Please Come to Boston (and dance)

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

This guest post is from Gabrielle Schaffner, Executive Director of the Fort Point Arts Community in Boston.

Dance Spot is an interactive public art piece that transforms the sidewalks of Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood into colorful dance floors.

A series of five “dance spots”,prominently located throughout the Fort Point neighborhood, each area has a dance diagram drawn on the sidewalk with colorful chalks. Paired with a particular song, passers by can scan a QR code to hear the music, learn the dances via video, and see the dances performed by the artist.

Throughout Fort Point Open Studios weekend (October 19-21) and at other scheduled times throughout the project’s duration, Elisa will travel from dance spot to dance spot with a portable stereo playing each dance spot song while doing the dance spot routines and encouraging others to join in.

through November 8th, 2012

http://www.fortpointarts.org/posts/public-art-fall-2012/

http://www.dancespotboston.com/index.html

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Every Dot On The Map

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

“Every dot on a map interests me.”

“unless the sun inside you is burning your gut, don’t do it.”

Samizdat is here.

Sometimes we all want to run away and live in cave.

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, Maps, Tourism, USA, Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

Pleasures of a good bookshop

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Waterstone’s, the last large bookstore chain standing in the UK, is launching a clever print ad campaign to encourage bookshop browsing. The ads are set to run in the London Underground, in national newspapers, online and in outdoor locations.

It seems a bit ironic that the chainstore that put hundreds of independent bookstores out of business is now struggling for survival against online booksellers.

Posted in Books, Bookstore Tourism, ebooks, Europe, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Or, the Whale

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Yesterday, Google treated us to a neat Google Doodle to celebrate the 161st anniversary of the publication of Moby Dick, or, the whale, the iconic American novel by Herman Melville. If you have yet to meet the challenge of the classic book, or if you’re ready to dive in again, you can click on this link to download a free ebook version.

Posted in Books, ebooks, History, USA, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Lotus Dome or Soft Machine

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Inside Lille, France‘s beautiful Église Sainte Marie Madeleine, the Dutch design team Studio Roosegaarde has installed an intrguing dome-like structure composed of metalic petals that responds to the physical presence of visitors.

The Lotus Dome is constructed of hundreds of light-sensitive flowers made of “lotus foil”, which is composed of multiple layers of film. Internal lighting triggers when sensors detect movement causing the flowers to open-up.

The installation was commissioned for Lille’s Fantastic2012, a festival of arts and design.

Posted in Art, Europe, Tech, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Literary Snacks

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Taipei-based web and graphic designer Alice Wang has created the “Quote Vendor” —a novel vending machine that dispenses bottled literary extracts just like snack food. Each plastic bottle contains an individual text quote along with the book’s title and author’s name.

According to Wang, “Qoute Vendor came from the observation that in today’s society we are becoming more accustomed to instant and short messages. Whether through text messages, or online social platforms such as facebook and Twitter, less people are willing to read long paragraphs, let alone having the patience to read though an entire book… What if we read the book for you and picked out the best parts?”

Related articles
Posted in Art, Asia, Books, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

There’s No Place Like Home

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Where would we be without GPS. Cars, phones, tablets and cameras use it to give direction to our travels. Now British designer Dominic Wilcox has created the world’s first GPS enhanced shoes.

Custom mapping software directs the GPS system, which is embedded in the heel and activated, of course, with a heel click. Walking directions are provided by a helpful LED light system.

Routes can be upload to the shoes via a USB connection.

The GPS shoes are not commercially available yet. But I’m sure that we all know someone who could use a pair when the go on sale.

Posted in Tech | Tagged , | Leave a comment

It Must Be Monday

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Posted in Art, Freedom of Speech | Tagged | 1 Comment

London By The Book

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Daniel Speight is a graphic artist based in East London, UK. His new Book Block project incorporates screenprinting onto discarded books, transforming them into three dimensional art works. Each piece is inspired by London’s distinctive architectural styles from iconic landmarks to lesser known neighborhoods, such as Lower Marsh.

All images © Daniel Speight

Posted in Architecture, Art, Europe | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Berlin Lights Up

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The annual Berlin Festival of Lights is one of the largest illumination events in the world. For 12 nights every October, Berlin‘s iconic landmarks, historical buildings, cultural sites, streets and squares are transformed by stunning illuminations and lights shows. The admission-free festival, which is running from October 10 through 21 this year, also incorporates tons of city-wide cultural events. It’s well worth a trip if you’re in the region. if not, check-out the photos and videos online.

Posted in Architecture, Art, Europe, Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment