The story of a rejected artist finally making it big time is as familiar as the tales our grandparents like to tell us: “I walked 17 miles, barefoot, through three feet of snow; I dog-walked in New York through rejection letter after rejection letter …” The similarities are noticeable, and the struggles equally ruthless. And while there's a good chance that your aging grandpa has taken to spicing up his retirement with total B.S., the stories of struggling artists are mostly true, and there are only a few that come out of the fight still holding a paintbrush.
Casey O'Connell is one artist who has prospered, and even though she is finally content in her position as one of the West Coast's most fawned over new artists, she's too fresh off the track to have forgotten how she got there. Several cities, plenty of dog walks, and even more broken hearts paved the way for this young painter. But, we couldn't be happier that she's arrived.
Just a gentle holiday weekend reminder to get your answers in for the gold and silver Jawbone 2 giveaway: Who can find the cheesiest song, music video, or album with the word Gold or Silver in the title? We’ll be grilling meat, and charring ourselves with tanning and illegal fireworks. But, before we let you go, why haven’t we seen these obvious answers?
You want designs? Bored of Neighborhoodies? Ok, then we’re gonna give you designs. Or, more accurately Arts and Crap is. In the ‘printshop’ section of their site, you can choose from thousands of designs (more to come soon, though we’re not exactly sure why) to smack onto an American Apparel tee. For an extra $10, you can add-on your own design, ink, or combine of the logos. The possibilities are endless! But for this weekend, we suggest ordering the one that reads “BBQ.”
Doctor Popular has many talents. Not only is he a blogger and a yo-yoist, but he can work denim on a sewing machine like nobody’s business. This last talent comes in handy when it comes to concocting crafty creations such as his Raw denim wallets and iPhone cases available in his DocPopEtsy shop. These suave casings serve are a welcome respite from your run-of-the-mill leather-made money holders and i-cessories. Your belongings will be safe, secure and snug as Doctor Popular demonstrates on his youtube video. Paging Doctor Sensible.
In other Brazilian art news, but more accessible to y’all: The Os Gemeos are currently showing their Too Far Too Close exhibition at Deitch Projects (their second solo show at the gallery) in NYC. After all you’ve been hearing about them, it’s a good opportunity to experience the phenomenon first hand. The twins have built a city inside their art space, which functions as the base for new work, including installations and paintings within which their trademark yellow people live. You have until August 9th — and you’d be seriously lame to miss this.
While It is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the people behind Pulchra — the first online beauty contest devoted to the appeal of everyday objects — find that statement to be only partially true. The competition calls for voters to judge which not-so-unusual articles come across in an extraordinary manner. Submissions can include everything from cell phones to sneakers. Anyone is eligible to submit their favorite item and take home a grand prize of €10,000. When it’s over, Pulchra will take the ten most breathtaking pieces and bury them in an iron time capsule to preserve our beauty zeitgeist. Don’t be bashful, if you think something is pretty enough to be remembered, why not submit it?
The Santander Cultural center in Porto Alegre, a major city in the south of Brazil, is the site of an exciting, monster-sized street art exhibit called Transfer. Not only does it draw the biggest names from the discipline (Ornesto, Herbert Baglione, Carlos Dias) in the country but also matches them with their international peers like Mike Mills, Cheryl Dunn and KAWS. A group of star curators including Sesper and Christian Strike has brought over the amazing Beautiful Losers tour as one segment of the show, bringing the overall participant total to 300 works by 100 artists. The other three parts of Transfer discuss street art: how it’s documented by photographs and film, accessories to the scene, such as skate and publications, and work that has transcended the street and entered more defined art and cultural spaces. The show runs until Sept. 28, but since you won’t be there to check it out in person, see skate photographer Flavio Samelo’s shots from the show here.
Lina Scheynius has the second simplest website I've seen this week (the first being here). But the design’s simplicity puts her beautiful series of photographs front and center. Aside from the technical aspects of using fuzzy images that interlace light and shadow, there is an obvious emotional connection that turns the pictures into memories, documenting some of life’s most intimate moments.
Just a warning, there are some definite NSFW images on her site and flickr. And if her work wasn't accessable enough, there is a book (for €12!!!). Yes, it’s minimalist.
We gushed about the release of the Aliph Jawbone 2, but when it launched it was only available in black (as shown here on the right). It’s very stealth, but not sexy enough for some. The new Jawbone is a vastly improved product with a much smaller form factor, more comfortable leather ear loop, and the slickest charging dock on the market. Oh, and as you can see, they just launched gold and silver versions of the headset. And guess what? We’ve got one of each to give away to two lucky readers. Glitzy gold and sparkling silver — one could be yours very shortly.
