Japanese Train Pushers

String Gardens

One part folly, two parts whimsy, Fedor’s String Gardens are a little reminiscent of a cosmic galaxy. Inspired by a Japanese botanical style called Kokedama, the objective of these installations is to simply bring plants to eye level. But they do so much more than that, don’t you think? Read more

Barafu

A few nights ago, I was invited to a lovely Japanese foodie event held at Daniel Bouley’s testing kitchen. Being a vegetarian, the inventive food — including sea urchin, pork on a base of roe, and a ‘vegetarian’ asparagus dish with caviar — was unfortunately all lost on me. However, the gift bag, containing a small package of Barafu was most intriguing. Barafu, aka ice plant, looks like a small aloe plant, with many translucent beads covering the surface. Read more

Sigh

Sigh sound like a black metal demon that fell out of a box of Fruit Loops. Listen to their latest album, Scenes from Hell, while watching the Olympics. You won’t regret it. [Listen to a Sigh song now]

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James Mackay’s Even Though I’m Free I Am Not

Award-winning photojournalist James Mackay’s latest project comes at a time when the world’s eyes are fixed on Burma and the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi. By photographing former political prisoners displaying the names of their colleagues and friends who remain behind bars, Even Though I’m Free I Am Not exposes the enduring pain faced by Burma’s opposition movement. Over 2,100 activists, journalists, lawyers and politicians languish in prisons across the country, and on Friday Aung San Suu Kyi will likely join them. Read more

Secret Supper Clubs

The blind date of the food world has finally arrived, and it’s proving more palatable than the awkwardness of an evening spent in superficial conversation. Secret Supper clubs are springing up in the backstreets of London: what are attics and living rooms by day get converted into makeshift restaurants catering for an evening of surprise tastes and conversations. Read more

Adam Farlie

Young British designer Adam Farlie takes a leftfield approach to how people experience interaction with objects, often taking everyday items and toying with their potential to harbour deeper meaning and greater usage than first perceived. He transforms a bed into a ‘vessel that captures and contains the audio-memories of past occupiers through sound’, allowing those who lie on the bed to recall past intimcaties or conversations from years ago, while his take on a chest of drawers’ purpose of holding records of people is similarly intriguing.