Woodstock Flea Market Fighting Force, Episode 7

The Woodstock Flea Market Fight Force is now on Twitter: @WFMFF

Lego // Alien Conquest? Really?

Lego continues to be at the heart of my nostalgia, and I do believe in the quality of the bricks. In fact, the overall design of this space set definitely tugs at the heart strings of my own pre-teen building years, as it were.

That said, a few things to notice and discuss.

First, and most nagging, instead of "Alien Conquest," why not create a toy called "Alien Communing"?!? I would so much rather build and play with a set complete with all sorts of new machines that the aliens taught us to build, rather than engage in the absolute fantasy that we're somehow going to fight with aliens? Seriously? The space set is actually called Earth Defense Headquarters. What?

Secondly, a closer look at the flying craft shows that Lego has added its own version of space camouflage. Yep, that way the aliens won't see us in space when they come to steal all our resources. (Keep in mind all you Lego designers, aliens have access to every other planet, which I assume means a buhzillion times Earth's resources. Yes, a buhzillion.)

Third, the figures included with this set are 2 human space fighters, 2 angry aliens, and......a businessman? At least Lego is educating the kids on who the real generals are.

Lastly, one of the supplemental sets to this collection is the "UFO Abduction" set. The picture I've included here shows how the aliens will put us in transparent pods and drag us from the backs of their ships. Where do we sign up? Worthy of note: this set also includes what appears to be an angry rural citizen with a pitch fork, which of course is great defense against incomprehensibly powerful inter-galactic life forms.

I recently watched Star Wars III again, Revenge of the Sith, and was reminded of the totally awesome concept of the Jedi aliens in total harmony with the Jedi humans. How sweet would Lego be if they created a set of peaceful Lego aliens with special powers and awesome structures who came down to teach humans how to live best? No? Out of the question? Not enough fighting? Where's the levitating glowing Lego aliens, the ones who avoid adolescent conflicts and instead directly engage with all the beauty of existence? Is that too much to ask for, Lego?

We need new toys to represent dreamer mythologies of love passively conquering all with simple universal truths and transcendent understanding.

See Something, Play Something

Bobby Genalo is a current ITP'er who was in the Toy Design class this past spring. I really enjoyed his piece called See Something, Play Something that he exhibited in the 2011 ITP spring show. It's a nice marriage of the concepts of toys and decor. (Clearly, I'm a fan and proponent of art you can play with.)

Check out Mr. Genalo's blog for documentation of many other fun and playful designs and activities, I especially liked his mention of the Ghostbusters toy, which I may need to purchase for myself, today.

Buddha Machine, an interview

Awhile back I was researching sound toys, and eventually decided on the Buddha Machine and its designer as a subject for an interview. Christiaan Virant and I carried on a conversation about his design while he traveled all over Europe, then ended up back in Beijing. I was able to piece together what I hope is a somewhat compelling conversation, finally resulting in my second interview for Kill Screen. (Also posted by Pitch Fork.)

Tilt Shift Photography

I've been using this iPhone app to edit pics in the phone. One effect is miniaturize, and I hadn't been able to capture a composition that looked quite right with it. But today, right when the earthquake hit, I was on the 7th floor of a building in Tribeca, and snapped these two pics. I knew that longer range shots work better for the miniaturize effect, and these two turned out pretty good.

Availabot from Berg

This nifty little toy from Berg is powered by the USB port, and let's you know (in a fun way) when your friends are available to chat.

In their words: Availabot is a physical representation of presence in Instant Messenger applications. Availabot plugs into your computer by USB, stands to attention when your chat buddy comes online, and falls down when they go away. Video is nice below, but this blog report on their site is also quite nice.

Whiting Tennis

Being in NYC for all the art is great, but the long lost artists of the Pacific Northwest still float and roam around in the landscapes of my mind.

Sifting back into view the past week has been the super playful sculpture by Whiting Tennis.

Each of his pieces carries a heavy weight of deep introspection built with an almost spiritually geometric design vocabulary.

