Essential technology

From spa-like bath tubs to slick vacuum cleaners, a selection of gadgets for the body and mind

CordZeroThinQ A9 Kompressor

Vacuum cleaners have come a long way from the bulky eyesores of yore, as LG’s latest cordless stick vacuum, the LG CordZeroThinQ A9 Kompressor, proves. The new upgraded model is suitable for all types of floors and comes with a new sleek charging station that automatically cleans out and recharges the vacuum after every use. The new CordZeroThinQ A9 Kompressor+ comes with six accessories and nozzles, including the 2-in-1 Combination Tool, the Crevice Tool and the Pet Nozzle, which can all be stored within the vacuum’s multi-functional stand. Other attachments include the Power Carpet Nozzle, which removes dust from carpets using powerful suction; as well as the Power Mop attachment, which promises spotless hard floors. One-touch controls, two quick-change battery packs and removable washable filters also enhance this machine’s ease-of-use and effectiveness.

Launch date yet to be revealed, www.lg.com

Kohler Stillness Bath

Kohler’s efforts to transform our bathrooms into spa-like havens continue with the brand’s new Stillness Bath. Inspired by Japanese forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, the bath combines water, steam, lighting and aroma for the ultimate at-home indulgence. Designed to “relax the mind, soothe the body, and renew the spirit”, while transforming the bathing ritual into an exercise in mindfulness, the bath fills from the bottom, before overflowing into a wooden moat to create a soothing sound. The bath is surrounded by full spectrum lighting to set the mood and enable its users to engage in a spot of chromatherapy. Finally, fog envelops the surface of the bath to create a fully immersive experience, which can be enhanced with the addition of aromatherapy oils.

Stillness bath, launching later this year, www.me.kohler.com

Wave Plus

We spend 90 per cent of our time indoors, where the quality of the air is often two to five times worse than it is outdoors, according to Airthings. In response, the company has launched a series of devices designed to monitor indoor air quality, and alert users if anything is awry. The award-winning Wave Plus has six sensors, which measure radon, CO2, VOCs, humidity, temperature and air pressure. Waving your hand in front of the device will prompt it to give you a visual indication of overall indoor air quality – it will light up green, orange or red, depending on its assessment. A companion app allows full visibility into your short and long-term indoor air quality levels, and allows you to view, compare and export data, as well as receive tips to reduce indoor air hazards, optimise ventilation and save on energy costs.

Wave Plus, $229, www.airthings.com

Foreo Bear

Cementing its position as a leader in futuristic skincare solutions, Swedish brand Foreo has unveiled the Bear and Bear Mini. The two facial toning devices are part of what Foreo claims is a completely new category: facial fitness. They use a combination of microcurrent and T-sonic pulsation technology to tighten and firm more than 69 muscles in the face and neck – the microcurrents tone the skin, while Foreo’s signature T-sonic pulsations relax facial muscle tension points, smoothing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The devices have five intensity levels, which can be adjusted via Foreo’s For You app. An Anti-Shock System, featuring technology patented by Foreo, adapts the treatment to the skin, protecting it from uncomfortable discharges. Bear comes in a peppy shade of fuchsia, while Bear Mini is available in pearl pink and lavender.

Bear, Dh1,350, Sephora stores across the UAE and www.sephora.ae; Bear Mini, Dh900,www.sephora.ae

Trova Home

If you need to keep personal or private belongings somewhere safe – shielded from the prying eyes of the kids or the jaws of your rambunctious puppy, for example – Trova has you covered. The company offers beautifully designed and discreet storage devices: Trova Go is small enough to fit in your pocket or hand bag, while Trova Home is a biometric smart home safe that doubles as a striking interior design feature. Measuring 36.8 centimetres x 19cm x 10.8cm and made from lightweight aluminium alloy, Trova Home can be bolted down to any surface, has a humidity sensor, and can be accessed using a “tap to open” feature on your phone. The device, which comes in sandstone and charcoal versions, is wirelessly connected via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and accessible through biometric scanning – it pairs with an app on your phone, where you input a thumb print, retina scan or pin code to access the device. It also has a smart notification feature, alerting you if the device has been disconnected or left open; or if it has been moved or used by someone else.

$549, launching in July, www.trovaofficial.com

The komboloi: part stress toy, part status symbol

It’s spring 2012 and on the Aegean island of Rhodes, an earnest Greek shopowner clutching a fistful of worry beads tells me: “Yes, there is a problem, but we didn’t cause the problem.”

