Imaginary Foundation

Hawking Challenges the Need for a designer in Creation

Pierre M�ch� — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:09:00 -0700

In his landmark book, A Brief History of Time (1988), Stephen Hawking leaves many questions unanswered, including Why is there a universe?, Why do we exist? and Did the universe need a designer and creator? In his new book, The Grand Design (out Sep 9, 2010), Hawking answers some of these questions stating that "The Universe can and will create itself from nothing."

The Grand Design is Hawking's first book in more than ten years.

Banksy Applies Pier Pressure

Pierre M�ch� — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:29:00 -0700

Banksy's response to the BP oil spill catastrophe.

The Medium Is The Message

Rufus Daintree — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:52:00 -0700

"Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media with which men communicate than by the content of the communication." –Marshall McLuhan, 1969
This design, in collaboration with our friends at Boing Boing, is a celebration of the t-shirt as a medium. We are all media, so we may as well get good at it

Made with a soft-hand screenprint and lush flock; available for both men and women.

Art, Inspiration, Love, Apotheosis and Engineering Divinity

Pierre M�ch� — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:40:00 -0700

Jason Silva seriously on his game.

To Love Beauty Is to See Light

Pierre M�ch� — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:05:00 -0700

The Light of Life from daihei shibata.

Rub Kandy

Pierre M�ch� — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:03:00 -0700

Italy's Rub Kandy

Katharina Grosse

Pierre M�ch� — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 07:02:00 -0700

Dusseldorf-based artist Katharina Grosse

Bus Stop Symbiosis

Pierre M�ch� — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:15:00 -0700

LIKEarchitects' BusStopSymbiosis is one of the five artistic interventions selected by Scott Burnham to emerge in downtown Porto, Portugal as part of Bairro Criativo. Artists were asked to imagine temporary structures for the public space, aiming to improve people's daily life in the city.

'The Secret of Life' Slideshow

Neville Bennette — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:59:00 -0700

In 1953, James D. Watson and Francis Crick described the structure of a chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. Now–six years after Crick's death–the Wellcome Library in central London is making many of Crick's private research papers available on the web, including an early sketch of the DNA double helix. Check out the BBC slide show here.

Blade Runner Revisited

Everett Ruskin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:46:00 -0700

An experimental film made with 167,819 frames from Ridley Scott's legendary film, Blade Runner.

Tokujin Yoshioka in the Sensing Nature Exhibition

Pierre M�ch� — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:27:00 -0700

Sensing Nature, an exhibition that rethinks the Japanese perception of nature, has just opened at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. Tokujin Yoshioka's contribution gives the viewer the sensation of experiencing light and snow, with fine feathers being blown up by wind then showering down like real snow in a huge 15-meter-wide space.

Season 17 Art Prints

Pierre M�ch� — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:29:00 -0700

Five designs from the new line are now available as art prints: Singularity, Wormhole, Further, New Generation, and Liquid Logo. IF's archival giclèe prints are limited to 500 pieces only. Unlike our t-shirts, they will not be reprinted and once they have sold out will become collectors' items.

Paintings by 7-year-old Fetch $230,000

Mikaela Du Pomzamparc — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:59:00 -0700

An exhibition of paintings by seven-year-old artist Kieron Williamson from Norfolk sold out last month, fetching about £150,000 in half an hour.

Stephen Hawking's Warning

Neville Bennette — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:40:00 -0700

"We may have just 100 to 200 years to figure out how to get off this rock and give our species an interstellar insurance policy," says Cosmic High Roller Stephen Hawking in a fresh interview with BigThink.

Micro sculptures on the tip of pencils

Pierre M�ch� — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 06:04:00 -0700

Dalton Ghetti creates miniature masterpieces on the tips of pencils. Dalton, who works as a carpenter, has been making his tiny graphite works for about 25 years. He uses three basic tools to make his incredible creations - a razor blade, sewing needle and sculpting knife. He even refuses to use a magnifying glass and has never sold any of his work, only given it away to friends.

