ULTRA

La Trobe University Museum of Art (melbourne) - latest installation to promote sustainable food sourcing. 

A world where animals SMS, boxes live long lives, and trash talks.

Ping, "Just swung by the art centre. Water feels good. The dissolved oxygen must be pretty high today". Jose the Beaver is having a good day.

Jose and the other animals of the Bronx and East rivers have learnt how to SMS - kind of. The crew at the Environmental Health Clinic of New York University have set up a system of buoys that detect movements of the animals in the rivers, that when detected send out animal-perspective SMS to the public, and create a live light show up on the surface of the waters.

As part of the Sentient City Exhibition the 'Amphibious Architecture' installation gives voice to the animals, rivers and a part of cities that are often forgotten under the murky surfaces.

Those in New York can text "EastRiver" or "BronxRiver" to 41411 to get the latest from Jose the Beaver and his herring friends.

More voice giving with 'A Box Life' where boxes get QR Codes and tracking numbers, that when scanned/entered onto the site tell you where the box has been and ask for your part of the story. A similar romance to Book Crossing, where books are left about the world to be scooped up to live prolonged lives with fellow Crossers, linked up via the BC Site.

Objects and animals get a voice to make you think twice about their value. Simple, but effective enough to make me figure out a way to receive Beaver news internationally and excite my cafe visits as I hunt out books.

And I'd love to go into MIT's wonderful world of Trash Tracking but this post is getting long, next up!

I Humped Your Hummer.

Self-explanatory, there's Humpin' Down Under, Even Ugly Hummers Need Lovin', Caught Jeff's Fancy...you get it. Get in on the action and submit your own hump.

Often entirely unnecessary, highly guzzling and certainly ego fluffing, with IHYH the Hummer get's it's own moment of vulnerability.

Awareness turned, Amusing.

Vaughn Bell investigates the world around him and draws it out for us in delightful, inclusive ways.

No paint involved, the LED Spraycan is just that. Colour and brightness adjustable, if you're low on battery, shake the can to charge up again.

50% recycled prerecorded audiocassette tape and 50% cotton, Sonic Fabric has been woven into ties, flags, dresses - and all designs are 'playable'. Run a tape head over the material and you'll hear the original playback.

Selected by Zaha Hadid at the Noise festival last year, this "Clutch Chair" represents our disposable culture. Made from 10,000 drinking straws.

Each car is positioned to mimic the actual position of the stones at Stonehenge.

Kyle Bean comments on our consumer relationship "with technology and obsolescence".

Tokyo Wonder Site present an exhibition and series of talks on recycled materials and their place in art.