One in 8 Million

Check out this awesome story collection on the NY Times website titled "One in 8 Million" about various "characters" of NYC.
I've already watched "The Regular" and "The Walker" and they're really great. There's a voiceover from the person who was interviewed, explaining their place in New York, their personal New York experience, accompanied by a montage of black and white photographs of them going about their business. Really interesting to hear and see so many different perspectives on my hometown.

Gabriel Orozco

Gabriel Orozco currently has a retrospective on at MoMA that was recently reviewed in the NY Times.
I was particularly taken with the description of one of the pieces in his first MoMA show in 1993, pictured above. Instead of using the sterile gallery space offered him by MoMA, he "chose instead the museum's nooks and crannies," creating this piece by placing bright pieces of fruit in the windows of the building across the street from MoMA. Holland Cotter writes in the Times, "You looked up and there they were: bright dots connecting art and life."
The main point of the article is a contrast between that show and the current one, which is bigger and more flamboyant. Cotter makes the point that the tones of these two shows point to a dichotomy in Orozco's artistic practice, concluding, "at some point he may decide which he really wants to be: the artist of poetic epiphanies or of institutional product. In this show he is both."
Yet he also says, "Mr. Orozco likes to disappoint; it is almost a credo of his. "I want to disappoint the expectations of the one who waits to be amazed," he has said." To me that quote would indicate that Orozco cultivates not just a dichotomy but a continuous change in his practice so as to confound expectations.
Either way, I cannot help being captivated by this description of "what Mr. Orozco has always done best: find the cosmic in the commonplace, sweeten abjection with wisdom and wit." Yet supposedly now, "At 47, Mr. Orozco is no longer the footloose wanderer, toothbrush, notebook and camera in hand, who found poetry in puddles and dignity in debris, dung and dryer lint."
Sounds like such an interesting show, not just for the art itself, but for what the chosen pieces and tone of the show overall say about a career and a man.
Wish I could see it!

Xmas Music Playlist

Wanna rock some season-appropriate tunage but wary of hitting on 'Last Christmas'? I hear ya. Check out this youtube playlist I'm working on. Suggestions welcome!

Marina and the Diamonds

Love this video and this song. I will definitely be picking up her debut album, The Family Jewels, when it comes out early next year.

Metrotastic

Check out this article on cool subway stations round the world.
The Bund sightseeing tunnel in Shanghai reminds me of Leo Villareal's Multiverse in Washington DC:

In Stockholm, the stations are carved out of natural rock, and then often painted with murals:

Neat stuff!

New Albums 2010

Vampire Weekend...can Contra live up to their eponymous debut? We'll find out on January 12th. In the meantime, what do you think about this video? I can't make up my mind. The effects are cool but I think the band kinda hams it up too much. Then again, maybe I'm just hatin for the sake of it.


This collab between Beck and Charlotte Gainsbourg I am more sure I like. What a fantastically nonsensical video, and the song's good too. Oh Beck. You melt my heart.


Unfortunately I couldn't seem to find an embeddable version of the video I'm most excited about, for Yeasayer's new single 'Ambling Alp'. Check it out here.

Much music joy to look forward to in the coming months!

TweetBookz

So apparently now you can make a book out of your twitter posts. How freakin sad is that? I wonder how many orders this company actually gets. I bet most of them come from the people featured on Tweeting Too Hard.
It also reminds me of a recent Onion article, "New 'Noveller' Allows People To Post Novels They Write During Course Of Their Day."
"You know, before we came up with Noveller, we had all these friends creating these great 75,000- to 300,000-word works of fiction, but there was no quick, easy, fun way to share them," cofounder Chuck Gregory said. "To be honest, we were stunned there wasn't already anything like it out there. It seemed so obvious."
"I love it," said Sheena Wulf, a Novellist from Kansas City, MO. "If I'm ever sitting in a coffee shop and my sense of alienation and utter detachment from contemporary life provides me with sudden insight into the world that helped shape my family, I just grab my phone and Novel it out to people."
"It makes me wonder how I ever kept track of my friends and their symbolic prose examinations of universal human experiences before this," user Joyce Carol Oates said. "I'm like, did we really ever actually go to libraries? Weird, right?"
Hahaha.

