Mer-chan: technocuddly, cute, arty, geeky stuff from Asia and beyond » News

Comic-Con Showdown

merchan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:03:06 +0000

Comic-Con San Diego is here again and geek culture has never been so political. The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas travelled all the way out west to protest the event with “God Hates Nerds” signs. Seriously, haven’t the nerds been picked on enough?

Upon arrival, however, the Church group was met by a collection of counter protestors. “All glory to the Hypnotoad!” “God hate sentries!” Even Bender showed up with a sign expressing his love for Flight of the Conchords:

For those wishing to sidestep the political fracas (or for those made hungry by shouting too loud), Chef Vader was on hand with some tasty treats. It looks like he’s dishing up some Steak de JarJar:

Fetch! Atta Boy At-At

merchan — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:05:31 +0000

We already had one look at robotic pet dogs, but filmmaker Patrick Boivin has upped the ante. He turned a toy Imperial Walker into a jedi’s best friend. He’s even polite enough to properly dispose of the jabba. Watch the video below. It’s a wonderful At-At Day Afternoon!

We <3-fully believe that technocuddly pets are the best. And there are plenty of strays still available. If this guy was adopted, perhaps he would not be so gloomy.

What is Dubai?

merchan — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:37:38 +0000

As we round the corner to the finish line for the Cultural Capital documentary, watch the latest tester #2 here, we see signs of technocuddly Dubai everywhere. At I.B.M.’s research labs, this Jeopardy clue befuddled the two human contestants: “Toured the Burj in this U.A.E. city. They say it’s the tallest tower in the world; looked over the ledge and lost my lunch.” But the supercomputer Watson bleeped in, “What is Dubai?” Correct! We could have helped out as the Clue Crew with our Burj video.

Tallest Tower of Mystery: Real Reason Why Burj Khalifa is Closed from Katy Mer-chan

I often ask myself as we’re editing, What is Dubai?! If only Watson could have helped me out.

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World Cups, Designer Balls

Mercury Zootcracker — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 02:35:11 +0000

Is this your World Cup ball of choice…

The World Cup is under way in South Africa! And we’re having a ball! The official match ball is the Adidas Jabulani, and it’s revolutionary design is already causing quite a stir. Some say it wobbles too much. Some say it benefits strikers. Some say it penalizes goalkeepers. Some say its patented GripNGroove technology helps them out. So many questions, with a single answer: Who will lift the cup at the end?

What we do know is this: the new ball reduces the number of panels from 14 (in the last World Cup) to a measly 8. And the 14-panel design was already a major reduction from the 32 panels of the traditional black-and-white soccer ball. The familiar pentagon-hexagon design is actually a truncated icosahedron (or bucky ball). Its sharp black and white contrast was specifically designed to appear more visible on live B&W television broadcasts (which BTW is the same design philosophy that inspired the Panda Seal Mamegona and the Yakuza Brush).

A complete visual guide to the evolution of the World Cup ball can be found here.) And with such a contentious design history, we are excited to see that designers are rising out of the stands to muck it up with soccer hooligans. ATYPYK offers their take on the official match ball below. It’s a traditional design in shape, but the color palette says it it all. A stark reminder and a social commentary for the 2010 tournament hosts, which now call themselves a “Rainbow Nation.”

… or this?

Attack of the Smoking Babies

merchan — Sat, 29 May 2010 17:19:01 +0000

This long weekend we ponder the smoking baby, and we’re fascinated that no matter how strange an object we sell, sooner or later there is a viral video about it. We’re like the antique shop in the Friday the 13th TV show. Except we’re cute, not cursed. Meme a deal with the devil? Mer-chan has the Madboro Cell Charm and lo! A 2-year old is addicted to cigarettes. What is his address so we can send him our anti-smoking smoking baby? Kid, you gotta quit! Do you want to end up as a crabby old-man-faced smoking baby with black lungs dangling from the world’s cell phone?

This Bubble Won’t Crash

merchan — Tue, 18 May 2010 10:34:46 +0000

Elaine McLuskey invented the “social spheres” speech bubbles so people could chat above the background noise in a noisy pub. Geekologie says they’re astronaut helmets that will help you get the girl or at least the freeze dried ice cream and Tang. They reminds us of Mer-chan’s canversate, where we try to allow intimate connections even in loud, crowded pubs. When you use it, you can actually feel the other person breathing. A cell phone doesn’t support that type of connection. And we’re in love with the girl in the on the right who is dishing the gossip and vibing Beth Ditto.

Nyah Nyah Cultural Capital Teasers

merchan — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:57:45 +0000

Teaser 1 Art Fair Montages:

Teaser 2 Animation & Censorship:
The feature length documentary Cultural Capital: Finding Art in Dubai examines the creative process in urban spaces and the socio-economic realities that challenge the sustainability of Dubai’s boom. The reality of a creative culture, like much of Dubai, is optimistic and still under construction.

Creole Dubai

merchan — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 05:05:22 +0000

He grew up in Dubai. But he’s not from Dubai. He left Dubai. Now, he’s back in Dubai. Lantian Xie’s new installation “I’ll Be Back Someday” opens this Wednesday at The Jam Jar. Xie’s work examines the continual experience of leaving, wandering, returning, and waiting. Wandering and hunger. Waiting and eating. At the end of our path waits a warm bowl of gumbo: a diasporic food dislocated from the bayou … and brought to the desert.

ƒ(nature)=photo

merchan — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:29:45 +0000

When mathematics is integral to an art project, it risks becoming derivative. But when nature speaks for itself, its quite radical. That’s why we love the prints of Nikki Graziano, which uncover found equations in bushes and rockpiles. The world, after all, is nothing but zeros and ones. And that’s why babies should grow accustomed to digital love as soon as they need a bib. Perhaps, they too will be photographers one day. They’ll snap images of graffiti murals … and trace the natural functions of wildstyle math beneath the words. But that’s another tangent…

MoM@ W@NN@

merchan — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 08:01:03 +0000

The Architechture and Design Department of the Museum of Modern Art has acquired the @ sign for its collections. This symbol is so ubiquitous and intangible, what does it mean to put in in a museum’s holdings? “It relies on the assumption that physical possession of an object as a requirement for an acquisition is no longer necessary, and therefore it sets curators free to tag the world and acknowledge things that ‘cannot be had.’” I hope they include Urban Dictionary’s definition of it: “A symbol standing for the word “at” that in turn symbolizes laziness and stupidity. I mean, seriously, who sat down and thought up a symbol to shorten a two letter word? WHY?”

Is the @ sign too nerdy for rappers to use it in their names? I can’t wait till MOMA acquires the $ and Curren$y, Nipsey Hu$$le, and Ke$ha can play at the opening.