Saturday, September 5, 2009

BLOG FORECAST: BRIEF HIATUS FOLLOWED BY PROLONGED PERIODS OF NERDERY, ABI HUYNH AND WITHERED HAND


A new school year is upon me and nerding is limited to history/psychology again for a bit. Still, last week I happened upon a fantastically simple design for teacher evaluation forms by Abi Huynh (for the NY Times) that gets to the core of how students really feel about their teachers/professors in plain, sometimes pictured terms. I can't help but wonder how I'd measure up. As he says:

I was asked to do an illustration in NYT Magazine's college issue, the article was about the effect of faculty / instructor evaluations at Universities and Colleges in the US. I decided on a slightly subtle approach through an exaggerated take on the standardized test / survey. Whenever I was asked to evaluate my instructor, the specific categories (questions) the survey contained were pretty difficult to answer and it came down to the basic notion that some students that really liked the teacher ... and some who really hated them. The tests strive to have an objective aura, and that is reflected in a systemic idea and measure of 'good teaching', with this illustration I wanted to show the subjective nature behind the evaluation surveys.


In the meantime, go check out Withered Hand, a Scottish songster who keeps it real. Here's a taste, a gem called "Hard On"(mp3)

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

THE STATE OF DIGITAL DOWNLOADS: THE VERY BEST "WARM HEART OF AFRICA"



The much anticipated new album from The Very Best (Esau Mwamwaya and British production duo Radioclit) is now available digitally from Green Owl Records. The site includes the album download for a meager 8.99 and a full preview for those looking for transparency. I (and every one else on the web) have been alerting the masses to every single/download/leak for the past few months and for me personally, it has affected my opinion of the full-length and the music industry in general. Let me explain:

First, it's clear that, surprise, CDs are dead in the water (see below, courtesy of the NY Times) but digital music is still relatively new in terms of total sales and may have brought with it the demise of the quality full-length album. (people have been saying this for years) This sea change in format has obviously changed how music is distributed (songs are now sold individually) and perhaps less obviously, how it's marketed. Where singles had always accounted for a tiny fraction of the sales that full-lengths garnered, digital singles sales have now overtaken digital album sales (again see below). While this might not seem like a big deal, the focus of the music industry (which thankfully is diversifying) has seemingly shifted from selling full albums to selling singles or at least constantly marketing/leaking singles to hype album sales. Couple this with our new ability to cherry-pick tracks for download and suddenly, within the past few years the amount of songs per band/mc/producer in my iTunes has decreased dramatically (meaning I now have so many singles or cherry picked songs instead of full-lengths, if said bands/mcs even have a full length available)

So back to The Very Best album. It's a great album don't get me wrong, but I already had 8 of the 13 songs available (all legally and one is only a minute long so really it's 12) before its release and guess which songs are worth listening to? The best singles "Warm Heart of Africa" "Yalira" and "Julia" were all previously available for download and "Kada Manja" and "Kamphopo" were off last year's mixtape. ("Ntende Uli," "Chalo" and "Rain Dance" feat M.I.A were also readily available but not as quality as the aforementioned gems) So the album would have been FANTASTIC had I just heard all the tracks for the first earth-shattering time, but it's been broken up, "hyped" and exposed to such an extent that there can be no actual anticipation or realistic expectation of quality. That joyful moment when we hear an album for the first time as a cohesive piece of music with a beginning and an end seems to be gone. (for better or for worse) It used to be that we would hear one track before an album was released and you had to buy that ish. (tape singles represent) Today record companies put out half the album to hype it, but unfortunately there's usually nothing left to look forward to. (to be fair, the Sunset Rubdown album which was hyped/leaked like crazy is still awesome, but that's only because every song is quality. The new Big Pink album is not as fortunate)

With all of that said, digital music recording/distribution is cheaper, faster, more environmentally friendly and more readily available than ever so it's hard to get salty about the possible demise of the quality full-length album.

