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KR World tour update
April 28, 2006
KR is a artist from Queens, NY. A graf writer, painter, photographer
and the man behind the paint brand Krink. He also just put out a
fresh book called It's All in My Head, which showcases his unique
handstyle, art, photographs and his bombing of postal boxes in NY.
We were lucky enough to have him take some out of his crazy schedule
to do a World Tour Tee and answer the following questions….
1) How did you get your start doing graffiti? What was your initial
inspiration?
Graffiti started for me as a punk ass screwing around. It snowballed
into an obsession, which I am currently recovering from.
2) Who were your early influences?
Early influence was growing up in Queens. The neighborhood hoods.
3) Have your influences changed as you perfected your craft?
Absolutely. You gotta keep it moving. Be open minded.
4) What's the craziest place you've ever hit up?
Crazy is a relative term…I caught tags a couple of doors down from The
Hells Angels Chapter here in NYC. I didn't realize where I was. The
guy told us to beat it, but it could have went really wrong for us.
I hit some nice spots in Brooklyn.
5) Do you still enjoy writing? Do you still do it regularly?
NYC is locked down. Expect to be arrested.
I don't have time for that.
6) How did the mailbox thing come about?
Expanding the audience. By taking my name out of the equation, it
becomes abstract. The act is similar, but I'm not putting myself
first.
7) You make your own paint, how did that start? How much
development went into that?
I had to make due. A big part of writing successfully is being
resourceful.
8) What do you want to be remember by?
A loving family.
KR is part of Stussy's World Tour Project, his tee drops this
Saturday along with Marok, Mode 2 and Tet at Stussy stores around the
world.
America, listen to Slayer.........
April 28, 2006
NATIONAL DAY OF SLAYER
Official Statement on Participation
1 Listen to Slayer at full blast in your car.
2 Listen to Slayer at full blast in your home.
3 Listen to Slayer at full blast at your place of employment.
4 Listen to Slayer at full blast in any public place you prefer.
DO NOT use headphones! The objective of this day is for everyone within earshot to understand that it is the National Day of Slayer. National holidays in America aren't just about celebrating; they're about forcing it upon non-participants.
Taking that participation to a problematic level
1 Stage a "Slay-out." Don't go to work. Listen to Slayer.
2 Have a huge block party that clogs up a street in your neighborhood. Blast Slayer albums all evening. Get police cruisers and helicopters on the scene. Finish with a full-scale riot.
3 Play Slayer covers with your own band (since 99% of your riffs are stolen from Slayer anyway).
4 Kill the neighbor's dog and blame it on Slayer.
$60,000 worth of pods.......
April 27, 2006
MAD PODS
Over 60 thousand dollars worth of iPods fell domino-style in this new ad for Tekserve, New York’s famous and quirky independent Apple specialty store. If you’re in the city, you can see it blown up on Madison Square Garden’s 15’x30’ LED displays at 33rd Street & 7th Avenue, from May 1st through July 30th.
I am not sure, maybe this is wack. But i am half way done so i will post.....
TETSU NISHIYAMA A.K.A. TET...World tour interveiw....
April 25, 2006
The World Tour Project has been very fun to work on.
I have got to meet and work with many super dope headz.
It has been great to have some many people come together.
I have always been a fan of W/taps and TET is my freind so having him down was super cool.
We both like to share info and drop Knowledge when ever we can.
So I asked TET a few questions and here is what we were thinking about......
Questions:
How did you get your start, as a designer/creator?
Naturally, like the flow of a river
Favorite album?
album? right now, The Pogues / If I Should Fall From Grace With God.
Who were your original influences when you first started designing?
SK8THING, a.k.a. john a.k.a. shindog
Favorite movie?
If i had to choose just one, it would be "Brazil" from director Terry
Gilliam
What else do you like to design or create besides clothing and graphics?
Everything i can do as a designer, everything i do do, ties the line
together as a form of communication
Favorite book?
If i had to choose just one favorite of all time, "Die drei Raüber" by Tomi
Ungerer
What do you think of how things have changed since you started in this
industry?
Idon't think things (the industry) have changed so much as i have
changed... grown up in a way.
Favorite car?
64-67 El Camino
What direction do you see your self and your creativity going?
Always on the road of progress. the road to a goal. the road of
challenge. side roads... escape roads..
Favorite place?
My atelier back home.
TET/DOUBLE TAPS WORLD TOUR TEE
WORLD TOUR GROUP 3
Will be dropped on Saturday April 29th.
Group 4 artist line up:
TET
MAROK
KR
MODE 2
Stay tuned???????
