Shop Talk

First up, I need to site another brilliant article I came across on Yahoo! written by Ian Dunt, which drove me to write the below. So, we’ve all eaten our hats over the last few weeks haven’t we? We’ve be so bloody happy! We’ve moved from mad cynicism (me more than anyone – check out my last post) to pure elation as we saw superior human beings from around the globe triumph in acts of brutal athleticism. Who would have thought...

What a two weeks it has been. As some of you may have seen on my Facebook wall Sunday night, admittedly after a glass or two, my emotions ran away with me and I described the games as “amazing, emotional and simply wonderful”. But looking back at that statement and the hangover that seemed to be lingering in the air this week I think I got it pretty bang on! And my status at 12:47 Monday morning was clearly...

On Wednesday STL companion Matthew Wood spent the day at ‘Designed in Hackney’. Here are a few of his highlights: This week Dezeen – in collaboration with Beatice Galilee – hosted an event to celebrate all things designed in Hackney. The event focused on emerging young architects and designers whose work ranges from shoe design to Olympic Park installations. Hackney is known widely for its diverse creative industry and as we soon found out, even the Olympic Torch was...

Friends of STL and art curators, Goddard Harlech, host their very first exhibition next week. Formed by two friends and Central Saint Martins grads, Joe Goddard and Jasset Harlech, their aim is simple – “find and nurture talented emerging artists through exhibitions, private shows and commissioned work.” They work with artists across painting, illustration, printmaking and photography. Their opening exhibition, Good Hunting: Season One, is a topical exploration of social attitudes and British culture within urban environments. The artists have been selected based on their chosen...

Inflatable Stonehenge (21st July – 12th Aug) Turner-prize-winning Jeremy Dueller is treating us to a huge inflatable bouncy Stonehenge this weekend (http://sacrilege2012.co.uk/) as part of the London 2012 Festival celebrations. Being the rockstar that it is, this life-sized replica will be touring the city from Greenwich and Clapham to Westminster and Ally Pally. Warning: this thing comes with kids. Shoreditch Festival, Regent’s Canal (21st – 22nd July) Shoreditch will be bursting at the seams this weekend for Shoreditch Festival along Regent’s Canal (http://www.shoreditchfestival.org.uk/). In collaboration with...

The more than 10,000 athletes at this year’s London Olympics will receive free condoms in the Olympic Village from Durex, the world’s top-selling brand and part of England’s Reckitt Benckiser Group. But Reckitt Benckiser isn’t trumpeting its tie to the event, traditionally a marketing bonanza for big brands such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. “We’re restricted by the Olympics’ organising committee guidelines on what we can and can’t say,” says company spokeswoman Andraea Dawson-Shepherd. And Reckitt Benckiser are not the...

Check out this teaser video for Google Chrome’s new ‘Web Lab‘ which will be exhibiting for a year in the Science Museum, London later this summer. The great thing is that if you aren’t fortunate to live in this great city you can still experience it by interacting through the website (that’s if you can tear yourself away from Chrome’s other experiments, like the ‘Circle Game‘…seriously don’t click that link…it’s addictive.) The project looks very exciting indeed. “Web Lab is made of up...

Shard laser show London’s horizon will alight with lasers this evening for the inauguration of the Shard. Regardless of whether you think Sauron’s offspring is easy on the eye or just an eyesore, the 309 metre tall tower promises to be quite the spectacle. Lasers will beam across the city, highlighting landmarks like the Gherkin, St Paul’s and London Eye to the sound of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The party kicks off at 10.15pm so grab yourself a good...