Last time around we had you talk dirty, sweet, and trashy to win. This time, we’re giving them away to the best answer to the following question:
Who can find the cheesiest song, music video, or album with the word Gold or Silver in the title?
Post in the comments — whoever gets me laughing the most, wins.
Fodor’s and Lonely Planet do an admirable job of helping first timers get around unfamiliar locales, but what about repeat visitors? After the obvious museums and landmarks, there are still plenty of cultural must sees and dos that escape our vacation radar. Le Cool publishing have found a way to bring all of the missing links of leisure to the attention of the jaded jetset. On the heels of their hometown “A Weird and Wonderful Guide To Barcelona”, the Spanish publishers have released four graphic guides: Amsterdam, Lisbon, London, and Madrid. They feature the work of top designers and insiders who find hidden gems in these Euro cities, and prove that while they may have been there, they might not necessarily have done that.
If you’re planning on catching some waves while you’re sitting on top of the world this summer, you’ve got to know your fellow surfers’ lingo. There’s nothing worse than boosting through a barrel on your beavertail and not knowing what that means. Thankfully, A-Side studio has done a fine job putting together a guide to everything pantheon pipeliners need to know. The Book of Surfing: The Killer Guide combs the beach for all of the important tidbits of surf culture, covering everything from classic surf graphics to the tunes of Brian Wilson. It’s totally worth hanging ten for … or however much it costs.
Everyone knows by now that oil and water don’t mix, but have you ever stopped to wonder what happens when you combine H20 with a heavy Helvetica font? Word is it makes quite a splash. SCR, a subsidiary of Japan’s Tha Ltd. has put together a scintillating new screensaver entitled “Dropclock” that combines the two contrasting elements in super-slow motion and proves once and for all that merging this unlikely duo can indeed make for some captivating imagery.
Eventually, we’ll get sharks with laser beams attached to their heads to fill our backyard pool. But until then, making “Pew! Pew!” sound effects will have to suffice. Not Damion Silver. This member of the Nu Artist movement has used his chaotic, layer-happy graphic style to design images for a wide range of companies — from Converse to Timex — but recently he created an intriguing personal project: laser-designed skateboards.
After creating boards the old-school way, Silver stumbled upon the technique of using focused light as a design tool. He liked the method’s clean and precise feel, so he found a partner and started working on his first deck. In about two weeks, he will be offering five decks, which all have the same essential design on different colored backgrounds, for $300 on digitalgravel.com
Today has been frustrating. The boss sucks (not Josh, who’s always lovely … our other boss. Bruce Springsteen), we barely ate, and there are high demands placed on our productivity. But whenever the wish for a blood clot to travel up to our heart and explode in the pointless Tuesday meeting strikes, we look at Squares from RightBrainTerrain.com. Somebody actually had to cut up tiny pieces of magazine paper, playing cards, and other sundries to form this striking, if not head-bangingly tedious piece of art. It works even better than their alterna-motivational posters, and reminds us that there are people in the universe that have infinite patience — and way too much time.
You’ve lived it up in London, found romance in Rome, and even wandered into a tourist trap in Turkey. So what’s next, you international traveler you? You could take photos of the Leaning Tower of Pisa or eat brunch in Barcelona, but that’s all been done before. Why not try a little something off the beaten path? If you’re looking for a bizarre travel suggestion that doubles as an incomparable life experience, we suggest checking in with Urbane Nomads. The self-proclaimed “travel mixologists” specialize in creating unique itineraries for those who think they’ve seen it all, but ain’t seen nothin’ yet. So if you’ve ever imagined yourself playing polo in Pakistan or at a spa in Sri Lanka, your window of opportunity is wide open.
You want designs? Bored of 
Doctor Popular has many talents. Not only is he a blogger and a yo-yoist, but he can work denim on a sewing machine like nobody’s business. This last talent comes in handy when it comes to concocting crafty creations such as his 
In other Brazilian art news, but more accessible to y’all: The Os Gemeos are currently showing their 
While It is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the people behind 
Eventually, we’ll get 
You’ve lived it up in London, found romance in Rome, and even wandered into a tourist trap in Turkey. So what’s next, you international traveler you? You could take photos of the Leaning Tower of Pisa or eat brunch in Barcelona, but that’s all been done before. Why not try a little something off the beaten path? If you’re looking for a bizarre travel suggestion that doubles as an incomparable life experience, we suggest checking in with 