BEST SHIT PART 2: SERIES ONE (TEES)...
April 23, 2006
AARON the DON
NYC
aNYthing
A flyer dash snow designed for a free simon party , our boy simon was locked up for a prank a art crime , and we were raising money for his commisary, heat transfer ghetto style......
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Michael Kopelman
London
Gimme 5 Hideout Stussy UK FootPatrol
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Jeff Staple
NYC
Jeff came with an OG PNB nation tee, its a good call. They were so early in this whole thing, thant sometimes they are not given the props they deserve.
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Andrew
Invisible Man
Comissaryhttp://www.commissaryoc.com/
THE OC
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MAROKhttp://www.marok.info/content/index.php
BERLIN
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Stay tuned for next batch..............
Event or Advent? The Choice is Yours......
April 22, 2006
All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy
Think i'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify
Black Sabbath
Paranoid
Today was an event or a non-event. It depends how up look at it.
EVENT
1. Something that takes place; an occurrence.
2. A significant occurrence or happening. See Synonyms at occurrence.
3. A social gathering or activity.
2. The final result; the outcome.
3. Sports. A contest or an item in a sports program.
4. Physics. A phenomenon or occurrence located at a single point in space-time, regarded as the fundamental observational entity in relativity theory.
Or was it an advent?
ADVENT
1: arrival that has been awaited (especially of something momentous).
The Supreme Blazer was released. So I would say that it was both an event and advent.
It is a very good shoe, perhaps the best of the year.
When I think of the state of where we are in our culture (both street and sneaker)
I have to give it up for Supreme.
In 1994 when they opened there doors Sk8 shoes were just gaining momentum.
Who would of thought that in a few years after A Dunk reissue, that Supreme and its "CREW"
would of changed the game forever.
I am still not sure why it happened, but the rage began.
What was to become our footwear of choice was a shoe that came out almost a decade before.
Was it the shape? Color? Nostalgia? I do not know.
But those oddly colored shoes sure did mean allot to us.
Soon new colors were released in hard to get to places, so travel or elite trade was in order.
But if you had a pair you were down.
And if you had a rare color, well let's say that you were blessed.
Now is this hyper-consumer madness, lines are formed, just to pacify ones desire for something special.
Having special seems to be more, than Being special.
I do not like lines, but they fascinate me.
I want to know why each person is in one????
The line today was huge.
Is that good or bad? I do not know.
But if anyone deserves a big line, it is Supreme.
They are the force that manifested a great part of our street culture today.
If it were not for Supreme and their team footwear today would look very different.
You can get with this, or you can get with that.
I think you'll get with this, for this is where it's at.......
Black Sheep
The Choice Is Yours
Blogging and Nihilism
April 21, 2006
Blogs bring on decay. Each new blog adds to the fall of the media system that once dominated the twentieth century. What’s declining is the Belief in the Message. That’s the nihilist moment and blogs facilitate this culture like no platform has done before. Blog software assists users in their crossing from Truth to Nothingness. The printed and broadcasted message has lost its aura. News is consumed as a commodity with entertainment value. Instead of presenting blog entries as mere self promotion, we should interprete them as decadent artifacts that remotely dismantle the broadcast model.
TRUTH HURTS
April 19, 2006
ROLLING STONE MAG: BUSH 'WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY?'
"George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace."
So declares ROLLING STONE magazine in a planned cover story, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.
"The Worst President in History?" streets Friday.
Developing...
BEST SHIT PART 1: SERIES ONE (TEES)...
April 17, 2006
Maybe history is a good judge of where you have been and what you have liked?
I have asked some friends to think of their favorite Tee shirt was, or is.
It is ineresting that all of the choices are old and rare things?
Were things better back then? Are we stuck in the past?
Has design failed us?
I have no idea, but my friends have some cool shirts....
Hiroshi Fujiwara
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rob Abeyta Jr
Nike and SA studio
Los Angeles
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Steve Vogel
Bread and Butter
Berlin
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Jules Gayton
Leilow
Hawaii
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rostarr
NYC
............................................................................................................................
Stay tuned for the next group....................
SIX-STRING MASTERPIECES: THE DIMEBAG DARRELL ART TRIBUTE
April 16, 2006
SIX-STRING MASTERPIECES: THE DIMEBAG DARRELL ART TRIBUTE
Produced and Curated by Curse Mackey
"Rock Stars and Modern Artists join forces for an amazing art exhibit in remembrance of Dimebag Darrell Abbott and to support music education."
