Clement Valla: Postcards from Google Earth. Wonder if Clement and Jenny know each other.

Imprint’s August Heffner reports the exciting news that the Guggenheim has digitized a host of out-of-print catalogues. This is wonderful news: not only are these publications valuable scholarly resources, but together they form an inspirational treasure trove (no surprise, considering so many were designed by Herbert Matter). Look at that Klimt \<>/ Schiele cover!

Since their performance at the Venice Beinnale in 2005, Kraftwerk’s multimedia shows were also seen as a kind of artistic performance.

Within the context of a multi-channel 3D video installation specially developed for the Kunstbau, Kraftwerk will be holding three concerts in the Munich Alten Kongresshalle – which are of course sold out..! To crown it all the after show party is presented by DJ Hell – the German techno icon.

For all those who still do not want to miss the unique exhibition from the godfathers of industrial music, can see the installation from 15 October until 13 November.

The exhibition in the Kunstbau at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus Munich will be accompanied by a book:
Kraftwerk 3D- Kling Klang Produkt 2011

After Show Party ‘Elektro Nacht’ presented by DJ HELL
14 October @ Pacha München

I love watching films from the 80’s and seeing the brick-size of the mobile phones. With his clever paper designs Brighton based designer, Kyle Bean has depicted the increasing miniaturisation of the mobile phone in the style of a Russian Doll set (pictured above).  And on another tangent, it kind of reminds me a little bit too of the early sculpture work of Ricky Swallow like The Architecture of Video Games 1998 (pictured below). Ricky has a great blog too!

But he liked the idea that John’s Phone can’t do anything apart from accepting and making calls. No text messages, no games, no Internet. Which means you can’t do anything wrong either, even down to the oversized buttons being almost impossible to miss. It does have one special feature, though – which is a nice little analogue address book and a pen hidden in the back.

And if all that is not fancy enough for you, then you can always opt for the gold bar version.

Stylelectrical
26 August 2011 until 15 January 2012

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe
Steintorplatz
20099 Hamburg

Japanese artist Sachiko Kodama creates sculptures made from magnetic liquid. By exposing ferrofluid to magnetism these alien looking creatures shape and re-shape. Her work Morpho Tower is currently shown at the Edinburgh Art Festival until September 4th, 2011.

Oh, the speed of the internet. A condition of Ai Weiwei’s recent release from Chinese custody was his silence on Twitter and the blogs, but the Chinese government said nothing about this new Google+ (at least for now). Seemingly in conjunction with a wonderful new show just opened at the Asia Society Museum  in New York, Ai has posted on (presumably) his Google+ account a huge file of the New York photographs from the  1980s and early 90s. Taken while he was a ’starving artist’ living in the Lower East Side and studying at Parsons, they are an indispensable document of a city now long gone. Ai was there for the infamous Tompkins Square riots, which marked the rapid rise of the East Village’s gentrification. One of the most whimsical and fascinating aspects of these photos  is how many ex-pat Chinese artists there were during those years in New York; indeed, some of the best images are Ai’s contemporaries (then and now), like Xu Bing and Tan Dun, sitting on top of taxis and clowning around outside seedy Times Square porn theaters.

Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs 1983-1993
The Asia Society Museum
June 29-August 14, 2011

Photography by Ai Weiwei