Posted by Melissa Goldstein | July 30, 2010, 10:11 am | Permalink
Remember that car commercial—I think it was a VW one—where the hip, 20-something couple in the car are listening to a catchy song and looking out the window and suddenly realize that everything is moving in time to the beat of the song that they’re listening to: a basketball bouncing down the steps of a building, the windshield wipers on the car, kids jump-roping on the streets, etc?
I love that commercial. And I love it because I feel like it happens to me all the time. Who’s with me?
I love things that tap into that “my particular way of seeing the world” perspective in the hopes that it matches your way of seeing the world, because—surprise!—it often does.
German photographer Lisa Rienermann is behind one such project. A particularly trusty friend of mine recently introduced me to her “Type the Sky” series, pictured above, which was created years ago while she was studying at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Of course, once I saw it, I had to know more. According to a post translated from German blog Slanted (via dezeen), it all started with the letter Q.“I was in a kind of courtyard in Barcelona,” she says. “I looked upward and saw houses, the blue sky and clouds. The more I looked, I saw that the houses formed a letter Q.”
Which of course begs the question, why don’t we all go around photographing stuff that looks like letters in the name of art?
Posted by Carmela Ciuraru | July 21, 2010, 8:48 am | Permalink
Amid the gloom and doom talk of dying mainstream magazines (deservedly so, in many cases), unpaid freelancers, and the end of print media in general, many indie publications are doing just fine—thriving, even.
Case in point: False Start Independent Books & Zines, run by the recent UCLA art school grad Meredith Wallace. False Start’s mission is “to take the best of old school cut & paste style-zines from punk, feminist and radical circles, as well as the best of art zines and comics, and distribute them to a wider audience.” With its DIY attitude, FS offers a welcome shift from the insipid mainstream mags that continually alienate their readership, rather than make them feel like part of a community.
In L.A., you can buy False Start publications at Meltdown Comics on Sunset Blvd., but you can also order directly from the FS website.
You’ll find an array of entertaining and edifying reading material, and many are appealing as quirky little works of art, too:
[Read more →]
Posted by Carmela Ciuraru | July 16, 2010, 10:09 am | Permalink
This week the blue-chip Gagosian gallery—with an artist roster that includes Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra, and Mike Kelly—offered its latest editioned releases, available exclusively through the gallery and its website.
It’s one thing to sell a $150 limited-edition puzzle, called “Carnival and Lent” by the British painter Cecily Brown (and that edition isn’t so small at 230, I might add), but it’s quite another to sell this product with a straight face:
You’re probably wondering what you’re looking at, and I assume that your first guess is unlikely to be, “Oh, that’s an $800 sticker by the artist Robert Lazzarini.” But if that was your guess, you would be correct, so congratulations. Called “Rat Poison Sticker,” and selling in an edition of 30, it summons pity for the person(s) who would actually purchase it. Look closely, and it’s sort of a cool sticker (sort of!), but if it has earned its price tag, I would like for someone, anyone, to tell me how and why.
Then there’s the print by Bob Adelman, featuring Jeff Koons glancing adoringly at a life-size sculpture depicting him having sex with his former wife, Cicciolina. That poster—er, print—sells for $4,000. Would you like such a thing hanging on your wall?
[Read more →]
Posted by Melissa Goldstein | July 15, 2010, 8:30 am | Permalink
Finally, an answer to the oft-asked question, “What do you get for the arty girl or boy who has everything?”
High concept “magazine” Visionaire is known for putting out limited-edition multi-format albums of fashion and art three times a year—each is guaranteed to be a collectible, but their latest, the 58th installment, is assured to be more memorable than most.
“Spirit” (available on the Visionaire site) is a tribute to late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who had been slated to collaborate on an issue, though it never came to be.
Instead, he is now the subject of what’s destined to be one of the title’s finest creations, featuring contributions from bold-faced names including Nick Knight, Lady Gaga, Mario Testino, Steven Klein, Mario Sorrenti, and Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.
It comes tucked inside a case embellished with metallic golden brocade, a nod to McQueen’s spring 2010 show. And if that weren’t enough, each unbound photo page is embedded with wildflower seeds; when planted and given sun and water, the pages blossom. Yes, seriously.
