Archive for May, 2009
Thanks to Jenn, our wonderful social media wiz, for forwarding this fun video my way. You know that giant keyboad at FAO Schwarz? Well this is the first time anybody has ever put it to good use. These two women either have tap dancing experience in their past or are simply infatuated with Dance Dance Revolution. Either way, they perform a stunning version of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor on that silly, over-sized piano. Enjoy! Do you have something cool you think I should post? Either found material or personal artwork/animation/toys? Shoot me an e-mail to quincy {AT} jailbreaktoys {DOT} com.
I’m relatively young, and this project is almost 10 years old, so this might be ancient news to some people. Either way I haven’t come across a project this cool in a long time and I would be remiss not to share it with everyone I possibly can. On January 11, 2000, photographer Noah Kalina started taking a photo of himself everyday. The project, naturally titled “Noah K Everyday,” has received a ton of publicity since it began, and it even spawned a video (below). You’d think after the first year this process would become redundant, but somehow Brooklyn resident Kalina has maintained the artistic urge to finish what he started. It would be interesting to discover the internal driving force of this expose and if he intends to stop anytime soon. Beyond ‘Noah K Everyday,’ Kalina is also a world-class photographer with a penchant and skill for taking compelling portraits of himself and his contemporaries. His ‘What Happens in Vegas…’ series is a fantastic, revealing and sometimes hilarious photographic journey through the vapid terrain of Sin City. Check him out if you already haven’t. You won’t be disappointed. Another day, another awesome animated video. Sebastian’s Voodoo was made by Joaquin Baldwin, an Annie Award nominee, director and animator from Paraguay. He currently resides in Los Angeles where he attends UCLA. Baldwin has received over 40 international awards for this short and another one titled Papiroflexia. Sebastian’s Voodoo is an ominous tale about a voodoo doll who must find the courage to take on a malicious creature in order to save the life of his companion. The main character resembles ’9′, the protagonist in the upcoming Tim Burton-produced film of the same name. Whether or not Baldwin knew about that, or found his inspiration there, is irrelevent. Both the animation and the story in his short are beautiful.
This news is about 10 days old, but it was under-reported and features two of the premiere street artists in the world, so it’s still relevant. On May 13th, Sotheby’s New York held a massive contemporary art auction with work available from everyone from Calder to Warhol to Rauschenberg to, yes, Banksy and Shepard Fairey. Fairey’s Peace Goddess (ab0ve) on canvas sold for an impressive $80,500. But it was really Banksy who showed everyone that he’s quickly become the most famous and profitable modern artist in the world . His Sale Ends Today (below) took in an unbelievable $230,500 at auction!
It’s pretty amazing that modern street artists have captured the attention of art collectors who usually purchase overpriced work from dead guys. Banksy’s take is even more impressive as he’s selling pieces for tons of money while still a working artist. This seems to be a rarity, and I’m pleased that these two have broken into the elitist world of contemporary art. Thoughts?
Thanks to the good folks over at Toycyte for putting me onto this wicked principal art for The Godfather Marionette. According to the poster above, it seems to be a joint venture between artist and vinyl toy maker, Michael Lau, and MINDstyle. It will be released in July of this year. Here’s what MINDstyle had to say:
Not only is The Godfather one of my favorite movies at all time, it had some great characters that would make even better toys. Action-figure type stuff has been done before, but the marionette is a new idea, and one that should gain some relevance in today’s toy market. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the finished product turns out and I’ll be sure to provide updates as they come. Discuss: Would you buy one of these? This first short was created as a thesis project by a student at the Academy of Art named Aziz Kocanaogullari. It’s titled Masquerade, and actually tells a great story about the emotions of a creature who battles with a fate of masked indifference. Through the character’s attempts at change, it becomes impossible for the viewer not to relate and sympathize with him on a visceral level. Haven’t you ever become someone you weren’t proud of? The music in this short also rocks. The song is called Jet Sex by a Belgium band named Ghinzu. I’ve never heard of them before so this was a nice little introduction. This second short is called Zapping. Art Direction by Aritz Aizpurura with various contributions by five others. If you head to Aizpurura’s Vimeo Page you can find a couple of short videos explaining the creation of Zapping. Which one of these two videos do you prefer? CafĂ© SerrĂ©, or Coffee Break, was created by Vincent E. Sousa, Bertrand Avril, Yann de PrĂ©val and Denis Bouye, who are all students from the Valencian School, Supinfocom and Arles. The animation quality in this short blows me away. Maybe not Pixar quality, but it’s definitely close to being that good. If submitted, I think this could be accepted by a world class film festival like Sundance or Cannes. I was at the former last year and saw some animated shorts that were mediocre at best, and no where near this exceptional. Sure, the level of animation is essential in these films, but I kept coming back to the importance of the story. It’s all about the story and this one delivers a hilarious take on your favorite average lethargic cop’s coffee break. Thoughts?
To celebrate their 10-year anniversary, Upper Playground is collaborating with several prominent artists and toy makers. The first such collabo is with the brilliant Alex Pardee, who took it upon himself to re-interpret the iconic walrus that has defined UP for the past decade. The result is the Walrus Rider—an 11” tall figure with bendy arms and a removable tusk. He’s a “a two-faced creature, whose legs were stolen, seeking vengeance and searching for his legs atop his walrus associate.” He comes in two color schemes. The first is teal/magenta, which is limited to 500 pieces, and available for $75. The black/teal, which you see here, is more exclusive, limited to 113 pieces, and being sold in advance for $110 online and in stores only. The Walrus Rider marks the first time Pardee has ventured into the world of vinyl toy creation. And his first attempt is pretty sweet; so sweet it even comes with a poem: Born with legs of a golden tint, Upper Playground is releasing the toy at their store on Fillmore St. in San Francisco on Saturday, May 30. The event will run from 12:00 p.m. to 2 p.m., and limited quantities of the toy will be available. Head here to purchase the Walrus Rider in advance. Two posters for the event after the jump… 
Short stop-motion animation films are quite the craze right now. We featured the macabre re-imagining of Hansel and Gretel a few days, and now here’s something a bit more family friendly. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy every bit of watching a monster in a blender because I definitely did. Anyhow, this video is called Sorry I’m Late, and it was created by a man named Tomas Mankovsky. If you head over to his site, you’ll find a pretty fascinating and comprehensive look at how the film was created. What I love about these short films is that in three or four or five minute they are all able to tell a great story. It must be a difficult thing to do.
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