I also feel like I need to add that as much as I have enjoyed re-visiting the work, I can't say that I'm a fan of the titles that are pinned to the objects. To me, they're gimmicky afterthoughts added to otherwise mysteriously elegant forms, and only serve to detract from the iconic nature of each piece. Luckily, ignoring titles isn't much of an obstacle to thoroughly enjoying what Mr. Tennis has been presenting for several years now.

Woodstock Flea Market Fighting Force, Episode 6

The end of this episode includes an invitation to you, to join with the Woodstock Flea Market Fighting Force in a cacophony of play and experimentation. Email thoughts, videos, pictures, whatever and it will all be incorporated into this sandbox of who-knows-what. symplvision@gmail.com

The Toy Scene at Coney Island

Rolled out to Coney Island the other day and kept one eye open on the toy scene, as it were.

First off, it seems ye olde inflatable toy is the most popular item at the carnival. There are several stands that sell this stuff. And, I remind you that this exact line of toys inspired Jeff Koons to create entire bodies of similar work.



Next I turn your attention to the little item that isn't exactly Coney Island centric, the Grow Your Own Girlfriend toy. Just shy of a blowup doll, this little item, "won't run up your credit card," and, "let's you have sole custody of the remote." So, yeah. I guess it's just another item in a long line of Spencer's Gift-ish stuff. Why do I even bring attention to this sort of thing I don't know. I thought its existence somehow fit into the context of various other posts I've done with respect to gender and toys, but on second thought this lives outside of the far more (negatively) impacting mainstream toys like Barbie, Easy Bake Oven, GI Joe, etc. (Have you looked at the Easy Bake Oven ad on their site lately? Wow.)

Lastly, the freak show figurines are pretty intriguing. The infamous Coney Island Circus Sideshow is alive and well. I was struck by the hand written price tag, with the words, "Bring the show home," and fully assumed these figures were made specifically for Coney Island. But, on closer inspection, these are Li'l Sideshow toys, sold worldwide.

My final verdict on the current toy scene at Coney Island? Aside from the rides which are great fun and range between the old fashioned Cyclone to newer, shinier roller coasters, the toys available for sale continue to be emblematic of cheap carnival game prizes, perhaps best summed up by the character of Navin Johnson in this scene from, "The Jerk:"

Collaborative Playground Toy on Wheels

This is a nice little playground toy that requires a bit of a collaborative effort to achieve the best effect. Nice. I could imagine this on a much larger scale, for people of all ages, possibly even as a means to converting the kinetic work into electricity.

The Antics Roadshow, by Banksy

The following is a 48 minute documentary, apparently by Banksy, made for London Television. It's a whimsical ride through all sorts of public pranks most of which are cleverly playful, but your occasional war protesters are thrown in as well. At the 27:30 mark, the People Watching Plus video that Rune Madsen and I made is featured, which is fun, but the whole show is worth a viewing if you're into this sort of thing.

Woodstock Flea Market Fighting Force, Episode 5

The Makeys

Leading up to Maker-Faire NY, Make Magazine has created its own Award Show, of sorts, The Makeys. These awards are going to companies that have supported the culture of making over the years...but it feels just a bit like advertising, no?

Lego is a nominee, which is what caught my eye. And, you know, awesome. All the companies nominated have indeed contributed to DIY making for decades. But......it's not like they're NOT making profits.

Lots of projects featured on Make are made with Legos, and every time something like that happens, it's extremely valuable marketing for Lego.

All I'm saying is, if you're a DIY magazine and you're going to give away awards, why not create at least a couple awards for the DIY'ers too? (Maybe they do and I'm just not aware.)

Free Fall High Score

There are a zillion playful apps for phones, but only a handful actually use the phone as an integral part of the app beyond using the touch screen as a controller. I'm always intrigued by apps that incorporate phones into the play transforming them into toys. Free Fall High Score does just that, and if you fail you lose your phone!

I'll say no more, check it out in the video below, and/or link to the site here.

