Czech Republic contemporary photographer Branislav Kropilak has some stunning photos of garages, landings, trains, lobbies and public spaces on his new site. Enjoy.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
CATCHING A MOMENT...
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
PRINT MAGAZINE...
The 2007 Print Magazine Regional Design Annual came out this week and I am happy to say that I had a project chosen for it - a media kit for the Nike Running Summit in San Francisco. I don't do the work for the recognition... I do it for the kids.
I MISS BOB...
Bob Ross is one of the biggest reasons that I got into art. I remember watching him on PBS when I was a kid and thought that he was so cool, and a little weird. Yes, he was a happy little hippy... but he was also an incredibly talented painter with no attitude or ego, which is rare in today's art world. Thanks Bob, we miss you.
WEATHERED WORLDS...
I rarely get out to the Richmond District, but after seeing the line up for the current art show at Park Life, I had to get out there. The show features the work of Hilary Pecis, Kyle Lee, Marina Luz and Zach Rossman. After seeing the show, I am a huge Marina Luz and Zach Rossman fan. Below are some photos from the show. Enjoy.
Marina Luz
Kyle Lee
Zach Rossman
FUN WITH GUM...
I just found this fun and practical product design from Anna Bullus.
"Anna Bullus’s Bubble Gum Bin is made from Gumnetic, a new biodegradable material she developed made from sterilized used chewing gum and bio resin. The bin keeps chewing gum litter from our sidewalks and shoes and when full, the entire container is recycled to make even more bins."
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
GREEN GRAFFITI...
From Inhabitat...
"Eco-minded street artist Edina Tokodi is putting a new spin on green guerilla tactics in the trendy art enclave of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Tokodi’s site-specific moss installations of prancing animal figures and camouflage outgrowths are the talk of a local urban neighborhood typically accustomed to gallery hype and commercial real estate take-overs. Unlike the market-driven art featured in sterile, white box galleries, the work of Tokodi is meant to be touched, felt, and in turn touch you in the playful ways that her animated installations call to mind a more familiar, environmentally friendly state in the barren patches of urban existence."
Thanks for the link, Caleb.
FINALLY!...
For the past year or so, we have all had to look at this hideous Burning Man-esque sculpture down on the Embarcadero. This week, they finally hauled the creepy rusted metal mother and child pieces off. Rejoice. 
The sculptures in place. 
The sculptures in the right place... on the back of a moving truck.
VAN HORRIBLE...
At a recent show in Greensboro, NC, the reformed and bastardized version of Van Halen had a bit of musical trouble with the classic song Jump. Enjoy.
p.s. - thanks for the link and title, ed.
p.p.s. - i think its time that diamond dave and the boys retire... for good. they are starting to look like cartoons of their once rockin selves.
Friday, October 19, 2007
ITS ALMOST HALLOWEEN...
I was thinking about All Hallow's Eve (Samhain) today, and forgot that Corie sent me these photos of the awesome costumes she made for her and her husband last Halloween. "We made Japanese Oni masks (devils/gods). Mine was more traditional; I wore a black hooded robe with it, Trae's was sort of futuristic; he wore a white clean room suit. I made them from paper/magazines/plaster." Pretty damn cool. 
NEW LIL' WAYNE...
Check out Lil' Weezy at the 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards, performing his new track Gossip.
"My flow is like pasta. Take it and eat it.
But I'm a need cheese if I'm bakin' a ziti."
"GREAT" BLOG...
My friend Chondra posted a link to The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks on her blog. (Yup, we are a bloggin generation.) Anyhoo, the TBOUQM (as I call it) is chock-full of great signs and notes that "use" quotation marks on just about anything. Enjoy.
MASH IT UP...
We all know that true fixed gear cyclists are nuts, but riding fixed gear in S.F. is different... add in giant hills, a fair amount of rain, and caffeine-addicted drivers in a big hurry to get to their crappy jobs. The new film MASH documents the daily life of die-hard S.F. fixed gear dudes and dudettes. Now, I don't ride a fixed gear, but that's only because it scares the hell out of me. Watch the trailer... it's insane.
ELECTRO-GOTHY GOODNESS...
Corie just emailed me about her "Jam of the Week," as she calls it. It's a cover of the Depeche Mode song Stripped by the band Shiny Toy Guns. It's from the album "Goth Electric Tribute to Depeche Mode." I can't say that I found any other songs from Shiny Toy Guns I liked, but this cover is pretty rad. Enjoy.
MY NIGHT...
After sitting in front of a computer all day, I can get a little stir crazy. I love the nights here in The Mission, so I went out to drink coffee and do a little reading. Unfortunately, there are no benches or places to sit near the coffee shop... but there is a backhoe parked on Valencia Street. I thought "Heck, why not?" So I spent my evening reading Days of War, Nights of Love - Crimethink for Beginners. I was introduced to the book by a fellow volunteer while I was working with Food Not Bombs in Oakland, during 2000-2001. This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I haven't read it for a while. It's inspirational, hits every aspect of my day to day, and makes me want to do better things with my life. 