And yes, I realize that I often post new singles and contribute to the "hype." I can't help myself. (via Green Owl)

Monday, August 24, 2009

TAPE IN THE STREETS: BUFF DISS



Australian street/tape artist Buff Diss may not be the only tape arter out there, but he's definitely one of the most prolific. A few months back, Upper Playground's Walrus TV (how can a Wallace not support the Walrus?) featured Buff Diss and his mostly legal work. Next time you tape off your windows and outlets before you paint your walls, you best give respect due.






(via Cakehead Loves Evil)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

DUNKIN' DON'T: TEN REASONS TO AVOID DUNKIN' DONUTS



Considering the amount of coffee Americans consume and the social, environmental, and economic impact of coffee production and sales, choosing the best coffee house is a very important decision. So I feel compelled to explain definitively why you should NOT choose Dunkin Donuts, the nation's largest coffee retailer with over 8,800 locations worldwide and sales of over 6.9 billion in 2008. The advantages of large chains are well documented (availability, consistency, prices) but here are ten reasons that should persuade you to avoid Dunkin Donuts altogether: (in no particular order)

1.Dunkin Donuts coffee is not fair trade. While their espresso drinks are fair trade, their coffee is NOT. Espresso drinks make up approximately 10% of their total business so the impact of using fair trade espresso is big, but nothing in comparison to the impact the nation's largest coffee retailer could make by brewing fair trade coffee. Paying foreign farmers a fair wage would only cost DD a few pennies on the pound, but it can make an enormous difference to the farmers' families and countries. Why fair trade? Click here.

2.Eating Dunkin Donuts products makes you fat. Now this isn't necessarily DD's fault, it's our responsibility to eat well, but it's not like they make any food/drinks that are remotely good for you. Their donuts and breakfast foods still contain small amounts of trans fats (anything under a half-gram is considered 0 grams so their foods have just under a half gram of trans fats) and their coffee drinks, which should contain very few calories/fat are loaded. According to the nutritional information on their site:
-A large 32 oz. DD iced coffee w/regular cream and sugar contains 240cal/8g saturated fat (12g total fat)
-A large Iced Mocha swirl latte (32 oz)= 440 cal
-A plain bagel contains 300 cal and w/cream cheese 450 calories
-A crème filled donut contains 310 cal/16 g fat.

3. Dunkin' Donuts is the coffee equivalent of conservativism. I realize it seems difficult to connect a retailer to political ideologies, but DD's ad campaigns and political stances (there are few of them) suggest their support for the conservative side of things. (if you're a conservative, more power to you) Historically, 78% of Dunkin Brands/Allied Domecq/Bain Capital (former and current owners) political contributions go to Republicans (though private equity firms usually favor the GOP and lately they've been mostly split) Their advertisements consistently attack Starbucks/local coffee houses as being snooty, elitist and connect non-english words (see #10) with these negative stereotypes to garner support from more conservative/supposedly working class Americans. For example, ads in late 2008 stated that more "hardworking Americans" prefer Dunkin Donuts coffee over Starbucks, which sounds suspiciously like campaign ads for Republican candidates over the years. I realize the company is simply out to make a buck and the “hardworking”, xenophobic people of the U.S. make up an untapped market for coffee, but how far are they willing to go to cater to them? In 2008, they pulled an ad starring Rachel Ray (don't get me started) in which she wore a scarf that vaguely resembled a traditional keffiyeh ( men's scarf loosely associated with Palestinian/Jordanian nationalism) because it apparently symbolized Palestinian/Arab “terrorism and jihad” to brain dead conservative political pundits like Michelle Melkin. (note: the keffiyeh, worn since the 30's throughout the Middle East including the Jewish people, couldn't possibly be used to keep cool/clean in arid climates or wrapped up as turbans. And for the record, Palestinian nationalism does not mean jihad either)

4.DD is cheap, but not that cheap and you get what you pay for. DD products are generally 5 to 10 cents less expensive than the two local establishments I frequent in Portsmouth and Dover, NH (I can't comment on coffee houses elsewhere) A large DD iced coffee is $2.54 and the average cost of a local large iced (Breaking New Grounds in Portsmouth and Adelle's in Dover*) is about $2.65 for a large FAIR TRADE iced coffee (definitely worth the extra 10 cents!) Now, if you drink DD coffee every week day for a year, you'd save a whopping 25$ a year. So their famous slogan “It's breakfast, not broke-fast” is accurate only if you ignore foreign farmers' struggles to feed their families and/or your hospital bills from the heart attack you'll have from eating/drinking their food.

6.DD's customer service, coffee and food isn't worth even the shortest drive. Low paying positions and poor work conditions guarantee poor service from young workers who don't know jack about a decent cup of coffee or breakfast food. The customer service disasters are well documented, but your in-house experience doesn't stop there. The often drab and dirty atmosphere must be unsettling to those people ordering items beyond coffee. Or perhaps not, the egg on your bagel or croissant is a frozen patty that gets marginally tastier with the additional American cheese and a long trip in the microwave. None of the food is cooked in house, its all frozen and nuked or, like the doughnuts, made at a production facility. They don't even put your cream cheese or peanut butter on your bagel for you (it comes with a plastic knife and individually packaged condiments.. see environmental practices below) With all that said, the coffee isn't bad, but it's not worth seeking out either.

7.DD costs taxpayers millions of dollars because they won't give their employees decent wages or healthcare. In 2008, their 1,950 uninsured employees in Massachusetts cost tax payers almost 8 million for state subsidized health care costs. This number is larger than even Wal-Mart and #1 on the list of self reported state subsidized care in Massachusetts.

8.DD strongarms the very franchisees that provide their products to America. Many people talk about the company being “owned” by franchisees, but this simply is not the case. There is an entity that makes stringent rules for all the stores, step out of line in the slightest way and you'll be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since 2006, 144 franchisees have been sued by their beloved parent company. Since DD is always expanding, it should come as no surprise that they try to get rid of franchisees who own a small number of stores since they typically don't have the capital to expand quickly. Unfortunately, many of them are immigrants and lose their livelihoods at the hands of DD.

8.DD is not an environmentally friendly company. Despite wide-spread awareness of the environment problems polystyrene has caused, Dunkin' Donuts still use styrofoam cups for their medium and large hot coffee drinks (that millions of cups a day) Styrofoam (technically, a plastic) is made from petroleum (non-renewable resource) is not recyclable and in addition to being a health risk when it contains hot items, is filling up land-fills all over the U.S. Even McDonald's stopped using styrofoam years ago. DD also use a ridiculous amount of unnecessary plastic packaging, even providing individually packaged servings of peanut butter, cream cheese, coffee creams, etc.

9.DD puts local shops out of business and promotes the homogenization of coffee in America. All the coffee Americans buy at DD means less coffee purchased at local, more socially and environmentally friendly shops who provide a community social scene and different (or should I say better?) coffee. These community hubs may showcase music or art and (sometimes) intelligent conversation and a place to meet new people. DD destroys the community by taking business from these local shops and because they don't foster the same atmosphere in their stores. (to put it mildly)

10.They don't understand the English language or world history. Their commercials claim "Delicious lattes from Dunkin' Donuts. You order them in English." This is an attempted shot at Starbucks and snobby coffee drinkers sure, but the commercial's xenophobic tone seems to deny the origin of coffee and it's just plain ignorant. Latte is an Italian word, so you can't order it in English since there is no equivalent in our language. Coffee originated in Arab countries, but Italy was the first European country to drink it and subsequently made several changes to the drink that are still around today. (Lattes being one of them) I'm aware that DD is smartly staking the claim to the down-home “common man's latte,” but read #3 for more on that. Also, since when is DOUGHNUT spelled DONUT?

NOTE: I am not suggesting that people who know and love DD are bad people and if you are one of them, then this probably won't change your view of the company. However, other people trying to make a wholly informed decision on where to purchase coffee may find this entry helpful as these points are not as widely known as they could/should be. Further, this entry is not a declaration of support for Starbucks and I don't necessarily suggest them as an alternative to DD. (though they are generally more socially/environmentally responsible)

*The opinions on this blog may not reflect the positions of these local coffee shops and they should not be connected in any way with my commentary.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

THE BIG PINK: NEW SINGLE "DOMINOS"


British duo The Big Pink have released the third single off their debut album, A Brief History of Love due out September 22nd on 4AD. "Dominos" is a stadium rocker/electronic gem that will surely invade your skull. I've been humming the uber-simple hook for days and the kids at summer camp think I'm crazier than usual. Also included below is a link to download their earlier single "Velvet," (also on the album) a fuzzed-out, shoegazer jam with an equally big sound and similar lyrics about Robbie Furze's tumultuous love-life. (thus the album's title) The ambitious duo have already toured Europe with TV on the Radio and just booked a world tour even before the release of their first album. Upcoming New England shows include the Paradise in Boston on December 1st and two New York City shows on the 3rd and 4th.

Dominos Mp3
Velvet Mp3

(via Pitchfork, 4AD)

DISPOSABLE TECHNOLOGY AND E-WASTE: KYLE BEAN


As technology capabilities continue to progress at an incredible pace, the "life span" of tech products get smaller and smaller to the point where they are, in a sense, disposable. Kyle Bean has created his own Disposable Technology in the form of cardboard sculptures of popular electronic devices. Carefully crafted, each piece is made (approximately) to scale and even includes a seemingly bright screen. At the center of the work is a quote from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, a San Jose-based group that promotes responsibility in electronics recycling, The increasingly rapid evolution of technology has effectively rendered everything disposable. The importance of the quote of course, isn't that things are used quickly and replaced, it's what happens to them after they're replaced. While I/we enjoy our tech conveniences on the daily, they unfortunetly are not made of cardboard and producing/disposing of them has had a tremendously damaging effect on the world's environment.



We call this "e-waste" and half of it is made up of electronics such as computers, monitors, printers, televisions, dvd/music devices, stereos, and cell phones. In the United States, a dismal 10-20% percent of electronics are recycled responsibly (depending on who you talk to) and Europe doesn't fare much better at 25%. (see below chart to see where the waste comes from and where it goes) This means 80% of the roughly 50 million tons of e-waste will be either burnt or put in landfills, allowing the hundreds of different dangerous chemicals (including lead, mercury, cadmium, etc) found in electronics to leak into the water or air. Much of the waste (computers) is sold to developing countries to be sold as is (they will still end up as waste at some point) or stripped to extract and sell the rare elements and materials used in the electronics. There is currently no U.S. law to curb or regulate the export of e-waste to countries in Africa and Asia and the E.U. laws (under the Basel Convention) are obviously not being enforced. We need federal legislation to make sure that A. the environment/world population is protected from e-waste's harmful chemicals/materials. B. to re-use the rare elements and materials that will disappear from the earth unless we learn to recycle them effectively and C. that recyclers actually do what they promise, because surprisingly, even groups that claim to recycle these devices responsibly have been found to export them to developing countries. A fantastic story by 60 minutes reported that 44 recyclers were simply exporting the e-waste overseas and according to National Geographic, even Goodwill has sold computers to Ghana.

If you have electronic/electric waste please contact the E-Stewards Initiative to find a local recycler and/or the manufacturer (Dell, HP and Apple all have recylcing programs) to find out how to properly recycle the product.
(via Design Boom, CNN, SVTC)

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

BUSY STREET ARTIST: GAIA


When done well, street art sneaks the beauty of the canvas/gallery and all its ideas and conviction into the lives of masses. NYC inhabitant Gaia (the embodiment of Earth in Greek and also the name of scientific theory concerning the inter-connectivity of the Earth's physical components) is featured in the above video wheat-pasting the crap out of a cinder block wall in what has been a busy year for the gallery/street artist. Directed by Nicolas Heller and featuring Diplo's newest project Major Lazer, Gaia's prints bring some of nature's creatures (mythical and otherwise) to society's unsuspecting eyes to create something he says is "more beautiful than what I have found in this daily life. Groping at something romantic that I have not yet located where I currently am." Perhaps as important as the image is the placement and Gaia's choices use space and location very effectively. Again, he states it best:
I feel like one of the most important responsibilities of artists who consistently get up in the streets is to forge new frontiers for spots. Finding a beautiful setting to apply the work that is in a neighborhood where Street Art is not generally found is important for a few strong reasons.
Firstly, whatever the piece is, by putting up work that goes beyond the usual areas where it is to be expected, the artist strengthens the collective body of street art and extends its limits. It essentially serves as an outpost for others to venture forth from. It radiates new work in an unfamiliar landscape and enhances itself with reinforcements as other people use it as a base of reference for spots.
Secondly, I feel that its impact is significantly heightened and accentuated when the work is encountered through coincidence. It becomes arresting in that moment of intimacy and such a situation of beautiful discovery that is ignited between the piece and the pedestrian is not as readily established if the viewer is anticipating the experience because it is in a setting like Williamsburg. In a new and more distant place, the work becomes more mysterious and autonomous.
Thirdly, it changes the artist as they become shaped in their exploration of the surface of neighborhoods and become familiar with novel terrain. It puts the artist in the uncomfortable experience of drifting from the nest and into a place where their individual voice and art must be asserted confidently. A practice of finding spots that are in the cut confronts the artist with other realities of lifestyle and culture. It is like visiting a new country in the very city that you thought you knew.

