JCDC | LEGO Fashion Show

JCDC Versus LEGO from Four H on Vimeo.

Ryan McGinness | Aesthetic Comfort

I'm trying not to buy any new books, with the exception of any limited editions or Franklin Library finds, until I read the ones I already have.  So when I found out through Notcot that Ryan McGinness has a new book called Aesthetic Comfort, which is a signed & numbered edition of 2000, I immediately went to go check it out.  After looking through everything thoroughly & debating whether or not I needed it, I placed my order.  It's not cheap but it's not too expensive ($125).  Aesthetic Comfort (144 pages) comes with Arkitip Issue No. 0048 (112 pages) in a handled carry box.  More information, photos & videos here.  Read more about Arkitip here.   

Jeff Koons | Versailles

source: Cool Hunting

"Profound" was the word Jeff Koons used most frequently to express his feelings about his Versailles show at the opening day press conference. After viewing the 17 sculptures installed in the castle's rooms and courtyards, we have to agree… more

Electric Windows

source: Cool Hunting

Bringing together 24 street artists from all over the world, Electric Windows is a semi-permanent installation of large-scale work exhibited on the exterior windows of a 19th century blanket factory in Beacon, NY… more

Package Design Blogs

2 package design blogs that I thought were interesting:

• PACKAGING | UQAM (in French with English translation)
  
• The Dieline
  

Spaghetti Cat | The Soup

Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry & Renzo Piano | Charlie Rose

Discussion with Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry & Renzo Piano on Charlie Rose from June 5, 2008 (52 minutes).

MOMA | Current & Upcoming Exhibitions

Current & upcoming exhibitions at MOMA:

Just-In: Recent Acquisitions from the Collection
December 21, 2007 - November 30, 2008

The Philip Johnson Architecture & Design Galleries, 3rd Floor

Dreamland: Architectural Experiments Since the 1970s
July 23, 2008 - March 2, 2009

Architecture & Design Drawings Gallery, 3rd Floor

Elements and Unknowns
September 4, 2008 - November 23, 2008

The Lewis B. & Dorothy Cullman Education & Research Building

Here Is Every.  Four Decades of Contemporary Art
September 10, 2008 - March 23, 2009

Contemporary Galleries, 2nd Floor

Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night
September 21, 2008 - January 5, 2009

Special Exhibitions Gallery, 2nd Floor

*exhibition requires a separate, timed entry ticket (no charge), available at the exhibition entrance.  

Conversation with Mickey Drexler | Charlie Rose

 

Conversation with Mickey Drexler on Charlie Rose from April 21, 2008.  It's very informative & worth watching in its entirety (it says it's 56 minutes long but it's really only 31 minutes).  

Banksy | New Orleans

Check out photos from Banksy's recent trip to New Orleans for the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on his site here.  Don't miss the caption at the top of the photo of the green building with Bush sitting in the rocking chair holding the American flag.

Banksy on his trip to New Orleans:

I came to New Orleans to do battle with the Gray Ghost, a notorious vigilante who's been systematically painting over any graffiti he can find with the same shade of grey paint since 1997.

Consequently he's done more damage to the culture of the city than any section five hurricane could ever hope to achieve.

More photos of Banksy's work from the Flickr group Banksy Does New Orleans here.  Photo of Banksy unfortunately buffed here.

Sukiyaki Western Django

I'm not a fan of westerns, but watch the preview for Sukiyaki Western Django & you'll know why I have to watch this movie.  I'll just have to ignore Quentin Tarantino & get over how they speak English instead of Japanese.  Looks like Shingo has a little cameo (watch the "sizzle piece" clip). Opens on August 29th in New York & on September 12th in LA.

Hex Key L-wrench RainBow® | PB Swiss Tools

I don't own any tools so I probably need a Hex Key L-wrench RainBow® set from PB Swiss Tools.  I can't resist anything that comes in rainbow colors.

