You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June, 2007.
The New York Times has taken note today of the arrest last Thursday of a guy who may turn out to be “the Splasher”, or one of them, the mysterious character (or characters) who have been defacing street art around New York by splashing it with paint. And yes, I’m aware that street art, since it consists of posters and paintings on public walls, could be considered as vandalism to begin with. But at least some of it is better than a lot of what I see in galleries. The motive behind the attacks? Pretty much what you would expect, resentment that some street artists, like Swoon and Shepard Fairey, to say nothing of that Brit prankster Banksy, are making their way into the gallery system. Better them I would say than John Currin. Also resentment that street art poses as a critique of a capitalist system it’s actually just one more part of. The same could be said of course about street art vandalizers who publish 16 page manifestos. Capitalism is a pretty flexible device, and it absorbs most critiques handily. Street art won’t change that. And neither will the people who deface it. Meanwhile, if you’re interested in seeing more street art, the best place to start is here.
Last week, at the Pitti Immagine Fashion Fair in Florence, Diesel wowed the style crowds with an impressive multimedia show. Using CGI technology, projected motion graphics of models and creatures from the deep created the illusion that they were moving together down the runway along with live models.
The show, entitled “Liquid Space,” played with concepts of metamorphosis as strange hybrid forms of man, machine and sea creature appeared to float through space. Weaving their way around the actual models, these creatures transformed into animated models wearing the collection and then the clothes dissolved into millions of glittering fishes. The format and style of the traditional fashion show has been played with by many designers, but with this show Diesel moved into a new creative realm, combining fashion and 3D animation technology in front of a live audience.
The grand master of Diesel’s famously attention-grabbing imagery is Creative Director Wilbert Das and special effects were created by the Spanish CGI animation studio Dvein along with Danish multi-media production agency Vizoo. You can download the video here to see the spectacle for yourselves.
Jun 28, 2007 16:57:52 GMT
With the dawn of the future just days away (yeah, I’m talking about the iPhone), I couldn’t have discovered this interesting lo-fi music video at a more perfect time. Programmed entirely in Applesoft II on a vintage 1979 Apple ][+ with 48K of RAM (pictured above), the music video for Grandaddy’s song “Jed’s Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)” is a beautifully mesmerizing experiment that reveals the capabilities of this vintage technology. Using a computer so old it only types in all caps and lacks a hard drive, a mouse and even up and down arrow keys, Stewart Smith was able to create an elegant type-based video utilizing code and techniques that today seem ancient. Eat your heart out iPhone! See the video here.
via Motionographer
Most Influential Work of Art 
Newsweek has asked the question; “Which Is the Most Influential Work of Art Of the Last 100 Years?” Possible answers they offered were..
A. Black Square by Kazimir Malevich
B. ‘One (Number 31) ‘ by Jackson Pollock
C. ‘Fountain’ by Marcel Duchamp
D. ‘Campbell’s Soup Can’ by Andy Warhol
E. ‘Les Demoiselles D’Avignon’ by Pablo Picasso
Alright so you already know that we absolutely love Ricki Kasso’s photography (Tokyo Undressed) but we also love his cute artwork at Behind the Lines
d i s e ñ o l u m i n i c o
Lighting: Jun 27, 2007
+ Designer Alfio Demestre sent us a link to his portfolio which features an impressive line-up of lighting designs; a chandelier who’s armature is lit, a glowing constellation of LEDs (above), clothing with embedded lights and an eerie sidetable within a sidetable…
“Joan of Arc”
Painting: Jun 28, 2007
Peter Reginato is best known for his abstract metal sculptures, but his colourful abstract paintings must also be examined as part of his oeuvre and it should be remembered that Reginato started off as a painter. It is easy to see the connection between paintings and sculptures, as Reginato uses many flat shapes of steel to create his sculptures and these types of shapes and curves (the stylized bunny ears are a repeating motif) occur with frequency within the paintings.
Artist: Peter Reginato
+ peterreginato.com
Peter Reginato is showing through July 7 at the Heidi Cho Gallery in New York.
Big Pink
Beatnik Blend
Jun 27, 2007 18:41:12 GMT
DRIFT is an annual exhibition that travels to a new location every year. This year marks its 5th anniversary and is scheduled as a two-day performance art and video art show at Rush Arts Gallery in the Chelsea art district in New York City. Curated by: Eileen Olivieri Torpey and Bradley Pecore. The show will take place during NYC’s Performa Biennial Performance Art events in November.
