Archive for January, 2010
Los Angeles-based artist, Ramon Coronado, is in the midst of a twelve-week project that deals with “reclaiming an ordinary, everyday object and transforming it into something with a completely different purpose.” His first effort, titled Mercado Negro (Black Market), takes the ubiquitous shopping cart and turns it into usable pieces of furniture and playground equiptment. A statement about the project and additional photos can be found below.
The BookBook ($79.99), designed by Twelve South, is an inventive case made specifically for Macbooks that looks like and has the durability of a hardcover book. “Available in Classic Black or Vibrant Red, BookBook brings three levels of security to your prized Mac. First, the hardback cover and spine provide solid protection from the rigors of the road. Second, the vintage book design disguises MacBook for superior security. And third, the stylish case protects you from being like everyone else because BookBook is totally original, just like you.” Additional photos can be found below. [Courtesy of Gizmodo]
It’s time to get excited, people. There are only 481 days until the next World Beard and Moustache–that’s “moostaash” not “musstash”–Championships, which will take place in Trondheim, Norway, on May 14, 2011. The gentleman with the most epic facial vegetation from 2009′s event–yeah, it’s once every two years because, you know, it takes a long time to grow hair so long–is Anchorage, Alaska native, David Traver. While Traver won in the overall category, there are 18 other categories in which men, or women, can be judged in the sport of beard, including Alaskan Whaler, Dali, Imperial, Freestyle, Fu Manchu and Musketeer. Apparently, America is the best. Stop-motion filmmaker, Patrick Boivin, is a master of taking toys, making them move, and turning the end product into a massive viral hit. First he pitted Iron Man and Bruce Lee against one another, and then it was the odd yet compelling match-up between Michael Jackson and Mr. Bean. Now, after amassing millions of hits on youtube, Boivin was hired by Google to creatively “unbox” their Nexus One phone. The result is ninjas, and that’s all you need to know. Watch it! Babelgum recently had a chance to interview street artist, Aakash Nihalani, ahead of his solo exhibit, On & Off (Often On), which opens tomorrow at the Carmichael Gallery in Los Angeles. Nihalani transplanted from the burbs to New York City, and has impressed just about everyone (including us) with his brightly-colored geometric masking tape creations. The most interesting bit of info to come from this interview is Nihalani’s admittance that he uses tape because he’s fundamentally uncomfortable with the permanence of spray paint. Fresh concept. Fresh outlook. Fresh artist. [Courtesy of Flavorwire]
The unfortunate filleting of Van Gogh’s left ear is probably the first thing that pops into most people’s heads when thinking of the tormented Dutch artist. The incident itself makes him infamous, and also one of the most bad-ass dudes to ever stroke a canvas. Drawing inspiration from eargate, designer Mike Mak has created this brilliant piece of pop culture product art: a mug with a silicon ear-handle, called, yes, “Dear Van Gogh.” Check out two more photos below. [Courtesy of Swiss-Miss]
This time last year I was in Park City, Utah, checking out a bunch of flicks at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. For anyone who likes watching movies, and/or wants to see random celebs fraternizing with Mormons, Sundance is pretty much the place to be. In a strange twist, this year’s event has been invaded by none other than British street artist, Banksy, who threw up a couple of pieces in PC, including the one shown above. The word on the street online is that a documentary about Banksy called, “Exit Through The Gift Shop” will be premiering on Sunday, January 24th as the 2010 Spotlight Surprise. Has the time finally arrived for the true identity of the Bristol Bomber to be revealed? Does anyone really care at this point? [Courtesy of AM]
From the folks over at Information is Beautiful comes this revealing infographic detailing the websites and keywords China has or is currently hiding from its citizens. Some of them are vaguely surprising–apple.com, amazon.com, boingboing.net, espn.com, flickr.com–while others like democracy.com, “brain wash,” and “human rights” are pretty obvious. With Google and China in a standoff, we should expect to hear more and more data about Chinese censorship in the coming months.
This evening (January 19), artist Naoko Ito will be having a reception for his thesis project at the Visual Arts Gallery in New York City. His most recent series is based on the notion of Urban Nature, which finds Ito taking tree branches and placing them in jars. Additional photos can be found below. [Courtesy of Today and Tomorrow via Collectiva]
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