This inventive toy figurine demonstration has been set by a group of activists in the Siberian city of Barnaul. The toys, fully equipped with placards stating I’m for clean elections” and “A thief should sit in jail, not in the Kremlin” are enduring the snow after authorities repeatedly rejected the activists’ (the real ones not the plastic) request to hold a sanctioned demonstration of the kind held in Moscow to protest disputed parliamentary elections results and Vladimir Putin’s expected return to the presidency in a March vote.

The group wanted to hyperbolise the attempt of the authorities to limit citizens’ rights and the “absurdity and farce of officials’ struggle with their own people” and indeed they managed: The Police asked prosecutors to investigate the legality of protest !!Wall-E , plastic teddy bears, South Park characters and Lego men are all in deep deep trouble!

Passersby admired the display with giggles, but police took it more seriously, examining its details and writing down each placard.

Photograph: Sergey Teplyakov/vkontakte

Via the Guardian

Three topless protesters members of Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN were detained Saturday while trying to break into The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an invitation-only gathering of international CEOs and political leaders, to call attention to the needs of the world’s poor.
With temperatures around freezing, they took off their tops and tried to climb a fence before being detained.
More info here. Original post (in Russian) with more pics and videos in FEMEN livejournal. (Check translated version here)
Check previous FEMEN protest in Chernobyl here.
Via Nerdcore.

This unusual -steel and brass- prosthetic arm made in Europe, articulates in a number of ways:
The elbow joint can be moved by releasing a spring, whereas the top joint of the wrist allows a degree of rotation and an up-and-down motion. The fingers can also curl up and straighten out. The leather upper arm piece is used to fix the prosthesis to the remaining upper arm. The rather sinister appearance of the hand suggests the wearer may have disguised it with a glove. Among the most common causes of amputation throughout the 1800s were injuries received as a result of warfare.”

You may also check one of today’s most awesome prosthetics by French company Custoprothetik.

via Science Museum

A collection of glass jam jars screwed under a shelf creating a storage, created for Perimeter Art and Design Galerie, Paris  by designer Peter Marigold

Prv. post on designer here +there

via unconsumption

Spaghetti measuring tool designed by by Stefán Pétur Sólveigarson. Small, adult and family portion. Order here.

The creation of an open air bar with a terrace in Milan, made of found waste materials and old furniture from the neighborhood, by Foundation collective (designers Rikkert Paauw and Jet van Zwieten), for the Public Design Festival 2011.

During the festival the kiosk offered fresh soup, bread and drinks in order to create a meeting place and afterwards the collective sold and gave away the furniture and the bar to the people from the neighborhood. Scroll down for photos of the Taverna*  in use and dtls

*The Taverna team consisted of Niek Wagemans (architect), Astrid Petersen (production leader), Jet van Zwieten (graphic designer), Rikkert Paauw (spatial designer) and Hein Lagerweij (motion designer)

Amager Strandpark Bunkers by Hasløv & Kjærsgaard Arkitektfirma, Denmark, 2005

Aurland Look Out by Todd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen, Norway, 2006

Reinoksevan Rest Stop by PUSHAK Architects, Norway, 2007

Gravesend Public Toilet by Plastik Architects Ltd, UK, 2007

Trail Restroom by Miro Rivera Architects, USA, 2008

Zhejiang Public Toilet by DNA, China, 2009

Tokionkura Lavatories Shimode by Shuichiro Yoshida, Japan, 2009

Akkarvik Roadside Restroom by Manthey Kula, Norway, 2009

Flotane Rest Stop by LJB, Norway, 2011

Sequence of pictures by Ellie Davies.
Via Houhouhaha.

This is a beutifull single house in Canakkale in Turkey, beutifull becuase it fits perfectly the landscape without trying to imitate past vernacular forms. The main structure of the house is concrete and the other constructive walls are hand crafted stone.The window framing and aluminum shutters are made of  low maintenance aluminium and  filled with hand crafted reed, enabling natural ventilation and creating great shadow patterns in the interior.

Architect: Mimarlar Tasarim LTD – Istanbul

Via East-CentricArch

Location:  Criação Velha, Pico Island, Azores, Portugal

The Gruta das Torres, which is a volcanic cave located on Pico Island in the Azores, was classified as a Regional Natural Monument in 2004.

With the decision to open it to the public it became necessary to construct a building to support visitors, but one which would also protect the skylight of the entrance to the cave. The architectural project sought to simultaneously achieve both aims by means of an undulating stone wall which transformed into an intricate lacework at the point of contact with the building. This provides an entrance of light which is both filtered and continuous, permitting the uniform illumination of the interior and avoiding the necessity for other openings.

With the exception of this wall the building is coated with an impermeable black finish in order to complement the colour and texture of the vitrified lava within the cave.

In the presence of so strong a landscape our aim was to integrate the building, notwithstanding its contemporary design, within the scale, nature and context of its surroundings. (text via SAMI)

The visual fusion between the third and the seventh art.

The Third & The Seventh – video by Alex Roman

More at Alex Roman vimeo and facebook page.

consumption – click to enlarge consumption dtl

mirrorphobia (mental states series)

unconsciousness (mental states series)

megalomania (mental states series)

Brilliant, dark digital photo-montages by artist Matthew Niedbal

The front door of Cabaret de L’Enfer in Paris, one of the world’s first theme restaurants. The above 50′s photo by Robert Doisneau studio.

Find more on Paris cabaret ghost show and early visual media here.

Digital photo collage series titled Minority  (2009), by Chinese artist Wu Zhi

Creative photos of Vegetable Human Hybrids by artist Christine Chin

Floor-to ceiling light installation inside the Pump Room restaurant at Public Hotel, Chicago,  (ex- legendary Ambassador East hotel), designed by Milan’s Dilmore Studio’s artists for the famous hotelier Ian Schrager.

via hotel chatter