The Ghost in your Genes - BBC Horizon

Neville Bennette — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:01:00 -0700

Biology stands on the brink of a shift in the understanding of inheritance. The discovery of epigenetics hidden influences upon the genes could affect every aspect of our lives. At the heart of this new field is a simple but contentious idea that genes have a 'memory.' That the lives of your grandparents–the air they breathed, the food they ate, even the things they saw–can directly affect you decades later, despite your never experiencing these things yourself. And that what you do in your lifetime could in turn affect your grandchildren. This fascinating Horizon documentary tells the story of this provocative idea and its paradigm-shifting role in scientific thought.

Imaginary Sponsors the Singularity Summit

Everett Ruskin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:15:00 -0700

The Imaginary Foundation is excited to sponsor the Singularity Summit 2010 in San Francisco August 14-15. The Summit is a rare gathering of thinkers organized to further the understanding of the Singularity scenario. Our new Singularity t-shirt will be avalible at the summit.

The Biomorphic Beauty of Janet Waters

Pierre M�ch� — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 07:59:00 -0700

Janet Waters' liquid and bubbles flickr stream.

A New Generation of Scientists as Romantic as Poets

Pierre M�ch� — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 08:01:00 -0700

Inspired by the trailer for cultural impresario Jason Silva's documentary Turning Into Gods, our New Generation design features a quote by physicist Freeman Dyson envisaging a new age of wonder .

The deeper you look, the deeper you become.

Pierre M�ch� — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 07:33:00 -0700

The embedded "IF" in our new Liquid Logo Design.

Some stories about our new collection

Pierre M�ch� — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:12:00 -0700

Following shortly will be some stories about our recently released collection, some of its context, some of its inspiration and some of its subliminal messages.

Mustache Yarnbomb

Pierre M�ch� — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:39:00 -0700

By Sara Mcguyer

The Enormous Bubbles of Sly Lebulleur

Pierre M�ch� — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:28:00 -0700

Sly Lebulleur makes beautiful, gigantic soap bubbles. Set to music and filmed in slo-mo against a stark forest, Sly’s creations become eerily proto-lifelike. You can see more of his nebulous creations on YouTube and his Flickr stream.

Parkour from the 1930s

Rufus Daintree — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:44:00 -0700

How Parkour looked 80 years ago.

Neil Krug's Photostream

Pierre M�ch� — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:14:00 -0700

Through the use of expired Polaroid film, Neil Krug's photography oozes with '70s warmth.

Dark Matter in the Market for Deeper Property

Mikaela Du Pomzamparc — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:13:00 -0700

Scientists are looking to relocate an underground experiment searching for dark matter to an even deeper site. Cosmic rays striking Earth could completely mask the rare dark matter events sought by the experiment. Team members of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search II (CDMSII) project, want to cut out as much of this cosmic ray interference as possible, even if it means moving the experiment 2km below ground. This could help them positively identify the dark matter particles thought to make up 83% of the universe.

Image: SNOLAB

The Past and Future of Man Machine Interface

Everett Ruskin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:25:00 -0700

It's difficult, IF not impossible, for today’s computer users to recall a time before there was a mouse and graphical user interface. There was a time in our not-too-distant past when computers were not augmenting the human brain and making us more organized, more efficient. Behold the prognosticator of the now and harbinger of the past 40 years of computer science—Douglas Engelbart.

On December 9, 1968, Dr. Engelbart delivered a ground breaking presentation that kicked off one of the most, IF not the most profound era of human history. “The Demo” introduces several technologies, including: the mouse, hypertext, object addressing and dynamic file linking, as well as shared-screen collaboration involving two persons at different sites communicating over a network with an audio and video interface.

It could be argued that this demo by Tan Le could give us a glimpse of the the next 40 years of man machine interface. Le's astonishing new computer interface reads its user's brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and even physical electronics, with mere thoughts!!!!

Literature vs. Traffic

Pierre M�ch� — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:13:00 -0700

Luzinterruptus is an anonymous artistic group who carries out urban interventions in public spaces. In the early hours on February 17, 2010, Luzinterruptus installed 800 illuminated books under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

Scott Rhea's Underwater Photography

Pierre M�ch� — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:47:00 -0700

Scott Rhea's underwater photography series was inspired by his dreams during the floods of Katrina. Rhea's work will be featured in upcoming show "Fashion is Art" at The Chapman in Los Angeles, beginning on Thursday, August 12, 2010.

Active Window

Pierre M�ch� — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:37:00 -0700

Imaginary window at the Active Ride Temecula store.