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I have the same relationship with technological style as I do with my wife: Fascination and repulsion.

Glowing cufflinks and the like are theoretically neat but the execution often leaves much to be desired.  To my mind, at least. Some people manage to build an entire aesthetic around these objects. While it’s not my cup of tea, it is, when well done, visually arresting.  When it’s done poorly, it’s hypercolor.

My belief is these things have to not only be golly-gee neato but also beautiful. And, given the choice, I’d pull back on the golly gee. That factor wears off.

So it was with this mixture of fascination and repulsion that I commissioned fashion designer Breeyn McCarney and creative technologist Christopher Lewis to build me two glowing boutonnières out of paper.

I’d been flatly impressed by their techniques during their remote controlled, paper dress show at FAT. Rather than overwhelm the dresses, the LEDs added something modern yet tasteful to an unusual canvass. Just a splash of electric color.

I decided on boutonnières because I don’t use them everyday. I wanted this to be a highly specialized aspect of my wardrobe. Often the wrong thing to wear but, when right, absolutely perfect.

I chose a flower that shall remain private and a rose that could change color.

The rose is a horribly symbolic flower. Its literary content –any literary content– in clothing is totally at odds with my sense of style. I don’t believe clothing should intentionally be used as a mode of self-expression nor do I think you can tell anything about a person from theirs. Nonetheless, this flower code, spoken in color, remains, somehow appealing. Perhaps because it speaks more to the heart than the wallet, politics or taste in culture.

My attraction to blank, white paper that can be colored and made into something should be fairly obvious to anyone who cares to think about it.

The rose changes through the use of three knobs, the turning of which controls the dose of color. They can be mixed to great effect. Or not.

When off, the flower remains beautiful.

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I don’t usually cut and paste from press releases but this is nifty and I’m lazy.

Date:
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 9 p.m. EST (6 p.m. PST; 10:30 p.m. in NFLD) on natandmarie.com

Highlights:
Fashion designer Breeyn McCarney and creative technologist Christopher Lewis will make an appearance on the Nat&Marie live webcast to present an extension of their “Paper Dolls” project, which premiered at Toronto Alternative Fashion Week [FAT].

Through smartphones or browsers, viewers will be able to enter the world of “Paper Dolls” by controlling the colour of one of the dresses and watching the resulting hue changes live on the webcast. Viewers will be able to interact with the dress by visiting colour.breeyn.com.

Conceived two years ago, McCarney was excited to have an opportunity to bring to life dresses constructed entirely of paper. Each dress was painstakingly hand-cut and born of a love of paper doilies. Her best friend and collaborator, Lewis, enhanced the dresses with LEDs and microcontrollers to create a juxtaposition of high- and low-tech, resulting in otherworldly pieces. [FAT] marked phase one of the collaboration between Lewis and McCarney; they will continue to push the interactive aspect of the designs, which will culminate in a lookbook and video towards the end of summer ’11.

So, to recap, tonight, you’ll be able to watch a fashion show here and interact with a fashion show here.

I saw these dresses at FAT and I liked them but hated the venue. They were wasted on a runway. Something like this, you want to see close up and interact with. This seems much better suited to what these dresses can do. So tune in tonight and change their colors via your computer or phone.

Continue reading »]]> I have some pretty clever comrades.

One of these, an incomparable chap who probably doesn’t want his name used, has long collected my empty pipe tobacco tins in order to repurpose them into various electronic devices – most of which have something to do with music.  A while ago, he hosted a little workshop where he taught a few people how to make such things.  I only recently got a look at one of the devices.

Ian Blurton's "Big Muff"

This is a Big Muff made by Ian Blurton (iconic musician/producer and notorious gear hound)   out of an old tin of Symphony Pipe Tobacco.  This blend is not in my regular rotation and I can’t remember how it tasted.  I’ve also never heard how this device sounds.  All I really know is that it has a funny name.  (VAGINA!)

But it’s nice to see these tins put to some use.  They always seem too nice to toss out.

Continue reading »]]> I had high hopes for steampunk.  By combining the technological with the hand-crafted, it might have carved a path into a pleasant future.   It circled back into the Victorian era but even that was forgiveable.  Sometimes you have to take a step back to go forward.  Steampunk, I thought, just needs to mature.  But, like all high hopes, mine are proving to be wrong.

As evidenced by this phone, it’s just a cumbersome and ridiculous affectation.  It’s an aesthetic done by rote.  A geekish dogma.   It serves no purpose other than to make something “steampunk.”  It’s aesthetic does not emerge organically from the logic of its function.  Instead it’s just pasted on top of something else.  It’s just copper bullshit.

When I look at the phone, I cannot think of a single way that all that effort has improved the device.  It’s made it heavier, larger and clunkier.  The thing is not better.  The phone has just become a weapon in  identity politics, an assertion of tribal loyalty to the cost of function.  “I’m a steampunk,” it screams.  “Pity me!”

Beauty always emerges from function.  A bird’s plumage or the shape of tiger is striking because it is efficient.  This phone is an ugly contraption and too crude a flag to wave.  And this is what steampunk has become.

These problems were once forgiveable as growing pains.  But steampunk has had time to grow.  Now it’s like a twenty year old with the mind of a two year old.   Its retardation is cause for concern.

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I forget what blog it was (I just remembered) but it was some anarchist one and the fellow had a weekly food recipe on it.  Now that’s a  good idea, I thought.  So I’m stealing it.  Every Sunday I’m going to try to post some sort of food thing I made during the week.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breasts

What You Need

Chicken Breasts

Spinach

Mushrooms

Swiss Cheese

Bacon

Onions

Garlic

What You Do With it

Put the chicken breasts between two pieces of saran wrap and hit them with a mallet until they’re nice and flat.  Very lightly fry the onions, garlic and spinach in olive oil.  (I also threw some lemon pepper on all that.)

Put all that plus some grated swiss cheese into the centre of your flattened chicken.  Roll it up and pin it together with a toothpick.  Wrap those rolls in bacon.

Cook for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Let stand for a few minutes and then slice into wheels.

Then serve.

Ideas for next time:  I think some Dijon mustard inside the chicken would also be good.