become crashing water into which the figurine is plunging. The fighting figures that seem to have caused themselves to have shattered through their own energy.

The images much better express themselves, than I could ever articulate and do justice, so just look at the images for yourselve. Awsome!

It also made me think just how did Martin come up with the idea - I can only imagine that it was through a lucky accident. and I would love to know just how many figures were smashed to achieve these results.

These are rare images where they say so much, yet the concept is so painfully simple. Totally awe inspiring.

Found on - Where We Play

Human After All - Diesel Fall Winter 07 Campaign

It commonly felt that we are moving towards a future where technology rules the day and will make everones lives perfect, and there is an increasing fascination with technology and predicting how it will change our lives for the better. The current Diesel campaign takes a wry look at this imagined future and suggests otherwise...maybe the technology will be better (or not as the case maybe), but where there are humans involved, there will always be room for error...as the strapline states, we are only 'Human Afterall'. Be it human error or emotional, the future is a place where man is still man, and technology will take second place to the human condition.

Where there's transport, there are sure to be breakdowns. Kids that break your clone's capsule, rather than just the window that usually gets smashed. Do you really think that assembling your teleport cabnet from Ikea in 100 years time is going to be any easier than the KLIMPT desk you struggled with last year? See below some images from the campaign, that I am glad to have participated in the creation of.

See here some images from the campaign, and read on for more about the viral videos of the campaign.









The campaign is also being taken online with a series of viral videos that show that our relationship with technology may not be that different - with the guy who has to stumble out of his future home pod to go to the pharmacy for condoms and falls fail to his crashed voice recognition security door, leaving his hot date waiting inside. Another illustrates the possible dangers when using what will be no doubt the latest iPhone in the year 2050.

Teleporter


Voice Recognition


Space Dinner



This season has had a distinctly futuristic tone to it - with a spectacular holographic fashion show (watch it here), and the introduction of Diesel's Sister Yes shades that have integrated camera, phone, GPS maps, video playback...oh and can see into the future??? I kid you not...check out the shades here.

The Shades With Integrated Phone & Personal Assistant




The Holographic Show

Wooden USB Data-key

It is nice to see cool product design coming to these ubiquitous little devices. This is only €32 from Brando.They are becoming the new jewellery. I really liked the idea of Nokia's 'Medallion' wearable digital photo device, but the design was pretty ugly. This is certainly an area where there should be significant development over the coming year.

The Nokia Medallion

TV Gets Socially Networked

Social networking has merged with TV program file sharing to in the form of TOITI.com. The new social network merges Web 2.0 technology with the world of TV and film downloads (both legal and illegal), making it super easy to find that elusive episode of your favorite show. TIOTI doesn’t actually serve the actual files for download, but it does aggregate links to the files.

It take the mess out of searching as the site sorts all programs by category, with associated series and episode linked. It also adds all the benefits of social networks—users get the chance to review programs, read comments from other members, get recommendations, and join groups based on viewing preferences.

Keep an eye out for this site—it will no doubt come under the eye of TV companies. The question is, will the industry try to fight it, or will they embrace it?

Start downloading here!

Interactive Table

This is a pretty cool table from 'Because We Can'.



Found on Trend Hunter.

Sony's New 3mm Thin TV Screen Goes On Sale

This device marks a real turning point in screen technology, and will change the way you view video and images in future! OK, so this actual device won't, but the technology that it is premiering will.

I met someone who has the priveledged possition to be given access to and test new technology for Sony and they are already using Sony's new OLED TV technology in their work (special effects for live performances) and say that it is amazing. Not only the high resolution but the way that the screen technology delivers the image in a way that renders black as pure black. Images will look far more realistic on this type of screen. The great thing is that they are far thinner than other screens, in this case the screen is only 3mm wide.

According to the BBC they are to go on commercial release at the end of 2007. The first screens will only be 11 inches and will cost around €1400, a fair bit more expensive than LED screens, but for professional use this still seems to make the technology viable until Sony develop cheaper and larger screens for personal use in coming years. As the screens are created using a form of printing this means that there will likely be little limitation in making the screens to any size. While people where showing off with their fancy 40 inch plasma's, they will be wowing us with full wall to wall screens in their living rooms in the not too distant future (seriously!).