Woodstock Flea Market Fighting Force, Episode 4

Episode 4 in a document about play, using play as the medium.

Solar System Map on Playground

After posting about the hot metal surfaces of the church's playground yesterday, I had to snap this one today, and share it as well.

Kids love planets.

Below the Root

Everyone seems to have their own old school game that they're attached too. Being from Oregon, it's always nice to see that gem of a simple game, Oregon Trail, get thrown around. (And, you might have seen there's an APP for that, which looks great and I am going to go buy it now.) For others, various Atari 2600 games, regular arcade, games, board games, or for the youngsters it was original Nintendo, Sega, or newer systems. For me, the very first game that really entranced my 12 year old mind for days on end was Below the Root. My sister and I plugged into this thing on our Tandy Computer and each new level we made it to provided that kick of excitement that video games can provide. That said, since then, even though I feel connected to the aesthetic, I have very rarely gotten into games much more than on a surface level. Exceptions to that would be Super Mario Brothers and Mike Tyson's Punchout, both of which, I dominated thoroughly. The point in sharing that is simply to express that when I see Below the Root now, I feel a unique sort of nostalgia for it, it's that one of a kind experience in my past that was never replicated, and certainly not surpassed. Mario and Punchout weren't the same, first because they came a couple years later, but also because there's something about those old text games that really sparks the imagination. If you haven't seen Get Lamp, and have an interest in the history of text-based video games, you might like to check out that flick. Note the tagline for Get Lamp: Before there was first person shooter, there was second person thinker.

Discovering this substantial play-through of Below the Root, I immediately emailed my sister, and am looking forward to the moment when I have an hour to kill to take it all in again.

Ah, the sweet snare of nostalgia. For Proust it was the taste of a madeleine dipped in a cup of lime flower tea, for me, among other things, Below the Root.

Launch of Badger

Fellow ITP alum recently launched Badger on the App Store. Badger allows you to post geo-tagged pics under a category (badge) that you can create, or any category that has already been created.

In an attempt to get the ball rolling, I created a badge, Playful Objects. I see such things in public all the time so I'll hope to post a few pics in the days ahead. I also started following "street art" and "bike napping," two other things I I'm constantly aware of. I'm really curious to see what badges stick and become popular, especially the unexpected categories that will surely emerge.

One nice thing about Badger is that it could potentially take no time at all. Stop and snap a pic and upload it as you go. Or, go for a walk and add this layer of activity, snapping pics of things you notice.

St. George's Romanesque Playground

Wandered past St. George's Episcopal Church yesterday and couldn't help but notice their playground designed to match the Romanesque Revival architecture. Not only does the play structure stand out because of the design, but the material choice makes it nearly impossible to play on in any kind of sunny weather. As a result, it seems like a playground meant only to be looked at.

Top 30 Weird Toys

Proud to say that along with the shockingly odd roulette toy, Love Boat Action figures made this list of the top 30 weird toys.

Woodstock Flea Market Fighting Force, Episode 3

Woodstock Flea Market Fighting Force, Episode 2

Chris Burden's Hot Wheel Awesomeness

I've been a fan of Chris Burden's work for a long time, so, to see him merge his experimentally playful art career with iconic toys is...a thrill. Check it:

Keita Takahashi & playground design

I'm of course loving the directions and tangents that Kill Screen magazine is taking lately. This is a great example of how a video game magazine is branching out into the wider scope of PLAY. Check out the nice interview with Keita Takahashi.

Woodstock Flea Market Fighting Force, Episode 1

Dr. Playground

Recently snapped this pic in Washington Square Park.

Then, also found the nice little news blurb.

Beastie Boys Action Figures

Noticed this on Wired's Gadget Lab today. They also share details and some thoughts on the $750 set of action figures. The video (possibly) inspires me to (attempt to) make a short film (perhaps in serial?) starring my own found super hero teams: The Woodstock Flea Market Fighting Force and The Amsterdam Aristocracy. Will keep keep you posted if/when this actually happens. In the meantime, check the B-Boys vid: