Permanent Breakfast is a continuous social experiment that can be executed by anyone, anywhere.

The experiment was conceived in 1996 by the Austrian artist Friedemann Derschmid and the basic idea is to bring people together to have breakfast in public spaces that are not necessarily obvious picnic spots, thereby modifying the way we think of these spaces as well as stimulating social interaction in them.

Naturally, anyone can do this without it being an art project, so to be an authentic Permanent Breakfast event, there are some rules that participants must follow: The organizer must invite at least four people under the condition that each one of them subsequently invites four other people for a new breakfast to be held somewhere else. And so on.

Permanent Breakfast recently came to Copenhagen in relation to the exhibition Instant Urbanism at the Danish Architecture Center.

• Permanent Breakfast

Between April 9-12, the Flemish cultural institute Brakke Grond in Amsterdam celebrates 'Don't-Do-It-Yourself Days' during which creative minds get together to help each other solve problems instead of trying to do everything themselves.

At the first evening, participants will be going through a series of speeddating sessions in order to match the perfect couples. All sorts of problems and questions are welcome - a huge problem for a designer might be an easy task for a project manager and vice versa.

DDIY is organized by Marcel Van Der Drift and held in conjunction with the Victorian Circus Festival.

• doehetnietzelf.org

A group called Vandals Against Violence (Vandaler Mod Vold) has launched a post-it campaign in response to recent violent incidents in Copenhagen.

The post-it notes are placed throughout the city and carry handwritten statements and reminders such as "only the weak resort to violence".

Probably not a campaign with much impact but at least a creative alternative to CCTVs etc, which seems to be the only antidote that politicians come up with nowadays.

More here (in Danish)

• Video on YouTube

The designers Miss Geschick & Lady Lapsus have come up with some new playful accessories.

The new designs include a set of relational tattoos that you can place on your body to add a narrative element to your scars and other bodily characteristics.

Check their virtual shop for other quirky products.

• missandladysboutique.de

Cascoland is a Dutch organization promoting interdisciplinary art that inspire communities to shape their own public spaces through dialogue and participation.

Like the previous two years, Cascoland again this year mobilized a group of Dutch artists and designers and travelled to South Africa to work on community related projects - probably a dream spot for the Dutch who have limited space to play with themselves.

This time the trip went to Durban and documentation is now available online. While some projects appear a bit too much like plop-art for my taste, there are also some quite refreshing ones.

Among my favorites are Jair Straschnow & Gitte Nygaard's "Yellow L" which is a table-like object that can be used as a blackboard for personal communication. The duo also came up with a series of simple sitting hammocks/swings to make a dull park area a little more human-centered.

Another collaborate project experimenting with traditional objects is Pimp my Bin by Jan Korbes & Mantas Lesauskas, who transformed garbage bins into playful vehicles.

Check the Cascoland website for updates and more projects.

Related: Bench in a fence

• Cascoland

I picked up this 2008 calendar at my neighborhood grocery store in Vesterbro (Copenhagen, Denmark) - not so much because I need a calendar but because it contains small narrative portraits of local residents.

Besides the portraits, every second week/spread is complimented by an ad from a local store, each offering a special discount to calendar owners in the week the ad is appearing. Meaning, now I can use my calendar as a neighborhood shopping guide and discover things like, my butcher offering a 20% discount on chickens next week. Pretty multifunctional.

The calendar is published by "Verdens Mindste Bladhus' ('The World's Smallest Publishing House') that also publishes of a modest monthly print/newspaper called "WestEnd and Omegn", which contains small personal stories and street gossip from the core of Vesterbro.

The publishing activities are not just someone's hobby or spare time project, but apparently a successful business initiated and run by two journalists. Perhaps one of many signs that people are increasingly shifting interests from the super global to the micro-local. At least in Copenhagen.

• Verdens Mindste Bladhus (Danish)

The New York based prankster collective Improv Everywhere has been busy again.

For their latest mission, three 'agents' entered a Starbucks one by one with their own giant desktop computer, monitor and keyboard. They bought coffee and worked at their computers as if they were laptops.

As usual, their mission is well documented!

Related: Operation Best Buy

• Mobile Desktop

As mentioned here before, knitting has been going through quite a renaissance in recent years. Partly because old things sooner or later come back into fashion, partly because new technologies has made it possible to create new kinds of knitting products and services.

Belonging to the latter category, is the Swiss website Net Granny where users can buy sock, personally knitted by a granny of own choice. The site contains a gallery of grannies, each of whom has a profile with an overview of the socks they make.

The service is provided by a small apparel company called Tarzan, based in Basel.

Related: SCHALALALA! + Generative Knitting

• Net Granny

The Danish music-poetry duo Bo hr Hansen & Nils Lassen has come up with a novel - and potentially very time consuming - way to promote their latest CD "Hvem er jeg?" (Who am I?).

Those buying the CD are offered a free private concert - via telephone.

In order to qualify for the concert, you need to send them an MMS (a photo via mobile phone) of yourself holding the CD, preferably with the receipt. Upon receiving the documentation, the duo will do their best to find a concert date and time that suits all of you.

Thanks Mogens for the link.

Related: Bubble Star At Home

• Private Telephone Concerts (Danish)

Failure Support Group is an event that focus on failure in artistic projects.

The event involves a series of 5-minute presentations of failures and discussion of issues such as: Why do art projects fail? Is there a recipe for failure? Are certain methodologies more prone to failure than others? What is at stake in acknowledging failure?

Failure Support Group will take place Friday Feb 29th at Democracy Center, Harvard Sq, Cambridge, MA (space is limited).

Hopefully, the presentations will be documented online. Should be interesting, inspirational - and potentially fun!

• Failure Support Group

'Bubble Star at Home' is series of intimate punk-electronic mini-concerts that took place in private Parisian homes around 2002/03.

The concerts could be booked from a website and was performed by artist/singer Bubble Star (aka Isabelle le Doussal) who is perhaps best known as the lead singer of the French indie-rock band Prototypes that recently had a song featured in an iPod add.

Today, the home-service is inactive but there is still some evidence of its existence at the website of cultural production company DokiDoki. 'Bubble Star at Home' was performed, a few years before YouTube existed, which probably explains the mini-sized video documentation.

Related1: a few months ago, before giving a concert in Copenhagen, Marilyn Manson warmed up by playing a few songs in a small private apartment.

Related2: home-performances by SU-EN and Nuria Dina.

• Bubble Star at Home

An art project by Danish artist Astrid Winsløv Hammer who put up four signs designed as official looking street signs in the city center of Aarhus.

The signs read 'Slap af' (Relax) and 'Skynd dig; (Hurry up).

Unlike most other culture jams, such as the notorious Jagtvej hack, Stress was a fully legitimate intervention carried out in collaboration with the culturally proactive city of Aarhus.

• Stress (in Danish)

RDF181 is the name of a temporary parasite-looking structure in the center of Brussels.

For almost a year, RDF181 has been the headquarters of Rotor which is a design platform dedicated to exploring creative ways of reusing industrial waste.

The structure will disappear again this February and during it's short life span, it has housed Rotor's meetings, performances and exhibitions.

RDF181 is an initiative of Maarten Gielen, Lionel Devlieger, Mia Schmallenbach and Tristan Boniver.

• RDF181

Yet another entry dedicated to Helmut Smits and conceptual color installations.

Parking For White Cars Only is a temporary project by Helmut, which took place in a parking garage in 2006. The best parking-spots were accessible for white cars only.

Remotely-related: Natalie Jeremijenko's concept Park-Information in which cars are arranged according to color with the purpose of transforming the mundane act of car-parking into a large public spectacle.

• Parking For White Cars Only

A billboard with a picture of a clear blue sky rotated 180 degrees. Placed in what looks to be a somewhat dull residential area.

The installation was made by Helmut Smits for the exhibition Rock My Religion, OdaPark Venray.

Related: Tree in Front of Billboard.

• Clear Blue Sky

The Dutch town of Drachten has got itself a spectacular installation that resembles recent temporary color interventions like Delete in Vienna and in Beukelsblauw in Rotterdam that managed to generate small-scale Bilbao effects.

The installation called WATER IS LIFE (Water is Leven) is made by Henk Hofstra who had 1000 metres of road painted blue in reference to the waterway that was once running where the road is now.

Apparently, the installation is not just a reminder of the past but also an indication of the future as the waterway will be re-establish some time during 2008.

• Water Road / Via Wooster Collective

Time in Objects is a speculative design project by Louise Klinker and Anab Jain that plays with the notion of time.

Louise and Anab looked at various everyday objects such as books, pens and cigarettes asking what would happen if we were made visibly aware of the time it takes to consume them.

What happens if page numbers in books are replaced by the time you're supposed to take reading them? Or if you could order a 10 or 30 minute pint at the pub?

The theme of the project resembles the practice of Chris Speed who in 1999 created WordTime, which is a simple control panel that allow users of Microsoft Word to calculate when their work will be done. Users simply enter the amount of words they anticipate producing and WordTime calculates when the work is completed.

• Louise W Klinker / Anab Jain

The winner of Mediamatic's El Hema design competition has been announced. First prize went to The White Room for their design Satellite Dish Sticker.

As previously mentioned, EL Hema is a humorous and slightly provocative project exploring what an Arabic version of the Dutch chain-store and superbrand Hema would be like and designers were invited to submit ideas for new Arab-Dutch products.

The winning design is a decorative add-on that enable people to pimp-up their uniform dull looking satellite dishes. According to the winner, satellite dishes are often associated with Arab countries but naturally the product is for anyone owning one

A shared second prize went to Eva Gonggrijp's henna-decorated dishwashing gloves and Nellie Keijzer's cotton pillowcase.

A list of all the nominated designs can be found here.

• Satellite Dish Sticker

Bureau of Workplace Interruptions is a time-stealing agency who work with employees to interrupt the flow of their workday. The purpose is to invigorate some of the time people spend at work in order to create new experiences and possibilities outside the flow of capital.

So, if you're an employee who needs a break from the daily routines you can apply for an interruption at the bureau's website. Subsequently, they will do their best to find the right interruption for you.

When planning the event, they'll take your occupation, work hours, and the means by which they can contact you into consideration. The interruption can take place via mail, email, telephone or, if you're lucky, a workplace visit.

Don't worry. The Bureau of Workplace Interruptions will strive to keep their actions invisible to your employer!

• www.interruptions.org

Cera Perdida (Lost Wax) is an ongoing project by Barcelona-based sculptor Tanya Sierra.

Every month Tanya leaves one of her sculptures somewhere in Barcelona for a stranger to find and claim.

Each sculpture has a URL engraved where the finder can get more info about the object. The websites contains a photo-gallery of each lost sculpture as well as messages from people who actually found a sculpture.

The project has been running from January 2007 and will end this December.

• www.ceraperdida.com

One of my favorite art shows this year was Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting at the Musuem of Arts & Design in New York. A timely exhibition of work by international artists using fiber in unexpected and unorthodox ways.

Within the past 5 years or so, knitting has experienced quite a renaissance and it is no longer viewed as something of the 70's. One of the reasons for this comeback is the fashion cycle which traditionally brings dead things back into life sooner or later. Another reason is the possibilities and inspiration that new technologies provide.

An example of the latter is the knitting project Schalalala! by Rüdiger Schlömer (not included in the aforementioned exhibition).

Schalalala! is a fan-scarf project inspired by social media and remix culture. The project addresses the lack of flexibility and individual freedom when supporting a sport club. Either you are for team A or team B, you are with or against it.

In response to this situation, Rüdiger created a web based interface where people can re-mix existing club scarves in order to meet the individual need for flexibility, customization and fashion.

Schalalala! is primarily a digital project but people are encouraged to use the website as inspiration for knitting their own multi-fan-club scarves.

Related entry: Generative Knitting

• www.schalalala.de

A garden enthusiast in Chicago has put together a colorful resource page on Flickr documenting how he and his friends grow vegetables on their rooftops using a self-watering container system that use less water than normal, while keeping maintenance down to a minimum.

In case you are not so fortunate to have a rooftop, the site also contains links to other resources such as the fantastic project Container Gardening by Willem van Cotthem, who grow plants in difficult conditions using plastic bottles. For more inspiration, see also the community project Rooftop Garden Project in Montreal.

• Rooftop Garden on Flickr

The (excellent) free cultural paper Amsterdam Weekly has launched a fundraising campaign in which they've taken their own editorial content hostage. Readers must collaborate and pay a ransom if they want the content to be printed or else, Amsterdam Weekly will consist of blank pages.

It works like this: Each of the paper's upcoming pages has been divided into blocks and each block is being sold for €5. Readers can buy one block or as many as a full page.

Only blocks that are being sold will be printed. If the sale is not successful, readers will receive a paper missing individual blocks of content.

Nb: if you buy at least 3 blocks you'll get an invitation to a fundraising party on Saterday 26 April.

• www.amsterdamweekly.nl/forsale

Karriere is a newly opened and much hyped (rightfully so) bar in Copenhagen where everything from the name to the interior has been designed by a long list of artists, such as Olafur Eliasson, Ceal Floyer, Douglas Gordon, Jesper Just, Robert Stadler, Dan Graham etc.

Now, the price on selected drinks at Karriere Bar has been turned into a work of art by artist Kenneth A. Balfelt, who created a 'price policy' that experiments with the relation between price- and social structures.

The new prices are determined by your look and circumstances related to your person. It is the waiters and bartenders who decide if you qualify for the special prices

Some price examples: Yuppies pay extra for beer. Hippies and activists pay extra for organic soda. The homeless get a discount on cafe cortado. Gay couples who French kiss for 30 seconds get a discount on apfelschorle. Immigrants, asians who speak Danish as well as blacks in company of whites get various discounts. And so on.

