boy, those germans have a word for everything

Today we were introduced to the concept of Sollbruchstellen—constructive or mechanical elements—where a consumer item is predetermined to break after a period of time. While it also describes the sectionality of a bar of chocolate made easy to break into pieces, Sollenbruchstelle has come to be associated with planned obsolescence—geplanter Obsoleszenz, which the EU has sought to curtail. Incidentally, the English equivalent for Schadenfreude—taking pleasure in the misfortune of others—is epicaricacy (from the Greek ἐπιχαιρεκακία, joy upon evil) but has fallen out of common-parlance in favour of the former.

earth below us

Colossal directs our attention to the work of videographer Bruce W Berry, Jr. whose meditative montage compiles time-lapse footage of vistas taken from the International Space Station. There are extensive details on telemetry to be found at the source link above but it’s surely an intuitive and immediate experience to be in awe of the passing terrain and the impact that human habitation has had. Making nearly fifteen orbits daily, there’s no end to the views from the ISS for its crew to document and share.

gesamtkunstwerk

In order to decontextualize and decolonise the aesthetic for the movement’s centenary year (previously), a miniature clone of the Bauhaus building in Dessau is going on a world tour. Acknowledging the often overlooked power of design to influence environments and outlooks, this outreach project aims to educate and enlighten as it makes the school mobile.

5x5

barra de atención: documenting the endangered and disappearing no-frills bars of Madrid

vetrai veneziana: exploring the storied village of Murano that once held the European monopoly on glass

treasured gaze: a look at the eighteenth century obsession with eye-portraiture—via Everlasting Blört

brannock device: a deep dive into the measuring instrument found in finer shoe stores—based on the barleycorn

futurelight: a collaboration between an automotive company and an outdoor apparel manufacture produce a featherweight camper

it-tieqa żerqa

We had seen this mock-up of a steel architectural truss abutting a Maltese cliff face circulating around the internet for a week but failed to realise that the idea was proffered to repair a famous natural landmark and tourist attraction along the coast outside of Gozo.
The Azure Window (also known as the Dwerjra Window) was a limestone pillar with a stone archway over the sea that collapsed in March 2017 following a violent storm but had been under threat for some time over erosion and increased visitor traffic. In addition to its appearance in Game of Thrones, the window was also featured in the original Clash of the Titans and the Kevin Reynold version of The Count of Monte Cristo, with its last cameo in the cliff-diving Hugo Boss apparel advertising campaign.

dedodedo

At the recommendation of Miss Cellania, we learn that there is much more to Hampsterdance than we had otherwise appreciated. With memes and virality, we’re all audience and authors both but the quirky little website that seeded internet culture and its norms of communication has a specific attribution. CBC Arts correspondent Leah Collins plums the midst of time and takes us back to 1998, to a world before social media when GeoCities and personal and prestige websites dominated and gives us an anecdotal and oral history of the project and its unexpected legacy.

hiobsbotschaft

Without much notice but definitely a slight, the Trump administration downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union from member state to international organisation. The US State Department having failed to notify the EU of this change, the official reaction is still pending and only came to light inadvertently when the ambassador of the Washington mission did not make the cut for invited guests for the state funeral of George H W Bush. The supranational bloc was elevated back in September of 2016 after lengthy negotiations with the Obama administration.