Graffiti Research Lab

Pioneers of the electronic side of graffiti, these guys from Eyebeam are really pushing the boundaries of what can be done on the streets in our age of technology.



This was what their website had to say on their concept.

"The Graffiti Research Lab is dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source tools for urban communication. The goal of the G.R.L. is to technologically empower individuals to creatively alter and reclaim their surroundings from commercial and corporate culture. G.R.L. agents are currently working in the lab and in the field to develop and test a range of experimental technologies for the state-of-the-art graffiti writer."





Check out the ingenious design for carrying the equipment:

Ron English dissects a superhero

Artist Ron English has dissected Captain America for his upcoming show at the Opera Gallery this November. He has definitely put alot of work into this piece and if you scroll down to read the Supertouch article on him, you'll see why! What an amazing concept!



"Catching up with Supertouch’s own RON ENGLISH in his Jersey studio, we got a first-hand look at the master’s new huge-scale painting, “Dissect” featuring a very stripped-down Captain America before a background of some of his most patriotic comic strips.



The phenomenal thing about this piece is that the background comic panels are entirely hand-painted and not a collage. Every single panel has been replicated with exacting detail by Ron, right down to the hand-lettered dialogue. While mere mortals would take months to complete such a task, our boy wrapped this monster manga project up inside of a few weeks. See it in person at his forthcoming show at Manhattan’s Opera Gallery in November. (Rumor has it a limited edition print of this painting might appear at this year’s SD ComiCon)…



Many thanks to Supertouch for the images and article.

For those of you who don't know, Captain America, the comic superhero was tragically killed (again) in 2007. Read the Wikipedia article to find out more.

RPG Fishing

When you can't be bothered to fish the proper way, try this Afghan soldier-style out for size.



Thanks to the Look Rare! team.

10/10 Exhibition TV Commercial

The guys at IDn have created this great TV ad for the 10/10 show this July 1st....If you are in HKG around this time, please go see the show, it will be worth it!

Shadow Sculptures

Incredibly detailed shadow sculptures created by Tim Noble & Sue Webster.





Thanks to Ektopia for the heads up.

MiQ Willmott Customs

Beautiful Customs by MiQ Willmott. Details galore!







tweeqim.com

The Galloping Shrimp

The title says it all.....


Thanks to Dilly at Look Rare! blog.

Blu the street artist extraordinaire

One of the best Street Artists out there at the moment.......The large scale murals are just incredible. Actually the same goes for the whole Blu website which has loads of short animations as well.

The Real Total Recall

Elizabeth Brainerd from Brown University have just developed CTX Imaging, a technique that combines computed-tomography, x-ray video and computing post-processing to let you see bones in rapid motion. Eat your heart out Arnie, the future is now here.

First, they do a complete tomography scan on the subject, which gets stored in the computer to get combined with "high-speed fluoroscopy" footage of the animal in motion. That generates a highly detailed 3D computer animated model that can be seen from any angle. So detailed that it can capture 1,000 frames per second with a precision of a tenth of a millimeter.

Watch a pig eating VIDEO at Gizmodo...... It's well worth it!

Image credits: D.B. Baier for the Alligator

Wireless POWER

Although the idea has been around since the 19th century courtousey of Nikola Tesla, recent efforts in wireless energy transmission have yielded some exciting results. Science researchers in the States have successfully transmitted electrical power to a 60W bulb, without it being plugged into a power source. The phenomena of resonance and the use of low frequency electromagnectic wave transmission has potential to charge our laptops without them being plugged in.

Maybe electric bicycles powered by street side 'Power Transmitters' is the way forward. Standby for papers on the physiological effect of intense low frequecy electromagnectic radiation exposure...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6129460.stm

Light "Acid" Saber!

Great performance by Chris Cunningham @electraglide 2005 in Japan

Ray Charles ~VS~ Thriftshop XL

My favorite mush-up artist Thriftshop XL mixed a Ray Charls song with DnB.
Interview with Thriftshop XL

Milk Scanner

The Milkscanner is a tool that allows the scanning of objects and creates a Displacement map for use with Moviesandbox or any other 3D App that would allow for displacement mapping.
It uses Lego pieces, milk, webcam and a tupperware bowl.....how cool is that?!





Report in Instructables.

Rotating Wall

The city of Liverpool is playing host to a rather kooky artwork for the next 18 months. Called Turning The Place Over by Richard Wilson, it consists of a rotating wall that turns 360º. Cut in the wall of an old Yates's Wine Lodge, the installation sits opposite one of the city's train stations and is costing almost 450,000 quid!



