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October 30, 2007

Southern California Wildfires

You probably already know about the wildfires in southern California that have tragically been burning for nearly a month now, claiming nearly 500,000 acres (200,300 hectares), 1500 homes, 7 lives and 85 injuries so far. But you probably didn't know that Google has a new feature which pinpoints each fire on a map and tells you if its burning or contained.

Check it out here.

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October 26, 2007

Continent of Plastic

A heap of debris is floating in the Pacific that's twice the size of Texas, according to marine biologists. The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an enormous stew of trash - which consists of 80 percent plastics and weighs some 3.5 million tons. It floats where few people ever travel, in a no-man's land between San Francisco and Hawaii.

Click here to read more

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October 25, 2007

Elizabeth Hingley has entered the building

Our new photographer, Elizabeth Hingley from Birmingham, is here to represent the European force and to make our female minority stronger. Say hello to her followed by your name.

How did you come to learn about fabrica?
I got a random email from someone at Colors magazine saying that they wanted me to send them my work. I thought it was a joke and sent a rather unfriendly email back. Then the big Enrico called me and explained Fabrica and invited me to visit.

What were you doing before coming here? 

I had just graduated from Brighton University doing photography and was plodding round London and organising a few exhibitions

What are you looking forward to the most?
Being with new people from so many different corners of the world, Venice round the corner and traveling.

What will you miss from the England? 

Tea!! And the ability to be able to communicate with everyone and not being laughed at when I go to the market to try and buy tomatoes.

Any shout outs / last words? 

hmmmm

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Is it art?

The Turner Prize is a contemporary art award that always provokes debate for its singular and innovative representation and meaning of art.

It is recognised as one of the most important and prestigious awards for the visual arts in Europe.
The exhibition will be held at Tate Liverpool until January 2008 and tickets are free.

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Build Your Own Mosque by Annechien

Ex-fabricante Annechien van Litsenburg, now based in Amsterdam, recently realized these building blocks for promoting religious education and tolerance. They are also now a finalist in the EL HEMA Design Competition. Winner gets 4 weeks of learning Arabic in Damascus.

Competition info (in English).

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October 23, 2007

Les Yeux Ouverts in Shanghai

The Centre Pompidou’s Fabrica: les yeux ouverts exhibition goes to China following an invitation by the Shanghai Cultural Development Foundation.

The exhibition will be open until November 11 at the Shanghai Art Museum as part of the Shanghai eArts Festival.
To find more information, click here.

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Cardboard Sculptures

Chris Gilmour is a British artist living in Udine and is represented by the Perugi Artecontemporanea Gallery in Padova. He creates life-size sculptures of carefully chosen familiar objects such as a typewriter, a bicycle, a car, or a coffee machine–each representing a certain story while simultaneously applying a second skin to an object we may associate something different with. All pieces are strictly made from cardboard and glue. No wire frames!

Visit his work here: http://www.chrisgilmour.com
Via my pal Jonathan.

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October 19, 2007

Stairs

The creative office of Saatchi & Saatchi, Copenhagen conceived this for the Danish Parkinsons Disease Association, cleverly mixing the form and function of our daily sorroundings with an intelligent idea.
(I wish this had been thought for Ando's stairs in Fabrica!)

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When You Never Were

When You Never Were is the most recent collaboration of Tristan Honsinger and ex fabricantes Diego Cofone and Gregor Kuschmirz.

The short film, written and shot within 5 days in Tuscany, deals in a sportive way with topics such as 'the freewill', 'free market economy' and 'the power of dreams,' showing a light attitude towards grave philosophy.
Bittersweet humor, clever phrases, sarcastic realism and a -beautifully done- dramatic musical performance make this film one of a kind.

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ReBlogged by karol de rueda on Oct 19, 2007 at 12:21 PM | Comments (4)

Jackson Pollock goes digital

Waste your time painting masterpieces on the net with this site, www.jacksonpollock.org. Click to change color, and create brush strokes based on your movements (that's my creation above). Cool.

