Ebay is generally credited with being the first company to bring auctions — a system that, for nearly 2,500 years, had exclusively taken place live in noisy, public (and offline) forums — into the Digital Era. But, today, in spite of the fact that eCommerce has become a thriving global industry, with online marketplaces collectively topping $1 trillion in sales last year, one market in… → Read More
Although 3D printing technology has existed for some time, it’s only now beginning to cross over into mainstream awareness, thanks to increasingly affordable access to the printers themselves as well as attention-grabbing headlines about 3D printed guns and life-saving medical applications. While less eye-catching, perhaps, the innovation is also powering a new class of creatives, who are using 3D… → Read More
Artkive, an app designed to eliminate the overwhelming guilt you get tossing your children’s brilliant artwork into the garbage, now has another purpose, too: you can order printed out books of their creations. Instead of just hiding the child’s crumpled up drawings and precious finger-paint covered handprints that school sends home – what is now, like every day? – under… → Read More
Amid grumblings of a “general fatigue” when it comes to software-based startups, a potentially transformative technology called 3D printing is poised to reach critical mass and mainstream awareness. Today’s news headlines about the technology tend to focus on the extreme possibilities in being able to print objects on demand – from the terrors of things like a homemade 3D-printed gun to… → Read More
When you play Angry Birds, at this point it’s likely a completely unconscious, natural gesture; draw back, aim and release. But what if each time you did that, you produced an indelible mark, so that after countless hours spent playing Rovio’s addictive physics flinging mobile game, you had a visual record? That’s exactly what artist Evan Roth did for his latest installation piece. → Read More
At TechCrunch Disrupt NYC in May 2010, a young startup named Art.sy took home the “Rookie Disruptor Award” for its art-focused search engine, which allowed users to find art by style, category, size, color, and more. Art.sy also tapped into users’ social graphs to offer personalized recommendations to make art discovery a little less overwhelming.
The idea caught the attention of investors, and… → Read More
Love Etsy, but looking for something even more unique? Makeably, a new marketplace for custom-made goods, can help. The site, founded by two ex-Googlers and longtime friends, Ryan Hayward and Anastasia Leng, has just launched into beta, offering makers a new way to manage their custom work requests online – a process which, today, is largely handled via email.
On the site, buyers can search… → Read More
Back in the day BigArtMob was originally a cultural project backed by UK broadcaster Channel 4, but now it’s being re-animated as a full-blown startup. It’s starting from an interesting – shall we say – position. It allows people to upload and tag ‘public art’ to a map, which, in simple terms, can be everything from street graffiti to an outdoor sculpture by an established artist. They make no… → Read More
In 1987, six years after AIDS became an officially recognized disease, the heartbreak of the epidemic was made real in the form of a huge, 1,920 panel quilt created to commemorate the first victims of the disease. Each panel – about the size of a coffin – honored one of the fallen ones who, in the deeply dark years before prevention and effective treatment, risked a death sentence just for being… → Read More
Works of art are timeless and now, thanks to Makerbot and the Met, they can be deathless, too. A June 1 hackathon brought a group of artists and hackers together at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art where they 3D scanned a number of well-known pieces of art. The work is now appearing on Thingiverse where you can download and print things like the head and shoulders of a sphinx and Bather by… → Read More
Paddle8, Artsy, Zazzle, and Art.com are all part of a growing contingent of startups that are on a mission to democratize the purchase, discovery, and enjoyment of art by bringing it online.
In August 2010, Boston-based TurningArt joined this cadre of art industry disruptors, launching its own unique spin on the democratization of art commerce with a Netflix-esque model that allows any and all… → Read More
Minted, the company that is best known for its online marketplace for stationery with prints by individual graphic designers, has launched a new vertical: Art prints.