Post-it Notes in Sheer Colors

I heard about sheer Post-it notes a while back but haven't been able to find them anywhere.  The 3M website has the Post-it 1" x 3" highlighting strips & highlighting arrows in sheer colors but no information on where they are sold.  So I decided to write to 3M because I'm tired of searching for these things.  Here's their response:

Dear Ms.*,

Thank you for contacting 3M Company. We appreciate hearing from you.

The Post-It(R) Sheer Notes you are requesting have been discontinued. For
information on our current products visit our website at www.post-it.com or
feel free to contact us at 1-800-395-1223.

We value your interest in 3M products.

Regards,
Beth
3M Office Supplies Division
1-800-395-1223
www.post-it.com
3M Workspace Solutions
1-800-332-7483
www.3m.com/myworkspace

Ugh discontinued.  Of course that would happen.

It's interesting because there are several blogs that show the same photo of what looks like a large clear post-it but there's no information on who makes this rumored product.  It's definitely not 3M who is the maker of Post-it products because I went through their entire site.  Or maybe sheer Post-its are available in Japan?  After all I do have the 6mm x 44mm flags that aren't sold in the US.  Too bad the site's in Japanese.  

Raphael Saadiq | The Way I See It

I'm so excited because Raphael Saadiq's new album The Way I See It is coming out on September 16th!  I've only heard 4 songs from The Way I See It (listen on myspace), but I know it's a must-have!  Beautiful 1960s soul sound & the entire album was done with live instruments.  What an incredibly talented artist.  He's from Oakland so we have to support him!  Check out his impressive long list of credits here. 

Business Cards

Check out dailypoetics' extensive business card collection on Flickr.  Dailypoetics, aka Kariann Burleson, talks about her business card collection in an interview with Epherma here. 

Here are some of my favorites:

Wunderburg Design

Fifth Floor Gallery

Ann Mimi Kim

Lodge  (minus the sticker)

Parent Design

Lochert Company 

space 150

Alex Goh

Impact Salon

If you'd rather not look through dailypoetic's 882 photos over 15 pages, Fubiz has "70 Amazing Business Cards" (including a few from dailypoetic) here. 

Personal Embosser | Williams Sonoma

I like this single-initial personal embosser (with wooden stand) ($38 Williams Sonoma), but I'm not sure how often I would need to emboss.  I also like the "Library of" with Book embosser, but as an obsessive bibliophile I would be hesitant to emboss my books.  

Here are some additional products for the embosser (internet or catalog only):

*interchangeable embosser plates | $25 each

 8 designs available

*round foil labels | $8.50

 self-adhesive backing

 set of 100

 gold, blue, copper, silver, blush or green

 2" in diameter

* vellum gift tags: | $15

 w/aluminum frame & matching cotton string

 set of 24

 2 1/4" diameter

 silver, gold, green, red or white

Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner | Hammer Museum

Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner is at the Hammer Museum until October 13.  You can go on a John Lautner House Tour & there are 3 tours remaining:

Tour II: Sunday, September 14, 2008
Tickets: $145 each* (only for Hammer members at the Contributor level or above)
The Jacobsen Residence (1947)
The Harvey Residence (1950)
The Reiner/Burchill Residence - also known as Silvertop (1963)

Tour III: Sunday, August 24, 2008
Tickets: $55 each*
Sheats/Goldstein Residence (1963)

Tour IV: Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tickets: $55 each*
Sheats/Goldstein Residence (1963)

*ticket prices include admission to the exhibition, parking & shuttle service.

Nabaztag

Nabaztag.  I need one.  It can play bingo with me.  It's too cute!

MSTRKRFT | Green Light Remix 320

Free download link for MSTRKRFT's Green Light Remix 320 (John Legend featuring Andre 3000: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VHYDBSQ7

Enter the 3-letter code that is given to you & hit download.  The download button will appear after the timer has counted down from 45 seconds.