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October 18, 2007

Wipe Yourself With South America

Saatchi & Saatchi of Copenhagen created this effective paper dispenser which visually and clearly conveys that the use of paper contributes to the destruction of natural forests in South America. I'd personally hate to be the one taking the last piece.

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ReBlogged by Michael Ciancio on Oct 18, 2007 at 01:34 PM | Comments (2)

October 17, 2007

History of Religion

How has the geography of religion evolved over the centuries, and where has it sparked wars? This map gives us a brief history of the world's most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Selected periods of inter-religious bloodshed are also highlighted. See 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds.

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Immigration Museum in Paris

La Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration, a project of the former president Jacques Chirac, opened last week on the east end of Paris. A project that naturally sounds like a celebration of an important part of national history, however, appeared to seem makeshift and temporary by reviewers. With the opening of the museum in a country of nearly 4 million immigrants, there were no plans for a formal ribbon cutting, nor had the opening been attended by French president Nicolas Sarkozy (who is in the process of implementing DNA tests for immigrants wishing to join their relatives in France, and, is also the son of an immigrant father).

Cité nationale de l’histoire de l’immigration
Palais de la Porte Dorée
293 Avenue Daumesnil
75012 Paris

New York Times Article on museum
BBC Article on DNA Tests

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October 16, 2007

Paper Memories

Every image has a story. It was carefully selected by someone. Then, the most romantic and inspiring love story was politely written. Someone mailed it to someone and this someone smiled, sighed and dreamed.

The colors, the décor, the play; vintage postcards are sweet memories of real love. Find a nice selection here.

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October 15, 2007

Sony Bravia Round 3

Young & Rubicam Asia, based out of Singapore, added to the growing collection of color exploration television adverts for Sony Bravia televisions. The latest installment (now rivaling the colored bouncy balls in San Francisco
as my favorite... the 'paint explosions' was garbage), features spools of thread spilling down the Egyptian pyramids.

check out the pyramid ad here!

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ReBlogged by Michael Ciancio on Oct 15, 2007 at 04:29 PM | Comments (1)

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer in Venezia

This year, Mexico presents its first official national representation at the 52nd International Art Exhibition, Biennale di Venezia, with a pavilion hosting a solo show by artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer titled "Some Things Happen More Often Than All of The Time."

Chairs responding to the presence of public, people turning into radio frequencies, a sensor recording the pulse of the visitors converting it into light flashes, a human eye following your movements. The stunning and extraordinary work of this young genius is, proudly, one to the best representations of the event. Find more info here.

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ReBlogged by karol de rueda on Oct 15, 2007 at 12:03 PM | Comments (1)

Student Housing

If you are looking for student housing in Amsterdam nothing can be more interesting than this. These Blue, Red and White apartments are a part of a complex of 380 Shipping Containers turned into living cabins. Each box has its own services like a kitchen, bathroom, toilet, tv-connection and internet...about 350 euro to rent, all inclusive.

Click here to find more

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October 12, 2007

In Rainbows

Radiohead, the greatest of the greatest band ever, have finally some new sounds out there.

Their seventh studio album has been released through their website as a digital download for which, believe it or not, you can set up its own price! Brilliant as always.
Got it and love it!!!!

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PMS survival tips

Prehistoric monster syndrome?

This is a fictional story. Any similarity with reality is mere coincidence...

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October 11, 2007

Neon Bible

Amazing interactive video by the Arcade Fire, a Canadian indie band which music is described as sounding "like standing by the ocean at night".

It is also worth your time exploring their website. Inspiring and beautifully done.

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October 09, 2007

Techno Tuesday

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October 05, 2007

Backing up your music

Afraid of losing all those wonderful mp3’s you love?
Here is a tip that can save a Mac’s user life.
iTunes has actually a feature called "Back Up to Disc." To find it, just go to the File menu. As you can see, there are different options.

You can change the format of the CD you want to burn into data disc instead of audio CD in the iTunes preferences, and fit up to 1000 songs per disc. Great deal!

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ReBlogged by karol de rueda on Oct 5, 2007 at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)

What Did I Do?

