Searching for ‘piece of mind’

Sculptures inspired by fishnets, a bicycle with a built-in record player and furniture from discarded road signs. Or go in search of a Piece of Mind.

Well strung

American artist Janet Echelman creates large-scale sculptural installations using age-old net-weaving techniques she learnt from fishermen in India.

The installations are either hand-woven or machine-woven, depending on the requirements of the specific project. The sculptures are often suspended between buildings where they interact with the wind and sunlight in an almost magical way.

When the sculptures are lit at night they add an inspiring light to the sky that resembles the aurora borealis.

Musical feats

Get on your bicycle and leave your iPod at home!

Dutch design trio Feats Per Minute have built a prototype bicycle for enjoying your vinyl collection on the go.

A turntable is built onto the rear wheel of the bicycle, making the record spin when the wheel does. The sound plays out through a horn on the back of the bike.

The record simply screws onto the frame of a 30-year Alpina bike, with a spring-loaded needle to keep it steady.

The catch is that the records won’t play unless you cycle at a consistent speed, which could be challenging.

Yield the signs

Many a rebellious teenager has, at some point, “acquired” a road traffic sign that was given a proud place in their bedroom.

American designer Boris Bally also really likes traffic signs but he upcycles them for a more productive function, turning them into bold pieces of furniture, under his Humanufactured label.

Pieces of Mind

Ji Lee, who works at Facebook, has started the Pieces of Mind project to encourage people to take a moment to find peace of mind.

Pieces of Mind is an open project to place 10 000 tiny meditating Buddha statues in public spaces for others to find. When people (unexpectedly) happen upon these little figurines, the hope is that they will take the time to take a moment to find their own peace of mind.

If you find a Piece of Mind, or choose to place it somewhere, you can also take a photograph of it and upload it to the Pieces of Mind website.