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February 13 2012
Nano Supermarket 2nd Edition: Call for Products
The NANO Supermarket is evolving! After two successful years touring the globe, the supermarket is now entering its second edition. We are calling upon designers, technologists and artists to submit their speculative nanotech products for the next round of the NANO supermarket. A selection of the most innovative products will be exhibited in the physical space, and featured in the accompanying catalogue. The best product overall will win a € 2500 prize.
Nanotechnology is an important emerging technology – it radically intervenes with our sense of what is natural – yet most people are still relatively unaware of its consequences. The Next Nature NANO Supermarket is a physical “supermarket” that features debate-provoking visions on nanotech products that could be expected to hit the shelves between today and 2020.
Just what is a nano product? Click through for some examples of our past entries:
Self–cleaning windows, contact lenses with a display, smart medicines that are delivered exactly on the spot, molecular printed food, blush–reducing make-up, self–healing anti scratch surfaces, nano-particle tagging spray that may identify your possessions when stolen, cyborg insects, breathing textiles, tooth phones, organic jewelry and implantable microprocessors.
For information and updates, visit nanosupermarket.org.
January 17 2012
Lecture on Next Nature book
Our resident designer Hendrik-Jan Grievink will give a presentation about next nature and our book Next Nature: Nature Changes Along With Us in Amsterdam on february 14th. Yes, we know that’s on Valentines’s Day, but Hendrik-Jan will skip a romantic dinner for this occasion so why can’t you?. So, see you there!
January 13 2012
Bruce Sterling – Next Literature
Click here to view the embedded video.
At the Next Nature Power Show 2011 American Science Fiction writer Bruce Sterling – ‘perhaps the sharpest observer of our media-choked culture working today in any genre’, according to Time Magazine – enlightened us with his vision Next Nature. According to Bruce the emerging of next nature also asks for a next literature.
January 07 2012
What is Next Nature?
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At the Next Nature Power Show 2011, our master of ceremony Koert Van Mensvoort, gave a mini lecture on our changing notion of Nature. Where technology and nature are traditionally seen as opposed, they now appear to merge or even trade places. Time to explore how we can design, build and live in a nature caused by people. More powershow video’s ahead!
December 20 2011
Powershow 2011 in Two Minutes
Click here to view the embedded video.
Last November the Next Nature Power Show rocked Amsterdam with a roller-coaster of performances from artists, scientists, designers, writers and architects.
This two minute compilation video features some (but not all) of its highlights. More pictures here. Individual presenter videos will be published over the coming weeks. For the crew members there is also pinkish backstage fun video.
December 10 2011
Next Nature Fun Pack
Sleek, stylish and thought-provoking, our Fun Pack is the perfect gift for the Next Nature lover in your life. Each set includes the Next Nature book, Real Nature is Not Green DVD, the Fake for Real Memory Game, and a Corporate Animals t-shirt.
Now only €55. Save €20 on the regular price. Swift shipping. Free gift wrapping.
November 27 2011
Next Nature Book Sample
Try before you buy. Browse the sample excerpt of the lustrous Next Nature book containing material from chapter 1 & chapter 3.
Books bricks are currently being shipped across the planet and should arrive in your local bookstore within the next few weeks (depending on your location). Right now, the fastest way to to get a book is to order it through our website. Word up.
November 19 2011
Human Nature Forecast
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The video team of TEDxAmsterdam caught me mid-production and forced me to sit on a chair to respond to their upcoming conference theme: Human Nature. We discussed how people are technological by nature, yet how we also need humane technology to remain human, or become even more human than we are today.
TEDxAmsterdam is held on the 25th of November in the city theater of Amsterdam.
November 16 2011
Powershow 2011 Pictures
On the 5th of November 2011, the Next Nature Power Show rocked the city theater of Amsterdam with a roller-coaster of performances and the launch of the long awaited Next Nature book.
We thank our superb speakers and enthusiastic audience for an unforgettable and amazing evening. In case you missed the show: Sooth yourself with the inferior derivatives (pictures) below. Videos and backstage images are in the pipeline.
Koert van Mensvoort – Crash course Next Nature thinking
Bruce Sterling – Shares his vision on Next Nature
Tracy Metz – Nature is an agreement
Lucy McRay presents Swallowable Parfum (picture Aylin Groenewoud)
Persijn Broersen & Margit Lukács introduce their film Mastering Bambi.
Mark Post – Meet the new Meat
Tuur van Balen – Hacking Yoghurt
Christien Meindertsma – Visualizing the Pig Farm
Rachel Armstrong – Living Architecture.
Christian Schwägerl – RIDING THE ANTHROPOCENE
Studio Smack – Pimp my Planet
Arne Hendriks - THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN
Ronald van Tienhoven – Techno Animism
Gordon Savicic – Web 2.0 Suicide
Mul & De Mul – Gods Browser, the biotechnological sublime
Hendrik-Jan Grievink presents the Next Nature book
Regine Debatty – On stage book review
Crowded bookstore after the show
If the line at the bookstore was too long for you. Get your book here.
Photos by Daphne Channahorn, René Rieger, Regine Debatty & Alyin Groenewoud.
November 11 2011
Next Nature Book Trailer
Click here to view the embedded video.
Pop the champagne! Our must-read coffee table book was officially launched at the delightful and uplifting Next Nature Power Show in Amsterdam.
Pictures and video’s of the event are being developed as we speak. Meanwhile, indulge the lustrous book trailer created by the good people of Studio Smack.
Warp to the book page: NEXTNATURE.NET/BOOK
Lecture @ Next Ecology in Istanbul
If you happen to be in the neighborhood you may want to attend the Next Nature lectures at the Amber Festival in Istanbul. The theme of the festival is ‘Next Ecology’. Yours faithfully will be lecturing on ‘Money as a Medium’.
November 04 2011
One day left: Next Nature in Amsterdam
Living architecture, lab grown meat, swallowable perfume, Facebook suicide, Gods browser and antidepressant yoghurt. Buckle up for the Next Nature Power Show at Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam + the launch of the long awaited Next Nature book.
Warp to the POWERSHOW 2011 WEBSITE or RESERVE YOUR TICKETS online.
Razorius Gillettus in NRC Next
Dutch newspaper NRC Next features a shortened version (in dutch) of the Razorius Gillettus essay, written by Koert van Mensvoort. Download the scan. A longer version of the essay (in english) can be read here.
November 03 2011
Parool Article on Next Nature
Dutch newspaper ‘Het Parool‘ features an article on Next Nature. Great piece. You might want to buy yesterdays newspaper tomorrow. Or you can download the scan.
Who Watches the Watchers?
Click here to view the embedded video.
In The Watchers, the creative geniuses at Studio Smack picture a world where surveillance systems don’t just watch us – they actively judge. Are you a green-coded Conformist or a red-alert Intellectual? The tone is paranoid, but it’s a vivid reminder that our technological systems make us as much as we make them. Autonomous algorithms already control our economy, our internet, and our vacuum cleaners. It’s not a stretch to imagine that autonomous cameras will control our security and social spaces. Make sure to wait for the twist ending.
Studio Smack has previously been featured here for Pimp My Planet, Transparency Suit and the utterly eerie Kapitaal. Check out more of their work at the Next Nature Power Show on Saturday.
November 02 2011
Next Nature Hands Out Performance-Enhancing Pills
Recently Google slapped our site with a warning that “something’s not right here!” It seems that the Drug Enforcement Agency has caught the Next Nature staff handing out baggies of performance-enhancing pills in Amsterdam. How else will our audience be able to handle the Power Show without an artificial boost?
Okay, so we’ve been joking: Google found a potential security leak in our website last week. We fixed it quickly, and a few more days elapsed before the Internet noticed. But we have been distributing these snappy pink flyers. Click through to learn more about the side effects of Next Nature.
We admit that Vitamin E, calcium, and some candy won’t make you better, stronger, or faster.
It’s true, however, that the promise of some mystery substances is a good way to get people to read your flyer.
The Next Nature Power Show is not endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration or Mothers Against Transhumanism.
November 01 2011
Browsing the Technological Sublime
Click here to view the embedded video.
In God’s Browser, Geert Mul uses scores of images pulled from the internet as the frames in an abstract film. Using specially developed image recognition software, Mul creates the illusion of motion between unrelated images. The same software also generates musical notes that vary with the speed and type of the image being displayed.
The result is a hypnotic experience that blends pictures of nature, culture, sunsets, skeletons and supermodels into a portrait of humanity’s collective visual consciousness. The visual power of God’s Browser emphasizes that, in an image-saturated society, the simulation can become just as valuable and meaningful as the “authentic” object. Mul’s work looks, and sounds, like the creation of a virtual world, where God could only connect to the universe from the internet.
Geert Mul will be presenting God’s Brower at the Next Nature Power Show in collaboration with philosopher Jos de Mul. Jos de Mul has previously been featured on Next Nature with his essay The Technological Sublime.
October 29 2011
Body Manipulation and Music
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In her directorial debut, body architect Lucy McRae applies her trademark manipulation of the human form to the Australian group Rat vs. Possum. Using pastel colors, spandex, and cut-outs in a white wall, she turns the deterritorialization of the body into a pop confection. In the past, McRae has made LED clothing that responds to the wearer’s level of excitement, and dresses made from fluid-filled tubes that communicate emotional states.
Lucy McRae will be presenting Swallowable Perfume at the Next Nature Power Show on November 5th.
October 25 2011
Incredibly Shrinking Humanity
Arne Hendricks will be presenting The Incredible Shrinking Man at the Next Nature Power Show on November 5th.
Social erosion, fisheries depletion, deforestation- for the 7 billion people on earth, we’re not just approaching an era of resource scarcity, we’re already there. Except for the lucky few, food, shelter, and even water can be expensive and in short supply. We have tried to address global problems with bigger technologies and bigger laws, but what if we decided to go small? Really small. How would the world change if every human was only 50 centimeters tall?
Since first being featured on Next Nature, Arne Hendricks’ project The Incredible Shrinking Man has gained a half dozen collaborators and an encyclopedic amount of reporting and speculation. The benefits of downsizing the human species are practical and wonderful: We could fit dozens of people in the average bedroom, use sunflowers as edible tables, and wander through a permanent amusement park of giant objects left over from our time as giants. One chicken could provide meals for 100 people. A single apple could power you for an entire day. The world’s current existing renewable energy facilities would be more than adequate to run our tiny brave new world. Not to mention the health benefits. Short people tend to live longer and have a lower risk of cancer than their lanky friends.
Hendricks recognizes the downsides to shrinking the human race. Chief among these concerns are what might happen to our lavish, oversize brains. Homo florensis appears to have had a relatively complex hunter-gather society, despite their hobbit-like proportions, though there’s no guarantee that a significantly smaller brain would function just as well as our existing ones. Scientists would have to figure out a way to decrease the size, but not number, of our neurons.
Our new Lilliputian bodies also lead to more everyday issues. As the pitches of our voices changed, old music and media would sound strangely loud and deep. Hail would be fatal, heavy rain would give us bruises, and house cats would be as threatening as African lions. Of course, given our ingenuity at utilizing resources, it may be that 7 billion tiny humans quickly multiply to 30 billion, and outstrip whatever ecological deliverance Hendricks is hoping for.
Images via k-stalker and seul-le-cinema.
October 24 2011
The Pigeon that Shat the Golden Soap
Ever wished you could take a shower with pigeon poop? Artist Tuur van Balen proposes changing pigeons from flying rats to cleaning agents. A speculative, specially engineered bacteria, as harmless to pigeons as Lactobacillus is to humans, could potentially change pigeon excrement into biological soap.
For Pigeon D’Or, van Balen built a coop that clips to a window, which would allow future apartment dwellers to harvest their very own fresh, pigeon-made soap. Another version of the perch extends over a car’s windshield, inviting the birds to come and rain detergent on glass in need of cleaning. Van Balen’s “bespoke urban disinfection” won him an 2011 Ars Electronica Award of Distinction.
Tuur van Balen will be presenting at the Next Nature Power Show on November 5th. Though he won’t be bringing along any sudsy pigeons, he will be teaching the audience how to make their own anti-depressant yogurt.
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