Greece’s debt crisis was in full swing and people were feeling the pinch. Three months before, the country was bailed out to the tune of €240 billion ($290bn). But what caught my eye were the beads. Were they for praying? Breaking off from his tirade, laughing, he said no, and then effortlessly made the loop of black stones dance through his fingers.

Like a child who had been shown a card trick or a disappearing coin, I asked to try. The beads rattled and clicked but became tangled around my fingers. Clearly, more practice was required. So began a love affair with the Greek komboloi.

This part of Greek and Cypriot culture doesn’t enjoy the same recognition as the Parthenon or sunsets on Santorini, but the loops of odd-numbered beads are a peculiar mix of pastime, stress toy, good-luck charm, heirloom, anti-smoking aid and – in their more expensive versions – status symbol.

In the Middle East, we are familiar with the misbaha, the strings of beads used in Islamic prayer. Greeks, who spent centuries under Muslim Ottoman rule, eventually adopted these beads, but their use and meaning changed radically.

Eleni Evangelinou of the Komboloi Museum in Nafplio draws a clear distinction between the Greek komboloi and other beads or rosaries used for prayer. “Greeks took this object – the Muslim prayer beads – and turned it into something completely different, into something that had nothing to do with prayer or religion. They gave the beads space to move freely on the rope ... they created a happy ‘game’.”

In village squares across Greece and Cyprus, older men – and it is mostly men – can be seen chewing the fat, strings of komboloi hanging from their hands or making a soothing, clicking sound as their owners let the stones slip through their fingers, one by one. 

But this image of the sleepy village grandfather with his beads is being supplanted by a new wave of komboloi designers, workshops and online stores that are offering a fresh take on this distinctive accessory for men – and, increasingly, women – sometimes as far away as the US or Australia.

One of these far-flung komboloi suppliers is Jon Lambousis, who opened his Komboloi Shop in Melbourne in 2019. The son of Greek immigrants, he makes his kombologia by hand, and is clearly a man with a mission. “The previous generation, as well as some people in the older range of my generation, unfortunately are stuck in the past with the misconception that the komboloi is solely for old men,” he tells me. “It certainly is not the case in Greece and not the case here in Australia, either.

“My job is to dispel that myth and that was the idea behind the store, to create modern designs whilst embracing traditions to reintroduce the komboloi to the next generations.”

Lambousis also sees the komboloi’s use and function changing as his customer base expands to include younger people and more women. “A lot of the derivative products, such as komboloi-inspired bracelets and necklaces, have become very popular, as well as hybrid kombologia that can be worn as bracelets,” he says. “Also, key rings are popular, as are kombologia as handbag ornaments. Overall, the komboloi is becoming an everyday carry item for a lot of people.”

The portable, everyday nature of the komboloi, some of which can be bought for as little as €2 at newspaper kiosks across Greece, helps to make it a sought-after present to mark special occasions such as birthdays, weddings or graduations. 

One supplier, the Kombologadiko chain in Greece and Cyprus, also offers a shorter, open-looped version – called begleri – as a party favour or gift for wedding guests, all presented in attractive bags and packaging. Eva Ieropoulou of Kombologadiko says that the relaxing, “anxiolytic” effect of playing with a komboloi is coming into its own during the pandemic. “We stay mainly at home so we need something to occupy our thoughts and our hands,” she says.

In Cyprus, Yiannis Ioannou says his online Kombologia business has experienced an increase in custom orders during the pandemic “since people had more time to choose and customise the designs of their preference”.

Despite some komboloi costing hundreds of euros – Lambousis’s Baltic amber versions go for about €540 – Ioannou, an engineer by training, has had no trouble attracting customers looking for high-end worry beads. And, with no little irony, the beads that came from the Islamic tradition are finding their way back to the East. “The most popular kombologia for Greek people are the traditional ones with natural organic beads,” Ioannou explains. “But it depends on a customer’s nationality and religion. I have a lot of customers and friends from the UAE, Kuwait, etc, who always order pure amber designs.”

These beads can go for serious money. Komboloi NYC’s Grigorios Chatzicharalampous – a collector who began his business five years ago – tells me that his current top-range kombologia sell for about $400 online, “but we have had custom-made komboloi and prayer-bead sets for up to $2,000 to $3,000”.

Expensive amber aside, kombologia can be made from semi-precious stones such as tiger’s eye, agate and hematite. Labs in Greece produce synthetic resins for beads, but many connoisseurs prefer organic materials such as horn and bone, or aromatic woods. For serious collectors, the endless choice of shapes, sizes and colours can become a lifelong obsession. 