SIX-STRING MASTERPIECES:THE DIMEBAG DARRELL ART TRIBUTE is: A collection of 50 DEAN ML guitars that have been hand-painted by world-famous Rock Stars and internationally known Tattoo & Visionary Artists in memorial tribute to one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Dimebag Darrell Abbott.
"There has never been an exhibit like this" states Exhibit Producer Curse Mackey. " the fans of these artists are going to be really amazed at this project. It is such a cool thing that these artists have donated their time and talent to make this tribute to Dime a reality."
The rock community is really stepping up for Darrell. The artist list is beyond belief! The exhibit features art work from Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, James Hetfield of Metallica, Kerry King of Slayer, Jerry Cantrell, Dave Navarro, Ted Nugent, Tommy Lee, Linkin Park, Jon Davis and Munky of Korn, Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, Sammy Hagar and more!
KERRY KING RULEZ!!!!!!!!!!
See you in HELL, I bet there is a dam good band there........
6.6.06
6/6 - San Diego, CA @ The Sports Arena
THE 666 SHOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HELP
April 13, 2006
"I was gonna ask him?"
I am never sure if it is real or a skit???
Maybe i will wake up and it will all of been a bad dream.
BOZO TEXINO
April 12, 2006
The Epic Account Of The Near Discovery Of The World's Most Mysterious Boxcar Artist
THIS SPECTACULAR
TRAVEL ADVENTURE
FAITHFULLY PHOTOGRAPHED IN
REALISTIC BLACK AND WHITE FILM
AT CONSIDERABLE RISK
FROM SPEEDING FREIGHT TRAINS
AND IN SECRET HOBO JUNGLES
IN THE DOGGED PURSUIT OF
THE IMPOSSIBLY CONVOLUTED STORY
OF THE HERETOFORE UNTOLD HISTORY OF
THE CENTURY-OLD FOLKLORIC PRACTICE
OF HOBO AND RAILWORKER GRAFFITI
AND THE ABSURD QUEST
FOR THE TRUE IDENTITY
OF RAILROADING'S GREATEST ARTIST
WILL LIKELY AMUSE AND CONFOUND YOU
IN ITS SINCERE ATTEMPT
TO UNDERSTAND AND PRESERVE THIS ARTFORM.
CAR TROUBLE, AGAIN....
April 11, 2006
Arrest Is Made in Ferrari Accident
Stefan Eriksson, held on suspicion of grand theft, hadn't made payments on the Enzo wrecked in Malibu or on two other cars, authorities say.
By Richard Winton and David Pierson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
April 10, 2006
Sheriff's deputies have arrested the Swedish video game executive who crashed in a rare Ferrari in Malibu in February, alleging that he didn't own that car and others in his $3.5-million exotic car collection, authorities said Sunday.
Stefan Eriksson faces grand theft charges after detectives raided his gated Bel-Air estate Friday night, spent six hours searching it and then took him into custody Saturday night.
Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said detectives concluded that the wrecked Ferrari, a red Enzo — as well as a rare Mercedes and a second, black Enzo — were owned by British financial institutions.
The cars were purchased in Britain last year when Eriksson lived there. He apparently brought them to Los Angeles when he moved here. But financial institutions that held titles to the cars informed detectives that payments had lapsed, Whitmore said.
The arrest underscores that what started as a curious auto accident on Pacific Coast Highway has expanded into a multi-pronged investigation, he said. The search was conducted by the sheriff's emergency operations bureau, part of the county's Homeland Security division.
"This is the beginning of the investigation," Whitmore said. "All three cars have now been confiscated."
Although no one was seriously injured in the crash, the investigation has generated significant attention because of the strange circumstances surrounding it and the fact that it destroyed one of only 400 Enzos ever built. Authorities believe the car was going 162 mph when it smashed into a power pole.
Eriksson told deputies who arrived at the scene that he was not the driver and that a man named Dietrich had been behind the wheel.
Eriksson said Dietrich fled the scene, but detectives have been openly skeptical of this story.
Investigators took a swab of Eriksson's saliva in order to match his DNA against blood found on the Ferrari's driver-side air bag. The comparison results are back, but detectives won't release the findings.
A blood-alcohol test on Eriksson at the time showed him to be above the legal limit for driving in California, so he could face several other charges if he's found to be the driver.
Eriksson also told deputies that he was deputy commissioner of the police department of a tiny transit agency in the San Gabriel Valley.
A few minutes after the crash, two men arrived at the scene, identified themselves as Homeland Security officers and spoke to Eriksson at length before leaving.
Detectives are investigating any connection Eriksson may have had to the agency.