Maestro Dobel Diamond Tequila

 

I don't know anything about tequila, but Maestro Dobel, "world's first diamond tequila," looks fancy to me so I want to try it.  Apparently it's only available in restaurants & no retailers currently carry it.  Notcot has photos of Maestro Dobel Tequila & this aroma set that contains 50 vials.  A Notcot reader inquired about the aroma set & sadly it's a promotional item only.  That just makes me want it even more now.  

Noisia | FABRICLIVE.40

Noisia.  These 3 guys are amazing.  There's a nice little DJ profile on Fabriclondon.com & the part under "Projects" blew me away:

Martijn: It was weird, because we never properly sent out any tunes. We put some music online at some point, maybe about five years ago, at this site called ElectronicScene.com, and one of the songs became "song of the month" or week, or whatever. Then someone contacted us from America saying he was interested in releasing the tune - that was Mayhem, the guy that we wrote a couple of tunes with later on, who runs Shadow Law. He also got us to sign up for AIM, and gave us a bunch of screen names for drum n bass people so we got in touch with other people in the scene. 

I'm so glad I use AIM.  My big break's coming.

You can sample all 29 tracks from their FABRICLIVE.40 mix here & buy it at amazon.com.  Noisia talks about the mix on fabriclondon.com:  

We wanted to make a mix that represents what we do in the studio as well as what we play when we play a show. So we've put in a lot of fresh drum and bass but also some breaks tunes from our label division and some weird downtempo. We use every show and every mix as a medium to showcase what we make, and as a medium to show people what kind of stuff we really like. Sometimes aggy, sometimes deep, sometimes just down right weird, but always dirty. A load of filth in a cage that's sometimes opened. I hope people are going to like it, especially techno people, because so many aspects of techno are related to drum n bass but they may never hear this kind of drum n bass. Maybe it will open some ears, I hope so...

"but always dirty"...that's exactly what I want to hear.

Borders.com

As much as I love Amazon.com, I'm so glad that Borders ended their relationship with them & launched their own shopping website.  Finally I can use my Borders Rewards coupons online!  They have a "magic shelf" that you can customize with your interests, but they don't have an option for art or design.  FYI - "picture books" does not mean art books.

Bloc Party | Intimacy

Bloc Party just announced that their 3rd album, "Intimacy," will be released digitally this Thursday, August 21st & released in CD format October 28th. If you pre-order the CD at http://blocparty.sandbag.uk.com/, you will also receive the digital album on August 21st. That's so perfect because I prefer CD but I also don't want to wait until October for the album.

Ice Cube | Raw Footage

I've been super curious to hear Ice Cube's new album Raw Footage for a while now & finally sampled some tracks from it today. It definitely has that old west coast gangsta rap sound that has been missing for so long. It's nice to hear a rap album that's not filled with words & expressions that I have to look up on urbandictionary.com (although I do not know the answer to "What Is a Pyroclastic Flow?"). The album comes out tomorrow, August 19th & I just decided that I have to buy it because it's only $9.99 at Amazon.

There's some shit talking the end of "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It" & it's kind of funny coming from the same guy that was in Are We There Yet? & the sequel Are We Done Yet? I wonder if there are kids out there that only know of Ice Cube from Are We There Yet? & have no idea that he's a pioneer of gangsta rap & uses the N word frequently.

Mac in ze box

Stumbled upon Mac in ze box when I randomly clicked on "Next Blog>>."  There are already 130 posts this year so far on ebooks, Mac games, Mac software & magazines. I probably do not need any of the software & games, but it's always good to know what's out there.  

Actually Circus Ponies NoteBook 2.1 might come in handy.  The notebook is cute & comes in graph paper.  Plus Circus Ponies is an awesome name.  

The Boombox Project | Lyle Owerko

If you like boomboxes as much as I do, check out Lyle Owerko's The Boombox Project.  BlackBook magazine has an article about him & his boombox collection (around 40 from the late 70's & early 80's) here.

He has a nice portfolio & after going through it I learned that he shot the cover image of the burning twin towers for Time Magazine's September 11th issue.  The portfolio contains images of people leaping from the towers, which I was not prepared to see but that was my fault for looking (I should have read his introduction more carefully). Just thought I better mention this in case you do decide to check out his portfolio.