(via NotCot)




Sunday, August 2, 2009

BEST BIRCH VESSELS: KOUTA FUKUNAGA


We're finally feeling the summer heat here in New England, so today I picked up some fresh mint and a few ripe limes to make a more refreshing water (add rum, club soda/seltzer and simple syrup to complete a mojito or just add simple syrup/honey to the drink to sweeten it) When all is said and done, I refrigerate the drink in a 32oz glass container, (normally it holds beer) but I would much rather use Japanese artist Kouta Fukunaga's hand-carved birch vessels to serve my beverages in style. Technically, he created them to serve sake and wine and I'm ok with that too. These award-winning vessels are from Hokkaido-grown birch trunks and exemplify great design and naturally beautiful materials.


(via daily icon)

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

CHINESE ART INVASION: LUO TAO


U.K. artist by way of China, Luo Tao is a recent graduate from the Glasgow School of art and has been featured on the respected Saatchi Gallery site. (Saatchi also has a new Chinese art installation, view here) According to her site (in Rickey Henderson): "Luo Tao's illustrations reference aspects of her native Chinese culture and comparisons between Eastern and Western societies. The illustrations frequently display a dark sense of humour as well as political satire." I'll say. Andrew Wallace likes these very much. (via Lost at E Minor)

Monday, July 27, 2009

HOMELESSNESS IN AMERICA: PENTAGRAM PAPERS #39 (SIGNS)


Pentagram Design, a design institution if I've ever seen one, has worked with any company worth a salt on everything from architecture, graphics, identities to packaging. Their regular publication, The Pentagram Papers, in their own words, "will publish examples of curious, entertaining, stimulating, provocative and occasionally controversial points of view that have come to the attention of, or in some cases are actually originated by, Pentagram." (1975-present)

Issue #39 includes an article entitled Signs which documents the lives of the homeless in America through the signs that tell their story and the intimate portraits of those who carry them. Particularly moving in this collection are the details, visible in the subjects faces and signs, (the sign above is a sadly ironic example in this recession) as testaments to the toll of homelessness and the reasons how/why people become homeless.

In each of my first three years in teaching (at either the high school or the summer camp) I've taught homeless students whose ages range from 7 to 17. (annually, there are more than a thousand homeless NH students, that we know of) While the percentage of homeless students in high school who graduate is extremely low, their situations are heartbreaking and their courage (whether they finish or not) is often staggering. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, in any given year in the United States:
-There may be as many as 3 million men, women and children living without a regular, adequate nighttime residence.
-Children under 18 make up almost 40% of this population. (42% of them under 5 years of age)
-Veterans make up 40% of homeless males. (approximately 27% of the total population)
-The mentally-ill constitute 16% of the total population.
-Addiction is the cause for anywhere from 30-60% of homeless Americans (depending on who you talk to)

In NH, there are at least 25 shelters who help house and provide services to the approximately 2,500 homeless. (NH Coalition to End Homelessness)
Here are ten ways you can help.






(via Cool Hunting, Pentagram Papers #39)

BEST BRUSHES: FEDERICO YANKELEVICH


Spanish painter Fede Yankelevich creates simple, mostly black on white portraits of powerful ideas, icons and amazing nudes. My favorite piece (up top) is an image of famed Argentinian writer/poet/artist Julio Cortazar. (Hopscotch won the National Book Award in 67') Yankelevich's published works have graced the pages of Esquire and Artafacta and are posted on the regular at his site.