Eriksson, 44, was booked into the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles. He is being held without bail because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has put a hold him, though it is unclear why. His attorney could not be reached for comment.
Eriksson was an executive with Gizmondo, a European video game company that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year with more than $200 million in debt. According to Swedish authorities, he served prison time in the early 1990s after being convicted of counterfeiting.
During the search at Eriksson's Bel-Air home, detectives found the black Enzo, worth more than $1 million, Whitmore said.
His Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, worth $600,000, was seized last month when his wife was stopped in Beverly Hills on suspicion of driving without a license. That car had been reported stolen to London's Scotland Yard.
The case has been the talk of exotic car groups since the accident. On Sunday, some Ferrari aficionados expressed hope that the episode might finally be over.
"The Ferrari community is very upstanding and a very serious group of people," said Gil Lucero, Pacific region president of the Ferrari Club of America. "It's unfortunate folks with more money than sense get into these things."
The Top 15 Skylines in the World
April 10, 2006
The Top 15 Skylines in the World
All my years in studying Urban Planning helped me grow a greater appreciation for the dense downtown skyline of the big city. The downtown core of big cities across the Americas, Europe and Asia are the cultural pulse and economic engines of urban regions where millions of people live. All urban "life" begins and ends, each day and night under the watch of the city's tallest skyscrapers and most grand architectural structures. So kick back and appreciate the view that they have to offer...
1. Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong is number one on my list for many reasons: Hong Kong has a whopping 43 buildings over 200 metres tall, 30 of which were built in the year 2000 or later!!! It also boasts four of the 15 tallest buildings in the world… that's all in one city! Hong Kong’s skyline shows a large selection of distinct sky-reaching towers, with beautiful night lighting and reflection. This city exemplifies the post-modern skyscraper and skyline. Finally, the mountain backdrop makes this skyline (as you can clearly see) the greatest on the planet!
Metro/Urban Population: 6.9 million
Check out the link to see the rest......
Matthew Barney Talks About "Drawing Restraint 9"
April 9, 2006
A Natural Love Story: Matthew Barney Talks About "Drawing Restraint 9"
by Eugene Hernandez (March 27, 2006)
Hailed by The New York Times as "the most important American artist of his generation," Matthew Barney has created a series of recent art films that offer some of the more striking images seen in cinema today, often with himself in a lead role. The recent "Cremaster Cycle" films, and now "Drawing Restraint 9," are films that exist as part of bigger artistic works encompassing sculpture, performance, and video. In his new film, a collaboration with Bjork, Barney and his off screen partner play the roles of two guests who visit the massive Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru. Aboard the ship, while a crew on deck work to create a sculpture made of petroleum jelly, the visitors participate in series of elaborate rituals down below, culminating in an intense wedding ceremony. The sequences -- driven by a clear (but minimal) narrative (with hardly any dialogue) -- are set to a powerful original soundtrack composed by the popular Icelandic music artist.
The abstract and visually magnificent film (one part of Barney's "Drawing Restraint" series that has its roots at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan) traveled to a limited number of film festivals and will be a part of the larger "Drawing Restraint" exhibitions in Korea, Europe, and San Francisco.
Due to the particulars of how artist Matthew Barney's films are funded (by individual investors who own copies of the work), his striking new movie "Drawing Restraint 9" will only ever be seen by a limited theatrical audience and will probably never be released on DVD.
Opening at New York's IFC Center on Wednesday, March 29th, it will screen in fewer than 20 cities this Spring. Barney will be appearing at two evening screenings of the film Wednesday in Manhattan, although a number of shows on the first night at IFC Center are already sold out, according to IFC.
indieWIRE sat down for an extended discussion about the film at the Toronto International Film Festival in September where "Drawing Restraint 9" had its North American premiere. The following are extended excerpts from the interview.
indieWIRE: I'm a little hesitant to try and have a full discussion about the film because I feel I need to see it a couple of more times, but...I keep going back to this idea of ritual: whether it's the wrapping of presents, the shaving of hair, or the creation of this sculpture atop whaling vessel. After watching the film I kept thinking about all the rituals that are relevant in Japanese culture and I'm wondering if we can start by discussing whether that was a factor in how you told this story?
