Most recycling sends material downwards on the “food chain”. Once the material is recycled, it’s of a lower quality than it started and is therefore less useful. Upcycling, on the other hand, takes a material beyond its original usefulness, moving it up the chain.

Which is exactly what designer Tom Ballhatchet has done with this television packaging — similar to what designer Eion McNally has done with computer packaging — by creating a shipping crate that can be converted into a television stand. Aimed at a lower-end market, this package design is perfect for all those 20-somethings who are more concerned about owning a big-screen than whether or not they have a sofa or a bed to sleep in.

via Unpressable Buttons

–Danny Nathan

Both Josh and I have written in the past about the open-source image and animation programming language called Processing. In those earlier posts, you’ll find links to several neat-looking doodads made with Processing. The real trick with any new technology, though, is to use it for truly something useful rather than just “neat.”

Today, our friends at NOTCOT spotted what is surely a step in that direction. The discovery is Anymails, a program written by Carolin Horn and Florian Jenett that forms a visual representation of your email inbox as, basically, a computerized Petrie dish. The program comes as a result of Horn’s MFA thesis project, which was titled “Natural Metaphor for Information Visuzalization” (I have serious thesis envy right now). This is kind of hard to explain—and you may as well just watch the videos for yourself on the website—but basically Anymails turns your inbox into a colony of microbes that swim and squirm their way around your monitor, acting out metaphorically what is going on informationally in your inbox. The reason I say that the project is useful, is that it provides a non-numerical way to understand the flow of information. Right now it might be easier to just look at a number if you want to know how many unread messages you have. But what if you’re trying to discover whether emails from work or emails from friends generate a greater strain on your mental resources? The potential of a visual representation such as Anymails becomes obvious. Plus it’s, you know, totally fun to watch.

Hitotoki: (n.) a single moment; one’s moment; a point in time.

Hitotoki.org is is a new literary site collecting stories of personal, singular experiences in cities worldwide. Think of it as the Harvard version of Craigslist or something, with a vastly higher design standard. The site started as a place for people to share stories from their encounters around Tokyo, and these stories are stunningly well written. Take, for example, this short tale about a young girl on the train. The sadness portrayed in just a few paragraphs was enough to make even my bitter, New-Yorkified heart warm up a bit…“No one waved back.”

And it seems that my cold NY heart won’t be the only one thawing out soon. Hitotoki has set its sights on the Big Apple for its next set of literary tales. They’re currently hosting a call for entries for stories about encounters in New York. The deadline is August 31st for a September site launch. From their site: “We’re looking for short narratives describing pivotal moments of elation, confusion, absurdity, love or grief — or anything in between — inseparably tied to a specific place in New York City.” Submit your entries or subscribe to their NY feed here.

–Danny Nathan

I just got so pissed. There I was, looking over the information for ISM’s new Untitled Love Project and thinking what a great idea it was, and how different these pictures are when you know — as the project stipulates — all about one of the artist’s old relationships, when I found out that the exhibition was in California. The Thinkspace Gallery at 4210 Santa Monica Boulevard in LA on Saturday, August fourth to be exact. Why do I like to look at paintings about failed relationships? The same reason I like songs about failed relationships. It’s a great subject, and we can all identify (well, some of us more than others.)

Leave it to the folks at ISM (Yes, “folks.” I’ve made an editorial decision to use the word more in an attempt to make my style more marketable in the Red States) to make me want to change coasts. ISM is “a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and support of the arts.” Simple enough. It runs an international magazine, organizes exhibitions such at the Untitled Love Project and others, and hosts events. If they keep this up I might have to consider moving to LA…psych! Maybe I’ll come visit though…if they’ll have me.

Young industrial designer James Rennick’s Hedge Chair. It comes standard with a reading light and lamp shade, and an ottoman. It looks sturdy and I suspect it of being comfortable. To further connect it to traditional Irish hedge chairs, it’s made from salvaged wood. What is a traditional Irish hedge chair? Well I’m glad you asked, because I had to look it up. According to the Center for Traditional Skills located in the Old Railway station of Lismore, Ireland (roughly here), a hedge chair is “a slab seated chair, often made by a hedge carpenter or householder, from local timbers.” Seriously, Wikipedia doesn’t have anything on hedge chairs. I nominate James Rennick to write the article.

What James has done here, as he helpfully explains on his website, is marry the old and the new. His chair hearkens back to a much simpler, much rougher time in Ireland’s history, but remains relevant to the present. Though really, a place to put your ass is always relevant, isn’t it?

Legendary hip-hop producer Pete Rock is kicking off the opening of the 2nd Annual Hip-Hop Show in Sao Paulo with a DJ show tonight at the Pompeia location of SESC for only 10 bucks. SESC’s a network of public cultural/rec centers run by the government, which means shows are always financially accessible. (Think about it: It’s like if, say, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sponsored a hip-hop film fest. Uh, never.) He’s setting the tone for the week-long event, which will feature 13 films — all with free entry — repeated over the week so Paulistanos will have plenty of chances to get schooled on the history of American hip-hop, from Biggie Smalls and sneaker-freaker madness in Just for Kicks to Wu: The Story of the Wu Tang Clan and the graff documentary Rock Fresh. But new to this year’s edition are two national entries that explore the stories of Brazil’s old and new schools of hip-hop, divided into various shorts that date back to as early as 1990. Very fresh.