Floating Island

I was watching German TV at the gym last night and happened to catch a piece on Spiral Island, a man-made island that floats on a quarter of a million plastic bottles.
From the wiki:
"Spiral Island I was a floating artificial island in a lagoon near Puerto Aventuras, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico south of Cancún. It was built by British eco-pioneer Richart (or "Rishi") Sowa beginning in 1998; he filled nets with empty discarded plastic bottles to support a structure of plywood and bamboo, on which he poured sand and planted numerous plants, including mangroves. It was destroyed by Hurricane Emily in 2005.[1] Sowa has built a new Spiral Island II in Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
The original island sported a two-story house, a solar oven, a self-composting toilet, and three beaches. He used some 250,000 bottles for the 66ft (20 m) by 54 ft (16 m) structure. The mangroves were planted to help keep the island cool, and some of them rose up to 15 ft (5 m) high."
It was also featured on Ripley's Believe It Or Not:

Pretty neat, eh?

On Cuteness

Vanity Fair had a really great article recently on America's addiction to Cute. Check it out here.
I think this article makes so many great points and is very well-written. It could easily be extended into a book--some of the topics were only briefly touched on, and could be expanded. For instance, his point about the cute addiction affecting even food: the obsession with cupcakes and, I would add, slider burgers! And everyone is familiar with the self-perpetuating black hole that is watching animal videos on youtube, which induce "cutegasms" (a term I had never heard before).
Well worth a read.

Related: OMG CUTEGASM!!!!

"the boy is on top, and the girl is on the bottom." Hahaha.
But seriously. I want a pug dog. And I will call it Pugancious D. And it shall be so.

He Yun Chang

He Yun Chang: Casting, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, Beijing, 2004
Date: April 23-24, 2004
Venue: Art Gallery, Beijing
Process: He Yun Chang will cast himself inside a cement block and stay there for 24 hours.
Materials: Two tons of cement and sand, steel, etc.

More here.

Graphic Posters

Remember my post about Polish posters a while back?
In the past couple days I've come across another couple of sources for well-designed posters.
Claudia Varosio at Etsy has several awesome movie posters for sale:



And graphic designer Albert Exergian has created a bunch of posters for TV shows:




Flavorpill featured their top ten here.
Neat, eh?

Weird & Proud

I feel the same way!
From Post Secret.

Portable Opera

Munich has just unveiled a new opera house.

Pretty, no?
Here's the thing: it's portable! It can be packed up and fit into a shipping container.
Yet it seats 300 people!
I want to check it out...
from here.

College Education in Prison

Check out this story from the NY Times about a program at Wesleyan that brings Wesleyan classes to prison inmates in Connecticut. In the article, there is a quote from the father of a girl whose murderer is incarcerated in the prison questioning the point of spending money to educate someone who has been sentenced to life in prison. That does seem like a rational viewpoint, but some part of me feels like everyone is entitled to an education.
What do you think?

Passion Pit!

Saw them tonight in Berlin...it was awesome!
look at me oh look at me
is this the way I'll always be?
oh noooooo!
oh noooooo!
and now I dream that somebody
will swiftly come and kidnap me
oh nooooo!
oh nooooo!
and everyday I lie awake
and pray to god todays the day
oh nooooo!
oh nooooo!
but here I am
oh here I am
oh when will someone understand
oh noooooo!
oh noooo!
Love it.

The Knife

Grizzly Bear singing 'The Knife' a capella on the streets of Paris.

Shift

Another Grizzly Bear video...this time squished in a Parisian bathroom. Delicious.