Matthew Barney: I was invited by a museum in Japan to make an exhibition there, and this was probably five years ago. And it felt to me like a place where I would be able to find things that I could relate to pretty strongly. But on the other hand I also felt like there's a certain impossibility to going to a place that is that different from your own culture...So I started thinking about the relationship between guests and hosts. I myself was a guest to this host body, and thinking about how in Japanese culture there are these very formalized relationships between guests and hosts. There's a whole choreography around that relationship and somehow by identifying myself as a guest, I could start to get my head around how I could do this, and how I could go there and feel honest about what I was trying to do...That's probably what led to this kind of focus on the image of the whale, or the whaling tradition, which is very strong. It also has to do with this romantic image of being inside a whale, which we know from "Moby Dick" and "Pinocchio" and all these other narratives, which could organize within guest/host relationships and was already in place in my way of working. All those things together started to at least give a structure or foundation for the piece.
Image courtesy Matthew Barney. Production Photograph copyright 2005 Matthew Barney. Photo: Chris Winget.
iW: How does that then relate to the other eight aspects of the "Drawing Restraint" series. I'm not familiar with them and I understand they take different forms -- they're not cinematic, they're based upon restraints, drawing, and I guess performance?
MB: Yes, and there's a room that is a multi-channel video, which is sort of halfway between a kind of real time performance and a cinematic work.
iW: And all nine of them are are part of the museum exhibition? If I were to go to that show, I could see all aspects represented together?
MB: Hmmm. Along with the sculpture from "9", which is pretty significant...But I think the "Drawing Restraint" project engaged with Japan more in the sense that -- and sort of in the way that -- Shintoism functions as nature...as a lense to view the world through.
During one of my first trips to Japan, I visited a place called Ise Shrine. Ise is a [city with] a Shinto shrine -- one of the most sacred of the Shinto shrines. There are a number of plots that have shrines within this forest. Each of these plots is rectangular and covered with white stone and small pebbles. On half of the plot there is a shrine and on the other half there is a small box. And for twenty years it sits like that, and at the end of the twenty years a duplicate of the shrine is built over that box and the other one is burnt down. And another box is placed on that box and in another twenty years it switches. This has been going on forever. And for me it was a very powerful [image] and I felt like some window into the way that Shintoism accepts nature being dependent upon taking away in order to create. And it started to feel like the "Drawing Restraint" project could relate to that, relate to some very basic aspects of Shintoism, and the whaling tradition belongs to Shinto...
iW: indieWIRE ran an interview with you when "Cremaster 3" opened in theaters and there was a point you made about self-portraiture. I wonder if something like this in which you're depicting a relationship that is developing aboard a whaling vessel -- amidst all this tradition and history and ritual -- where your counterpart (Bjork) is someone who you're involved in a relationship with -- is that a reflection of yourself? Are you again looking at a particular relationship, because you're again putting yourself in it?
MB: I think its one of the fundamental differences between "The Cremaster Cycle" and this piece, is that "The Cremaster Cycle" is something like the way that a pearl develops inside of an oyster, it's a very hermetic situation, it's describing a very hermetic thing. And it's as much to do with itself.
"Drawing Restraint Nine" is more like the way that sometimes Shintoism is described graphically as having to do with a series of internal relationships. If you think about two entities overlapping -- the space between them finding a new whole -- and then you think about this kind of relationship multiplying to many, many relationships and becoming a way of looking at the world as a series of internal relationships... like the way that Shinto believes that within the rock is everything. God lives in the rock, God lives in the tree, in every part lives the whole. So, that's very different from the model of "The Cremaster Cycle."
But I think in terms of that notion of a relationship, I think it's a relationship on that level, on a more exact level. I thought that working with Bjork would make it easier to tell a love story, which I also wanted to do. I wanted the piece to operate as a love story, but I believe that our interest in working together on this was probably more to do with the fact that its subject matter that we can both really relate to -- this relationship to nature.
iW: I had not listened to any of the music before seeing the movie, but I know it was released before the film started playing at festivals. I wonder if you could explain the creative process [with] Bjork, and how it's an extension of Drawing Restraint Nine...how that collaboration worked. How did her creation of the music either inform your creation of the film or vice versa? Was it entirely collaborative, or did you work separately and then collaborate? How did that dynamic work between the two of you?
MB: I think there are number of different dynamics within the piece. There are certain scenes were the narrative and the music were developed simultaneously, and there are certain scenes where the cut scene was given to her to score and then there are scenes where she wrote a piece first and the piece was edited to that. I think all those are interesting.
I think the one that interests me the most is when the two things are developed at the same time, which certainly feels natural for this way of working because there is no dialogue. You sort of depend on the music to be that, especially when there's lyrics in the music.
iW: So where did the idea of the opening piece of music -- which is essentially the form of a letter -- come from, or how did you develop the idea of a letter setting the stage for this story?