That little black driver's seat in the middle was my reading spot for the night.
While I was reading, I was thinking about the art teachers in my past that have truly inspired me to think about more than just the work itself. These are people that have challenged me on how I think, what I say, and why I create. The three names that have had a lasting effect on my life are Christopher "Lucky" Leone, Vladimir Lubel and Brody Hartman.
Chris was one of my early drawing teachers at SDSU and used non-traditional ways to make us think about art and drawing. His show "Freer" was one of the most eye-opening art shows I have ever been to. Not simply because of the work, but because of the redefining of what an art show can be. (I still have the postcard from the show in 1996) He was also the first person I knew to refer to his wife as his partner, and equal - I have always remembered that.
Vladimir was one of my design teachers during grad school at the Academy of Art. After a semester or so, I realized that the Academy was not a place for experimentation - it was a place to learn how to get a job. This was antithetical to most of my art schooling, and art in general. That was until I had Vladimir as a teacher. He always talked about looking at the world and projects differently, challenging what we had been told, and making our own curriculum. The best illustration of that was during a critique when he tore a large corner of my poster design off the wall and stuck it on the other side of the piece and said "Why not this?" It sounds simple and may lose something in the translation, but as a design student at a conservative "art" school, it was borderline revolutionary. I will always thank him for that. Another assignment was to create a piece that dealt with all of our senses. My piece was an elegant candle-lit dinner setting. When the lights were turned off, the unnoticeable writing on the candle glass projected words on the wall that were a reflection on a recent relationship... reinforcing the idea that things are not always as they seem. I tried to find a link to Vladimir's installation art online, but no such luck. His art is as challenging as his teaching - amazing. If you have any leads on a site of his work, please let me know.
Last, and definitely not least... Brody. I also had a class with Brody during grad school at the Academy, but it wasn't a traditional design class. He had us meditate at the start of each class to help us focus on the task at hand, and it really changed the way people related to the work. 9/11 took place during that semester and Brody's class was the first one I had after it happened. We stopped work on our projects and sat together to talk about how we all felt and what this meant to the world at large. That was an intense class. I produced one of my favorite installation pieces ever that semester. I made and installation and interactive piece called "Gun." The idea was based on the image that the mind creates when various people are confronted with a gun as word / image / sound. Brody taught us about how the world around us will affect and define our work, whether we notice or not.
I owe a lot to these three people. So, thank you.
p.s. - It turns out that the driver's seat in a backhoe is a great place for people watching. I caught a Hummer quickly swerve to avoid a one inch tall metal construction plate in the road... ironic? Also, the best conversation I overheard was "... of course you can use my bathroom. I want you to use my bathroom." This was from a seemingly new couple walking by, hand in hand. Oddly adorable.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
WHY NOT?...
You know when you have those fleeting thoughts about making cool stuff, like a doorstop that looks like a crucifix or a trophy that doubles as an ash tray? Well, the wacky off-beat product designers over at ATYPYK have come out with yet another fun side project - custom PEZ! Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy.
HUNGRY?...
Nothing sounds better than a delicious sandwish. Mmm... I love bad spelling, especially when it's carved into a semi-permanent wooden sign.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
THE LAST TEN - PART II...
Here it what I am rockin' out to on the ol' iPod, on this gloomy San Francisco Tuesday. Remember, send me a list of your last ten and a photo of you for me to post here! Enjoy.
The Gamits - Audrey's Davenport
HIJK - The Dresser Speaks
Cursive - Sierra
DJ P - Track 09
The Distillers - I Am a Revenant
Eleventeen - Portrait of a Man
The Notorious B.I.G. - I Got a Story to Tell
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - How Near How Far
Jawbreaker - Do You Still Hate Me?
Bad Brains - Re-Ignition
Sunday, October 14, 2007
ALL YOU NEED IS A FEZ...
I had a party a few years back and had an impromptu photo shoot with no props or fancy lighting... just a wood wall and a fez. Here are the portraits...
Nick Doyle and Mark Giglio
Thom Lessner and Rose Luardo
Brian Flynn and Dora Drimalas
Lucas Carlton and Jessie Murphy
Kate Mauldin and Jordan Fraker
Greg and Eli
Portia and Casey
LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION - PART 1...
My folks bought me this mug more than 10 years ago, and it always reminds me of being a kid and seeing the work of Fred Babb at a small gallery/store called What Iz Art? No one since Picasso had shown me that art didn't have to be boring paintings of wealthy old white men and their families. His work is colorful, fun, "outsider," and incredibly inspirational.
The mug reads...
Art is one of the few things left worth doing.
Remember as a child how important art was to you - and how it satisfied you, and how you've learned over the years that it saisfies you still. What other activity - or thing - or place can make this claim?
Art and music are the drugs of choice for millions of kids. If we expect them to just say no to a chemical high - we must recognize the healing alternative... their own creativity. Demand and support the real anti-drug program, ARTS IN EDUCATION.
SAVED BY THE 22ND AMENDMENT...
Check out this great video by artist and designer Andrew Sloat. Good stuff.
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