The idea—the burying of art that results in a beauty that springs eternal—is a bittersweet and gothic reminder of McQueen’s own tragic fate. Heavy, but gorgeous.
[Image via the Imagist]
Posted by Hayley Elisabeth Kaufman | July 13, 2010, 8:53 am | Permalink
While I might be a diehard fan of loud, brash, and noise-heavy jams, there is a special place in my heart—and my over-cramped iPod—for sonic whimsy. One such outfit is the ethereal trio School of Seven Bells. This Brooklyn-based band creates delicate soundscapes that encompass the lazy drone of shoegaze and the airiness of minimal synth-pop that seem to effortlessly float out of your earphones and into the clouds.
Composed of Benjamin Curtis, formerly of dark psych group Secret Machines, and songbird identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza who spent time in On!Air!Library!, this threesome makes music that’s got both undeniable listenability and hipster cool-cred. Not like we care about the cool quotient, right?
On their sparkling sophomore effort Disconnect From Desire, this eclectic threesome experiments with languid Kraut-infused psychedelia that, with cryptic lyrics sang by the Deheza sisters, sounds like a modern answer to the Cocteau Twins—only less preciously obtuse. A solid album from start to finish, Disconnect From Desire is imbued with saccharine-free optimism and a fun, new take on intelligent pop music. The perfect antidote for the urban summer malaise, School of Seven Bells is a cool sonic pick-me-up for when the world around you—and even your beloved iPod—is melting.
Make sure to grab Disconnect From Desire when it drops on July 13. Listen to their magical first single “Windstorm” here!
[Image: Abbey Drucker]
Posted by Melissa Goldstein | July 5, 2010, 8:36 am | Permalink
Indie musical collectives comprising large groups with a vaguely religious slant make me nervous (see: Polyphonic Spree). It’s not like I think they’re going to invite the audience to join them for the afterparty in Jonestown or aboard the Scientology spaceship, but…well, yes, actually, it is exactly that.
The LA Ladies Choir is not only an upbeat, homemade feeling and stylish musical group project, but also assuredly non-threatening. For one thing, all of the members seem to have super cool primary careers rendering them logistically unavailable for the demanding schedule that comes with cult membership (okay, so that theory doesn’t completely rule out the Scientology threat, but if we can overlook it with Beck then it seems alright).
The group was formed by Becky Stark (front woman for folk-pop outfit Lavender Diamond and the Living Sisters) and Aska Matsumiya (who pops up all over the LA indie music scene, including in awesome short film soundtracks) with the uber-earnest goal of joyous singing and the refreshingly unselfconscious assertion on Starck’s part that she doesn’t care if it’s off-key. This last artistic choice is also evident in Starck’s Lavender Diamond work, which as a result seems to elicit a love/hate reaction not dissimilar to that of Neil Diamond. (Her raw tune “You Broke My Heart” is, I feel, all the better for it).
The choir is made up of more than 30 ladies with starry pedigrees in every conceivable scene, from food (pastry chef Jenny Park of the cult favorite Trails Café) to fashion (model Frankie Rayder, who from time to time brings along Red Hot Chili Pepper hubby Flea to jam on bass).
Blame it on the ubiquity of Glee if you like, but I feel this kind of extracurricular musical gathering should be encouraged. If you feel the same, check out the choir’s album titled, you guessed it, Sing Joyfully, or keep your eyes peeled for hometown dates, where they perform everything from Starck originals to Marvin Gaye to Jeff Buckley.
[Image via the blog of choir member and stylist Simone LeBlanc]
Posted by Carmela Ciuraru | July 1, 2010, 9:27 am | Permalink
I know a thing or two about Paul Buckley. He looks like this:
And he is very busy all the time. He’s an art director in charge of no fewer than eight publishing imprints, including Penguin, Viking, Penguin Press, and Riverhead, and works on roughly 600(!) book jackets and covers a year. He has a fancy and impressively lengthy job title: Executive Vice President Creative Director at Penguin. He oversees an incredibly talented team of designers and art directors and does some designing himself. He lives in Brooklyn. He is generous with his time. That last fact I can vouch for personally, because he set aside his busy schedule to answer my hard-hitting, provocative questions.
But why interview Paul Buckley? Why now?