Two Weeks

by Grizzly Bear from the album 'Veckatimest'.
This video is so strange. I guess that's why I like it!
I'm excited to see the band live TOMORROW! :)

I'm Not Here to Make Friends

Oh reality television. Hahaha.

Away We Go

I had the pleasure of watching this hilarious, sweet, and touching movie last night, and I have to recommend it wholeheartedly. I love John Krasinski, and his adorableness is doubled by the scruffy beard and thick-rimmed glasses. I used to love Maya Rudolph on SNL, and it was interesting to see her in slightly more serious role. Plus there's a whole host of great, hilarious cameos: Jeff Daniels and the always wonderful Catherine O'Hara as Burt's parents, Allison Janney playing a hilariously loud and obnoxious friend with Jim Gaffigan as her husband, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Burt's hippy-dippy cousin. I was laughing out loud for large chunks of it, but also appreciated the sweeter romantic moments. All in all...a fab movie!

Toilet Roll Art

Wow--made from toilet paper rolls!
Done by an artist called Junior Fritz Jacquet.

Also, this is my hundredth post! whoo?

Gwon Osang

Check out this guy.
He makes sculptures by photographing his subjects hundreds of times and putting the photos together into hauntingly off-kilter 3D objects.

Tchaikovsky via Vodafone

This is SO COOL.
There are 'making of' videos on youtube as well!

Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries

Cool beans.

Saltwater Room

This song was stuck in my head this morning.
Owl City is a current obsession, thanks to Mack. My favorite song of theirs is probably Super Honeymoon, though I also like On the Wing and Hot Air Balloons. If you like the Postal Service, you'll like Owl City.

Bosch tchotchkes

Pretty great. Based on the imagery of Hieronmyus Bosch, a Renaissance painter often seen as a forerunner of Surrealism. On Amazon.

The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth

Been stuck in my head for a couple days now...love this homemade video.

Is This Love?

Cute video on youtube for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's song 'Is This Love?'

Whitney Artport

The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is one of my favorite museums. I just found out that on their website they have something called "artport", "the Whitney's portal to net art." Given that I have just been looking into web art recently at work (for example this guy, my favorite of his is fataltotheflesh.com), I was pretty interested. Their screening circle, co-comissioned with Britain's Tate Museum (another fav of mine) is super fun to fool around with!

The Fun Theory

Even though I was surprised at the end to see it's "an initiative of Volkswagen" and not some cool artist collective, this is still great.

RIP Irving Penn

I loved this man's work.
From the Times obit: “Here was a young American who seemed unspoiled by European mannerisms or culture. I remember he wore sneakers and no tie. I was struck by his directness and a curious unworldliness, a clarity of purpose, and a freedom of decision. What I call Penn’s American instincts made him go for the essentials.”

K.Flay

K.Flay is a rap artist who used to go to Stanford...above is my favorite song of hers.
As to what she's up to now, you can download her latest mixtape, Mashed Potatoes, here, and check out her website if you so desire. For me, it doesn't get better than "How I'm Rockin" but it's still aight. Hopefully her forthcoming EP will be good.

Vol. 3?

According to this article, Quentin Tarantino is planning to make a third Kill Bill movie.

Awesome!

Zombieland

Looks like my kinda movie.

edit: make yourself into a legit zombie here.

Propeller Island City Lodge

Just heard about this awesome hotel in Berlin. The Lodge is described as "a habitable work of art in the heart of Berlin, whose wealth of ideas never fails to attract everyone into its gravitational field and to continue inspiring guests long afterwards." All the rooms are crazy!
"Definitely one of City Lodge's highlights. The diamand-shaped room is completely(!) laid out with mirrors and gives you the impression of living in a kaleidoscope. Caution: Very sexy!":

"The furnishings hang from the ceiling and you sleep and sit in comfortable boxes beneath the floorboards. Uncannily surreal! The only four-bed room. One of the most unique accomodations.":

