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Nicolai Howalt’s portrait series of child pugilists before and after a match is oddly compelling.

Alison Malone’s photo series, The Daughter’s of Job portrays a secret society of girls ranging in age from 10 to 20 years old that are the daughters and granddaughters of Freemasons.

Nick Jakubiak is something of a bohemian type artist. He use to live on my block, where he spent a lot of time outside. Often he was to be seen smoking and painting pictures of his favorite places in the city, or people he had met. We’d shoot the shit from time to time. A few years ago, he made the move back to his home state of Michigan. I just had a look at his portfolio site and thought I’d share his work.

What if you and everyone in your town all received mysterious hand written letters and nobody had a clue where they were coming from? The Mysterious Letter project plans to write a letter to everyone on the planet. I hope they have lots of ink and strong wrists.

In this digital age, who knows what will become of album packaging. Sleevage is a wonderful archive of sorts that is dedicated to becoming the most comprehensive online resource for record artwork. Below is the LP cover for the first cassette I ever bought with my own money. Between the sleeve cover and the video for Hot For Teacher, Van Halen was most certainly my introduction to sex, drugs and rock & roll at a very young age.

Convincing the world that the human impact on climate change is the most urgent issue of our times is not enough. Politicians and citizens alike must be moved to actively participate in adjusting how we live and how we pass policy. With sponsorship from the WWF, sculptor Mark Coreth has put together this brilliant public installation of a melting polar bear to inspire us.

Using pen and ink, Fumie Sasabuchi reworks the pages of fashion magazines with images that remind us that underneath the skin, we are all mortals built of flesh and bone. See more of her work here.

I first saw Liu Bolin’s unique brand of camouflage art a while back. This blog posting reminded me that I wanted to share his work with more people. I also recently saw this ad council commercial that is clearly inspired by his work. Another advertisement using the same idea for the anti-psychotic drug, Seroquel has been on air quite a bit lately.

This is the calendar that I will be hanging over my desk for 2010.

Mel Ramos’s Pop Art Fantasies imagines sexy female celebrity icons as pinup style objects of desire. The women pose around products that represent over indulgence, mass consumption and bad habits.

Several years ago, a friend showed me street-art by his ex-roommate, a woman who went by the named of SWOON. I was enamored with what I saw and it certainly was no surprise that in the immediate years to follow, her work would be championed by Deitch Projects and the Museum of Modern Art. Here she is featured in a segment from D.I.Y. America , a serialized show produced by Wieden & Kennedy, that features people at the forefront of America’s creative counter culture.

I first heard of artist Chris Parks, after seeing the movie The Fountain for which he was commissioned to create atmospheric plate images of the cosmos. Parks films chemical reactions to create fluid paintings; the process is entirely organic and no computer FX have been used to manipulate the images.

This is Procrastination.

Here is a wonderful collection of Art Deco era advertisement posters.

Allison Schulnik is a painter and stop-animator. Something about her short film, Hobo Clown makes me think of the serial killer John Wayne Gacey who at one time had dressed up as a clown name Bobo. During his incarceration he took to painting clowns. Perhaps that has something to do with it.

Now that another Halloween has come and gone, we all have another full year to work out costume ideas for next time. Here are some brilliant makeup creations from senior artists at MAC. I’m partial to the design inspired by Roy Lichtenstein works.

I recently discovered the work of photographer Martina Hoogland Ivanow. Whether shooting people, landscapes or fashion, there is a consistent style that evokes the dreamy spirit of a Tarkovsky film. See more of her work here and here.

Here are 20 movie villains represented as pumpkin carvings.

I just discovered Supermarket, a curated collection of lovely design related products. This online store is the perfect place to find unique gifts.

The story of Germany’s invasion of Ukraine during WWII is told in this astonishing real-time evolving sand painting. My mind is thoroughly blown.

Check Adad Hannah’s video recreation of Charles Allen Gilbert’s All is Vanity from 1892.

Here is an interview with photographer Alec Soth. And here he discusses the making of his Niagra series and how the theme of love is at that play.

Everything that comes from the imagination of MIranda July makes me happy. Here she poses as background actors in scenes from classic cinema. I don’t think she’ll ever run out of fun ideas.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrates the 50th anniversary of Robert Frank’s photo collection America. Images from the book, which is an iconic document of the nation in the 1950s will be on display until January 3.

Good news. It seems that Urban Outfitters have joined forces with the Impossible Project to save Polaroid film from a sad demise.

While doing some research, I came across the death masks of a few historical figures. Some even date back to the 1300s. It’s truly fascinating to look at the cast of a person who lived several hundred years ago and realize that you are essentially seeing exactly how they looked in their final moments.

Particularly because I was born in The City of Brotherly Love, I am with all of my heart absolutely ashamed with Philadelphia today. It is an atrocity and an insult to Ben Franklin’s legacy of founding the first American library in Philly that the cities politicians would allow their public libraries to close. Perhaps I don’t know the political climate in the state of Pennsylvania well enough, but I do know that it is simply unacceptable to allow the greatest record of our culture and past to be treated as though it were so disposable.

20x200 is a project that gives emerging artists exposure while at the same time allowing anyone to collect work at a modest price. I have a good mind to purchase the two images below and hang them above my desk. They’d be perfect reminders to not take advertising too seriously.

Check out these amazing prints of imaginary sea life and bacteria-like creatures that my friend Celia created. The project originally stems from her website collaboration with electronic musician Amon Tobin.

Gordon Parks is to photography as Jackie Robinson is to baseball, an African-American male who began the process of tearing down walls that should never have existed in his field. A collection of his work containing 4,000 prints and 20,000 negatives has just found a home at Purchase College - State University of New York.

I’ve just discovered the work of photographer Paul D’ Amato. The earnest view of his lens captures moments that often feel wrought with tension.

Obstaculum is a surreal series of photo-illustrations rich with texture. The project was conceived of by designer-photographer Craig Hunter Parker.

David Lynch has created images to accompany Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse’s new project entitled Dark Knight. Listen to the album here.

Before drawing with light became a trend for commercials and music videos, Picasso did it.

(via Today and Tomorrow)

When I was in college, a classmate introduced me to the world of art cars. He had outfitted the entire exterior of his pickup with working TVs. He also made a short film documenting a cross-country caravan of these kinds of vehicles. This is what I was reminded of when I came across these pictures of trucks and bikes by Japanese enthusiasts who take it to the next level.

A retrospective of Francis Bacon’s work is currently on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through August 16. The show includes 130 works from worldwide collections.

1984, Peter Feldstein photographed the entire population of Oxford, Iowa (676 people). Twenty years later, he came back to update the portrait series.

Nadav Kander is a photographer who shoots both people and places. His diverse body of work includes portraits of people ranging from Obama to Kissenger and Pele to Bertolucci. He has photographed the the Yangtze River, the Arcticle Circle, Chernobyl and explored the human form as a landscape.

I woke up this morning thinking about tattoos and how much I’d like to finally start a back piece. Living legend, Horiyoshi III is the artist who I’d truly like to have work on me. He is widely regarded as the greatest living tattoo artist. Here is footage of him working; he tattoos within the Tebori tradition.

I’m feeling ambivalent about The Anonymous Hugging Wall, though its probably a lovely idea.

These designer axes appeal to both my artistic and pathological sensibilities. One of these affordable pieces of art would look great hanging over my couch - in a Duchamp kind of way. The other nice aspect of owning a Best Made Axe is the obvious; nobody messes with the person with an axe in their hand.

This is Daniel Freytag’s still life series entitled Tempest.

(via Today and Tomorrow)

Stephen Wiltshire is an illustrator unlike any I’ve ever seen before. Born with autism, Stephen is capable of drawing landscapes with exquisite detail all from memory.

The gang over at Shilo never cease to amaze me. I recently had the opportunity to work with several members of the team who are responsible for their newest piece, Still Run. These guys are truly dedicated creators and vicious ping-pong players as well.

My heart is heavy. My friend Craig climbed a mountain for inspiration, knowledge and experience. He didn’t come back. I want to share his voice and words. Here he reads one of his poems, Hymn to Persephone.

During the last week, a number of tragic scenarios have played out in my life. I thought perhaps it would be a good idea to post something beautiful. The picture below is by a friend and photographer, Erik Snyder.

This weekend, I discovered this series of found group photos that have been digitally manipulated by Jonah Birns.

Here is a peak at Damien Hirst’s album packaging for the forthcoming album from The Hours. Earlier in the year, Hirst collaborated on a music video for the band with famed director Tony Kaye and actress, Sienna Miller.

(via Kanye University)

Poems Out Loud is a lovely new site for poetry enthusiasts.

I stumbled upon the website of fashion photographer Miles Aldridge. The two figure studies below are fantastically provocative and all about the shoes.

I really dig collage artist Javier Pinon’s work. I wonder if he finds himself giggling as he makes each piece.

I just discovered Johann Fournier’s photographic collages. His style makes me think of what might happen if magically Magritte and Dave McKean were able to collaborate on a project.

Peter Saville has long been one of the most inspiring creators for me. A few months back, I posted an interview in which he discusses his process. Yesterday, he did a Q&A session for the D&AD President’s Lecture and had some forthright answers:

What is wrong with design education?

Has the computer democratized design?

What inspires you?

What do you think of Bansky?

PosterBoy is a NYC based artist whose work can easily be classified as culture jamming. He has gained notoriety for his work in which he rearranges subway billboards using only a razor. His recent involvement in the re-arrangement of ads created for MoMA has caused a bit of a stir. See him do his thing here.

Julien Cottereau is Sick As A Dog.

Smiley face clouds have been hovering over London lately.

David Lynch is also on twitter and indeed it really is him. Apparently he likes to update with weather reports for LA. I found two gems linked off his page. Here is a clip of David Lynch, the cowboy singing in a studio. And here, he talks about making art. Only Lynch would think to title a painting, Woman with Broken Neck and Electric Knife Speaks to Her Husband.

A dome is such a great shape to project a movie on. I think one day people will have domes in their homes. They’re magical. - David Lynch

Shepard Fairey is a street artist and designer who had always been most known for his image of Andre the Giant’s face. Different versions of the image have appeared on walls in just about every country on the globe, as part of a campaign known as Andre the Giant Has A Posse. Fairey’s Hope posters that have become synonymous with Barack Obama’s candidacy for US President are now an overnight symbol of an unparalleled event. He recently spoke with Charlie Rose about his more than twenty year career that has lead up to this poster. A retrospective of his work is currently on display at ICA in Boston. In a peculiar string of events, Shepard Fairey found himself in prison on the eve of the show’s opening.

The Abode of Chaos.

Japanese artist Daito Manabe really does suffer for his art.

Unfortunately, the end of polaroid film is upon us in just three days.

Rune Guneriussen’s photo’s of common house lamps positioned in natural landscapes are eerily similar to a concept I had for a music video several years ago. Unlike these gorgeous images, the video was never made.

(via Colectiva)

Adjoining the introverted and eccentric life of Franz Kafka with the illustrative work of Robert Crumb makes for a rather peculiar read. The Fantagraphics release Kafka by Zane Mairowitz and Crumb is definitely worth picking up.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Bettie Page ushered in a new age of style and expression for women. The revival of pin up cultural seems to be bound to the modern cultural of tattoo art. For that very reason, I thought I’d share this photo layout of tattoo artist-modern day pin up Julie Becker. Though she is currently based out of LA, Becker is occasionally available for tattoo appointments in New York as well.

The work of photographer Jeff Brouws resonates with me in a strong way. His images feel like moments lifted from one of my favorite films, Wim Wender’s Paris,Texas. His photos are often of built environments in flux and void of people.

Peter Saville is certainly one of the most iconic designers of the last thirty years. The stylish designer who is probably best known for his collaborations with Factory Records speaks about his process and the creation of the Joy Division Unknown Pleasures sleave.

(via Kottke)

I first encountered Edward Burtynsky’s work at a show curated by the Brooklyn Museum of Art. There is an emotional paradox one feels when looking at his massive prints. The images are so beautiful and crafted with a masterful eye for detail. And yet, these photos are documents of how industry has changed our visual landscape. Burtynsky gave a TED talk a few years back which is certainly worth checking out. Additionally, a documentary entitled Manufactured Landscapes on the photographer’s work was released last year.

Many thousands of people have removed their clothing while gathering with complete strangers to participate in one of Spencer Tunick’s large scale nude photos. Signing up on his site to model sure would be an interesting way to get over any self-image issues one might have with their body. Maybe I should put this on my list of things to do before I die.

EBN may have pioneered video remixing and VJing, but it is Eclectic Method who have continued their tradition into the 21st century. The creative group have just launched a new website worth checking out. 

Here is a photo series by Hans-Christian Schink that I like quite a bit.

I stumbled across this work by photographer Nazif Topcuoglu. His photos seem to be concerned with re-creating classical painting compositions and lighting. Whether shooting a scene of young women or a still life, most of the work seems to reference back to the great paintings of Caravaggio and his contemporaries.

William Eggleston’s photography probably has had more of a conscious influence on me as a filmmaker than the work of any other photographer. The first US retrospective of his work begins today at the Whitney Museum and will be up until January 25th, 2009.

I’ve always felt frustrated when websites are created with more interest in having moving parts or bells and whistles than a design that communicates clearly. And yet on the other hand, I’m curious about multi-media projects that intelligently invite and engage the user. A friend recently shared the work of Paul Neave with me. I really love his anaglyph 3D project. While these projects aren’t about web-design persay, there is an obvious consideration for the user.

Some of the most inspiring photographs I’ve come across in recent years have been shot by Vincent Fournier.

I’ve long been impressed with the oeuvre of designer-illustrator Deanne Cheuk. Her prolific body of work has had a tremendous impact on contemporary forms of illustration and animation, that has ultimately reshaped our creative atmosphere in both commercial and fine art worlds. This film gives more insight into who Deanne is, what makes her tick and where she sees her work going.

This posting is to congratulate a friend and one of the brightest minds I know. Craig Arnold is a poet and a professor at the University of Wyoming in the MFA program. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including: a Yale Younger Poets Selection, the Rome Prize, a Fulbright and most recently a US-Japan Creative Artists Exchange Fellowship. He has just released his second book, Made Flesh with Ausable Press. Best of luck in Columbia; next stop Japan. I wish I could be with you guys for the book release party, but am so glad I got to see you this weekend. We are truly fortunate to have friends like you and Rebecca. Damn Robin is getting tall; I wonder if he and I might one day join forces and start a very loud garage band.

I happened upon a series of intriguing images on a French blog and realized that the images were actually from a book called Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia, published by Steidl. I’ll definitely have to track this one down knowing the quality of books Steidl produces. For more entertainment related to tattoos and Russian crime, I can’t recommend David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises enough.

I came across this photo-collage design work of Pascal Trembley and think there is really something timeless about it. It would be easy to imagine these images turning to motion; they almost feel like still frames from a fantastic film opening title sequence.

Linked off of the website for the US National Library of Medicine, I found a rather fascinating gallery of text and imagery dedicated to the study of the human anatomy.

Here are portraits by Nick Sushkevich of his friend who has been awake for 72 hours.

I just found out about the Chinatown Soccer Club. The league has been around since 2002 and is comprised of creative people whose passions off the pitch range from careers in design and writing to photography and skateboarding. The squad includes accomplished artist Ryan McGinness and skateboarder Mark Gonzalez. Apparently these guys take their game seriously, playing in the mornings before work and go late into the cold season. I so want in. Where do I sign up?

Damien Hirst is certainly one of the biggest names in contemporary art. He really shocked the hell out of the art world this week when sold a lot of his work at auction through Sothesby’s, bypassing gallery representation. The works brought in overwhelming price tags far beyond expectations; combined sales totaling over 200 million dollars. Hirst’s reaction to the success is pretty amusing.

I’m totally amazed that my art is selling while banks are falling.

The Sun’s take on the auction is almost as amusing as Hirst’s thoughts. See the instructions on how to make your own Hirst piece at the bottom of the article.

I’ve always believed that the great power that artists carry with them is the ability to evoke an emotional reaction from a stranger without even stepping foot in the same room. Nagi Noda’s whimsical work makes people feel good; it reminds us to use our imaginations no matter how wild they may be. As a young female artist she has truly defied obstacles and traditions while fully embodying the title “creative director.” With a vision all her own Nagi Noda has seamlessly slipped from one medium to another charming us along the way. So it is with a profound sadness that I share the work of Nagi Noda, whose life was cut way too short just a week ago at the age of 35.

Nagi Nada’s official website

Nagi Noda’s Music Video Work

Alex Kanevsky’s paintings call to mind the work of one of my very favorite painters, Francis Bacon. Both artists seem to share an interest in blurred images or rather portraits in motion. While I sure would love to own a Bacon, I’d certainly be interested in a Kanevsky if anyone is buying. Click around his site and be sure to look at the projects in which he has shared the evolution of the painting.

Kim Holtermand is a photographer from Denmark who takes fantastic photos of landscapes and architecture.  Environments in my dreams often look like some of Kim’s night photos; so no wonder I like the work so much.

I came across this photo series of Kenadie Jourdin Bromley, a little girl born with a condition known as primordial dwarfism. Having never heard of the condition, the angelic looking little girl’s beauty reminded me of Ron Mueck’s sculptures in which he redefines human scale.

Here is a very cool site dedicated to constructing Marcel DuChamp’s life in a timeline.

When Olle Hemmendorff was commissioned as part of a group of artists asked to re-envision an icon of Nike Sportswear, he made a hamburger.

I came across the fantastical work of Ryohei Hase, a Tokyo based illustrator. I’d really like the painting below to hang above my couch; it would certainly make for a good conversation piece.

Thunder is threatening us with showers in NYC. I’m glad it held out for today, instead of last night when I attended a Rooftop Films event at The Old American Can Factory. I caught the New York premier of In a Dream, a documentary in which the director investigates his own father’s quixotic and obsessive life as a mosaic artist. The film has recently been acquired by HBO Documentary Films and will air early 2009. Keep an eye out, it’s a pretty special film.

Back in my college years, I abandoned work on a screenplay that dealt with a peculiar love story that never could be. A socially awkward woman with a penchant for taxidermy was to meet her soul mate who unknowingly had the touch of death, literally. The more I watched the stop-animated films of Jan Svankmajer, the more this unreasonable tale seemed to make sense to me. I even knew who I would cast to play the parts if the film were to come to fruition. The lead would be played by the always bizarre Amanda Plummer; opposite her would be the chameleon Ted Levine.

Now that I have discovered the taxidermy art of Sarina Brewer, I think I just may feel invigorated enough to rekindle this old concept.

The website of photographer Richard Renaldi has a ton of amazing portraits and landscapes to look at.

When I came across Alex Sandwell Kliszynski’s human barbie doll photo series, I was instantly reminded of popular new trends in body augmentation. Procedures like “labia conturing” and “pelvic fitness” have become popular in a world in which people are increasingly concerned with a perfect appearance like dolls. This very notion of human perfection makes me think of Leni Riefenstahl and her fascination of people as statues.

Leni Riefenstahl was a controversial filmmaker and one-time Nazi propagandist. She had been commissioned to document the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin. An ex-dancer, she was obsessed with the human body and particularly was intrigued with an idolized form. Throughout several of Olympia’s sequences, the most chiseled of humans are likened to Greek gods. Many critics have pointed out that these visual metaphor’s may also be a tribute to fascist ideal’s of a perfect Aryan race.

(via BuzzFeed)

Salvador Dali was once a guest on a TV game-show in which blindfolded contestants had to guess his identity. This clip is incredibly amusing and in a nutshell explains why I love Dali so much.

Nick Veasey is an x-ray photographer.

(via Coudal)

William Lamson is an artist who is quite keen on playing with balloons and making things go pop or ping. His website is filled with quirky projects that range in medium from video to installation art and photography. I particularly enjoyed a piece called Emerge and an another called Vital Capacity.

(via kottke)

Mark Bryan’s paintings are quite satirical and concerned with the world we live in. The one below is entitled, The First 1000 and was created in 2004. I think it is a strong reminder that thousands of people are being killed and maimed in Iraq with no signs of an end to the war.

I came across the work of a young photographer named Lissa Rivera. Her environmental photos of educational institutions are intended to simply portray and allow the viewer to draw their own conclusions. I was particularly excited to see the contrast of subject matter between this work and her newer self portrait series posted on her blog. Rivera seems to be completely comfortable switching between photographic genres.

I have long been a fan of Aesthetic Apparatus’ whimsical design work and poster prints. I also love their name. Maybe one day they’ll make a poster for my band or a film of mine. In the meantime I’ll just have to settle for hearing them discuss what they do.

Doug Pray is a documentary filmmaker who has made several films that deal with the creative fruit of counter culture. He was commissioned by Clorox to make this short film documenting the making of a reverse-graffiti mural by Paul “Moose” Curtis. The mural is created by simply washing away dirt. Its good to see a chemical company like Clorox starting to think in a greener way.

Artist Joshua Allen Harris has been using garbage bags to make large balloon animals that he places throughout the city.

At a BBQ last night, a friend told me about the new website of avante-garde filmmaker and writer Jonas Mekas. Though in his 80’s, the site is testament to Mekas’ active career and passion.

Mekas has always been concerned with the preservation of cinema and the importance of bringing film to the people.  As a founder of The Anthology Film Archives, he has done just that. This is his foray into the modern world of the web. The site offers previews of work that can be downloaded for a modest fee. In addition to Mekas’ own films, works by other filmmakers including: Kenneth Anger, Marcel Duchamp, and Jim Jarmusch are available for download. The site is a wonderful example of how the web has put the power of distribution back into the hands of the creators.

Jeremy Boyle once played in the Chicago based band Joan of Arc. His newest project is a duo that consists of a midi controlled guitar and drums. The instruments are mechanically played without the aid of a musician.

(via It’s Nice That)

I’m a bit behind I guess, but I never heard of 90 Day Jane and her blog in which she promised to kill herself in the said amount of time.

I’m itching for some more ink. Instead, I’ll share the work of Chris Odonnell, the artist I want to do my other sleeve. The arm in the picture below belongs to my better half, Mandy.

Today, I will be going to MoMA to catch the Olafur Eliasson show which is only up for another four days. As one Eliasson show comes to a close, a particularly special one opens. The artist’s waterfall series has come to New York City and opens today. The installation will be up through October 13th for viewing daily from 7am - 10pm, with the exceptions of Tuesdays & Thursday from 9am - 10pm. Additionally, the waterfalls will be illuminated after sunset. Here is more on the project from the New York Times.

Elkie Vanstiphout is a young photographer, model, and musician from Belgium. I consistently saw photos of her posted on the image sharing site ffffound. With a closer look, I realized that Elkie’s moody photos were indeed self-portraits.

A friend forwarded me a link to the portfolio of painter, Fred Einaudi. His paintings definitely suite my tastes for the macabre.

Musician and all around cool guy, David Byrne, has created a musical sculpture that converts an entire building into an instrument. There is nothing sonically intuitive about the instrument and therefore, all players are on equally unfamiliar ground with no musical advantage.

I’ve always been very proud of my Philadelphia roots. The city has always been a great center for art and artists. Just walking around one can’t miss the rich culture of mural making. Check out this photo slide show of some of its most known street murals.

I’m told the Olafur Eliasson exhibit at MoMA is truly brilliant. I’ve yet to have a chance to go see it, so this is a reminder to everyone (myself included) that the show entitled Take Your Time is only up until June 30th.

Mikael Kennedy is a Brooklyn based photographer. I recently came across this bluish series of his polaroid snaps.

Designer Scott Hansen has created the second poster in the Artists for Obama Gallery.  The Shepard Fairy designed prints sold out fast; so get one of these while you can.

The annual New York City free Summer arts festival River to River is underway. The series which features dance, movies and music will offer performances from the likes of Ted Leo, Sonic Youth, and Atlas Sound. Today post punk legends Wire will play pier 17 at South Street Seaport 7pm.

Sigur Ros have always curated fantastic video and artwork to accompany their releases. In support of the band’s free single download Gobbledigook, regular collaborators Arnie & Kinski directed a video  inspired by and in collaboration with photographer Ryan McGinley. The video falls in line with McGinley’s nudist themed photo series recently on show in New York.

Blu is a graffiti artist with a rather unique approach. He has taken to animating his giant wall illustrations. His darkly comedic style in which characters spawn new forms recalls the work of animation guru Bill Plympton. Enjoy Blu’s short film Muto and be sure to click around his site.

