Takeover The Wall @706 - Inaugural First Friday Event

The Inaugural First Friday @706! 

What's @706? Come take a look. 

Join CityFabric, CompostNow, and Redress Raleigh as we open the doors to our new space with the first "Takeover The Wall @706" by the NCSU Student Exhibit - "Form + Fiction." 

The exhibit features work by The Student Publication, part of the NCSU College of Design. "Form + Fiction" explores the role of design & designers in shaping, framing, and reflecting reality. 

BRING YOUR APPETITE. American Meltdown will be here serving up some delicious bites! We'll also have a selection of donation-based beverages. 

Can't wait to see you there.

Boylan Heights ArtWalk, Sunday December 2

Redress Raleigh along with Walk[YourCity] and CompostNow will be part of this weekend's Boylan Heights ArtWalk. Consider this a 'soft launch' of our new work space / headquarters. You'll be able to tour our facility, ask us questions and learn more about or mission! 

Also, Artwalk is a great way to start the holiday season and  is always a popular event. Over a hundred artists and craftspeople will sell a wide range of glasswork, metalwork, woodwork, textiles and clothing, ceramics, drawings, photography, and painting from the neighborhood’s porches, yards, and sidewalks. Spend the day and check out what our local art scene has to offer. Admission is free. Food will be available throughout the day, including burritos (vegetarian and meat), pulled pork, wraps, and more.

For more information, visit: http://artwalk.boylanheights.org/Boylan_Heights_ArtWalk_2012.html

Bright LED Competition

Rafael Morgan: Light Drop

While we're on the topic of highly efficient LED lights, this also caught my eye on the LimitedHype blog. Third place at the Bright LED competition by designer Rafael Morgan out of Brazil, the display means to challenge us to think about the way in which we use energy. In his own words:

"The Light Drop is supposed to make people think about how we are dealing with our natural resources, in this particular case, the water, which is the main source of energy for every living organism in this fantastic world. Water is energy indeed. This wall-mounted lighting element illuminates the custom-molded polycarbonate bulb with an embedded, dimmable LED in the faucet. The intensity of the light is intuitively controlled by the tap (the more you twist, the more light you get) which also is a good way to contextualize energy use (though at a greatly reduced rate, compared to an incandescent version of the same design)."

It's no secret that I love all things that emit or reflect light, so I decided to go investigate the other winners of this show. This is my other favorite, also won first place:

mark francis + william chen + shireem hamdan

- Helen

Vintage Needlework Meets Trophy Art

via Inhabitat:

"Saddened by the sight of abandoned needlework, a family of designers at Frederique Morrel have made upcycling tapestry their main passion. From old piles of handmade drapes, to forgotten pillows, to intricately woven knick-knaks leftover from the neigbor’s rummage sale, these designers are rescuing embroidery from oblivion by transforming passed over pieces into new beautifully crafted foot-stools, couches, and stunning woodland creatures."

More photos at original Inhabitat post.

FAME in Taranto, Italy

I came across this post on famefestival.it awhile back, and was not only struck by the piece (by artist Blu), but also it's in-your-face answer to a pretty unfair situation.

from famefestival:

"if you’re new to FAME festival, you probably dont know that Grottaglie is 10 minutes far from Taranto. if you’ve been in Taranto, you probably remember that the city has a massive ugly factory called ILVA (one of the biggest steel factory in europe).

this factory is destroying the territory and killing a lot of workers ’cause of its big lack of security measures and high environmental pollution. the direct consequence is that Taranto has one of the highest rate of death by cancer in Italy.

As a plus, the smartest politicians from Grottaglie’s town council allowed, back in ‘96, the construction of a very filthy special wastes dump right outside the city. they did not inform the people, they did not ask anybody’s opinion, they just did it. i wish i could wonder WHY they did it.

this said,
i usually like to think that every piece of art can have different meaning, depending on who is looking at it and from wich perspective he is looking from. this time, i prefer to think that we’re all looking at a mere mirror of the actual situation we’re living in."

all via FAME festival (which is awesome. go check it out.)