Penguin 75: Designers|Authors|Commentary has just been published (on the occasion of Penguin’s 75th aniversary), and it was edited and introduced by Buckley, with an additional foreword by Chris Ware. My own encounter with this book was love at first sight. I truly could not put it down, so rather than sit awkwardly hunched over my desk to devour it in one setting, I adjourned to the living room sofa and finished it there.
Obviously, it is a gorgeously designed book, with an eye-catching cover:
Yet the stories inside are amazing, too. Buckley selected seventy-five covers that represent the very best of Penguin art from the last ten years, and the book features a detailed behind-the-scenes exploration of the making of each cover. It’s fascinating. There are commentaries from authors, editors, designers, and artists, and many of the anecdotes are quite funny and surprising. Contributors include Paul Auster, Daniel Clowes, Roz Chast, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Ian Buruma, Art Spiegelman, Gautam Malkani, Elizabeth Gilbert, Tony Millionaire, Hanif Kureishi, and Jedediah Berry.
Trust me, this isn’t one big praise fest. Divas emerge—authors as well as designers–and lingering gripes are aired in full. (“Who’s really telling the truth in these pages?” Buckley writes. “You decide.”) Certain authors are pretty honest about hating their covers, and others are delirious with gratitude at how an artist visually captured exactly what their book is about. Some illustrators reveal that they kick themselves with regret long after a book is out. “For me, once something is published, and it’s too late to correct anything, that’s when I see everything that’s wrong,” admits Roz Chast. “This happens every time I complete a project.”
Anyhow, if you love books, and love Penguin Books, and are interested in book design and fussy about which books are in your home–no movie tie-in editions for me, ever, thanks!–well, you will probably enjoy this book as much as I do. And it makes a great gift, too.
CC: Paul, how long have you been at Penguin, and what did you do before working there?
PB: I’ve been at Penguin 20 years. Before that I was paying my rent through freelance illustration and design.
CC: As Creative Director, what’s the best part of your job? Why do you love designing books?
PB: There are so many reasons to each of these questions. But if I had to pick just one thing, I suppose the best part of my job is empowering others, and sometimes myself, to create imagery that will have real life hopefully gracing the cover of a great book. I enjoy designing books because every publication is unique, so each needs a different visual solution. I’ve always loved books, so doing what I do seems so natural, that I cannot imagine doing anything else.
CC: Which covers have you designed that you’re particularly proud of, perhaps because the process of getting there was unusually challenging?
PB: My work tends to be very simple and spare, so when I do something that is a bit complex, that always feels good to me as it’s not my norm – also, every time I do something a bit complicated, it winds up getting killed, so the ones that squeak through are rare. My greatest hits are up on my website, but if I was to pick a few they’d be: The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, my Eisner stuff, my Delillo work, Borges, Vollman, and Boyle.
CC: How did the idea for Penguin 75 come about? It marks your 20th anniversary with the company. And how long did you work on this project?
[Read more →]
Posted by Melissa Goldstein | June 28, 2010, 9:01 am | Permalink
I have always had a thing for maps. When I was younger it was the three-dimensional topographical features that did it: so interactive! So ‘game of LIFE’!
But as I get older, the ones that call to me have become more varied—those kooky historical maps, complete with grossly outsized representation of one’s own home country, the vintage nautical numbers flanked by sea monsters and gold-flecked compasses—Harry Beck’s London underground staple and the art it has inspired (see: Simon Patterson’s “The Great Bear”). For me, accuracy and scale has nothing to do with the appeal—leave the precision to the GPS and bring on the embellishment.
The British Library and I are simpatico with this soft spot for the map, as their current exhibition “Magnificent Maps” confirms. The collection on view leans toward the historical, but I challenge any modern design enthusiast not to be charmed by MacDonald Gill’s “Tea Revives the World” map, replete with sea-going vessels and issued by the International Tea Market Expansion Board during WWII as both a big-up for Allied economic superiority and a rallying point for a wartime pep rally. (I myself am a coffee girl, but I appreciate the sentiment.)
The exhibition’s accompanying catalogue gives the back stories on the works featured, and is available online from the British Library shop, and for pre-order in the US via Amazon.
Posted by Carmela Ciuraru | June 25, 2010, 8:44 am | Permalink
It’s a humid summer’s day, so instead of going outside I’m downloading mp3s. All are perfectly legal and free of charge, so allow me to share the wealth at no cost to myself.
