ECRITURE INFINIE: WRITING BY HAND REVIVED

Posted on October 29 2013 by Jacqueline Arruda

What it Is:

A menu chalked onto

a blackboard, displayed outside

a restaurant. A subversive political message scribbled on the side of a building or a name, tattooed onto the

supple surface of someone’s skin. They’re just a few glimpses of contemporary handwriting. Yet, in this

increasingly digitized era, it seems like a craft shooting off to extinction.

In view of this and more, Cameroonian artist Bili Bidjocka§commenced an art project named Ecriture

Infinie§. With eight giant-sized books made of blank, silent pages, these journals travel to different cities around

the world, where people are invited to scribble in and on it. The focus is not so much on the words as it is on the

gesture itself and the flow of it.

Finally, when each book is completed, it is sealed, wrapped and hidden in a secret place, as in a time capsule.

Will the people who will find the books in thousands of years be able to decipher it?

According to the site: “the Ecriture Infinie books tell us a story stretching from the sacred volumes of the ancient

past to the far future of the time capsule. And they rise questions. Researchers in the field of cultural studies,

aesthetics and neurolinguistics, together with cognitive psychologists, professional writers, and visual artists,

will be invited to join the project, leave their mark on the Eighth Book and use it as an occasion to discuss

questions as: how do cognitive and creative processes change when pen and paper is substituted by digital

platforms? How does handwriting impact memory? What are the implications of a shift in importance from the

index finger to the thumb, with mobile devices?

Conferences and talks will accompany the appearances of the books, hosted by several cultural and art

institutions, libraries, as well as literary festivals.”

Hence, initiatives like these are, being a counterpart of today’s mounting digitization, an illustrative example of

the current tendency to make tangible things that not just last in the virtual world, but also have literal, palpable

presence in our ‘linear’, physical world. More so, in tandem with Cool Nostalgia, the manual craft of writing by

hand has a long, and as such appealing history.

ALICE’S WARDROBE: A NICHE SOCIAL NETWORK

Posted on October 28 2013 by Jacqueline ArrudaWhat it Is:

Although the site is still in the making with its launch planned in December, Alice’s Wardrobe§ is a social

network site for those with a particular interest in fashion.

You can share pictures, organize clothes and accessories using a virtual wardrobe in a fun, non-complicated way.

Similarly, you can receive news of your favorite brands, images of the latest collections, as well as tips. But it

also includes a ‘look calendar’, which makes it possible for you to schedule what to wear in each day of the

month and share this with your friends. For trips, the network allows you to plan your outfit when visiting

events, as well as the weather forecast at the destination. And if you have anything lying around in your closet,

you can swap it in your own ‘bazaar’, without any waste.

Social networks are a part of most people’s daily routine. That said, there is an increasing desire to find directed

information that caters to the specific interests of certain groups. These niche social networks can optimize time

and maximize efficiency for those with already fully packed agenda’s, merging the virtual with the analogous

life. Although Alice’s Wardrobe is not yet operational, it is sites like these that help you organize your life or

wardrobe in this case, in such a way that you don’t even need to open your closet.

FASHION CUSTOMIZATION: COLORING YOUR CLOTHES

Posted on October 21 2013 by Jacqueline ArrudaWhat it Is:

Customization in fashion has been booming for quite some time now. The exclusiveness and the Do It Yourself

aspect is appealing to many, as customers can increasingly add personality to their clothing in a wide array of

options.

A recent example that reflects this personalization trend is the children’s collection “Little Miss

Stella”§ by Stella McCartney§, featuring the work of illustrator Adam Hargreaves§. With seven different items,

from t-shirts to pyjama’s and jumpers, the illustrations on the clothes are printed black and white. In so doing, it

allows kids to color their clothes with the accompanying colored pens.

Akin to this concept is the “Color Me”§ backpack by sportswear brand JanSport§. For these rug-sacks there are

3 options of prints to customize with a set of colored markers that come along with your purchase.

Clothes are a very handy and creative way to express your ‘unique’ self. In fact, clothes are super savvy

communication tools that allow the wearer to create an enhanced version of ‘you’. Hence, through the manual

act of drawing on clothes with markers, your clothes become an extension of that (desired) identity and thus, in

tandem with today’s Give Me Narratives Mentality Trend, provide your outfit with an interesting, artisanal

narrative.

DETROIT: FROM RUINS TO ARTPosted on October 16 2013 by Jacqueline ArrudaWhat it Is:

Over the past decades, the city of Detroit has been in serious economic decline, especially after the immense

unemployment caused by the automotive industry crisis. Once being one of America’s most important cities,

forsaken houses, poor or no infrastructure and high crime rates now characterize the city. Close to bankruptcy, it

is also facing intervention of state authorities.

With the city in severe urban decay, two projects are currently drawing attention to the situation of Detroit,

aiming to revert the degradation process of the city.

The first, registering the decline of the city in the book “Detroit in Ruins”§, puts focus on the ruins that inhabit

the city that turn it into a ghost town, conveying both the imperious grandeur of the city’s architecture as well as

its shocking degeneracy.

The second project named “Ice House Detroit”§ was an architectural installation and social change project that

involved freezing a vacant, foreclosed home bound for demolition, then deconstructing it and salvaging viable

building materials for other Detroit projects.

Turning suffering into creative inspiration is one of the virtues of art, as exemplified by these projects. It’s

interesting to see how these ruins were basically ignored if not scoffed by the remaining inhabitants of Detroit.

That is, until these buildings were transfigured into the much acclaimed domain of ‘artworks’. This

transformation regenerated the city and drew widespread attention, which in turn also gave a much needed

-modest- economic boost to the city.

Similarly, the city’s dilapidation can been viewed as a testimonial to an old economic system that is clearing also showing signs of dourAMAZONAS SANDALS: ACT LOCALLY, THINK GLOBALLY

Posted on October 2 2013 by Jacqueline ArrudaWhat it Is:

In an increasingly globalized world, new brands in Brazil can reach new up-and coming markets more easily. A

Cool example is the new brand Amazonas Sandals§ that is catering mainly to emerging middle classes in

Turkey, China, India and South Africa. For some of these consumers, income levels have reached unprecedented

heights. Additionally, they use sustainable raw materials from Brazil’s native rubber trees for their products.

Hence, their sandals consist of 80% recycled material.

Currently, there is a big explosion in products and services coming from and supplying to emerging markets. The

Amazonas Sandals are no exception to this. That said, new brands would be smart to ‘act locally and think

globally’, just as Amazonas Sandals are doing, showing the ‘best of Brazil’: in terms of aesthetics and cultural

identity all wrapped in an engaging narrative, particularly to emerging middle classes worldwide who hold the

same (consumer) interests.

descent.