MB: I found a compilation of letters from Japanese people to General MacArthur during the occupation, and I found one that had a kind of a tone which felt appropriate, given that visually we were seeing a gift being wrapped. Reading letters from Japanese people to General MacArthur, only years after the bomb was dropped, was completely confusing to me... to read these touching letters to him, I really couldn't understand it.
There was [something] I read in one of the Japanese whaling books that had to do with the [fact] that one of the things MacArthur did in Japan was [to] suggest that they take their surviving military vessels and turn them into factory whaling ships, which sort of further complicates this Western view of Japanese whaling. The letter was manipulated, and I added the whaling content into it.
iW: I was reading the text of the letter in the liner notes of the CD and I was trying to think about how the letter was used as the foundation upon which you start telling the story, connecting it with the images of the wrapping of the gift (in the opening scene). It's a beautiful sequence that comes prior to the formal credit sequence where the images of the instruments combine together to form the words "Drawing Restraint Nine." It's an amazing sort of preview of where the story is going to go. How did that come about?
MB: It's a relationship between a kind of prehistoric condition and a contemporary condition. The prehistoric fossil being the source of petroleum and the way that petroleum eventually replaces whale oil as a primary source of energy, and how it could both establish that -- the sort of formalized language that the work would take -- and also establishing two surrogates for these two characters.
This style of wrapping is used for joyous occasions, like New Years, or a wedding. It's a typical wedding wrap. The costumes that they wear in the key ceremony are for the Shinto wedding. Of course it's been translated into mammal fur, but it follows the design in a pretty straightforward way.
iW: Switching gears a little bit, this "Drawing Restraint" project is a culmination point, where you decided to work in a cinematic form again. But, a lot of people who won't have the experience of seeing everything together -- this is their experience of "Drawing Restraint" -- the two and a half hour (period of time) sitting in a theater and watching it.
Can you explain a little bit about how or when you decided to use the more traditional - if I can use that word -- cinematic way to convey a story, that will reach an audience in a different way than if they were to go Japan and were seeing everything together? Or if they had gone to the Guggenheim and seen everything from "Cremaster" as opposed to going to the Film Forum and seeing the individual pieces in a theater..?
MB: I think it started with "Cremaster 4", when the Film Forum in New York asked if they could play it. I think they had seen this screening we had made where we set up a projector ourselves and showed it in a space -- I had wanted to show it as a linear piece. The pieces I had made before that were sort of functioning more as loops or multi-screen rooms. [With] "Cremaster 4," I wanted [it] to be seen from beginning to end -- when we were invited to show it at Film Forum, it seemed like a good environment for it to be seen.
But what was interesting -- maybe not so much with "4," but with the next piece -- "1" and then "5," this other audience started coming in and seeing them. I got pretty excited about that. And I think it started affecting how numbers "2" and "3" were made...
iW: Really?
MB: Yeah, in that I thought as a text, or as a film on their own they can operate as films -- however eccentrically -- but they can function and there is an audience for it.
But, they can also operate for me within this other system, this way of making narrative sculpture, where first you make a text and out of that text you make objects. In a certain way, that's really all they are for me. I start with a story and then I make sculpture from that story, it's just that the stories become more and more elaborate.
But I think that's partially been driven by the fact that I'm excited by them operating in both ways and so I've pushed them to be more cinematic, becuase the piece seemed to have the will to do that, and the ability to do that.
So, it's pretty organic the way that happens, which is also true of my use of video in the first place. When I started using video, it was really just a hand-held video camera held by a friend, who would videotape me doing something in my studio. It was just a straightforward document and slowly those actions became a little more character-driven, a little more narrative, and I started editing them, then slowly they became more filmic...
But slowly...
Wes Humpston (aka Bulldog) is a living legend.
April 7, 2006
Wes Humpston (aka Bulldog) is a living legend. People use the term loosely, but no joke, Wes is a real deal living legend. We’ve all seen his stuff in books, magazines, and documentaries. He has one of the most recognizable art styles in skateboarding history. He was one of the original artists who started Dog Town Skates. His art and design work set the groundwork for what modern skateboarding style is today. When companies try to capture old school skate style, they are usually copying Mr. Humpston.
I had the opportunity to ask Wes a couple of burning questions and he was nice enough to respond.
How did you get your start, as an artist?
I guess when we started doing the production Dogtown Skates boards. I
showed some sketches of what I wanted on the board's to the guy running the
silkscreen place & He said "Your Good Enough You Do It" so He told
me how it would work best for screening & I did it.
Who were your original influences when you first started drawing?
