t h e _ R E C O R D

Long Walk to Nowhere

Labels: art, installation, machines, nature, sculpture, sports, why

2.12.2010

posted by the Record Player @ 1:20 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Vinyl Lives On

YES! Vinyl is still going strong and is actually been on a steady increase for the last decade and especially these last few years as CD sales plummet. There's about a dozen legit vinyl manufacturing companies still around in the US and they've all doing well. I'm looking forward to talking to these guys and wish them much success! In the meantime watch another good video about how records are made. They only talk briefly about the process but it's still amazing to watch...if you ever get the chance to actually see it in person, DO IT!! I've only visited one plant so far but will visit more when I'm in those areas. If you have any questions about the record making process, feel free to ask me. Or, better yet, ask them!

If you live in the Cleveland area they'll even show you their plant!! Gotta Groove Records

Labels: amazing, machines, music, Records, video, vinyl

2.11.2010

posted by the Record Player @ 6:46 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Scratching with cassettes

This is crazy! Imagine being able to really DJ with cassettes!! hahaha..

I wrote that too soon!! just after posting that I saw this insanity!!!

Labels: machines, music, neato, video, why

2.10.2010

posted by the Record Player @ 10:28 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

I am SO anxious for this

If there's one thing that REALLY annoys me it's wires! Yeah, it seems silly since we think that we need them. In my mind, even as a kid, I thought there must be a way to transmit electricity with out wires or at least figure out a better way to power our appliances and gadgets. Well, as luck/fate would have it, Marin Soljacic at MIT has finally got the technology at a point where it will be widely available in the next few years!! I first heard about this a couple years ago on MIT's Technology Review website (it's one of my favorite sites! yeah, so what I'm a nerd.) but at the time it was big and impractical. In addition to just making sense and being more convenient, this could have major impact from an environmental perspective. Of course, companies will not stop putting wires on products anytime soon but in the future we will hopefully see a dramatic decrease in the use of PVC & copper for wires. Wires actually account for a major percentage of PVC consumption. There's also the environmental perspective of just how an area looks. whether in your house or on the street, wires are an unsightly eyesore. Think about how much better Tokyo will look without the wires everywhere!

I could go on and on about this but read about it more on his company's website- WiTricity

Labels: amazing, computer world, finally, future, machines, science, technology, thoughts, wow

1.12.2010

posted by the Record Player @ 6:56 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Yuri Suzuki

I need to apologize to you for not posting any of this guy's work sooner! I swore that I did but when I was looking for the back links I realized I did not :( Yuri Suzuki has done some of my favorite installation works that I've seen maybe ever. He is a very multi-disciplined creator but what I'm most interested in is his "sound art" pieces. He really pushes the limits of new uses for vinyl records and turntables in art and finds new and interesting ways to reinterpret how we interact with sound and the connection between music and the tangible medium. In addition to being a great artist, he's also an electronic music producer and an industrial designer. Go to his website and do some searches for him to learn more.

His most recent exhibit is going on now in Luxembourg and is part of a show titled "Coalition Of Amateurs". For this show, Yuri set up a full music production system which recorded music from 3 bands direct to master disk and then they pressed their own vinyl all in the same day!! I haven't been able to find out details yet on how exactly he did it but it appears that he made is own CNC cutter to make the masters on a standard Technics 1200 turntable.

Of all of Yuri's work I've seen thus far, the pieces created for his well-noted "The Physical Value Of Sound" exhibit last year at Clear Gallery in Tokyo. This show included a turntable with 5 tonearms, jewelry with sound etched onto it to be played on a turntable, a piece called "Sound Chaser" that used pieces of records as train tracks for a miniature train engine with a cartridge and speaker in it and a piece simply called "Digital and Analog" which is just a regular CD on one side and the top has grooves etched in to play sound (I REALLY love that one). Some others I really love are his "Jellyfish Theramin","Finger Player" and his "Graffiti Radio" project.

Labels: art, design, machines, music, video, vinyl, wow

8.22.2009

posted by the Record Player @ 6:10 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

D-Touch

WOW! This is essentially an interface that requires only a computer, a webcam, a printer and a lot of ideas. The D-Touch sequencer and drum machine are available for FREE (both Mac and PC versions). Just watch the video and definately go to their site. Simply amazing.

Labels: art, awesome, computer world, design, machines, music, wow

8.18.2009

posted by the Record Player @ 11:33 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

this makes me happy and sad at the same time

The industrial designer in me loves to see a nice cut-away of an object but this is almost sacrilegious! I think anybody that notices the beauty of an Aston Martin knows that they're built very well and with great attention to detail. It's bad enough that they need to crash-test a bunch of these but did they really need to go rub it in our faces and cut one open!? This was for some party in NYC premiering the new DBS Volante by Aston Martin.

More pictures > HERE <

Labels: cars, damage, design, machines, NO, sad, why

6.03.2009

posted by the Record Player @ 3:23 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Guy with ugly coat makes really ugly car

Russian? check
Time to waste? check
Scrap Mercedes body? check
Truck grill? check
Ugly fur coat? check
Money to spend? check
Love PU foam? check

So, what do you do? Make the ugliest car you can. That's what!

see all the pics >>here<<

Labels: cars, crazy, design, foam, machines, NO, sculpture, stupid, why, WTF

5.25.2009

posted by the Record Player @ 5:34 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Wood + metal bike

Not much to say here. Just a really nice bike that uses wood instead of metal for some of the tubing. The joints are metal though.
This was made by Arndt Menke.

I am familiar with the bamboo bike by BME and the new Bamboo bike Ross Lovegrove designed for Biomega...and the wooden bike at the Camper store in SoHo...and several other wooden (even cardboard) bikes. None of those look this good though.

Labels: awesome, bicycling, bikes, design, I want, machines, metal, wood, wow

5.12.2009

posted by the Record Player @ 2:09 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Musical explosion

Sorry, that was a very misleading title for an entry. Music is an intangible abstraction based on mathematics and physics as a result of vibrations. The term 'music' really doesn't even have any true meaning since it is subjective to opinion. However, these images are 'exploded' views of music making devices.

These images are part of a graphic set for a group called Go Audio by UK-based design firm with a very impressive portfolio and client list, Zip Design. I'm loving these images because they're music related plus, the designer in me, loves to see what goes into making an object and thinking about the manufacturing process. (I'm a nerd for stuff like that)

Labels: design, explosion, machines, manufacturing, music, neato, rad

5.11.2009

posted by the Record Player @ 6:32 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Good use of time

I always knew there was a better way to spin a desk chair. I just couldn't figure out how. Thankfully somebody bored at work did.

Labels: amazing, art, awesome, engineering, machines, video, WTF

2.01.2009

posted by the Record Player @ 7:31 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Someday...

Before I die I want to own at least one high-end turntable. (Technics 1200s are NOT high-end!) Of course I'll also own some of the portable turntables I really want by this point too. And maybe one or two of some old classic turntables I really want. But until those days come..we got pictures. You can see more stuff you can't afford at the company's website- Transrotor

Labels: awesome, design, expensive, I want, machines, music, sound, turntables

1.14.2009

posted by the Record Player @ 10:40 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Love/lust at first sight

Absolutely stunning! Seriously, do I need to explain! This is beauty. Look at more pictures and read more about this concept model here

Labels: beautiful, design, engineering, lust, machines

7.23.2008

posted by the Record Player @ 3:57 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Lego manufacturing is neato

Gizmodo got an exclusive tour of the Lego manufacturing facility. I've seen quite a bit of these types of videos and have seen some things first hand but this process blew me away. To mass produce small objects like this on such a massive scale and to do it with such precision and quality is truly magical. Their automated sorting and storage 'cathedral' system is brilliant. Thanks Gizmodo for taking the time to present this to the world. Maybe Lego will someday make their products from recycled plastic and promote recycling their products?

Watch videos and read about it here

Labels: design, engineering, machines, Magic, manufacturing, neato, science

Now people that use tools have a blog too

For years the internet has forgotten a small group of people. This small demographic is those among us that use tools to fix and build stuff. Well, now these freaks got their own blog. I checked it out and even found out that there are stores with nothing but tools (and now bottled water). Who'd a thunk of such a brilliant idea!? amazing!

check out ToolMonger

Labels: awesome, blog, design, finally, machines

7.18.2008

posted by the Record Player @ 9:54 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Change of heart...

It's no secret that I don't really care for large corporations that don't do much good for the world. However, I really want to work with BMW. Very few companies are sincere about change and innovation and BMW clearly puts their money where their mouths are. From their new facility by Zaha Hadid, to the Gina concept car and multiple installations such as this. All kidding aside, I do want to work with companies that promote thought and conversation that influences the progression of human intellect. Oh yeah, they are the main sponsor that's making it possible for the world to see the Ted talks. (I'll post more about those soon!)

In the meantime, this installation is beautiful yet so simple and poetic...just balls in space. (yeah, it is a fact that SpaceBalls is one of the best films ever made!)

Labels: art, cars, design, installation, machines, why

7.09.2008

posted by the Record Player @ 1:28 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

..and now you know

I'm a sucker for manufacturing process videos. Especially when it's about my favorite drug. They're leaving out a lot of info but these are still very informative. I would recommend digging deeper though. Let me know some more about this process, history or materials. I'm always trying to know more about anything dealing with vinyl, phonographs and DJing.
(make sure to watch part 2)

Labels: awesome, drugs, machines, music, obsession, science, vinyl

7.08.2008

posted by the Record Player @ 6:01 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Liquid Lady

One of my students showed me this earlier. It makes my back hurt just watching it. We just figured she's replaced all her natural joints with robotic ones. I guess that makes her an android.

Labels: art, back pain, dance, machines, nature, wow, WTF

New styles of graffiti

Here's a few new explorations into graffiti worth checking out:

PaintThatShitGold allows you to bomb any other site on the web. It's part of the promotion for Atmosphere's recent album (I don't know if it's the most recent one)

Graffiti Playdo allows you to do graff with other people over the web.

Green Works' Reverse Graffiti is a really cool project. So simple but thought provoking in different ways. Thanks to one of my professors, Tony G from Grow Design, for letting me know about this. You can see a lot more pictures of these pieces on Flikr

Tagged In Motion is insane!!! I love the blend between the primitiveness (yes, it's a new word now) of graffiti with the cutting edge computer/tech/geek/vr stuff.
This still blows me away when I watch it. I first saw this about 6 months ago and it's stayed in my mind since then so it's pretty damn impressive.

Hektor is another project I've known about for a while (although I was late...it's a few years old). It's essentially just a couple of motors and a string that moves the can of spray paint around. It makes the images from basic vector art and then figures out the path that it must go in to produce the art, similar to a CNC machine.

Labels: art, dope, environmental issues, graffiti, machines, science, video

6.28.2008

posted by the Record Player @ 11:29 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

HUGE balls of steel

Get your minds out the gutters ladies..this isn't about me! (wink)

This is about a building tuned mass damper in the worlds' tallest building- Taipei 101. Read more about it here> It was put to the test recently during the massive earthquakes that rocked China and it worked as expected. Watch the video below.

Labels: design, machines, science

6.24.2008

posted by the Record Player @ 8:05 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Revolutionary car-design looks fishy...

If you haven't already seen or heard, BMW has developed a new car that uses fabric instead of metal as the outer skin. I don't know why but BMW's design team seems to like fish and sharks...this is seriously the 4th or 5th car from them that makes me instantly think of a shark, manta ray, angler fish or some other type of marine life. Maybe they used a fabric like sharks' skin? If you've never really looked at shark skin you should...it's super aerodynamic but can also work like sand paper in the other direction. Anyway, as a designer this project made me extremely happy:
1- it is really pushing boundaries and thinking way outside of convention
2- it is REAL!! they actually did it!! (this is not just some computer model folks! they made and prototyped this!!)
3- it is promoting people to think about and question their consumption but also about their choices
4- it is a great study in materials and technology
5- it is a beautiful marriage of above and below the surface design and engineering

Unfortunately, this will only remain a concept car. There is only one and will be put into a German automotive museum. You can see some really good pictures of it at AutoBlog.

Labels: amazing, cars, design, machines, sharks, video

6.19.2008

posted by the Record Player @ 12:15 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Wire Frame Car

I'm attempting to go back and find some of my favorite things I've seen online over the past couple years. This isn't something I actively spend time on but some things show up again or I see something new that makes me go back and look at other work. Case in point: these sculptures by Benedict Radcliffe. His other works are nice too but he is most known for his wire framed cars. The one in the picture is called 'Modern Japanese Classic' and is now owned by collector David Roberts. There are other pictures of this piece all over the web since this would get 'parked' on the street for everybody to admire.

Labels: art, design, installation, machines, sculpture

6.18.2008

posted by the Record Player @ 9:10 PM 0 Comments Links to this post