We got a hands-on with these cases at CES and were impressed with how high quality these cases are. The colors on them pop, and the polycarbonate material feels tough. Overall, this is a great new iPhone 4S case series which offers plenty of style, especially when you match them up with GelaSkin’s free wallpapers for your iPhone.

Update 1/22/2012: Check out our full review of GelaSkins Hard Cases

Check out the five new designs above, based on Warhol’s pop and commercial art. In addition to those, Incase is offering up new Warhol wallpapers for the PC or Mac, iPad, and iPhone, featuring more of Warhol’s artwork and some stills from his many movies, including a shot of the Empire State Building from his 8 hour, 5 minute film Empire (a continuous shot of the building at night). Say what you want about that, but it definitely means Warhol was one-of-a-kind. All the more reason to flaunt one of these cases!

Each iPhone 4S case sells for about $40, but there is also a good selection of tablet sleeves, bags, and book jackets to browse through on the site.

Arts, Music, and Technology — what more could we want? The Creators Project  is “a global network dedicated to the celebration of creativity, culture and technology.” The Multi-Day exhibition has been making its way around the world for over a year already. We had the pleasure of checking it out this weekend in New York and there was so much to see,  hear, and touch!

A full day at the Creators Project was just barely enough to see  everything. Below we have highlighted some of our favorite techie exhibits.

Six-Forty by Four-Eighty

Individual glowing block pixels lit up the room while being rearranged on a magnetic wall. The block’s color reacts to touch and communicate with each other to provide an interactive and picturesque experience. If we touch a purple block with one hand then we can change the color of any  other block to purple just by touching it! The blocks use our bodies as conductors to transmit digital information.

Six-Forty by Four-Eighty was produced by Zigelbaum and Coelho in the United States.  For more info, pictures, and videos go to http://zigelbaumcoelho.com/six-forty-by-four-eighty/

Super Pong

How do you reinvent Pong and make it fun enough for 2011 standards? Super Pong. This foosball-like interpretation of pong supports up to eight people around adigital display table (like Microsoft Surface). Each player has a dial controller that moves their [digital] players up and  down. Since it’s a digital display, there are fun animations when players score, as demonstrated by an animation of Pele’s famous moves. SuperUber has brought “minimalistic aesthetics of classic video games to a contemporary audience”

For more info, pictures, and videos see http://www.superuber.com/platform/super-pong/

Freefall Highscore

1.814 seconds, that’s the highscore. This is how long your smartphone or iPod touch has to be literally free falling in order to break the high score. While your phone is dropping, mid-air, free-fall, it’s recording audio and video as well as timing the fall by use of the accelerometer. 1.814 seconds doesn’t sound so high, does it? You’d be surprised.

“If your phone survives an epic fall, the reward isn’t just an adrenaline rush. The player–created protective case becomes a performative sculpture. The acrophobic videos shot by the app during the fall are trophies, proof that players took a risk and pulled it off. These videos are uploaded to YouTube and shared to the internet at large; the chance to go viral by leaning out a twentieth–story window only eggs players on.”

To be clear: Yes, this is the only app that encourages you to put your device in extreme danger. This might be why Apple has rejected it from  the iPhone app store. It’s currently available in the Android marketplace or for Jailbroken iPhones and iPods.

To see the highscore videos and learn more see freefallhighscore.com

Meditation

This was the first time we’ve seen a “Meditation” wall, but we’re hoping  it’s not our last. The wall displays three red projections with circles that ripple outward and and respond to our movements. “The entrancing  visuals and soothing sound help quiet the mind and redirect our attention inward towards a meditative state.”

Meditation is by Minha Yang of Korea, to see videos and learn more go to 21dish.com/

Life on Mars Revisited

David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” Music Video has been recut by Director Barney Clay and rock photographer Mick Rock to immerse the viewer in a 360 degree music video. Viewers are situated in a room with four video walls, while the video and music plays all around. This was a music video like never before.