Fashion in the Mirror: Self-Reflection in Fashion Photography | The Photographers' Gallery

Another exhibition that I won't be able to go to.  Fashion in the Mirror is at The Photographers' Gallery in London (largest public gallery in London dedicated to photography) through September 14th.  21 photographers, including 2 of my favorites - Mario Testino (site coming soon) & Steven Klein (site worth checking out), are featured.

An exhibition catalogue is available for £5.00 through the Bookshop at the Photographers' Gallery.  World wide mail-order service is available (email bookshop@photonet.org.uk).

Shohei Shigematsu | OMA*AMO NY

OMA NY by Archdaily from David Basulto on Vimeo.

Arch Daily interview with Shohei Shigematsu (1973), the director of OMA*AMO New York (recently named partner of OMA).  The interview is 26:33 long but definitely worth watching in its entirety.  I've been interested in OMA for quite some time now but I haven't had time to do any research so this gave me a little start.

Arch Daily

Arch Daily is a great architecture site (found it through notcot.org) because you can quickly breeze through the photos & they give just the right amount of information so you don't feel overwhelmed. They've only been up since March 9, 2008!

The House of Viktor & Rolf | Barbican Art Gallery

I'm sad I won't be able to see The House of Viktor & Rolf exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery in London (ending Sept 21st).  This is the first time in the UK that an exhibition has been devoted to Viktor & Rolf.  There is a specially commissioned installation by Viktor & Rolf that is on both floors of the gallery.  The exhibition includes a doll house & miniature versions of their past collections on dolls.  Good news is that there is a 256 page hardcover book available ("the most comprehensive on the work of Viktor & Rolf to date"), although it won't compare to seeing the exhibition in person.  Visit the interactive dollhouse at www.Viktor-Rolf.com & go to the library to view photos of the dolls.  

  

The Barbican is doing all these special events for the exhibition that sound really fun, like a dance workshop called Strictly Viktor & Rolf (Sept 4th).  I would love to go to the Inside the House of Viktor & Rolf event (Sept 13th) to learn about their work & influence.  Viktor & Rolf will be there giving a live interview!

EL CROQUIS

Not that I need another magazine subscription, but I would love to get a subscription to this amazing architectural publication, El Croquis.  5 issues = 310,00 € & 10 issues = 561,00 € (destination US).  Single issues & 17 special reprints/monographs in hardcover are available for purchase on their site.  Click on each issue listed to see the pages & photos inside.  There are also some multi-page pdf files that might take a while to load so be patient if the screen is blank at first.

Actually, I think I would rather buy the special reprints instead of getting a subscription because multiple issues are combined in these reprints, and I always prefer hardcover.  The special reprints are definitely worth the money as these are large volumes with high page counts (Frank Gehry 1987-2003 601 pgs 119,12 €).    

David Maisel | Library of Dust

The copper canisters in David Maisel's Library of Dust are so beautiful and shocking once you find out what the canisters are from.  Here's the book description from Borders.com:

Esteemed photographer David Maisel has created a somber and beautiful series of images depicting canisters containing the cremated remains of the unclaimed dead from an Oregon psychiatric hospital. Dating back as far as the nineteenth century these canisters have undergone chemical reactions causing extravagant blooms of brilliant white green and blue corrosion revealing unexpected beauty in the most unlikely of places. This stately volume is both a quietly astonishing body of fine art from a preeminent contemporary photographer and an exceptionally poignant monument to the unknown deceased.

Library of Dust will be released on September 1, 2008 & you can pre-order the hardcover book at Borders ($80) or at Amazon ($50.40).

The Library of Dust exhibition will be at the Haines Gallery in San Francisco

September 4 - October 4, 2008.  Additional exhibition information available on www.davidmaisel.com.

Cut Copy | In Ghost Colours

My favorite album so far this year.  

#1 in AUS, but #167 in the US?  We're a little behind.