I first saw Theo Jansen’s work featured in a BMW commercial. He is a Dutch artist who is obsessed with designing a new kind of nature. For twenty years now, he has been constructing skeletal beasts that are propelled by the wind. With each round there is an evolution to the design; Jansen plans to one day release these creatures/sculptures into the wild to fend for themselves.

Alejandro Jodorowski is a cinema genius like no other. The success of his film El Topo made him “the father of the midnight movie.” His films have been described as political, surreal, offensive and psychodelic.  All of these descriptions are as accurate as they are false. His body of work has been created as a quest for truth and enlightenment. For decades his films were only available on pirated VHS dubs and were banned in many countries. Now a set of three Jodorowsky films and accompanying soundtracks are available including: Fando y Lis, El Topo, and The Holy Mountain.

Humble Arts Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that aims to support upcoming fine art photographers through exhibitions and grants. Many of their photographer’s works are priced very reasonably for collectors just starting out; have a look. (Photo below by Sam Morgan.)

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor has worked tirelessly writing, recording and touring the last several years. On the band’s last touring album Year Zero, Reznor created something of an alternate reality designed to engage fans in a world around the music. This massive experiment proved to be hugely successful. As the recording industry continues to wrestle with change, NIN are plowing forward redefining our musical landscape and bringing their fans with them. Since Year Zero, the band has released two more albums. The first is an album called Ghosts I-IV which was intended to play like a soundtrack to an unmade film. NIN have launched the Ghost Film Festival inviting fans to make videos inspired by the tracks. The newest album, The Slip is an entirely free giveaway. The band is also encouraging fans to remix tracks and pass them around. It is quite clear that Reznor has embraced the notion that music can be a dialogue; his list of collaborators continues to grow and now includes his own fans.

Illustrator Patrick Moberg has created a series called Animal Pharm in which animals are anthropomorphized as hip hop greats.

An intimate photo-set of young American vagabonds (photographer unknown).

Back in March, I saw Patrick Stewart play the part of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at BAM. Both his and Kate Fleetwood’s (Lady Macbeth) performances were no less than brilliant. The play was set in an industrial space that was transformed scene-to-scene in a seamless choreographed manner. Echos of Stalinist Russia provided the play with a dark modern twist. The show has since moved to Broadway and will be performed   at the Lyceum Theatre through May 24th.

Combining performance art and photography, illusion artist Li Wei produces some pretty extraordinary moments.

Oliver Ackerman is the singer and guitar player for A Place to Bury Stangers. The band has generated indie-cult status. In addition to playing very loud music, he is the creator of Death By Audio. Several years back, Oliver had the idea to sell his custom guitar FX pedals that he had designed for his himself. This fruitful experiment lead to something bigger. The very studio where he was working became something of a collective artists space that curates shows and provides bands with rehearsal and recording space. Picthfork has done a feature on Oliver’s brainchild.

Photographer David Michalek directed Slow Dancing, a large scale series of 43 slow motion video portraits of some of the most accomplished dancers from around the world. Using high-speed HD cameras designed for scientific research, the project expands 5 seconds of dancing into a 10 minute long installation. Slow Dancing has already made stops to NYC’s Lincoln Center and the LA Music Center. On the project’s website, you can take a closer look at the dancers and view clips from the installation.

Doug Aitken is a renowned multimedia artist who has worked with video installation, sculpture, and photography.  In 2006, he published Broken Screen: 26 Conversations. The book compiles conversations with artists in which they discuss their desires to work outside of conventional linear narrative forms. Aitken engages his fellow artists—including Werner Herzog, Ed Ruscha, Robert Altman, Kenneth Anger, Claire Denis, Amos Vogel, and Alejandro Jodorowsky—in discussion, as opposed to critical interviews. Below are some choice quotes:

“I almost feel like the process of filmmaking is a performance itself. The act of filmmaking becomes an extension of the performance on-screen.—Matthew Barney

“…I got fired again and again because people like Jack Warner, the cofounder of Warner Brothers, would say, ‘who has actors all talking at the same time?’ Well I haven’t had many experiences in real life where people don’t talk all at the same time. People don’t wait around for each other to shut up before they speak.”—Robert Altman