For videos and more info on Life on Mars see http://thecreatorsproject.com/creators/mick-rock-and-barney-clay

Soil

Soil is a multi-paneled see-saw floor. It’s composed of sixty floors and it makes you feel as if you’re walking on water due to the ingenious see-saw like design. The platform is made of a reflective aluminum that projects a water-like reflection on to the walls. Soil supported up to fifteen people on the platform at a time.

Soil was designed by Cantoni and Crescenti, for more pictures, videos, and info see http://www.cantoni-crescenti.com.br/

DisKinect

What happens when you hack an XBOX motion sensing Kinect? You can make robots imitate your every move, as Team DisKinect has demonstrated. While the Robot wasn’t able to keep up with all of our moves, it was fun having it try. The robot puppet is four feet and suspended in mid-air.

For more info, pictures, and videos see http://diskinect.wordpress.com/

We recommend taking a look at TheCreatorsProject.com to see and learn more about all of the exciting projects. Look out for  it in the future at a location near you, it’s free! The next exhibition will be on October 29th in Paris, France.

Additional Pictures

Samsung has teamed up with Planar to develop this new display technology which they have actually been working on, for as far back as five years. The two display manufacturers have been working together to develop panels that are much higher in resolution than your standard television display, and that are able to reproduce the artists original colors and vision – down to even the texture of the display. We got a hands-on with two of the prototype models and the visuals on these SM’ART Gallery Panels are colorful and sharp. The prototypes include a 21.9″ x 33.9″ tall display with a 1:1.5 aspect ratio, and a 48″ x 27″ display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The displays will not only be cutting edge, but they will also be green devices that are able to turn on and off by themselves, and they will come with built in motion and proximity sensors, along with ambient light sensors.

Samsung has big plans for these new panels and believes that a whole new category of products will be developed from them. To that effect, they are already working with artists and licensing companies with the ultimate goal of creating a cloud-based service where buyers can easily browse and purchase fine art, right from their SM’ART panels

Ultimately, Samsung believes that SM’ART Gallery Panels can also offer more exposure for fine artists and their art, and they believe that the panels also have the potential to create a whole new wave of digital artists that are designing for this new medium – or as Samsung likes to call them – SM’ARTISTS.

So far Samsung says that the artists they have approached have been very receptive to this technology because the displays are able to capture and recreate the artist’s vision so well. Samsung expects to bring the first Samsung SM’ART Gallery Panels to market this coming Spring or Summer. They wouldn’t go into details about pricing, but you can expect the first generation of SM’ART Gallery Panels to be expensive, and they are guaranteed to cost a lot more than your average LCD television.

In the future will fine art galleries use  Samsung SM’ART Gallery Panels instead of canvas? We think that this is very likely the case. After all, it’s a natural evolution that was bound to happen sooner or later.

Polaroid’s Instant Printers have always unleashed the creative artist inside of its users, and now a new exhibit celebrates artwork by artists, designers, photographers, actors and musicians, who have all used Lady Gaga’s GL10 printer to create unique works of art. Some of the well-known celebs who have contributed to this new Made in Polaroid exhibit include Tyra Banks, James Franco, Viggo Mortensen, along with designers Cynthia Rowley and Phillip Lim (the designer behind that rabbit fur iPad case from earlier this week).

The exhibit’s collection includes everything from single mounted images to multi-print mosaics – to even a dress made out of Polaroid Prints! And all of these works were created exclusively, using Lady Gaga’s Polaroid GL10 Instant Mobile printer that we reviewed recently. The GL10 is the first product to finally arrive from Lady Gaga’s Grey Label line.

“It’s very interesting to me that at this moment in time the new Polaroid G10 printer arrives and re-objectifies the photograph, literally making an object, a paper photograph,” said participating photographer Matthew Rolston. “We seem to be headed toward a paperless world of visual communication and yet here we have an exciting new product that re-invigorates the thought of trading imagery – actual photographs that we hold in our hands – with each other.”

The exhibit runs through September 14th and is open to the public at Phillips de Pury & Company’s gallery at 450 West 15th Street in New York. On the 14th, the pieces will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to Free Arts NYC, which is an organization that offers arts and mentoring programs to children.