A lot from Leonardo Da Vinci, Rick Griffin's Surf Art, Bid Daddy Ed
Roth's Rat Fink Art & Robert Williams Zap comics art, Frank Vanzetta, R.
Crumb. When I was 16, I worked at the Jeff Ho Surf Shop for a few months &
saw many of Craig Stecyk hand painted Surfboard's. So I'm sure that was big
influence for some of the earliest board's I made.
Where does your handstyle come from? Has it evolved? How long did
it take to master?
Well, I think it gets better the more I do it, so I don't think it's
mastered yet? Hahahaaa. It just kind of came from local Graffiti. There
were always gang tagging around Santa Monica, Venice & West L.A. & we would
practice righting our names or Santa Monica & Venice, then I mixed in some
of Rick Griffins Pacific Vibrations poster lettering.
Was there a specific moment when you realized that Dogtown was more than
just a group of friends skating?
Yea, one day I was out with my girlfriend & a guy came up to me & said
"Hey You’re Wes Humpston!" I was kind of shocked, because he knew me, but
I'd never seen him before. He said he saw me in a skate mag in the Dogtown ad.
So yea, after the Skate Mags had our photo's in the DTS Ads the days of
being an Under Cover Skate Rat were pretty much over!
What do you think about the imagine of Dogtown portrayed in media? Is
it accurate? How is it different?
Yea, for the most part the documentary was pretty accurate, but the guy
portraying it left out the beginning: Vert BMX, the Evolution of Wide board's
& Skate Art. Hard Core Pool hunting & Skating was in there but I don't
remember this guy being part of that? It was more about the Z-boy Skate
Team & not as much focused on Dogtown. It would’ve had many more of the old
Hard Core Skater & Surfers that I felt were left out! I didn't like Lords of
Dogtown, maybe because of Surfing POP & living the real deal. I still
haven't seen all of Lords of Dogtown, but just seemed like a made for
kid's after school special, Ya know?
What do you think of skating today?
I still love it & it's all good from long board cursing & bombing hills
to popsicle stick's down hand rail's to the X-Game's & Danny Way's Monster
Air's! I don't skate much these days but still love pool skating & vert
the best & am amazed at what guys are doing these day's.
What is Bulldog Skates? How long has it been around?
Bulldog Skates is an Old School Skateboard company. In the mid 90's I
started making board's in my garage just the same as the 70's. I missed
it, it was something I always dug doing & was proud of! For the most part
it was pretty much at a hobby level till I hooked up with my partner Rich in
2002. Slowly it has grown & continues to. We do small runs of the best
boards we can make, the art is a one time deal and it doesn't get re-used on
a board. We sell the boards signed & numbered to riders & collectors off
our site www.bulldogskates.com and then to distributors & the
shops. They sell out fast & each board art is a 1 time deal. We also make some of
the best old school wheels in the biz.
Interveiw by Adam Weissman for Stussy.
Wes Humpston is part of Stussy's World Tour Project. His tee shirt drops this Saturday, April 7, along with tees from Jim Phillips, Andy Jenkins, Ben Drury and Rostarr. For more information check www.stussyworldtour.com
Man held as terrorism suspect over punk song
April 7, 2006
Man held as terrorism suspect over punk song
Wed Apr 5, 2006 2:49 PM BST15
LONDON (Reuters) - Anti-terrorism detectives escorted a man from a plane after a taxi driver had earlier become suspicious when he started singing along to a track by punk band The Clash, police said on Wednesday.
Detectives halted the London-bound flight at Durham Tees Valley Airport and Harraj Mann, 24, was taken off.
The taxi driver had become worried on the way to the airport because Mann had been singing along to The Clash's 1979 anthem "London Calling," which features the lyrics "Now war is declared -- and battle come down" while other lines warn of a "meltdown expected".
Mann told newspapers the taxi had been fitted with a music system which allowed him to plug in his MP3 player and he had been playing The Clash, Procol Harum, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles to the driver.
"He didn't like Led Zeppelin or The Clash but I don't think there was any need to tell the police," Mann told the Daily Mirror.
A Durham police spokeswoman said Mann had been released after questioning -- but had missed his flight.
"The report was made with the best of intentions and we wouldn't want to discourage people from contacting us with genuine concerns," she said.
Cyber Cliff Notes or Nerd out
April 6, 2006
A long time ago, back in Jr High School, i discovered these little books called Cliff Notes.
They were like a short user guide to every book. I bought one and did the book report.
I failed, i guess the teacher knew about cliff notes as well. Gee, i thought i was so clever.