Last month, a University of Florida student was arrested during a forum with John Kerry while asking if he and Bush were members of the secret society Skull and Bones at Yale University.

While struggling with about -six- police officers when they tried to remove him from the session, he was Tasered and sent to jail. Police recommended charges of resisting arrest with violence, a felony, disturbing the peace and interfering with school administrative functions.

He asked for help, but most of the audience sat quietly while watching the absurd and abusive dispute.

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Jen Stark is doing well

With shows in big cities in the US like Chicago, New York and Baltimore, it's safe to say that Jen Stark is doing well. Jen is a Miami-based artist creating sculptures entirely by cut paper and more impressively, does it all by hand. She has also recently been published in Rojo Magazine, MAP (Music Art People), Ready Made, Preen, and has had drawings featured in New American Paintings. Her drawings feature the same attention to detail, compositional balance and excellent use of color. Plus, she's a fellow MICA graduate.

www.jenstark.com

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October 04, 2007

Mapping sex in America

The Museum of Sex in NYC has recently launched this online collective where people can write and upload stories about their sexual experiences, which will then be mapped on city or state plans and organized by type. The online environment encourages conversation and contemplation without boundaries or prejudices.

View the site here.

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October 02, 2007

It's a Wild Life!

This video firmed up my long held opinion that animals are infact very very intelligent.
We could all use a little lesson about team spirit. Enjoy!

p.s. It gets better towards the end... it's over 8 mins but do watch the whole thing!

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ReBlogged by Priya Khatri on Oct 2, 2007 at 02:49 PM | Comments (1)

Games for the Brain

For all those hooked to Julia's goodbye present to us all, 'Benettonplay', here more...

http://www.gamesforthebrain.com/

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Annechien Van Litsenburg has left the building a month ago

In true Anna style, this blog post comes one month late. Sorry Anna, you know i got nothing but love for ya. Annechien Van Litsenburg left us on September 5th.

What was your life like before Fabrica?
I was living in Amsterdam Oost and working as a product designer surrounded by fashion designers at Viktor&Rolf.

Did it change in the way you expect it to?
No.

What kind of advice do you wish you had before coming here?
Besides the students there are more fabulous people in Fabrica!

What will you miss the most about Treviso?
The people.

Any projects or moments you hold really dearly in your heart?
Mainly the people.

Future plans?
I'm going to Bangladesh with Dutch Design in Development, an organization that provides a design and marketing network worldwide. I'm looking forward to this one month adventure!

Parting words?
I wil miss you all!

CIAO CIAO!

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ReBlogged by Michael Ciancio on Oct 2, 2007 at 01:47 PM | Comments (2)

October 01, 2007

Julia Pleschke has left the building

Fabrica continues to become a man's land as SuperMom leaves us today.

What made you want to come to Fabrica?
The opportunity to go abroad, meet interesting people and have a little space between graduating and finding a real job.

Favorite thing about living in Treviso?
Being close to the beach.

How have you seen this place change since you arrived?
Honestly I would be a liar, if I was not saying that I am a bit worried about Fabrica these days: You can feel something is going on and a lot of tension is in the air. It makes me sad that it is now possible for special people to get their friends into Fabrica without having them to pass a trial. Some of the recently arrived new students seem to be too young for a place like that, and especially coming without passing a trial does not help to appreciate Fabrica nor to develop the right attitude to work the best out of it. On the other side, I am happy that I went through a year full of changes and especially that I got to know the old fabrica with all these skilled people who made my first abroad experience and its many great acquaintances to a fantastic part of my life I would never want to miss.

What are your plans for after?
I will move in with my boyfriend in Vienna, freelancing, improving my baby Benettonplay from home and of course visiting and inviting the guys I love and already miss most: Karol, Nam, Lizy, Paolo, Marian, Christian, Juan and last but not least yourself. *snif*

Parting words?
Fabrica can be your greatest time, don't spoil it by waiting for someone to tell you what to do, find friends, keep in touch with them and end every of the 365 days with a smile.

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