LEGO Patience and Fortitude each consist of 30,000 LEGO blocks – 60,000 in total. However, these incredible sculptures certainly don’t outshine the original lion kings that stand in front of the library, and they are set further back near the entrance as to not overshadow the originals.

LEGO Patience and Fortitude will sit proudly flanking the library entrance for this entire weekend before moving inside. When speaking to Sawaya he stated that he was “honored” to be able to create these sculptures for the library and if they end up in the children’s area of the library or wherever… he was just thrilled to be asked.

So if you happen to be in the NYC area – I highly suggest stopping by and taking a look at this impressive feat and who knows – you may actually read a book while you are there! Now the New York Public Library will be famous for at-least two things… Carrie’s failed first attempt of a wedding, and LEGO.

Microsoft hardware has unveiled a new series of mice that aren’t just colorful, they are actually works of art. The company’s design team actually commissioned five of their favorite artists to produce six different mice as part of the Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 Studio Series Artist Edition. Yep, that is a mouth full. The artwork that adorns each mouse was designed specifically for the mouse’s form-factor. The artists themselves include a diverse selection of artists with different backgrounds from around the world, and that is very apparent in the different mice patterns, which are each beautiful and unique in their own way. The artists that worked on the mice are Kirra Jamison, Matt Moore, Linn Olofsdotter, Mike Perry and Jonny Wan, and each one of the mice has the artist’s signature subtly adorning the bottom side of the mouse.

Dressing up wireless mice with colors and patterns is nothing new, but the fact that Microsoft collaborated with special artists to design the patterns for the mice is what is especially neat. Matching wallpaper for each of the designs are also available to download online for free, so if you like the artwork you see on the mice, you can download it to customize your desktop with. The mice themselves features an eight month battery life on just a single AA battery, along with BlueTrack technology which enables the mouse to track on practically any type of surface. Plus, the mouse sports a convenient plug-and-go Nano transceiver that can be stashed in the based of the device. The Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 Studio Series Artist Edition will retail for $29.99 online, while the mice designed by Mike Perry are Best Buy exclusives.

Below are a few step of what went into converting a pair of sneakers into a pair of speakers:

1. Dismantle the amp and speakers

2. Meticulously take apart the control panel, switches, nodules and input sockets (checking at each stage to make sure things still worked – and solving any problems)

3. Mark on the sneakers where I was going to cut out the holes for the speaker cones, and then very carefully cut out using a scalpel

4. Gut the inside of the sole unit to fit the amp and mark the outside of the midsole to fit all the volume controls and LED (again making sure all was still working)

5. Mark and cut out the holes for the on/off switch and the audio input/output sockets

6. Design the wooden stands, cut them out, sand, clean, varnish and assemble them

7. Attach the sneakers and run the power cables through the stands

8. Fit the speakers and rig all the wires with a soldering iron and heat seal shrink rubber tubing (of which there were about 30 soldered joints)

9. Make bespoke phono cables, as standard cables are just black

10. Add a small plaque, depicting what does what on the sneaker control panel

Who knew sneakers could also make killer speakers. If only Michael Jordan knew.

Via [ Art & Sole]

Tumi is spraying some graffiti onto its line-up of typically black luggage. Their latest collaboration with urban artist “Crash” has led to the debut of the Crash Matos Limited Edition Travel cases. It might seem like an odd match between a typically corporate style case manufacturer and a graffiti-inspired artist, but quite honestly it’s a beautiful union that has produced some stunning looking limited edition cases. We are no strangers to this line-up of luggage since we reported on it previously.

This past week actually got to touch and look at the luggage in person as well as get a hands on with a snazzy Crash Matos Limited Edition iPhone 4 case. Unlike typical events, the coming out party for the Tumi Tag Limited Edition luggage had virtual graffiti art being drawn on the walls, specialty tequila drinks being poured, and artwork being auctioned off to benefit the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA). There was also video projected onto brick walls. The entire experience immersed you into Crash Matos’s world but never strayed from the star of the hour, the limited edition luggage which consists of four packing cases: a 20” international carry-on, a two wheeled 20” international carry-on, a 25” medium trip packing case and a 29” extended trip packing case. There will only be 1,000 pieces of each style made along with the iPhone 4 case. Now the real question is, will this luggage be too beautiful that you’ll sweat when having to check it into baggage?

Tumi  – normally known for their drab black luggage, backpacks and carry-ons, has decided to get trendy and enlist New York graffiti artist John “Crash” Matos. The Tumi Tag is a limited edition series that not only features four unique and highly stylized durable hardside cases that are either carry-ons with wheels or packing cases, but there is also a matching iPhone case to boot! I’m sure you never anticipated matching your luggage to your phone.

There will only be a 1000 of these made, but one thing is for sure, your piece of luggage will certainly stand out from the others on the conveyor belt. But if you still somehow forget what your luggage looks like – you can just look at your iPhone for reference. The Tumi Tag luggage retails from $445 to $595.

We tested out the Tank Mondrian headphones, which was designed with creative direction from AERIAL7 ambassador Josh Madden and is inspired by the artwork of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.

“The Headphone idea came about when Mondrian kept showing up in my life repeatedly. Mondrian has been in my life for years, growing up in an art and music family. For some reason the work has always felt like the future and the past all at once to me,” – Josh Madden

The Aerial7 Tank Mondrian Headphones come with a straight cable featuring a mic and control button for Apple iOS, Android, and BlackBerry devices. The button can pause/play, skip tracks (double and triple click), and answer or end a call. The Tank’s also come with a coiled cable for any other device and a quarter inch plug adapter. The headphones have large squishy ear cups which are comfortable enough to wear all day. I can also say from experience, they function as pretty good ear muffs in the winter. The headphone cable is attached to the left ear bud only; it’s eight inches long, and there’s a standard 3.5mm plug that the interchangeable cables plug into.

The build quality of the headphones is pretty solid; they have some nice weight to them and don’t feel cheap. The casing is constructed of a sturdy, yet soft, matte plastic. The ear cups can swivel on three axes, giving you the freedom to listen to one ear cup as a DJ would. This also allows you to fold the headphones up when it’s time to store them. It comes with a silk drawstring pouch for added protection. It also comes with a headphone splitter.

If you’re not an audiophile and not expecting the highest-fidelity audio quality, you’ll be pleased with the performance. The sound quality is pretty good. The bass is certainly present and does not overshadow the music. The mids sound a bit muffled, and the highs could be clearer. You can’t hear any noticeable distortion in the music, which is good too. The microphone works perfectly for phone calls. It’s well placed at neck level and sounds just as good as Apple’s earbuds. The button, on the other hand, has very flaky feedback. The one press functions always works fine (play/pause/answer call/end call or holding the button brings up voice control). The double and triple press functions, for skipping tracks, is extremely finicky; and often times it just doesn’t work, and sometimes it even raises and lowers the volume. This was tested on an iPhone running iOS 4.1.

The Aerial7 Tank Headphones are available in 8 awesome designs, including a Hello Kitty version. The colorful model that we reviewed (and more-or-less loved) is the TANK MONDRIAN. They retail for $80 – $90 but can be purchased on Amazon for $70-$75. The Aerial7 Tank series has designs like no other headphones out there, plus they’re extremely comfortable, but considering the audio quality is not amazing, this price point is a bit high. The mic and control button does add a lot of value to the headphones though, even if the button does not always work perfectly.

The Good: Comfortable, well built, awesome designs, includes interchangeable cables and carrying case, iOS/BlackBerry/Android remote and mic.

The Bad: Pricey for the just-decent sound quality, shoddy remote button.

Who doesn’t love Tetris? In fact I still find myself playing the classic game once and awhile. But aside from playing the game, wouldn’t it be fun to have Tetris adorn your walls? Come on, I bet you have thought about it atleast once. The famous Tetriminos are being offered by Walls360 as Interactive Wall Art for real-world walls.  The Tetris wall graphics, are movable and “playable.”  The wall art graphics are offered in the shape of all seven Tetrimino pieces, ranging in size from 4” to 12” squares. Sets range between $35 and $195 each. And the best part is, the more abstract ways you place the Tetrimino’s on your walls, the cooler it will look – no game over here.

