Harrison Krix of Volpin Props has created an amazing, working replica of the famous helmet worn by Thomas Bangalter, one-half of cult French electro-duo Daft Punk. The helmet certainly looks the part, but it also boasts “350 LEDs, can run over 4 hours on a single charge, and the matrix is capable of being updated on-the-fly with a custom programmed iOS app.” If that weren’t impressive enough, consider that the helmet is actually the second of the set, a partner project to the already-completed replica of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s gold topper. But while his first Daft Punk helmet took him 17 months, the second took him only four. We’ve checked, and Krix isn’t taking orders, but if you’re a crafty type, you can check out his process here and follow in his footsteps. Click through to see a video of the helmet’s progression from mere materials to a work of art, and check out some shiny photos of the finished product.
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LCD Soundsystem is getting a lot of love these days, now that the band has announced their last show ever. How typical — we only really appreciate something when it’s (almost) gone. But better late than never. This “unofficial DIY pop video” slash documented performance art piece features muppets singing along to LCD standard “Dance Yrself Clean”, beer cans, chintzy editing effects, and real life fans who seem to have watched the whole thing as it went down in Brighton. Is it a fitting tribute? Watch after the jump and let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Face it, folks. The end of books is coming — not the end of writing, or of literature, of course, but the end of those hefty, nice-smelling tomes that lined the walls of our childhood homes. Now on the subway in NYC, of all the people reading, about a third of them are doing it on a Kindle. Maybe we’re being creepy by staring at everybody, but we think it means something. So in preparation for the fast-approaching day when physical books will be completely obsolete, we’ve prepared a DIY guide to how you can turn your dusty old doorstops into useful, functioning household items. Click through for step by step instructions (sometimes with video!) for how you can turn your book-garbage into fun stuff when the internet apocalypse hits.
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While we’re all for donating old, unwanted books, there are some volumes that we find it impossible to get rid of — whether for sentimental reasons or because they’re just too cumbersome to carry. If your bookshelf is getting tight and you’re feeling crafty, why not re-purpose a favorite read into something that you’ll be able to use around the house? Click through for our 10 favorite DIY ideas, in order of intensity. Heads up, most of them will render the book more or less unreadable, so you don’t want to use anything that you might regret later.
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The macabre story of a man’s last day before he dies, The Living Wake stars comic musician Mike O’Connell as the lovably insufferable K. Roth Binew, with Jesse Eisenberg as his meek manservant, Mills.
With Mills pedaling his rickshaw, the film’s ego-bloated antihero sets out to invite his enemies to his own wake before he plans to pass away from a vague, undiagnosed illness. Set in a timeless dreamscape, the lyrically hyper-real screenplay is infused with elements of fantasy, yielding a morbid storybook feel that defies genre.
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In a pinch, we bet you could use pretty much anything to make a musical instrument. You’re at your desk and you have a pen and a book — voila, percussion section. But make a synthesizer from some paper clips and an old keyboard and you’ve really got our attention. Making musical instruments can be an art form itself, as the entries below prove. From carrot fifes to a jellyfish theremin to home-made amplifiers, check out our list of amazing DIY instruments after the jump.
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Our friends over at Refinery29 tipped us off to iArtist London, a “company” that believes that “art should be for everyone,” and as a result, provides (relatively) easy-to-use looking kits for creating your own versions of famous works by contemporary British artists like Damien Hirst, Tracy Emin, Rachel Whiteread, Marc Quinn, and Banksy. (Update: It’s actually the final degree project of Naroa Lizar Redrado, a recent graduate of the University for the Creative Arts in Kent.) Click through to view the goods.
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Billed as “the world’s greatest DIY comic website,” Howtoons combines the talents of a comic-book artist, inventor, and toy designer to present eye-popping instructions for turning everyday objects into cool contraptions.
Science guru Saul Griffith (along with partners Joost Bonsen and Nick and Ingrid Dragotta) makes narrative-driven comic strips that fuse the freewheeling adventure of Inspector Gadget with the nuts-and-bolts fundamentals of Mr. Wizard, teaching kids of all ages how to create homemade devices including speed demons, spring-loaded chopsticks, and robofingers.
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Today at Flavorpill, we jumped for joy at the news of a David Bowie tribute album featuring a cover by MGMT. Could there by a better combo than the Brooklyn duo and Ziggy himself? We think not. But enthusiasm wasn’t as black and white when we heard of the upcoming thriller with Jude Law. As sickening as the film seems, we’re hopeful that co-stars Liev and Forest will make it worthwhile. We’re eager for the first episode of 30 Rock in the new decade, which is scheduled to feature not only James Franco, but a puffy anime version of Jenna Maroney, as well. With our hands itching for more than just the knitting needles (our seasonal hobby), we prepared to get a little DIY with these chandeliers. Bets are being placed as to who is going to play Curly, now that Sean Penn is in the clear for Larry, and Benicio is set for Moe. Gerard Butler looks more 300 pounds than 300 (an exaggeration, but come on, it’s funny). And we couldn’t help but squirm in our seats a bit with the suggestion of the Internet running out of space. Come on, Google, we’re counting on ya!
Forget hipster idealists, vegans, and off-the-grid hippies: Dolly Freed has another way. Freed — a pseudonym — wrote Possum Living, a manifesto for living cheaply (and, she claims, lazily) in the late 1970s, when she was a feisty 18 year-old. Now reissued by Tin House Books, the volume is a relevant and sassy manual for a non-consumer lifestyle. Dolly’s practical lessons are presented with an irresistible wiseass grin: “We usually leave on the head, tail and fins for the simple reason that the fish looks nicer that way; and it means less work,” she writes. “Also, many fish have considerable amounts of meat in their heads — just like some people.”
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