The Truth about exercise and how can technology help?

I was watching a very insightful programme called The Truth about Exercise by Horizon presented by acclaimed scientific BBC presenter Michael Mosley, he like many of us want to be healthier and fitter. The programme looks at new research into how intense short bursts of exercise combined with increasing activities throughout your day which many would not see as "exercise" such as walking, standing and fidgeting can make a dramatic difference to your health and the calories you burn; reducing the risk of many health problems such as type two diabetes and high blood pressure.

A few days after this rather revealing documentary, I stumbled across an ingenious piece of design and technology that could quite literally change the way you live and help you stay healthy. The device is called Up which is created by the exceptional forward thinking company Jawbone who are leading the way in personal mobile technology; "Up combines sophistated technology and sleek design to offer a durable, easy to wear, intelligent, motion-sensing band that lives on your wrist 24/7 and inspires you to live a healthier life." 

The device is designed to work with their IPhone App which collates all the information and presents it to the user in a very well crafted software interface to create an exceptional all round product to help promote an active lifestyle all for the price of £80. 

Little Printer

I found this brilliant product called little printer created by Berg which is a London-based design consultancy which works with the worlds top companies such as google and Intel to create new and innovative ways to interact with people through the use of technology. The company is a rising star and you should take note, one of their best projects to date is the Little Printer which creates bespoke instant information print outs from your favourite newspaper and web platforms, watch the video!. 

"We are deep believers in a kind of tech-enabled socializing that doesn’t exist yet," says Matt Webb, CEO of Berg.

Richard Mosse's Infra Project

All rights reserved Richard Mosse 

After the deaths in Syria of World renowned Journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28 the media took a pause and looked more closely at the under reported conflicts around the World. Colvin often spoke about the need for taking risk, and it was the reporting by her and other journalists like her who went into areas of conflict that helped influence the public and the political machine to sometimes take action, and gave the people in these areas much needed support.

Artists have for along time too been involved in this process of bringing a subject to the forefront of culture and society, Richard Mosse is one such individual. Mosse has for years have been photographing War zones and conflict areas such as Lebanon, the Middle East and most recently The Congo, the Infra Project is perhaps his most recognised work. Mosse is widley known having an exceptional back catalogue, having exhibited his work around the World. His work has aided in transforming often indescribable situations in the Congo into a profound visual perspective. He will be showing the Infra Project at the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool from 30th March - 10th June 2012 

"Richard Mosse’s Infra project uses obsolete military surveillance technology, a type of infrared colour film called Kodak Aerochrome, to investigate ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Originally created to detect targets for aerial bombing, Kodak Aerochrome film registered a spectrum of light beyond what the human eye can see, rendering foliage in vivid hues of lavender, crimson and hot pink.

On his journeys in eastern Congo between 2010-11, Mosse photographed rebel groups constantly switching allegiances, fighting nomadically in a jungle war zone plagued by frequent ambushes, massacres, and systematic sexual violence. These narratives urgently need telling but cannot be easily described.

Infra offers a radical rethinking of how to depict a conflict as complex as that of the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The images initiate a dialogue with photography that begins as a meditation on a broken documentary genre, but ends as an elegy for a land touched by tragedy.

Richard Mosse was born in Ireland in 1980. He currently lives and works in New York.

He is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery, New York." 

Bread looks so much better served in here !

Well this caught my eye, I went to my local bread shop and it definitely did not look this, it was dull and boring and had an arrangement that has been around since the 1960s. However this narrow footprint plot has been extremely well utilized for storage using natural wood cut into sweeping shapes to create a calming and soothing environment. 

The shop has a limited front facade though its street presence is optimized by floor to ceiling glazing. The unique interior and forward thinking brand of this bread shop is apparent to the public, attracting new customers to the premises. If this bread shop was in my area and not in Australia I would go there every day, firstly because of the bread and secondly because of the architecture.

baker d. chirico' by march studio in carlton, australia | all rights reserved march studio image © peter bennetts

baker d. chirico' by march studio in carlton, australia | all rights reserved march studio image © peter bennetts

Fire drawings by studio glithero

All rights reserved fire drawing stills from studio glithero, 2012

The london-based design Studio Glithero made up of Tim Simpson and Sarah Van Gameren, have created a number of exciting projects one of my favourites is their 'fire drawings'. The work is created through a curious process of painting a concise pattern onto wood using highly flammable screen-print paint to cut a path through the wood once it has been set alight, leaving a natural and unique looking design scorched into the wood.  

'The protagonist in the fire drawings is a flame. It travels through time over a path of flammable screen-printed paint,multiplying or merging together, drawing, leaving a decorative charcoal trace as it goes along. Each piece in the series choreographs a different path of a flame, that starts burning from a single fuse and then branches and multiples towards a climax a burning circle of fire. The remaining charcoal pattern resonates a memory of a moment that has already been. literally and metaphorically it is the ashes of a process.' Studio Glithero

The Topographic Projections and Implied Geometries Series

Jim Sanborn is a Washington DC-based artist who has produced a rather extrordinary body of work in his long career. Sanborn has received numerous awards and grants and has exhibited in major museums in the United States, Asia, and Europe. His latest series of work was produced by a large format light projection powered by a mobile generator, lighting a variety of different landscapes and waterscapes. Each installation was photographed on clear nights using long exposure taken at a distance of 1/2 a mile with some rather original results.

All rights reserved Jim Sanborn The Topographic Projections and Implied Geometries Series

Wow the wonders of Clay

Rather a unique and exceptionally executed short animation video. The potential and wonders of clay have been captured superbly by the Artist Lacey so have a look at the video.

The Future is here, the future is now | To Understand is to perceive patterns

I stumbled across this video and it was rather enlightening, it gave me a sense that we are beginning to progress in a positive and forward thinking way. I will be posting more things on new materials and technologies that will alter our World as we know it, so watch this space. In the meantime watch this visually stunning video produced by Television personality, filmmaker and philosopher, Jason Silva and Notthisbody who have created a number of very insightful videos about a variety of subjects.