The edge of the forest

Biologists name it the edge effect; the place where two or more environments meet. Where forest and meadow crossover — where desert and rainforest turn into savanna — where rivers become reeds.

These are the areas teeming with life and biodiversity. And this edge effect is found everywhere, where hip-hop and classical music mix, where pop-culture meets the paintbrush, where code meets culture.

When we look at or think about something, we often look at the center. Everything about the product, the trend from its origin, the demographics to the finest detail, or the technology at its core. But that’s where all the monotony lies. Variety and creativity are found at the edges.

Japanese artist Hiroto Ikeuchi creates costumes out of scrap-electronics.


GoEast teaching Mandarin in Fortnite.


Khruangbin combining Afghan and Thai music influences with rock.

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Half a Jin, Eight Liang

Half a Jin, Eight Liang

Learning Chinese, or any language, makes you more aware of language in general. And one thing that surprised me is that, despite Mandarin being so different from my mother tongue (Dutch), both languages reach for the same units when weighing things: the kilogram (公斤, gōngjīn) and the half-kilogram (斤, jīn). It’s a small thing, but […]
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Cake and Timepieces

Cake and Timepieces

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A candle in Minnesota

A candle in Minnesota

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