“A Day of Cool Man Life” was produced by Suki Jarashi, a student at the Japanese Institute of Arts and Sciences. The video demonstrates the utility and benefits of a handheld device that Suki designed – a phone with a physical presence that far surpasses … Read More →
Category Archives: consumerism
The Coming of Gaga-ism
If by now any mention of the hyper-ubiquitous Gaga doesn’t make you gag, then you either haven’t been consuming enough internet, or you’ve gone cuckoo for the Lady’s cocoa puffs. Her latest video, Telephone, has by all accounts completely revolutionised media, culture and media-culture to … Read More →
Notes from the Point of No Return
On a blustery February morning in 2009 I found myself stranded in Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5. My flight was delayed indefinitely due to the UK’s biggest snowstorm in 18 years, leaving me to wander aimlessly against a backdrop of scrolling cancellations and panicky commuters. Outside … Read More →
Hidden Visibles
Cities are at their best when they are unknowable organic superstructures: fathomless depths of dive bars, crooked little cafés and dimly lit side-streets built on waves of wet pavement and light. The true megalopolis provides supreme anonymity to its dwellers. affording them the freedom to … Read More →
Advertising Tries To Sell Itself
Every Sunday in North America, millions of viewers are tuning in to the third season of Mad Men to watch the exploits of Don Draper, the Clark Kent-ian creative genius behind the fictitious ad agency Sterling Cooper. In Don Draper’s world, maintaining a successful career … Read More →
The Belsh Diet
What amazes me about Belgians is that they are on average, quite fit and healthy, but their cuisine is exceptionally unhealthy. Or especially awesome, depending on how you look at it. During the short time I spent in Antwerp, all the food I consumed fell … Read More →
JapanAmericana
“Japan has long been recognized as a global leader in the development of virtual realms. A land of limited physical space and, yes, very active imaginations has applied artifice to often highly sophisticated uses in order to enhance livability. Traditionally, the artful arrangement of a … Read More →
Pop Nihilism: Advertising Eats Itself
Anyone presently employed within this giant glob of microchips, paper, ink and transistor tubes commonly referred to as “the media” knows just how drastic the implications of the recession have become.
Battle of the pseudo-milks
Japan and Iran both have excellent snacking cultures that exist on opposite sides of the global snack spectrum. As the Japanese are naturally inclined towards mass production and hi-tech innovation, their snacks come in a variety of easily consumed formats that range from complex potato … Read More →
Curses!
It must have seemed such a brilliant idea at the time. Round up the superstars, put them in a bit of cinema courtesy of Babel director Alejandro González Iñárritu, and score a viral coup against their age-old rival—and official World Cup sponsor—Adidas. When it first … Read More →