Oh that Nathan Sawaya aka the Brickartist, when he starts to plays with LEGO bricks, you just don’t know what he is going to get himself into. His latest creation is a bedroom set made entirely out of LEGO bricks right down to the pillow – ouch! There is a nightstand, a bed, and even a bedspread. Nathan states he was commissioned to do this piece….My only question is why? Unless there is a human size minifig somewhere that needs a place to sleep.

San Francisco Bay area based sculptor Adam Reeder has come out with two 7 inch bronze statues that every iPod aficionado will appreciate. The two bronzes are actually variations on previously popular sculptures and include “Pan with his iPod” and “Atlas’ giant iPod”. The bronzes depict Pan dancing and singing to his iPad, and Atlas holding up a giant-sized iPod. This time around Adam has made his art more accessible to the average geek by opting to make 7″ sculptures instead of just massive expensive ones.

Adam said “The body of work is about the fact that iPods, iPhones and iPads, have changed the way we interact with our world. This technology is also ubiquitous. The iPod is a recognizable symbol which will resonate for a generation, like the Super Mario Bro music resonates with my generation. The 7 inch height makes them perfect for a desk or mantle. It is also priced to be more available to us average tech loving greater geeks.

Only in Vegas could you find a $71,000 Lego version of the iconic Red Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld, which is actually 6% bigger than the original version and comes with an aluminum frame. Rietveld originally designed his chair for a wide public, but copyright laws prevented the Lego version from being mass-produced. This Lego version was created by designer Mario Minale and is available for purchase at droog in Las Vegas.

I don’t know anything about my computer in that sense, I couldn’t reassemble it. I have other people around me who know how to do that. But I know the technology, and it fascinates me to know what is inside the computer, as well as how the individual components work – which is obviously relevant to my work because I use the parts, not the whole. It’s like with a car, I drive it, and understand the individual parts, but I wouldn’t start to work as a repair man. But I’m happy with what I do know.

If you happen to be in NYC,  Franco Recchia’s work can be seen at Agora Gallery in the exhibition The Odyssey Within: An Exhibition of Fine Art by Greek and Italian Artists this Thursday, December 16, 2010 until January 7, 2011.

These limited edition cases from a co-op initiative between Griffin and Threadless are actually inspired by T-shirt designs, and believe it or not, that translates into some very artsy and very hip iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G cases. The cases retail for $34.99 each.

Who doesn’t love dolphins? I certainly do and apparently Nathan Sawaya, the famous LEGO artist loves them also. So when the Make-A-Wish foundation came knocking, it took no effort on Sawaya’s part to make one for a little girl who not only loves dolphins, but LEGO’s too. So not only did this wish come true for this little girl, but this dolphin might last forever and never be endangered – unless Minifigs start LEGO dolphin hunting.

The Guggenheim has always been known for their modern art exhibits.  So it almost seems appropriate for them to be exhibiting artistic videos, and what better source than from YouTube? YouTube Play A Biennial of Creative Video, is a showcase of the top 25 videos from around the world that visualize something unique, innovative, and groundbreaking.  In collaboration with HP, YouTube Play attracted hundreds of entries and then had a jury pick the top 25 videos, which are currently on display from October 22nd to October 24th for your viewing pleasure.  So be sure to check out this unique experience, however if you won’t be in NYC anytime soon – You can head right over to the YouTube Play section of the Guggenheim and check out some of the winners for yourself.

Air Humidifiers aren’t usually very attractive. They are just meant to help you breath better and keep your air clean of toxins and allergens. However RabbitAir has added their own flair to the portable humidifier by making them stylish. The MinusA2 Artist Series of RabbitAir Humidifiers features 5 different artist inspired designs ranging from Gustav Klimt to Katsushika. The imagery used will aid in giving you a calming and soothing feeling everytime you look at your humidifier, yet it will still clear your air of pollen, dust and smoke. Who knew humidifiers could also look like works of art.  The MinusA2 Artists Series retails for $569.95. However for that price, maybe you should buy the real canvas….