Designer Jin Namkung goes left when the rest of the eco-industry looks to go right any only focus on homes and automobiles. Namkung took  a look at the world of construction and saw that many of the machines use run on diesel and created a electric dozer. Equipped with heavy duty rechargeable batteries, four motors placed in each wheel and human detecting scanners. View more images after the jump. (more…)

Photo Credit: Movie, Actually

Wars in the name of religion. Breakthroughs in science and astrology. Utter poverty amid rising opulent establishments. Sound like the world you live in today? How’s this for a shocker –that’s actually the world in Alexandria, Egypt 400AD. Serving as backdrop for Chilean-born Spanish auteur, Alejandro Amenábar’s latest time-defying epic, Agora is about the prosperity and decline of this civilization through the eyes of Hypatia, noted Greek mathematician, philosopher, and astronomer. This film, at first glance, might seem like the perfect History Channel feature presentation, but two things that set it apart from other epic films of this period are: 1.) Its rather experimental take on time and dimensions, and 2.) Hypatia, herself, the struggling heroine in a man’s world. (more…)

Holy Rollers is inspired by actual events in the late nineties when Hasidic Jews were recruited as mules to smuggle ecstasy from Europe into the United States. Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg), a young Hasid from an Orthodox Brooklyn community reluctantly follows the path his family has chosen for him, awaiting a pending arranged marriage and studying to become a Rabbi. A charming neighbor, Yosef Zimmerman (Justin Bartha), senses Sam’s resistance and propositions him to transport ‘medicine’ for Jackie (Danny A. Abeckaser), an Israeli dealer, and his girlfriend, Rachel (Ari Graynor).

Sam quickly demonstrates his business skill to his bosses, who instantly take Sam under their wing. Now exposed to the exciting and gritty worlds of Manhattan and Amsterdam nightlife, Sam begins to spiral deeper into their detrimental lifestyle, experimenting with ecstasy and then falling for Rachel. As the business grows, Sam’s double life begins to rip his family apart and the community becomes suspicious of his illegal activities. Sam slowly comes to realize the façade behind the easy money and parties. Caught between life as a smuggler and the path back to God, Sam goes on the run, forced to make a fatal decision that could bring the entire operation crashing down.

Official Movie Site

A. Sauvage founder Adrien Sauvage’s journey in the field of portraiture begins with the This Is Not A Suit Series. The concept follows a simple logic within a strong framework. To explore the word suit and what it suggests. In each case, The artist invites subjects to wear garments from his collection and encourages them to express who they are whilst wearing a suit with no directorial interference. Having established the loose parameters of the experience, it is left up to each subject to decide what to wear, diverse as they are, from collection 000-1 to 000-11. This Is Not A Suit is a case study of the artist’s ongoing fascination with the internal and external influences that enable individualism. Adrien has now set up a temporary portrait studio in Berlin. The first body of work is entitled NATIVES, LA, shot in Venice Beach, California. (more…)

What’s behind the company named ‘The KeyStone Design Union’?

We build businesses and brands.  In 2003/04, I was experiencing the day-to-day realities of leading a large corporate organization and not having fun.  I had strong opinions on how things could change but was faced with the internal politics and many selfish agendas – so I walked away.  In doing so, I wanted to create something personal and rooted in beliefs that you typically don’t see in corporate systems.  I wanted to build something that would naturally and organically evolve depending on the trends and demands of the age.  This might sound like a obtuse way of answering, but it is better than saying I started another network and consulting firm, sure they are the foundation of the group, but they happened organically as a result of believing in the idea of bringing the best people together will result in something unique and special. (more…)

The Wapping Project Bankside, a new commercial gallery space adjacent to Tate Modern, is to curate a provocative solo exhibition by the renowned American documentary photographer Susan Meiselas from 27 May until 3 July.

Susan Meiselas is a New York based Magnum Photographer best known for her work covering the political upheavals in Central America in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the Wapping Project Bankside show is a carefully edited selection from Meiselas’s highly acclaimed 2001 book ‘Pandora’s Box,’ in which the photographer documented the highly formalized rules and rituals of Pandora’s Box, a 4000-square-foot, high-class Manhattan sex club run by a dominatrix called Mistress Raven. (more…)

Romantic short films about the sacrifices and struggles we all endure for love. Includes a spectacular new short by Spike Jonze.

HOPELESSLY DEVOTED

How far would you go for love? Would you drive five hours on a bus full of strangers if a court made your relationship legal? Would you leave the comfort of your little fishbowl and cling to a moving truck with all your tentacles? Would you disassemble your own mainframe? The people, robots, and myriad creatures in this program are questing for love. They are willing to make bizarre sacrifices, overcome obscure obstacles, and literally open their guts and hearts to the most seductive of emotions. (more…)

Ballerine is a creative combination of a single bathtub and a free standing shower cabin by Designer Gustaw Lange . The integrated shower head functions as a bath faucet and a shower disc. It’s installed on a flexible arm which easily adjusts to any height and allows you to set the intensity of the water stream and direction. The flexible arm is constructed of an adjustable nylon-silicon surface. Once activated, the frame stiffens like a backbone. We’re still trying to figure out how to keep the water from getting all over the floor… but sexy none the less.

View more images after the jump (more…)

LOUIS, a silent film directed by Dan Pritzker and starring Jackie Earle Haley, Shanti Lowry and Anthony Coleman, will premiere in US cities in late August with live musical accompaniment by Wynton Marsalis, renowned pianist Cecile Licad and a 10-piece all-star jazz ensemble, including Sherman Irby, Victor Goines, Marcus Printup, Ted Nash, Kurt Bacher, Vincent Gardner, Wycliffe Gordon, Dan Nimmer, Carlos Henriquez, Ali Jackson, and conductor Andy Farber. Marsalis will play a score comprised primarily of his own compositions. Licad will play the music of 19th century American composer L.M. Gottschalk. The group will perform live with the film in a series of special performances in New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, Detroit, and Philadelphia August 25 – 31.Partial proceeds from the five concerts will benefit Providence Saint Mel School in Chicago, IL in honor of Paul J. Adams III. (more…)

Love them or love to hate them, either way you love Nike.

Addressing investors earlier this month, Nike VP-Brand and Category Management Trevor Edwards declared that the marketer’s TV creative for June’s World Cup was “among the best we’ve ever done,” for their new campaign that indirectly promotes the upcoming World Cup.

Nike began making the Wieden & Kennedy, Amsterdam spot available today. The three-minute epic, dubbed “Write the Future,” was directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu (“21 Grams,” “Babel”) and stars soccer luminaries such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Landon Donovan and Ronaldinho, and also features cameos from the likes of Kobe Bryant, Roger Federer and Homer Simpson. The spot chronicles how individual moments in World Cup play can ripple globally.

Via AdAge