Monthly Archives: October 2010

Umbrella Receptacle

Posted on October 24, 2010 by AXM

Spotted in London, known, of course, for its rain. How does LA tackle the same problem?

Don’t call it addiction

Posted on October 24, 2010 by AXM

One of the quirks of rapidly-evolving new media is that (1) we can remember a time when we didn’t need them and (2) we probably have a good number of friends who don’t need them (yet). I grew up without cell phones, Twitter, email and the like, but now I use them constantly. It’s easy [...]

Clipboard

Posted on October 18, 2010 by AXM

A clipboard attached to a shopping cart. A good idea, but a quick scan around the store revealed no one using it for its intended purpose. A clipboard presupposes a certain size of paper, which presupposes paper in the first place. In a networked world, could this clipboard sync up with a USB drive, a [...]

Clocks

Posted on October 18, 2010 by AXM

A series of clocks: Tokyo, Sydney, London, Paris, NYC. Tokyo and Sydney are in fact on the same time zone, but culturally they’re a world away. Consider this: Vancouver and Los Angeles are also on the same time zone, but how often are their clocks listed separately? Even less so Los Angeles and San Francisco. [...]

Subtlety

Posted on October 18, 2010 by AXM

Spotted at Heathrow’s Duty Free. No, it’s not an art project.

Obsolete/Iconic

Posted on October 18, 2010 by AXM

Thinking about the relationship between obsolescence and iconography. When something functionally no longer has a purpose, how much more likely is it to be remembered? Family shields, white horses, afternoon tea: all these remnants of Britishness I didn’t see in London, but which continue to hold some kind of relevance for outsiders.

Red Tape

Posted on October 17, 2010 by AXM

Speciality red tape over the red stage to mask the wiring system at the Tate Modern’s Starr Auditorium. Below: the calm before the storm. T-34 minutes to showtime before Ai Weiwei’s public talk.