Wall-E

Bradley Manning Had Secrets

The story of Bradley Manning, not as a Wikileaks ’hacktivist’, but as a young American soldier simultaneously going through a crisis-of-conscious and a crisis-of-gender-identity. Using Adrian Lamo’s chat logs of instant messenger conversations he had with Bradley, the film explores issues of personal and political secrets, digital identity and alienation. The film was made for Animate Projects Digitalis Commissions, supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation.

Address is Approximate: a Google Street View stop motion

Here’s a clever, feel-good little animation made largely with Google Street View. It tells the story of a lonely desk toy who finds escape via a luminous desktop computer.

Word Salad: a bizarre animation by Micah Buzan

Word Salad is a mixture of hand-drawn animation and mysterious, ominous music by Micah Buzan. I don’t know what else to say, except that it’s an astonishingly beautiful piece of artwork.

Peppermint Magazine

When we feel bad about buying Made in China, we buy it anyway. When the kids at Peppermint Mag feel the guilt, they buy American Apparel. These cats have shown that it’s easy to be cute and stylish while being environmentally conscious. Enviro-friendly is no longer the domain of long-haired hippies and tie-dyed shirts. Welcome to the era of reuse, recycle and the revision of our tomorrow, one little pom pom hat at a time.

Oscar Diaz Ink Calendar

Oscar Diaz’s Ink Calendar has taken the month by storm — one ink blot at a time. After its initial display at the Diseño con alma de agua (Design of Water with a Soul) exhibition at Madrid’s Círculo de Bellas Artes, the Ink Calendar’s unusual technique of using capillary action to ‘stain’ each day of the month has reignited the design world’s senses. That humidity may render the ‘calendar’ inaccurate, but this should be ignored since it’s brilliant and utterly beautiful.

Sydney’s Pocket Bar

The allusions are endless. Sydney’s Pocket Bar is tiny, bursting at the seams with people wanting to get at the never-ending supply of stuff (namely the tasty nibbles and a raft of fine vino) and we’re pretty sure that they would have an offering of rubber bands and string if you asked politely. While these are indeed defining attributes in any establishment, we feel that what really makes this inner city Sydney café bar more than just another inner city Sydney café bar is the fact that it offers savoury crepes after 6, wine by the half bottle and National Geographic magazines. Now that’s my idea of heaven. [photo via Anik In The Pacific]