Thanks to Gizmodo for the report.

Wall-mountable Wireless Printer

This design concept is thin enough to hang on the wall like a picture frame, or you can prop it up on a tabletop. When you've printed your page, it displays it for you right there as if it were a work of art. Push the printed paper out the slot on the side, and you're good to go.


Thanks to Ektopia for the link.

Hamster-Powered Paper Shredder MkII

Tom Ballhatchet, of Hamster Paper Shredder fame, has gone on to develop a better model. The cage's top and bottom are now matching in lipstick red, and there are slots for depositing food and water next to the paper slot. Gearing is internal, which makes us wonder about Hammy's safety, but if you look carefully and think about it, the lil guy won't get chewed up in the gears if he's running in the wheel.





Thanks to Brian Lam at Gizmodo for the update.

Karma Moon

"Karma Moon" is the first short to come out of the ESPV motion-graphics department: A five minute vector-animation, written, produced, directed, illustrated and animated by Dkoda .
The project also features the first original score for an animation by resident producer Tai-



''


A great animation made better by the fact that it's done by a member of ESPV!

London 2012 Logo

This video is titled "London 2012 Logo VS. Saved By the Bell"



Self explanatory really.......

Hot Wheels

Fatlace has teamed up with Jovontae to create some beautiful wheelsets for all y'all who are into your bicycles. Here at ESP, we absolutely love our BMXes and Fixed Drives (no gears or brakes).......






Thanks to Hypebeast for the report

NVC Crew

Dr Bao and his brilliant NVC Crew have created some seriously detailed customs with an emphasis on the toy's surroundings/backgrounds. Amazing stuff.





See more of NVC Crew

Plant Speakers

This is a bit of a dated post but I still absolutely love the idea of listening to sound through a plant!!! Details below;



"Ka-ons" use flowers instead of cone-shaped paper boards as oscillation boards of speakers. The device is arranged in the following manner: the magnet and coil of the oscilatting part are contained in an acrylic tube, which in turn vibrates when the oscillation section does. Flowers touching this tube will also vibrate. Since sound is emitted from the petals and leaves, the setup functions as a directionless speaker.

Lets Corporation has explained this technology by saying "we have added the fifth and final sense, 'sound,' to the four senses already expressed by flowers - 'color (sight),' 'scent (smell),' 'honey (taste),' and 'feeling (touch).' By using all five of these, we have raised the the healing effects." The company has said it plans sale of 36,000 sets in a year.




Source: Tech Japan

ambition/achievement/amazement

It is true. Visions can be materialised.

With ambitions financed to infinitum; an unrelenting quest to achieve all that is desired is possible - even against seemingly loopy project timescales. Low and behold, Residence Antillia rises from the ground.

What is integrated design engineering?

How do you make 130m tall buildings stay safe in an earthquake? By putting a pendulum in the middle of it?

Ask me a question.

Antilia, next-generation buildings

I originally had the inside scoop about this project from Tai, as he has been co-working on this building for the last 4 years. Now the final architect renditions have been released to the public. The richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani is building a 60-story home called Antilia for himself and the 600 people who serve him. It will include 6 floors of parking space for his cars, 3 helipads, elevated gardens, and a health club. What the f*#@k?

Source: Mumbai Mirror

Creepy Robotic Baby

The robot is designed with an AI that allows it to act much like a 1-2 year-old baby. It has natural reactions to stimuli, recognizes objects, sounds and has an advanced tactile system.

For the quick and natural movements, traditional servos have been replaced with 56 pneumatic ‘muscles’. The sheer count allows for natural motion, while the system gives them speed. The not-so-cool part is the need for air tubes, so the robot isn’t completely autonomous.

It has microphones for eyes and two cameras for eyes. The eyes also move rapidly and track what’s happening around. Additionally, it has 197 tactile sensors that allow it to react to touch.

Its creators are interested in commiting a lot of their time in order to teach it how to walk or talk, and also to raise its intelligence to the level of a 3-year old.

Here’s a video of the 33 kg-heavy and 130 cm-tall robot in action. What do you think about it? Cute or creepy?



Source: Cool Gadgets

Craola One

Incredible Illustrations and a website full of amazing images.......Hats off to the wonderful and eerie world of Craola One (AKA Greg Simkins)

Nike X Transformers

Licensed memorabilia to help kick off one of the most highly anticipated movies for this summer. Good enough to satisfy both Transformer or Sneaker collectors!





Images sourced from Hypebeast