(via It's Nice That)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

HUMANITARIAN AID/HANDSOME DESIGN: OXFAM INTERNATIONAL


Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 like-minded organizations working together and with partners and allies around the world to fight poverty and injustice. In their honorable quest, Oxfam has employed the help of Barcelona design firm HEYStudio to make their image and ideas more acceptable (and handsome) through quality design. While an organization like Oxfam can truly benefit from these design upgrades, their cause and the impoverished people of the world are the real winners. (Too much? A bit dramatic, but true regardless) HeyStudio says:

Branding project for Intermón Oxfam. The aim was to renew the image of Oxfam and create an emotional link between the association and its young target. To create a more visual language, the letters are converted into illustrations, which increases the signification of words and create a own graphical personality, direct and reinvidicative. Titles are reduced to one single word to communicate quicker and more directly. The all identity is based on one single black colour printed on different colour papers, to facilitate the production and lower costs.

New fact sheet from Oxfam came out a few days ago, read it in full here.
•1 out of 6 people in the world suffer from chronic hunger.
Forty percent of the people on our planet—more than 2.5 billion—
now live in poverty, struggling to survive on less than $2 a day.
• In 2008 alone, rising food prices forced an additional 40 million
people into hunger.
• According to the UN’s World Food Program, the number of
global food emergencies has increased from an average of 15
per year during the 1980s to more than 30 per year since 2000.
• If you were born in the US, you can expect, on average, to live
nearly 78 years. If you live in Zimbabwe, you have only a 43
percent chance of surviving past 40.
• Poverty limits access to education. Globally, 771 million people
lack basic literacy skills; two-thirds of them are women.
• Every day, 25,000 children under the age of 5 die, mostly from
preventable causes.
• While the US is one of the wealthiest countries on earth, over
39 million Americans live in poverty.


(Via World Famous Design Junkies)

NEW WARES: OLIVER PEOPLES AND ERIC ELMS VANS


A few purchases today, which is rare for a teacher in the summer. The new Eric Elms x Vans model debuted at Identity (Portsmouth, NH) this afternoon so I had to cop a pair while the gettin was good. (Elms installation pic below just to make this post about something other than me purchasing crap) New nerd glasses as well, from the Summer/Fall 09' Collection, mine are the Oliver Peoples "Deacon" sunglasses made prescription. Thanks to Patty and the ladies at Eyelook Optical in Portsmouth.



Wednesday, July 22, 2009

AMERICA'S MOST TRUSTED NEWSCASTER: JON STEWART


In a new poll by Time Magazine, Americans were asked "Now that Walter Cronkite has passed on, who is America's most trusted newscaster?" Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the Daily Show's Jon Stewart beat out newscasters from the major networks marking a significant change in the perception of previously trusted news sources. Considering the legacy of American television journalism, it certainly is odd, a joke maybe, that a comedian is percieved as more trustworthy than actual news source anchors. (no matter how awesome he is) Therefore this poll appears to be a rather sad reflection on the state of American journalism today, especially considering the recent growth of entertainment news and a shift from journalists like Cronkite (who did much of his own research and writing) to news casters who do little other than look good (sometimes) and read teleprompters. Now, Jon Stewart isn't even a "newscaster" in the typical sense, (or at all) but he does much of own research and writing and his viewers are consistently the most informed compared to every source of news available. (according to Pew Research, see below) So it may be fair to say that Stewart is upholding at least a few of the grand journalistic tradtions that Cronkite helped establish, even if it is for the sake of entertainment. (which is what Stewart has openly stated is his job, not reporting news)

It must be said, that the poll, conducted online, is clearly missing a few notable Fox and CNN anchors, Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Bill O'Reilly, Chris Wallace, etc. As of right now, I don't know if the available choices were chosen based on popularity or some other more subjective criteria. Regardless, it speaks volumes that Stewart received more votes than the established anchors he beat out.

MANNY MANIA: BOSTON


This past weekend, Red Bull's Manny Mania Contest rolled into Boston for an official display of technical skateboarding and spazz kids ingesting too much caffeine. Portsmouth, NH's own Nelson Wormstead MC'd (on a gold mic no less) and Dover's Matty Johnson took home MVP honors. Peep the video and suffer through the Swollen Members track (alt video with a far better soundtrack: Lords of the Underground "Chief Rocka" available here)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

THE REAL LOWER EAST SIDE: CAPTURED

LITTLE BROTHER IS WATCHING BIG BROTHER.

This month, the long-time-coming documentary, CAPTURED premiered in New York City. Produced by Mark Levin (Slam) and starring Clayton Peterson and Jimmy Gestapo (of the NYHC institution Murphy's Law) the film has been in "production" for 30 years. Watch the preview then head to Amazon, iTunes or whatevs to get your paws on one.

Since 1979 Clayton Patterson has dedicated his life to documenting the final era of raw creativity and lawlessness in New York City's Lower East Side, a neighborhood famed for art, music and revolutionary minds. Traversing the outside edge he's recorded a dark and colorful society, from drag to hardcore, heroin, homelessness, political chaos and ultimately gentrification. His odyssey from voyeur to provocateur reveals that it can take losing everything you love to find your own significance.

GULF COAST SLABS: THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF CLAY KETTER


Clay Ketter, an American artist/photog by way of Sweden, traveled to post-Katrina Mississippi to capture the view of its devastation not in the debris on the ground, but in the foundations of the former houses from above. Ketter, a former carpenter himself, knew just where to look to find beautiful composition in the bleakest of circumstances. Better known for his paintings and assemblages using construction materials, this series is especially evocative considering the lives and dreams that use to occupy the slabs he shot. (click on the images to enlarge)

A retrospective of Ketter's work (including the "Gulf Coast Slabs" series as well as paintings and sculpture) is currently on display at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden until August 16th of this year. Highly recommended. (via Today and Tomorrow)


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK: THE SPECIFICS HARDLY MATTER


Every now and again a movie comes along and rips you out of your world. (even if just for a few hours) Synecdoche, NY, a film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) is either so accurate and profound or so damn crazy and disjointed that you have to see it. (I vote profound) I realize the movie came out months ago, but you can't post important scenes from a freshly released film. (plus, I just saw it) So with that said, if you haven't see it, I might not watch this scene.

Here is the transcribed monologue including it's beginning which is not in the clip, but should be. I would edit it, but I don't have that much time on my hands. According to the movie, none of us do:

What was once before you - an exciting, mysterious future - is now behind you. Lived; understood; disappointing. You realize you are not special. You have struggled into existence, and are now slipping silently out of it. This is everyones experience. Every single one. The specifics hardly matter. Everyone is everyone. So you are Adele, Hazel, Claire, Olive. You are Ellen. All her meager sadnesses are yours; all her loneliness; the gray, straw-like hair; her red raw hands. Its yours. It is time for you to understand this.
Walk.(begin clip)
As the people who adore you stop adoring you; as they die; as they move on; as you shed them; as you shed your beauty; your youth; as the world forgets you; as you recognize your transience; as you begin to lose your characteristics one by one; as you learn there is no-one watching you, and there never was, you think only about driving - not coming from any place; not arriving any place. Just driving, counting off time. Now you are here, it's 7:43. Now you are here, it's 7:44. Now you are...

Monday, July 13, 2009

TABERNACLE: A SOLO EXHIBITION BY CHRISTOPHER DAVISON


A few months ago, I posted some work by Christopher Davison, a Philadephia based artist with an amazing style and subject matter that tends to abduct your senses. (in a good way) Deservedly so, Mr. Davison has a new solo exhibition called Tabernacle, opening at the Nicelle Beauchene Gallery in New York City beginning in late July through August. The piece in the invite (above) is considerably brighter in tone and subject matter and certainly befits the exhibition's name which means "a sanctuary for worship." (or a receptacle for the consecrated elements of the Eucharist) Considering the predominant use of demons/devils and dark imagery in Davison's previous work, perhaps this show represents a new direction for the artist, or simply another side in the world of good/evil. Looking forward to it.


(via Christopher Davison)