Why would i read the whole book? If i could just read a small version.
I did not have time to read, i had to.... Well i did not have much to do.
And back then there were no lines, i just had to convince my mother that i needed new sneakers.
That worked once a year. It was cool when you wore those shoes to the ground. A hole in the bottom was like a badge of honor. It meant that you played hard.
So in our technologically advanced world some pack of smart people have invented......
iPREP press
More than just a great music player, the iPod's (3rd generation and newer) notes feature and its high fidelity audio make it an awesome learning platform!
At iPREPpress, we figured the two things you'd most likely carry around all day would be a cell phone and an iPod. Because the iPod is cool, has great navigation, a crisp screen and gobs of storage, it's perfect for text and audio reference and learning while playing tunes in the background. Never mind that it's becoming the world's most popular hand-held device.
So.. we put together study guides, test prep, sports stats, game rules, reference and travel aids; some of the things we thought you'd be most interested in besides music.
Now when people stand in line for some new thing that they must have or must sell on ebay.
They can study, do a crossword puzzle or just really nerd out together.......
Maybe this is all just a metaphor for how many people like to live?
It was Socrates who said: "an unexamined life in not worth living".
Why really get into something and learn it or live it????
If we can all buy shopping guides and surf the cool guy web sites.
We do not have to be authentic, we can live vicariously thought the vision of what is cool (usually limited).
Or so we are told.
Well this method might work until, its not cool.
I think the story is what matters, I like to read. I usually read things that i do not understand.
I like to find new books.
It is similar to how i use to feel about shoes, i use to like the search.
We were like Hunters and gatherers, swarming the strangest places for the sought after prize.
I think it is time to set out once again and hit the street.
There must be cool stuff some where.
I think there is tons of great stuff in the market. This is by no means a critique of what is being designed these days. It is very hard to be creative in the epoch.
I respect the great effort the creators are working within to be creative at the time.
Products are good and bad at any time. We tend to only think of the great ones and some time the bad ones.
Process, this is what seems to be askew . Something has gone bad here, maybe its just a diversion and will self correct????
In the end i guess i just do not like the means of gathering in the present.....
ANDRÉS RAMÍREZ GAVIRIA
April 5, 2006
ANDRÉS RAMÍREZ GAVIRIA
A six-minute video that uses Morse code to visualize and sonify a section of the index from the book, Point and Line to Plane, written by Wassily Kandinsky in 1926.
One of the proposed aims of the project is to interpolate of the visual or “cinematic” space generated in the video’s composition of abstract/aesthetic elements (e.g., line, plane ) with the informational space constructed in the Morse code translation, as a way to invert the commonly known method of narration in audio-visual media. By presenting an abstract or non-objective video sequence which linearly reads Kandinsky’s text using Morse code, the work reverts filmic strategies of narration to a paradox. The content and meaning of the video are not dictated by its visual narrative but rather by the time sequence in which the video and sound clips are edited.
Christopher Wool
April 4, 2006
I do not get out to see art as much as i did when i lived in NYC.
I really should, its well worth it.
Christopher Wool's show at Gagosian is amazing. His painting's or non-painting's are simply exquisite.
Sometimes what was there is so much more interesting than what is there.
For this exhibition, Christopher Wool continues his exploration of conventional painting, through a combined array of painterly techniques, including spray paint, silkscreen, and hand painting. Commonly known for his restricted palette, these new works surprisingly introduce colors, such as pink and brown, but they are primarily single-color canvases. Yet the emphasis remains on painterly technique and the works' formal properties. Wool provides tension between painting and erasing, gesture and removal, depth and flatness.
Iraq War Coalition Fatalities
April 2, 2006
Iraq War Coalition Fatalities
Iraq War Coalition Fatalities is a chart of the US and coalition military faalities that
have occured in the war in Iraq since the onset, mapped across the dimentions of
time and space. It is an ongoing project that is updated regularly, and will continue
to go on as long as the war does.
RETURN OF THE MECCA
April 1, 2006
UNION LA REOPENED TODAY.
MAD HEADS CAMPED OUT, THE LINE WAS THICK.
AND THE SHOP IS STOCKED WITH NEW GOODS FROM:
BAPE, W/TAPS, NEIGHBORHOOD, VISVIM, BBC and a great range of tees.
RETURN OF THE FUNKY CHILD
LINE UP
INSIDE VIEWS
1ST HAPPY SHOPPER
THE SHOP IS OFF THE HOOK...
REPRESENTING LA TO THE FULLEST...
IT AINT WERE YA FROM, ITS WHERE YA AT...................................