DRIFT highlights talented under represented artists while emphasizing the critical role of experimentation within both conventional and unconventional exhibition spaces.
Proposal Deadline: Postmarked July 13, 2007. Contact them here.
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE SUNDAYS
KICK OFF SHOW NO.1
VAUDEVILLE MEWS
SUNDAY JULY 8TH
Music at 5pm $3
Talkin Mountain: indie/pop
http://www.myspace.com/talkinmountain
All the Blaze: hip hop
http://www.myspace.com/prophecyryan
::OPEN MIC:: SIGN UP AT THE DOOR::
Amidst the affliction: hardcore/metal
http://www.myspace.com/amidsttheaffliction
Atombender: punk/ska/alternative
http://www.myspace.com/atombender
Family Unit: indie
http://www.myspace.com/familyunit
CONTACT AND INFO:
Now booking all varieties August 19th, September 2,9,16,23,30
GET AT US: submissions@underthemic.com
http://www.myspace.com/underthemic
I didn’t write this…but really dig this artist…
They get high, get naked, and jump on trampolines. They skinny-dip in mountain lakes and stare searchingly at themselves in bathroom mirrors. They giggle and hug. They shoplift and puke and crash together on dingy mattresses on the floor. They are the cool, giddy, beautiful young things who populate the pictorial world of photographer Ryan McGinley.
Click here to read a slide-show essay about the photography of Ryan McGinley.
The brand that saved baseball
, Jun 26, 2007 10:20:14 GMT
Why doesn’t Puma or Adidas (or even Nike) pay the management of the SF Giants to bench Barry Bonds before he hits the record? Now you’d have a brand that really stood for something.
Why don’t local businesses buy $50 worth of quarters now and then and feed all the meters in town… just put a little flyer under the windshield wiper.
Once you change the rules, the sponsorship opportunities are endless.
[Brandon has a warning, though, for anyone thinking about parking meters.]
Philip Johnson’s Glass House — All Photos: Eirik Johnson
Earlier this week I made it up to New Canaan, Connecticutt to see Philip Johnson’s Glass House, which opens to the public for the first time this month. In the 1980s, Johnson willed the house to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, with the stipulation that he could remain in it until the time of his death. Johnson and his partner David Whitney both died in 2005, and since then the National Trust has been sprucing up the house and the other high concept structures, including a library and two mostly underground art galleries, that Johnson added to the property over the years, each new structure reflecting the next wiggle in the serpentine evolution of his architectural thinking. (Full Story)
Excellent digital manipulation, clever visual puns, and strong compositions by Romanian photographer Narcis Virgiliu
Labels: figure study, photomanipulation
I received a box of love in the post recently. It’s a cardboard box, painted by the abstract painter Franck de Las Mercedes, with a label that says “Handle with care, Fragile, Contains: LOVE”. Continue Reading
Solar Photography an agency based in the Netherlands which represents some fantastic photographers.
MoCo Submissions
Recent MoCo submissions.
+ Tom de Vrieze has produced a new chair, “la mdf”, that has a rocking effect when tipped forward. Made of MDF, this chair is designed to be painted/personalized by the consumer.
+ On “is an electronic dynamic luminous sculpture -picture created by Jean Octobon”, a sound level meter as wall art. On has its own sensor so every sound in the room is displayed. Watch the video here.
+ Colombia’s Danilo Calvache’s Low Light Table combines grace and function in a table that provides mood lighting.
+ Maria Nylén has a small line of simple, yet striking handmade silver jewelry with pearls like the Elsa pendant.
+ Ecosystems is a furniture design company that takes sustainability seriously and reviews each step of the production process in light of this. No waste is produced and sustainable sourcing of materials and packaging carefully pursued.
Pattern Series
Jun 26, 2007 12:14:40 GMT
Artist Tsang Kin-wah’s wallcoverings combine intricate floral motifs with calculated calligraphy. Upon closer inspection of the meticulously rendered designs, one realizes that the structure of the imagery actually consists of a blend of Chinese characters and English phrases. While the patterns sometimes contain language that could make your grandmother blush, I just like to think of Tsang’s work as wallcoverings with spirit. JK
Recent Comments