"A large room with a gable roof. The bathroom in this room is like a small house, entirely made of blue glass. From the high seat you can observe the antics and 'goings-on' in the circular bed, and its rotations present you with constantly changing perspectives through strategically empty picture frames. ...but we cannot recommand the bed for tall people (2m in diameter).":

"In both coffins you can even slumber beneath closed lids! Exclusively connoisseur room for all those "Nosferatus" who cannot wait for that which awaits us all. Whosoever has second thoughts can creep to the bedplace below, safe within the labyrinth. Not only a unique experience for Gothic die-hards...an exquisite location on top of that!":

and more...

Subodh Gupta

Very interesting artist...makes sculpture out of pots and pans:


As well as more traditional materials:

Of this bronze take on Duchamp's L.H.O.O.Q., Gupta says he is an "idol thief." "Art language is the same all over the world," he claims, "which allows me to be anywhere." An interesting sentiment.

Slooow Motion

I've always been a fan of this viral video by Action Figure:

And was reminded of it again today when watching videos by Bill Viola, who says of his work, "I am interested in what the old masters didn't paint, those steps in between."

Interesting, then, that the choreographer who put together this dance version of Gericault's 'Raft of the Medusa' uses such similar methods:



PS. I love the song in the Action Figure video. It's a Shazam remix of 'Sweaty' by Muscles with vocals by Reija Thomas.

Rubens & Hélène Fourment

Rubens painted numerous portraits of his second wife Hélène Fourment, as well as inserting her into many of his allegorical and Classical images. She was not yet 17, he 53, when they married. She bore him 5 children before his death.
Arte's 'Palettes' video series says of his visual obsession with his young wife that it represented "the glory of the flesh," with Hélène's very real, womanly, dimpled and sensuous body, soft breasts, and creamy pearlescent skin standing in stark contrast to the young Rubens' smooth, bland and utterly unrealistic painting of Eve. Further, the video claims that in these portraits Rubens was taking part in "the tradition of Dianas, Junos, and Venuses...goddesses who fill men with desires and with dreams, sometimes only to have them dashed the more completely."

Alicia Keys Violin Cover

I can so see using this in a movie soundtrack. There's something so uplifting about it.

Sand Animation

from Ukraine's Got Talent. Really amazing performance. Reminds me of a quick-fire spray paint artist I saw once on the street in Mexico.

Thomas Demand

Would you believe those are photographs of sets...made out of paper?
Yeah pretty neat. Just went to his opening at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

Polish Posters

Turns out that when American movies come out in Poland, they make their very own screenprinted posters. Forget all that studio shit! Poland keeps it real.


Buy them here. I want one!!!

RIP Patrick Swayze

Lovers of bad action movies everywhere are in mourning.
I've never seen Ghost or Dirty Dancing, maybe I should check them out in tribute.
edit: too soon?

New TOMS Cordones

TOMS with laces!!! Love 'em!

Google shows 14 paintings from the Prado

I just heard about this. On Google Earth now you can go to the Prado Museum in Madrid and view 14 of their masterpieces paintings in ultra high resolution. See the video below to see just how up close and personal you are able to get. It's amazing!

megashark vs. giant octopus

...is a real movie.
wow.

oooh my god there are so many amazing things about that trailer.
one: when suddenly a giant shark and a giant octopus are unleashed on the world, the plan is "we'll get them to kill each other."
two: "it rises"
three: "I looked into its eyes" *shudder*
four: the last scene...oh you'll see.
Apparently it was going to be a 3D movie but they couldn't get the funding. Hahaha I wonder why.

t-shirt slogans

I've seen some hilarious ones this summer in Brooklyn:
"Don't hate me because you ain't me" (stretched over several layers of fat)
"SATISFIED"
"My favorite subject is texting"
and perhaps the most strange/confusing,
"Oops! My puppy ate your #"
sassy.

reading rainbow

I am pretty sad that Reading Rainbow has ended. Other than the fact that I had ABOSLUTELY NO IDEA IT WAS STILL ON THE AIR. Really?!? I think of it as being such a 80s/90s thing. Anyway the last episode aired recently. Sadface. Did anyone else ever see the episode where LeVar was in a hot tub...in the trunk of a white stretch limo?!? That always stuck with me. A hot tub in a car. LeVar sittin there with a rubber ducky. Wow. The height of sophistication as far as my childhood self was concerned. In fact I still think that's pretty neat.

ooooh my goooood...