The komboloi has its cousins, too. In Russia, the flat, open-ended chetki is flipped and threaded through the fingers. When Viggo Mortensen played an undercover Russian cop in 2007’s Eastern Promises, he used an authentic, prison-made chetki for his scenes, crafted from melted-down cigarette lighters. And in Turkey, aside from the religious tesbih, there is the sallama tesbih – an open-ended or flat set of worry beads. A sallama tesbih can also be a beaded cord, often stitched in football colours and made in jails.

Perhaps the secret to the komboloi’s enduring popularity is its personal touch. No two handmade kombologia are exactly alike. They are a portable companion and, with time, feel as if they take on something of their owner’s essence. Year after year, the same beads are held in the same hands, subtly changing their colour, texture and shape with use. This relationship explains why, in some Greek households, the portrait of a deceased grandfather is adorned with his beloved komboloi. 

Culturally, the komboloi holds a special place for Greeks and Hellenophiles. Leonard Cohen, who lived on the Greek island of Hydra in the 1960s, was often photographed in later years looking dapper in a suit, cradling a small, elegant komboloi in his hand. And its connection to music is deep. “The word ‘komboloi’ means, in the Greek language, ‘an object that produces a repetitive sound’,” says Evangelinou.

Years after I bought my first komboloi on Rhodes, I was listening to an album of rebetika music – the Greek blues. On the cover, there was an old photograph of five guys in suits posing for the camera. They are wiseguys, Al Capones, underworld men. One holds his hat up to obscure his face, a dog stares down the camera and, on the left, one of the Greek wide boys lets his komboloi dangle from his hand.

From prayer beads to the Greek underworld to boutique shops, the internet and the pandemic, the humble komboloi has come a long way. And all the while the beads still slip through our fingers, marking the passing of time, one by one.

Declan McVeigh

Sarah Maisey talks to the famed artist about social injustice, the power of imagery and that Obama poster

It is early morning in Los Angeles, and artist Shepard Fairey is explaining why he is unfazed by criticism of his work. “Reactions aren’t a focus group that’s going to make me change what I am doing,” he says with a laugh.

Speaking ahead of his Future Mosaic exhibition at Opera Gallery in Dubai, which is on until April 15, the American artist, who found fame mixing street art with social commentary, is delighted that his work elicits strong opinions.

“I am a very open minded and compassionate person. Some of the images I have done around gun violence have been polarising, and drew a hostile reaction. Some of the negatives are so different from the way I think, I [had to] think: ‘What is a way to Trojan Horse my ideas past that person’s walls?’ There is little bit of psychological warfare that goes on,” he explains.

His career began in 1989, with a guerilla sticker campaign around Los Angeles that he describes as an “inside joke with a bunch of skateboarders and punk rock friends”. The stickers carried the image of a character Fairey dubbed Andre the Giant has a Posse, based on the real life French wrestler, whose features Fairey distilled into a crude, but oddly likeable drawing. Randomly plastered around the city, they caught on.

As the project morphed into Obey Giant – with the same passive face painted onto water towers and the sides of buildings – its following shifted into something bordering on obsession, and was soon picked up by local media. Fast forward 30 years, and the image is now recognised by millions around the world.

“Of course I had no way of knowing it would resonate in the way it has. And in a way, the very crude, innocent beginnings of the project were a great starting point.

“It opened my eyes to the fact that what we encounter in public spaces is generally controlled and manicured. Where are the individual bits of expression in the public sphere? And why is a very small three-inch sticker – a small act of defiance – so unsettling for some people?” This intellectual questioning is typical of the artist, and he continues to turn a spotlight on issues such as police brutality, racism and the greed of the corporate world.

With Future Mosaic marking Fairey’s first visit to the Middle East, he was clearly fired up about the prospect. “I have never been to anywhere in the Middle East, so this is a long overdue trip for me. Travelling is something that I really love to do. For me it’s one of the most important facets of me feeling like I am global citizen, rather than an ignorant American,” he says.

For many, Fairey is best known for his 2008 Hope poster, created for the then-Democratic presidential hopeful, Senator Barack Obama. Produced as a personal act of support for a man Fairey believed in politically, the image features Obama looking over the head of the viewer, with the word Hope appearing in block capitals. Startling in its simplicity, it captured the sense of optimism that Obama offered the American people.