The art business on Minted is curated in the same way as stationery. Minted holds design competitions to which any graphic designer or artist can submit work, and the submissions are voted on by their peers — the community of… → Read More
While I find that I like my ferrite-based Kickstarter art projects to be a bit more automatic, the Ferrite Interactive Liquid Sculpture is still pretty cool. It’s a tube containing a Ferrofluid – a suspension of ferrite particles – that is shock-resistant enough to survive a few tumbles. You can use a magnet to create odd shapes, experience the magic fo magnetics, and you can put it on your desk… → Read More
Gadget-related art is a bit hard to find, but every once in a while something crosses my desk (like the Facade printer, man-powered clock, or high-voltage imagery) that’s just too cool to pass up. These “Luminant Point Arrays” by Stephan Tillmans are photos of the pattern created when you switch off certain old CRT monitors. You know you’ve seen it. You’ve probably… → Read More
It looks like a tiny bugle. Maybe a new way to measure shots for a drink? Maybe a Cracker Jack toy? A fancy oil funnel? A tiny phonograph horn designed by Eero Saarinen? A mod megaphone? An egg separator? A microscope? A straw for Tony Montana-style mountains of blow? A wicked monocle? → Read More
Not quite sure where to go when the zombies attack? Dutch designer Joep van Lieshout has just the thing for you: the Vostok Cabin. Built out of welded together plates from dead ships, what the Vostok Cabin lacks in comfort, it makes up for it security. → Read More
Holy crap, what is this thing? I realize this is one of Fortis’ edgy “Art Edition” watches, but wow. This is unexpected for even the art version of the serious tool watch brand’s products. Limited to just 100 pieces and in a 42mm wide titanium case, this watch isn’t just an (questionably bastardized) artist’s rendering of a Fortis chronograph watch, but also tries to tell you how to enjoy and… → Read More
When you say “foldable bicycle”, the first thing that comes to mind are those ugly little things with small tires, intended for the vacationer set. Turns out that there are other designs as well, bicycles that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to ride in public, but will still fold up small enough to fit into a briefcase. → Read More
At long last, a way to write off that paintball gun you’ve always wanted as “art supplies.” → Read More
I’m hesitant to write this because, really, who cares? And I don’t mean that in a negative, cynical way at all, but rather in a practical way. Clearly there are people who enjoy playing video games, just as there are people who enjoy creating video games. Why should these people concern themselves with whether or not Roger Ebert, a 67-year-old man who wouldn’t know the difference between World of… → Read More
Forgot to mention this last night, so apologies in advance. Y’all know Gelaskins, right? The neat-looking, device-sized decals that you stick to your laptop, phone, or whatnot? They’re available for the iPad now. Rejoice! → Read More
Living in Nevada, I get to see all kinds of art projects on the road as Burning Man approaches. I will admit however, that none of them look quite as cool as these, a combination of the “rat-rod” and an art bicycle. → Read More
This seems a bit odd, but here’s another take on alternative power; Dutch designer Joris Laarman came up with a concept for a desktop lamp that glows from bio-luminescent hamster ovaries. Seriously, I’m not making this stuff up. → Read More
Here’s an interesting item, from artist Sascha Pohflepp. It’s called Blinks and Buttons, and it’s a “blind camera.” Possessing no lens and no viewfinder, the “camera” still takes a picture when you press the big red shutter button. → Read More
Artist Logan Zawacki (what a fun name!) put together some pretty impressive game-themed skateboard decks for the I’M BOARD skateboard art show held earlier this week in Florida. → Read More
It may be an art installation, but this “digital” clock, operated for 24 hours straight by a group of staunch Dutchmen might fare better as a desktop widget. I suppose it’s meant to say something about the nature of time, and perhaps it does, but this is a gadget blog, not the MOMA coffee shop. Go, you. Talk about it there. → Read More
Well, I think we finally know what Asus does when they get a dead motherboard. They take it apart, and turn it into a picture! Behold the loveliness that is the Motherboard Mona Lisa, a model of PCI and AGP slot beauty and mystery. → Read More
It’s not exactly gadget-related, but it does involve high voltage so I figured that’s a go. Some great (and terrifying) pictures are making their way around the web right now that are the result of artist Hiroshi Sugimoto passing a huge amount of voltage through a bit of film. A very cool application of technology to art. I thought I’d pass it on, with the significant addition of… → Read More
How many times do you think you’ve used a pencil eraser and then brushed off the little rubber bits with your pinky? A million times? — a billion? Well, no more! This invention, while coming about fifty or sixty years too late, will certainly be useful for those of you still using pencils. What’s that? I’m getting reports that no one uses pencils any more, anywhere. That can’t be right. → Read More
Artist Jorge Colombo drew this entire New Yorker cover using Brushes for the iPhone, a $4.99 drawing app.
He recorded the entire process using Brushes Viewer, offering us a glimpse into the future of touch-screen art reproduced on the cover of a print magazine. → Read More
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