“…the notion of a beginning and an end is a rational formulation that I don’t use anymore. For me, life is not continuous. If I have a beginning and end in one of my films, its not a real beginning or end. These things don’t exist.”—Alejandro Jodorowsky

At the young age of 30, photographer Ryan McGinley has firmly established himself as one of the most celebrated fine art photographers of his generation. His current series entitled, I Know Where the Summer Goes is on display at New York’s Team Gallery until May 3rd. For this project inspired by nudist magazines from the 60’s & 70’s, McGinley hit the road with a group of models for the summer. Having shot 4000 rolls of film that resulted in 150,000 images, McGinley edited the show down to 50 photographs.

Controversial animation director Ralph Bakshi is best known for his cult classic Fritz the Cat. If you aren’t familiar with his work, think Robert Crumb as a filmmaker. Bakshi is also credited with elevating rotoscope animation techniques to new levels with his version of The of Lord of the Rings (1978) and American Pop (1981). The truth is that Bakshi is a rebel. He is literally the Cool World to a more mainstream Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

In recent years, Bakshi has spent the better part of his time working as a painter. He will be in attendance on Thursday April 17th for the opening of his work at the Animazing Gallery.

Phillips commissioned auteur Wong Kar Wai to direct a short film to show off their new Aurea line of flat panel TVs. The result is There is Only One Sun, a French language film that seems heavily inspired by Godard’s Alphaville. The director continues to explore how to juxtapose mod aesthetics from the 60’s with a technicolor science-fiction future. In true Wong Kar Wai fashion, cooler than cool characters struggle with the pains of love. 

Modern architecture and design genius Zaha Hadid has been chosen to create the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Vilnius.

Stefan Sagmeister and Hillman Curtis both are highly influential designers. Both are based out of New York City and both were given names that made them destined for success. In Curtis’ most recent episode of his video series on artists, he points his camera at Sagmeister who has just released a book of his work entitled Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far.

Designer Jakob Trollback is curious about the constraints of the music video format. He experimented with the idea of creating a visual echo of a song’s expression, as opposed to a conceptual response. At last years TED conference Trollback introduced the results of his experiment which is set to David Byrne and Brian Eno’s “Moonlight in Glory.” 

German photographer Walter Schels and his partner Beate Lakotta have created a collection of photos contrasting portraits of the dying with their image just after passing. The series entitled Life Before Death will be on display at London’s Wellcome Collection from April 9 - May 18. 

Artists Arakawa and Madeline Gins designed a house intended to extend life. What does this mean? According to Gins, when living in this home “everyday you are practicing how not to die.”

Controversial photographer Joel Peter Witkin is best known for his sepia toned images. Often employing the use of cadavers and societies “freaks” for models, his photos are created with painstaking detail. For the most part his work has been celebrated by the fine art world in museums and galleries by audiences with a taste for the macabre. Fashion designer Alexander McQueen, tipped his hat to Witkin’s odalisque when he created a filmed homage to show off his Spring/Summer 2001 collection.  I never would have expected to find Witkin’s work in a NY Times fashion spread, highlighting designs by the Louis Vuitton, Prada, Ralph Lauren and of course McQueen. This feature dates back to 2006.

Photographer Carrie Levy began to win applause for her work at a very young age. Her photos have been displayed in countless exhibitions around the world. She has published her work in several prestigious collections and produced a book including a documentary series on her family’s coping process from her father’s incarceration, entitled 51 Months. Levy has launched a beautiful gallery of her images. She also happens to be one of my favorite people in the world. Her collaboration on the design of the site with Mandy Brown, another one of my favorite people (& better half) proves that simplicity is key when displaying work.

Since today is Easter, it seems like an appropriate day to share this great collection of pop culture recreations of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.

MoMA currently has an exhibition called Color Chart: Reinventing Color, 1950 to Today. The show runs from March 2nd to May 12th, 2008. I was particularly excited to see works by Bas Jan Ader, Frank Stella (below), Gerhard Richter, Edward Ruscha, Ellsworth Kelly, and On Kawara, among many others.

Sculpture artist Michael Heizer is building a city in the middle of the Nevada Desert and it’s taking half of his life to do so. The NY Times featured the project.