Probably not politically correct, but it should generate some unexpected and interesting situations!

• karrierebar.com

The Williamsburg gallery Cinders has put together an imaginative show currently on display at Space 1026 in Philadelphia.

Through sculptural installations, drawings and paintings the show explores the notion of 'spaces': from outerspace to physical space, cramped spaces etc.


There are some intriguing interpretations, such as the tactile flash light by Sto (image).

A review and more photos available here.

Related: Graphical User Interface in 3d + Analogue Screenshots

• Spacing Out! Cinders @ space

Design Reaktor Berlin is a multi-disciplinary research project of the Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK)/Berlin University of the Arts. Their aim is to encourage innovative cooperation between small and medium-sized companies and young designers.

In a two-week series of workshops held earlier this year, the experimental links between trades, materials, technologies and tools provided by 52 companies produced hundreds of ideas. After an assessment of their feasibility and market potential, 52 products were developed further in cooperation with the involved companies.

Design Reaktor's website contains a gallery of the results, some of which are ready for production while others are more speculative.

Two eye catching products are Garden Gun by Jakob Diezinger, Markus Dilger and Rayk Sydow (which doesn't need much explanation) and Music Drop by Noa Lerner, a tiny music player shaped as a drop. The drop contains one song which can be used only one time.

Interestingly, except from Music Drop, all 52 designs appear to be stand-alone products. No experiences or services were developed.

• www.design-reaktor.de/

Not so long ago when browsing through a glossy Danish magazine (forgot which) I stumbled across an ad for RENT A MINI, a car-rental company based here in Copenhagen.

As the name suggests, the provider rents Minis only (Mini Cooper that is) and the idea behind the concept is that renting a car should be easy, cool and relatively cheap at the same time. The cars can be booked online through a simple interface. Currently, the service is available in Copenhagen only, but the ambitious goal is to operate in all metropolises within the next five years.

RENT A MINI's website does not tell how closely affiliated they are to BMW, the manufacturer of Mini. They are probably not that close, but in any case, I am intrigued by the idea of a car-company that does not only produce cars but also design service-systems (car sharing/rental) as an alternative to individual ownership.

• www.rentamini.dk

'Goodbye Privacy' was the theme at this year's Ars Electronica festival and perhaps not so surprisingly, there were a handful of projects and exhibitions dealing with the presence of web and surveillance cameras in public spaces.

One of them, 'Self Portrait With Webcam' by the Austrian artist Josef Klammer, is a series of photographic images seen through the eyes of webcams at different Austrian locations.

Klammer himself appears on every image with his laptop, which he used to position and capture himself. Each self portrait in the exhibition is accompanied by a photograph of the webcam along with information about its physical location as well as its webadress.

Related entry: Surveillance Camera Players

• www.klammer.mur.at

Apparel combined with new media is often associated with 'wearable computing' and futuristic looking design. But the combination of the two can also lead to more conceptual results, such as the projects presented at the Campus 2.0 exhibition at the Ars Electronica festival.

'Struckmaschine' (Fabienne Blanc & Patrick Rüegg) is a knitting machine used to make scarves with unique patterns. The patterns are made of space-invaders and each pattern is automatically generated by the personal information on the buyer's credit card.

News Knitter (Ebru Kurbak & Mahir M Yavuz) is similar project that explore the potential of data-visualization. News Knitter collects and translates political news from the web into a visual form knitted into a sweater. The idea is to make sweaters that become evidences of a specific day or period.

Finally, 'GELSOMINA – The Voice Knitting Machine' (Hanna-Lisette Wiesener & Magdalena Kohler) is more abstract but at the same time, gives the user/buyer more individual control. Audio input (song, voice) is translated into a simple visual form to give a piece of clothing its own 'vocal fingerprint'.

• Struckmaschine • News Knitter • Voice Knitting Machine

It's time again for the Conflux Festival which is held annually in Brooklyn, NYC.

The festival is dedicated to psychogeography, or in other words: the investigation of everyday urban life through artistic, technological and social practice.

As before, the lineup is amazing but if you cannot be there (like myself) the Conflux website offers a good overview of the participating artists and projects.

One of many interesting projects is Miniaturized Accidents by Jacqueline Steck.

The project consists of a series of fictionalized, miniaturized accident scenes that are constructed in physical space and plotted on a Google map for other people to find. Anyone can contribute to the project by staging and mapping their own miniaturized accidents.

Related entry: DropSpots

• Miniaturized Accidents