Birthday Surprise with Kristen Wiig. Gotta love er.
Also I looove Christopher Walken. Read this article to understand why.

animals falling over

Dead Animal Accessories

Given my fondness for photographing roadkill, I had to check out this article on Dazed Digital about Reid Peppard, who creates jewelry and accessories out of animal corpses. Is it weird that the photo above made me chuckle madly?

Yeah, probably.

national single cougars convention

wow.
It's hilarious that this is being held in Palo Alto...because apparently Silicon Valley is "the ONLY major metropolitan area in America with a SURPLUS of single men." Yet many of those men, though "young, educated, attractive, and prosperous" are also "lacking in experience with women." Hahaha. The best part is the Miss Cougar America contest, which has the caveat, "To be eligible to win, the lucky Cougar must be present at the convention, legally single and at least 40 years of age." Since when do cougars have to be at least 40? I would have thought 30-year-olds going after teenagers could count too. Maybe the limitation should have something to do with the age difference between them and their lovers: "the lucky cougar must be legally single and have slept with someone at least 10 years her junior." That seems more fair.

Clerks

So since when do they show the Clerks TV show on adult swim? I was pretty pleased to flick on the TV after a hard night of debauchery to find one of my favorite episodes. Came in right at the part when Dante and Randal are breaking into Leonardo Leonardo's L-shaped office building. Classic.

tweeting too hard

Bern told me about this little bit of hilarity.

Major Lazer 'Pon de Floor' Video

Ridiculous in the best possible way and directed by Eric Wareheim of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. The duo also made commercials for Absolut with Zach Galifianakis of 'The Hangover' fame, the first and best of which is below:

That my friends is one of my favorite videos of all time. I hope you enjoyed it.

Cat Ladders

always remarkable what you will find on the internet.

Pulsating Prunes, Spotty!

Dear God I love this show.

Free Willy Drinking Game

I discovered that there was a need in the world. And I decided to fill that need.
If you, like so many others, myself included, would like to get drunk while watching the 1993 masterpiece film Free Willy (starring, of course, the incomparable Michael Madsen and that chick from Point Break, another movie that's great to drink to), you should drink for any or all of the following:
-You see Willy's tongue
-You hear the sad whale whine
-The creepy Indian dude surprises someone (announced by yelling INDIAN SURPRISE!)
-A character is seen in an entirely denim outfit
-Jesse talks to Willy
-Jesse plays the harmonica
TAKE 3 DRINKS WHEN:
-Rae says "that's his chocolate" while referring to salmon (just trust me)
-You hear MJ's "Will You Be There," the movie's theme song and an epic piece of music (BONUS: the VHS version includes the music video at the beginning...a great way to start a night of drinking. Then watch it again once you're drunk for a truly bonding experience)
IF YOU WANT TO GET ABSOLUTELY BLOTTO:
Drink every time someone says "Willy." I know (from 'experience') how many times it happens, but I'm not telling. You'll have to play to find out.
You can also drink every time there is a dramatic whale jump, but this happens so many times in the first scene of the movie that you'll be dead by the second Indian surprise.

There you have it. The perfect way to spend an evening. You're welcome.
they wouldn't let me embed it

From the Family Vault

My mom and aunt:

My mom as a wee one!:

My aunt as a little one putting on shoes:

My beautiful grandmother as a young woman:


My brother on his first Halloween:

My dad as a young rugger: