there’s something strange about the relationship between technology and the built environment: although they cost about the same, one lives much shorter life than the other. so while we’re always busy working to buy new technology, we seldom make changes to our furniture and buildings. when herman miller launched in ‘red’ line in november 2000, […]
Category Archives: possessed products
wastelands
today’s AP story about the falseness of e-waste recycling is a little late, nevertheless it points out the important fact the electronics can’t really be recycled (much like other products), rather they’re burned and hacked apart to salvage what little precious metals they contain. the most important point of the article is that recycling of […]
Also posted in fabrication, materials, open objects, product design
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artificial tusks
in the late nineteenth century billiard balls were the fourth most important use of ivory, after knife handles, piano keys and combs, but they required the largest and highest quality tusks. nearly 50 tons of ivory were made into billiard balls each year for the european and american markets. consumption had exhausted supplies almost entirely, […]
Also posted in fabrication, materials, product design
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art must burn
long before burning man and lithium battery flareups, art has been destroyed by fire – in 1960 swiss father of kinetic sculpture jean tinguely built a self-destructing sculpture in the courtyard of new york’s museum of modern art: “The piano began playing. Jean had reversed the belt for his big meta-matic painting machine which was […]
Also posted in architecture, soft/glowing
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MANUFACTU(RED)
product(RED) has received an amazing amount of positive press for a for-profit company that allows major brands to widely advertise as being ethical while distributing tiny amounts of profit to a charity that provides AIDS drugs to Africa. one notable critic is buylesscrap.org, who argue that shopping is not the answer and that direct giving […]
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PC PR
prominent in 3M’s proud history of ‘scotch’ tape is the pejorative origin of the product’s name (above). what makes some companies proud of their racist past while others deny it? 3M went on to trademark these plaid patterns and to use the prefix in other products such as scotchguard. they’ve even made available this old […]
Also posted in marketing
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CSIphone
this excellent video is just greenpeace’s latest effort to PRessure apple into adopting somewhat better environmental policies – using the dissection of a popular device to reveal the inherent ugliness of what lies inside. in this case, brominated fire retardants and phthalates in PVC. while shown to be somewhat toxic, these compounds have remained legal […]
carpenter shelter
at the cooper hewitt’s lackluster ‘design for the other 90%‘ exhibit i was puzzled by the ‘day labor station:’ a well-intentioned shelter for immigrant day laborers who – at least in california – seek day labor by standing around home supply stores waiting for an unscrupulous contractor to pick them up. the solution – for […]
Also posted in architecture, conviviality, fabrication, marketing
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