James Weissinger

In his book "Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age," Jeff Gomez writes that "In journalism, content really is king; what matters is the information. Few would argue for the aesthetic merits of an average newspaper. The cheap pulp is simply a vehicle for transporting the news and events of the day, a vessel into which is poured 'all the news that's fit to print.'"

Gomez's bold and perhaps misguided denunciation of medium aside, he inadvertently points toward the soon-to-be discarded aesthetic form of the newspaper, one thus ripe for exploration. If a newspaper is no longer good at conveying timely news, what is it good for? The PIFAS PLACE POST prods the corpse of print culture with a stick in an attempt to answer this question, presenting award-winning news coverage, comprehensive events listings, personal ads, and tasteful comic strips. "Bomb your blog to hell" and keep up on what's going down in PIFAS PLACE.

Ben Phelan

Cool Devices: Dream Machine 3

Dream Machine 3 deploys vivid multi-phasing LED color strobes, programmed to pulse at speeds ranging beyond visual perception, within a theatrical fog theater. A structure in the visual cortex of the brain is excited by high frequency color shifting, inducing hallucinations of aura-like flowing geometric light patterns within the volume of the fog chamber. The illumination technologies of electronic signage systems amplify individual light therapy technology into a site of group hyper visual entertainment.

Audrey Culp and Katie Miller

PIFAS OBSERVATORY

Installed behind the front windows of the Observatory, Audrey Culp’s dioramas, figure 1 and figure 2a,b, narrate the origin of life in fictional time and space. These dioramas represent the first pair in a continuing series of dioramas dedicated to the creation of new life, each work representing chronological leaps in a fictional evolution. Drawing from scientific visual languages, each object/life form within the piece is assigned behaviors, preferences, repulsions, and potentials. The full characters created for these life-units inspire a visual event that is carried out within the diorama. In this way, much of the composition is informed by the motivations and physical characteristics of the object/life forms themselves, rather than the original creator. As the series progresses, the narrative becomes more complex and the relationship between author and subject, god and his/her creation is redefined.

As you move through Observatory doors you will find Katie Miller’s proposal for a more unnatural creation of life- a biogenetic incubation tank. This large scale diorama serves as a look at one possibility for future procreation- a new genesis, where humans are not created by the miracle of natural procreation but by a biochemical process called “Invent-a-Child.” It could be the birth of a new species, the second coming with a new Adam and Eve awaiting the birth of their baby created by science and the creativity of the human mind.

Brandon Joyce

A question... What do style, sense, innovation, passion, quality and luxury all have in common?

They are all essential ingredients of the world’s most elite consumer products. Unique Concepts® has built its reputation on this idea, offering its customers only the best products that meet this sterling set of standards.

A Unique Concepts® product is something that you never knew existed until you saw it. And once seen, you had to own it, hold it, and cherish it forever. Unique Concepts® products excel at providing unique, conceptual, real-world solutions that span numerous lifestyle categories, including health and wellness, beauty, home, recreation fitness and travel, just to name a few. Whatever the category, however, you have our money-back guarantee that the results will be consistent with our values, principles, and near-totalizing Weltanschaung.

Visit our new kiosks at Pifas Place
and Philadelphia International Airport,
opening this July 10th.

K-Fai Steele and guest faculty Lauren Manooigan

PIFAS Temple

A Place of worship in the Hindu aesthetic, PIFAS Temple is an investigation into the practice of housepet ownership as sublimated ritual.