Take your pick:
Levi’s (as in the jeans) has invited artists to “re-craft the classic songs that inspired their sound,” as part of what they’re calling the Levi’s Pioneer Sessions. After a mildly annoying but brief email signup on this website, you can score some (good) free songs.
Like Passion Pit doing Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight.” Or a Dirty Projectors rendition of the somewhat obscure Bob Dylan track “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine” (from his underrated album John Wesley Harding), which can be found here. It’s great.
But wait, there’s more! Check out the Projectors’ own website, and right on the Brooklyn band’s homepage you can download a free digital 7″. You’ll get two tracks: “Ascending Melody” and “Emblem of the World.”
Do you love The Shins? I do. Grab a Squeeze cover (“Goodbye Girl”) at the Levi’s site, and while you’re at it, download She & Him’s version of “Fools Rush In.”
If you visit the website of my friends in Lancaster, PA, The Innocence Mission, you’ll find a free listen of a song from their new CD, My Room in the Trees (which will be released on July 13th), and a download of a new track (“The Happy Mondays”).
Elsewhere, some live Erin McKeown songs can be downloaded here.
Go to the SubPop website, and you can download six(!) free Wolf Parade tracks. (Their new CD, Expo 86, is out June 29th.)
Finally: Here are four full tracks by a Seattle band I’ve just discovered and think I might love–The Dutchess and the Duke.
Enjoy!
[Images: Dirty Projectors: Maggiesaustin.com; The Innocence Mission: theinnocencemission.com; Erin McKeown: ErinMcKeown.com]
Posted by Hayley Elisabeth Kaufman | June 21, 2010, 8:29 am | Permalink
With the magical talent of taking a decidedly grandma-centric medium and making it delightfully sinister, Oakland, California-based artist Marin Camille Hood’s artwork is a whimsical take on the spinster’s favorite medium, needlepoint. I have been a long-time fan of Hood’s precious-yet-macabre sensibility, which includes skeletal renderings of prehistoric creatures, deceptively sweet embroideries depicting slaughtered deer, and human bones juxtaposed on a delicate floral backdrop. Her latest show “These Souvenirs: Embroideries by Marin Camille Hood,” which opens Friday June 18 at the BellJar Gallery in San Francisco, will feature a carefully curated selection of her latest work, including a unicorn in skeletal form. I recently had the chance to meet up with Hood to discuss what inspires her and informs her unique craft.
How did you come up with the idea to use needlepoint as a medium for your art?
MCH: I’ve always been a sewer with a love of fabric and notions, but never considered bringing it into my fine art practice until a few years ago. I was working at a small museum in Berkeley called the Magnes, which, at the time, was hosting a traveling exhibition called “Through the Eye of the Needle: Fabric Art of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz”. It was made up of 36 story quilts, describing the artist’s escape from Nazi Germany as a little girl, which were originally made as gifts for her own children. I was deeply moved by the idea of this woman’s painful history being recorded in such a beautiful and traditional way, and engrossed by the meticulousness and care she took in creating each panel. This inspiration, along with seeds planted in my feminist art history education, I fell in love with the idea of using such a culturally loaded skill, passed down through generations to my mother and to me, as a tool for telling darker stories. The medium seemed to have such a capacity for subverting expectations, both in choices of subject, and in the simple act of putting needlework on a gallery wall.
Are there any reoccurring themes that you explore with your art?
MCH: My embroideries tend to deal with the corporeal, particularly what lies under the skin. I’ve found that simple images of bones, meat, and organs, can become layered metaphors when rendered in thread. Some of my works have what I hope is subtle political or social content, particularly the hunting and meat images, yet they also speak to a more ambiguous personal symbolism. In trying to be more specific, I’d say I tend to focus on death, literal or otherwise, as a tool to talk about other things. Ultimately for me, it becomes about the reactions to my work. My hope is that in using such a loaded medium in conjunction with these images, the pieces become more about what other’s preconceptions bring to the dialogue, then about any of my own agendas.
[Read more →]
Hayley Elisabeth Kaufman is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer, unicorn lover, and pizza enthusiast. She covers everything from music and culture to fashion and lifestyle, for Relix, Tokion, Teen Vogue, Ladies Home Journal, GrandLifeNYC, Refinery 29 and a handful of others. 
