Oblique Strategies Deck

The Oblique strategies is a deck of cards created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. The original deck, created in 1975 has been followed by many subsequent variations. Each card contains a phrase or cryptic remark which can be used to break a deadlock or dilemma situation. I first read about these decks on Designer Stefan Sagmeister's website- as a creativity tool in the advice section to students. Above is a photo of the 5th edition set.

Eno says in an interview with Charles Amirkhanian about the cards (Berkeley 1980):

The function of the Oblique Strategies was, initially, to serve as a series of prompts which said, "Don't forget that you could adopt *this* attitude," or "Don't forget you could adopt *that* attitude."

Dig IT! at the Smithsonian

Dig It! The Secrets of Soil is an exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History on view from July 19 2008 – the corresponding website has copious interactive tools and links. 

Above is one of the many charts from the website- showing 8 of the 12 basic types of soil orders. 

(Soil orders reflect the environment in which they form, their age, and the ecosystems they support. Some soil scientists also propose to name a thirteenth order. Anthrosols would include soils formed or influenced by human activities. Scientists outside the United States use many other soil-naming systems.)

Driessens & Verstappen

Driessens & Verstappen is an Amsterdam based artist couple. 

Their research focuses on the expressive possibilities that physical, chemical and computer algorithms can offer for the development of generative processes. 

'Fulgurite Endoscopy' 

The above machine is part of an installation the group made. A fulgurite (buy your own here) is a tubelike formation in sand or rock, caused by lightning. The immense heat in the core of the beam makes the sand vaporize, and a beautifully glazed inner surface remains. A machine is developed to observe these inner structures of fulgurites. The objects, mounted on an XY table can be viewed through an endoscope.

'Morphotheque # 9'

Wild potatoes have relatively large diversity of form. Form characteristics are in part genetically determined, but environmental factors (climate and soil structure) influence the ultimate form at least as strongly. The industrial potato has become rather uniform due to Man’s continual selection and cultivation regarding form. That is also the intention, for peeling irregular potatoes is impractical and even more important: it is very uneconomical. Potatoes for consumption are reproduced via clones to ensure product characteristics remain constant. In the northern European industrial agriculture there are strict checks on the growth quality of the seed-potatoes. The soil structure is also maintained as homogeneously as possible and artificial fertiliser ensures sufficient nutrients. In spite of that control, some tubers or roots do escape this imposed uniformity. These amusing and suggestive forms stimulate our imagination. Because these differently formed products do not meet standards, they cannot be sold to consumers, and we are therefore never allowed to see these variants in form. If by accident this does in fact happen, then they are associated with pathological deviation, disease, degeneration and ugliness. A farmer selling carrots and potatoes at an Amsterdam market experienced this as provocation when we asked him if he could put the irregular, strangely formed variants aside for us: "How can you even think that I would grow inferior and malformed products!" Normally speaking, these deviant growths disappear into potato starch or they serve as cattle fodder. Sorting takes place in large distribution centres and on location, we made a selection out of a great number of rejected products, representing the variety and diversity in form within the species. We thought it was important to record the forms in their three-dimensionality, and not only by means of photography. For this reason a copy was made of each form in a durable material and it was then painted with acrylic paint so that the colour impressions would also match the original. In Morphotheque #9, one of the carrots stands out immediately. Here it is the straight form that is different, and in fact it is the only carrot from the supermarket.

Local River

Mathieu Lehanneur created 'Local River' home storage unit for fish and greens. Anticipating the growing needs and influence of locavores (a group of culinary adventurers who eat foods produced within a radius of 100 miles) 

Click on his name to see more of his fascinating and inspiring projects.

Paracelsus

a depiction of the alchemist Paracelsus