You may have heard of Takashi Murakami because you hate 50 Cent and would follow Kanye West into the depths of hell as your backpacker-come-mainstream hip hop savior. Or you may have heard of Takashi Murakami because you were enthralled by an even uglier Louis Vuitton monogram print and would follow Marc Jacobs into mountains of cocaine as your Out Top 8 prince of America's hook in French fashion. Whatever the case, if you live in Los Angeles and pretend to care about art, you know that Takashi Murakami is exhibiting at the MOCA.

Continue Reading "Mat Gleason on Takashi Murakami at the MOCA" »

Posted by at 7:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I stumbled across Polanoir a few weeks back while I was Googleing Edwin H. Land resources. Polanoir is a Polaroid gallery in Vienna Austria that produces large format editions of about eighteen photographers work. What's so intriguing is the fact that it's an actual physical space, devoted to the Polaroid medium. While the interwebs as a platform, provide every art school dropout with an SX-70 and a Blogger account the ability to self gratify, Polanoir raises the bar by becoming the first commercial gallery dedicated to the medium.

The gallery is owned and operated by Florian Kaps and Lexi Hoeller, who 'aint strangers to the development of an "obsolete" format. In the 90's these two were responsible for blowing up the whole LOMOgraphy craze through the use of viral marketing and internet community. Polanoir is the physical representation of the same scheme, only with a Polaroid twist. They've also created the online community, in Polanoid, and the shop manifests as Unsaleable. The trifecta. Sound familiar to any of you LOMO fans?

If anyone can mass market a "dead" technology, it's these two. The business plan is proven and the interest is there. I'm just glad it's Polaroid.

[ Polanoir Gallery ]
[ Polanoid ]
[ Unsaleable ]

Images courtesy of Paolo Degasperi and Lia Sáile

Posted by at 6:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After leaving the house of Dior this past summer, Hedi Slimane seems to have put all of his attention towards his photography. Which is a good thing, I suppose, if he's looking to return to his creative roots. I'm assuming the burden of being one of the most watched designers in menswear is pretty heavy. Why not move to Los Angeles and start taking photographs with Gus Van Sant?

[ Hedi Slimane : Hedi Slimane Diary ]

Images courtesy of Hedi Slimane

Posted by at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Polaroid collections at Fiftyrooms are the type of works that, at first, seem to blur the line between artwork and pornography, until you're reminded that spontaneity and voyeurism are at the core of great moments in each genre. Polaroids and pornography go together like peanut butter and Oreos, and if you know anything about anything, you know that shits fantastic.

Continue Reading "Fiftyrooms Girls & Polaroids" »

Posted by at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lisa Rienermann's Type The Sky character set is built from photographs of the daytime sky from dark streets and corridors through Cologne Germany while studying at the University of Duisburg-Essen. This is an amazing project, not only for the sheer creativity, but for the entire branding and packaging of her ideas. This is the sort of follow through of inspiration that rubs off on others. Which is why I'm posting it here.

[ Lisa Rienermann ]

Images courtesy of Lisa Rienermann

Posted by at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've only recently become interested in typography. From a historical and design aspect, there is just just too much information to absorb in one run-through. But once you really sit down, and start playing with the characters, you get a feel for the subtle nuance of typeface. Typographica's posted a list of their favorite fonts of 2006... Half way through 2007, but I'll let that slide. House Industries has a few typefaces on the list, as well as my personal favorite, a thin set of Omnes by Joshua Darden. Fantastique!

[ Typographica: Our Favorite Fonts of 2006 ]

Images courtesy of Typographica

Posted by at 9:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently spent some time in Puerto Vallarta, on the Bahía de Banderas in Jalisco, Mexico. I could sit here and type off about how beautiful and completely amazing this corner of the world is, but I won't. The truth is, just as with all things in life, there is filth in the heart of beauty, and beauty in the heart of filth. Puerto Vallarta is an amazing place if you know what your looking for, and for those that don't you can look forward to a slice of earth that's been raped over the last thirty years by greed for the American dollar.

All things said, beware of human sharks and runamoks, search out the jungles, the Cuban tobacco, and the fabled raicilla.

Continue Reading "Puerto Vallarta Mexico" »

Posted by at 9:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)