“When I am creating an image, I am thinking about all the variables that have to be cautiously addressed to find the perfect storm, to achieve some critical mass. And for the Hope image, I wanted to do something that fell outside the conventional political imagery,” Fairey explains, adding that it needed to be “different enough to be fresh, but close enough to be palatable to the mainstream”.

Capturing a moment in the history of a country that felt ripe for change, the image quickly went viral, and was even adopted by the Democratic party itself, catapulting Fairey to international fame. While the artwork itself is now hailed as historic, and hangs in the Smithsonian Museum, Fairey is quick to deflect any praise.

“The feeling that people got watching Obama as an orator was so compelling, and I guess I caught that wave perfectly. I am not saying the image itself doesn’t have some strength, but the main person who gets the credit is Obama, for being Obama.”

While he was being feted around the world for the poster, however, Fairey faced personal push back from those he deemed allies, who accused him of betraying his street dissent roots. “In terms of my profile, yes it expanded my audience, but it also turned away some of my audience. I was very used to a lot of my audience just being people I could count on, that had this history with street art and graffiti and rebellion and punk rock and hip-hop. They were my people. But they no longer considered me their people.”

Since the late 1980s, Fairey’s work has naturally evolved, yet still retains the sense of urgency that characterises graffiti. He still produces all the work himself, using a mix of stencils, spray cans and painting, and the images are bold and graphic. Created to convey a message quickly, many arrive with a large dose of wit.

Often drawing comparisons with anonymous English street artist Banksy for their shared use of irony, Fairey insists that humour is the best way to start difficult conversations. “Look at one of the greatest shapers of social discourse, [comedian] Sacha Baron Cohen. He finds a way to invite someone in that is unintimidating, underpinned by some pretty intellectual ideas. That’s part of the creativity, and it’s more fun that way.”

With images built on collaged backgrounds, printed with intricate patterns of chintzy florals, lotus petals and sacred mandalas, Fairey uses his deep knowledge of art and history to get his messages across. Figures are lifted from the American 1950s, while designs often echo the Russian propaganda posters of the early 1900s. All, he explains, as a deliberate ploy to flip the narrative.

“[Americans were fed] so much propaganda about Russia. When I went to Moscow, I had an idea that it was going to be hard to get people to warm up to me. But when I got there, I realised people were super creative, open minded, kind and just like the people I like to hang out with in my neighbourhood.”

Fairey is equally keen to connect with those he meets in the UAE, as he aims to dispel misinformation back in the US. “Obviously, the Middle East is not monolithic, but the way a lot of people in the US try to characterise Arab nations, Muslims and the entire Middle East, it’s just painful how simplistic and frequently insulting it is.”

Part of that attempt to reach out is via a series of artworks of women wearing the hijab. When quizzed if he is aware such imagery might be seen as cliched, or even offensive, he is disarmingly open.

“The Arab Woman piece is a way of humanising Muslims, or Middle Eastern people, when they have been so dehumanised by a lot of Americans who are narrow-minded, fearful and Islamophobic.

“So really, I want people from the UAE to understand that this is gesture of global citizenship and a handshake from afar. But if the hijab is not tied the customary way in Dubai, I apologise. It is my clumsy way of saying to Americans: ‘Arab people have equal humanity’. And if you look in this woman's eyes, that is an unassailable idea.”

Such a willingness to engage personally with an issue is perhaps one of Fairey’s greatest assets. Rather than dictating a point of view, he holds up a mirror, inviting viewers to examine their own behaviour. “You can only confront humanity with brutality if you have no conscious. A lot of people try to take the humanity out of the equation, and that is how they act inhumane. So, what I trying to do is force them to confront the humanity of the subject. And that’s what a lot of my work is about, hitting people emotionally to draw them into a conversation they wouldn’t have otherwise,” he explains.

In taking such a stance, Fairey joins the long list of people who have chosen to question the status quo, including the musicians Patti Smith, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer from The Clash, who have all used their platform to speak out.

“[When I first heard the lyrics of] Joe Strummer, I was: ‘Yes! There are other people out there who feel the way I feel, think the way I think!'”

In trying to highlight injustice, the artist is adamant that merely shouting louder than the opposition will never work, citing the intellectual dissent of late Justice of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “You can be a rebel without wearing a leather jacket, for sure,” he quips.

“That’s why the name of my show is Future Mosaic, because I have been building this mosaic, a little piece here, and a little piece there," Fairey concludes. "So, I am hoping that people will see it all at once and have that ‘aha’ moment about what I have been trying to do all these years."