Posts from September, 2011

Piotr Buczkowski ( aka Heroes Design ) is a talented designer from Poland whose motivational t-shirt designs caught my eye. Give him a hand. Okay, sorry that was a horrible joke… but his work is still awesome.

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Jonny Wan is a super talented, pattern-based designer who’s done work for everyone from Wired to Ford to DDB. Vision and visuals for miles.

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In their words because I can’t say it as perfectly:

A collaboration with choreographer Jonah Bokaer, Why Patterns is a performance in which the visual design emerges from a single ping-pong ball that is introduced into a frame on stage, initiating a series of choreographed games. Unpredictable results trigger events that flood the stage with thousands of balls, which are manipulated by the movements of the dancers as the square frame is collapsed.

Snarkitecture is a collaborative practice operating in territories between the disciplines of art and architecture. Working within existing spaces or in collaboration with other artists and designers, the practice focuses on the investigation of structure, material and program and how these elements can be manipulated to serve new and imaginative purposes. Searching for sites within architecture with the possibility for confusion or misuse, Snarkitecture aims to make architecture perform the unexpected.

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Architecture and art, stewed up together. SO BEAUTIFUL. Happy Monday friends. It’s fall.

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The first time I saw Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, I think I was 14 and in the greatest english class ever (R.I.P. Ms. Bertie Lord!) so I thought I would never be in a better atmosphere to fully absorb that masterpiece. In fact, I kind of forgot about it until we went to Mass Moca recently and saw a screening of it alongside a live orchestra performing their own score to the silent film. God damn, if it wasn’t one of the greatest experiences I’ve had in a long, long, long time.

Alloy Orchestra was a 3 piece band of superhuman rhythm and stamina. The film is over two hours long and there are very few moments of hushed pianissimo sound. Besides impressing us with their sheer physicality, the soundtrack they created was impeccable and perfect in every scene. The bowel like, monotonous percussion accompanying the workers as they march like robots into the city, the shrieking, tense pitch of the flood as the children crawl and crowd Maria in the square – AMAZING.

This is actually a behind the scenes shot of the flood scene. Even the stills look awe inspiring.

Sometimes when you’re sitting in a theatre, watching scene after scene, shot after shot pass before your eyes, it’s overwhelming. I like looking back at the stills (you can see those and more behind the scenes photos at the Metropolis website) since every single piece of the set is so meticulously designed.

The combination of sight and live sound both at their peak of greatness in a theatre at my favorite contemporary art museum?

Well, it made for an experience that will stick to my bones for a long time. And that’s the stuff I live for.

Made by Hand is a new film series focusing the people, the tools, and the places that shape the products that are still lovingly crafted by hand.  The first film is about Brueckelen Distilling Company.  It’s beautifully shot, well-designed, and does a great job of capturing the passion of someone who makes something.  I’m particularly looking forward to the next installment which will focus on one of my favorite handmade objects, high quality kitchen knives. Enjoy.

Made by Hand / No 1 The Distiller from Made by Hand on Vimeo.

I recently picked up some of these postcards at a local stationery store, and I was so charmed by the illustrations that I looked up the company, Darling Clementine. Their portfolio is full of fun and cute things, here are some of my favorites:

Ok. I realize that’s probably not a real word. But Elsa Mora’s art and craft is nothing short of fantastica. And imaginative. And multi-faceted. And whimsical. And folk-like. The woman can paint, make ridiculously amazing papercuts, and now—is beginning to dabble in embroidery. Not a bad repertoire. She’s a multi-media artist with roots in Cuba, currently residing in LA with a husband and two children. Spend some time on her etsy site, and her blog. It’s worth it. Pretty inspiring for a cloudy Monday, yes?

Happy work week, friends.

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David Baldwin of Baldwin& got in touch again recently to share some of his latest work. As I’ve come to expect, it’s another example of the type of creative thinking that will inevitably leave you smiling.

The client: BMW. The target: PGA golfers.

The challenge was to get PGA pros behind the wheels of BMW’s new M cars. These pro golfers are always inundated with invitations to promotional events every time they go on tour, so it was imperative that the BMW invites stood out. Here is Baldwin&’s solution, right from the horses mouth:

“In this case, we created a motor oil scented cologne called “15W – 50″ that evokes the essence of the race track. The cologne was then placed in the player’s lockers. A week later when the players check into their hotel rooms, they’re greeted by skid marks coming out from beneath their sinks with another message inviting them to sign up for the event.”

Awesome.

Tom French is a talented artist from across the pond, whose work and technique is very inspiring. His charcoal drawings successfully breathes new life into Charles Allan Gilbert’s “All Is Vanity” (1892). Tom’s style merges the use of academic tradition with contemporary urban realism. His work has a well balanced duality of being both beautiful and unsettling.

Check out more of Tom’s work on his Flickr.

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Man, it’s been more than two years since we last checked in on Chad Kouri and that’s just way too long. I’m happy to report that big homie is still prolific, still medium-agnostic, still funny and still visually on point to the fullest.

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