Benetton's controversial UNHATE campaign

A new campaign from Benetton is recalling the brand's controversial heyday. A series of posters features world leaders with lips locked to launch the UNHATE project.

Benetton, says the accompanying press material, is inviting "the leaders and citizens of the world to combat the 'culture of hatred'". The UNHATE campaign is the first initiative from a new Benetton foundation of the same name, launched by Alessandro Benetton, executive deputy chairman of the Benetton Group.

The posters, created by Benetton's 'research communication centre' Fabrica in cooperation with 72andSunny, feature political and spiritual leaders kissing. According to Benetton "These are symbolic images of reconciliation - with a touch of ironic hope and constructive provocation - to stimulate reflection on how politics, faith and ideas, even when they are divergent and mutually opposed, must still lead to dialogue and mediation."

The campaign also includes social media activity in the name of the Kiss Wall, where users can upload images of themselves kissing.

Following outrage and pressure from the Vatican, Benetton has reportedly withdrawn the poster featuring the Pope kissing Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb. Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi has been quoted in various sources criticising the company for exploiting the Pope's image.

To read more visit Creative Review.

Tiger & Turtle – Magic Mountain

German artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth have completed designs for “Tiger & Turtle – Magic Mountain” in Duisburg, Germany.

The walkable, large outdoor sculpture Tiger & Turtle – Magic Mountain is currently in construction on the Heinrich Hildebrand Höhe in Duisburg Wanheim (D). It overtops the plateau with the artificially heaped-up mountain by 21 metres so the visitor can rise by more than 45metres above the level of the landscape and enjoy an impressive view over the Rhine.

The curved flight of stairs inscribes like a signature on the landscape and plays upon the iconic nimbus of the classical roller coaster. Visitors climb the roller-coaster-sculpture on foot via differently steep steps. So the sculpture subtly and ironically plays with the feelings of promise and disappointment, mobility and standstill, just like a real roller coaster. Visitors happen to briefly meet with oncoming visitors on the steep 1 metre wide corridors. LED-lights are integrated in the handrails and highlight the flight of stairs so the sculpture is accessible at night, too.

To read more visit Contemporist. Photography by Eichental.

Tesco launch augmented reality programme

British retailer Tesco is launching an ambitious augmented reality programme today that will let consumers see 3D images of more than 40 products online.

The technology requires a browser plugin then, after that consumers have to use a “marker” like a Tesco catalog or club card to active the augmented reality (AR). Users can then hold up images from the catalogue to their computer’s webcam to see a floating 3D version of the product.

For instance, an image of a TV set in the catalogue can be expanded onscreen so you can see its actual size and what it looks like on the back. The AR also lets you play with onscreen LEGO sets. Tesco worked with British tech firm Kishino on the project.

Tesco’s foray into AR comes as the technology recently made some serious inroads in the U.S. In one of the most high-profile AR pushes yet, Starbucks launched a Christmas programme this month that uses an iOS-based app to make its red holiday coffee cups project images of animated characters.

To use the programme click here, or to read more visit Mashable.

Photography in abundance

Dutch artist Erik Kessels has printed out and placed one million photographs from Flickr in a room for his unusual installation Photography in Abundance.

He created the mountain of pictures to illustrate how many we share over the internet in only 24 hours.The million uploads are a mere drop in the ocean compared to the estimated total of 6billion images on Flickr, which is the same suspected number added to Facebook every two months.

‘We’re exposed to an overload of images nowadays," The Dutchman explained. "This glut is in large part the result of image-sharing sites like Flickr, networking sites like Facebook and picture-based search engines. Their content mingles public and private, with the very personal being openly and not self-consciously displayed. By printing all the images uploaded in a 24-hour period, I visualise the feeling of drowning in representations of other people’s experiences."

The Photography In Abundance installation is part of the What’s Next display at Foam Amsterdam throughout November 2011.

To read more about Kessels Installation or to see more of the Foam photography visit Metro Online or Foam.

Behind the Tweets: New Twitter Site Reveals Users’ Stories

Last week Twitter unveiled a collection of Twitter Stories designed to remind users “of the humanity behind Tweets that make the world smaller.” There are currently just under 20 short vignettes gathered at stories.twitter.com. And these vignettes are indeed short: between 100 and 150 words in most cases, fitting for a service known for imposing a 140-character limit on all posts.

There are some truly heart warming tales, from the man who saved his mother’s bookstore to movie critic Roger Ebert’s creative use of the service after he lost his voice. Visitors to the site can even read the first Tweet send from space. The tales demonstrate the power of social media and just how life-chaging it can be. At just 140 characters they are definitely worth a read!

To read more visit Twitter Stories.

Interview: Clet Abraham

British born Frenchman Clet Abraham is a plastic artistic who is transforming the traffic signs across the world with a political, religious and philosophic understanding. Flo'N the GO found out some more about Abraham and his work - to read the full interview click here.

When did you begin to do this kind of art?
One year ago. I was crossing the city driving my car and started to think how stupid and primitive were the traffic signs that were ruling me. They told us: you can’t go there, you must turn left or right and nothing more. I decided to give them another meaning, a reading grade  was what they lacked.

Where around the world is your work visable today?
 Florence, Torino, London and Valencia. Next year, I expect to work in more European countries.

What was the first sign you 'adapted'?
The Jesus Christ, but it was stolen from the Piazza Michelangelo and I did the other about Virgin Mary and Maria Madalena.

Where do you draw your influences from?
 I was influenced by Classicism and Surrealism. Maybe the artist that most influenced me was Pieter Buegel. Besides he didn’t have a perfect manual capacity, his work told something to people.

What is your opinion on urban art?
 I think that general rules are wrong, we shouldn’t say that all is forbidden but that some things are and others not. Urban art always there was and always there will be. Also the David sculpture, of Michelangelo, is urban art.

To read the full article visit Flo'N the Go.

Young Designers Competition - Conceptual Experiential Structure

To tie in with their arrival to the North West and to build on their continued support of Salford University, Whitecircle are announcing a student design competition. More information about the will be posted on Whitecircle's Facebook and Twitter pages in the coming weeks.

To find about other projects Whitecircle are involved in or to learn more about their solutions, services and exhibitions visit www.whitecircleltd.com.

Starbucks Christmas Augmented Reality App

Starbucks is launching its first major augmented reality app this Chrsitmas that will let customers animate their coffee cups with their smartphones.

Starbucks Cup Magic launches for iPhone and Android devices in the US next Tuesday and it is hoped if successful the app will be made available in the UK. As demonstrated in the video, the app works by pointing your phone’s camera at the company’s red festive coffee cups and 47 additional objects, such as bags of coffee, on display at Starbucks retail locations.

Doing so will produce animations involving five characters — an ice skater, a squirrel, a boy and a dog sledding and a fox — on your screen. You can also interact with the characters. For instance, if you tap the boy on the sled he does a somersault. Those who activate all five characters can qualify to win an as-yet-unnamed prize.

Cup Magic, created by Blast Radius, caps off a year of successful mobile implementations by Starbucks. The brand launched a mobile payment app in January that has been used in more than 20 million transactions and a QR code program designed, like Starbucks Cup Magic, to enhance the in-store brand experience.

To see more please visit Mashable.