Archive 2006
Carsten Meier
Believe me, you'll like German photographer Carsten Meier's photos of parking lots. They've never looked as pretty. Check out a few pages from his 2005 book Public Parking.
Friday, December 29, 2006 @ 8:26 am
Peter Bjorn and John
Now you'll be whistling it too. Peter Bjorn and John's Young Folks.
Friday, December 29, 2006 @ 8:17 am
Eyelocks
One of those days when I feel like my eyelashes need a trim.
Friday, December 29, 2006 @ 8:16 am
Joachim Schulz
Enjoy the silent surfaces of German artist Joachim Schulz's photos. I'm especially taken with the lichtspiele series of cinema curtains. And also the idea of his aura series that documents spots in museums recently vacated by well-known artworks.
Friday, December 15, 2006 @ 7:31 am
Jake and Dinos Chapman
The Guardian has a great interview with English artists Jake and Dinos Chapman. The article on the lads with loads of talent but no real taste includes this idea for a piece of public art:
Jake: Well we did put forward that giant pigeon sculpture for the plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Dinos: That shat porridge out its arse.
Jake: Mushroom soup, actually.
Dinos: So that it could feed the poor as well.
A retrospective of their work opens at the Tate Liverpool this month. See some more of their tasteless work here.
Friday, December 8, 2006 @ 7:37 am
Aya Kondo
I've been saying it for years, woodcuts are so rock and roll. Tokyo artist Aya Kondo gets it.
Her main art form is woodcarving and her work is strongly influenced by rock music. Her work strikes a chord with the Japanese urban youth. You can see a few of her woodcut prints right now at the Receiver Gallery in San Francisco.
Friday, December 8, 2006 @ 7:31 am
White Hot Detroit
Nice look in the New York Times at the new Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit which is housed in an abandoned Woodward Ave. car dealership and has a facade spray painted with a Barry McGee mural. Designed by Detroit-born architect Andrew Zago, the Interior walls — collages of peeling paint, exposed brick and concrete block — have been left untouched so that you can see the traces of where they have been cut open and patched over during years of crude alterations. See more grit here.
Thursday, November 30, 2006 @ 1:06 pm
ArtPod
If you've got a video ipod (or are just borrowing one for a while) you should check out ArtPod. It has got a lot weird, interesting video art you can take with you for those long busrides.
Thursday, November 30, 2006 @ 8:14 am
Steve's Weird House
Steve's Weird House is really crammed cheek to jowl. Highlights of things in his Seattle Victorian home include Siamese Twin animals, Pickled punks, 150+ antique toasters, and a 13 foot tall Minotaur bust..
Monday, November 27, 2006 @ 8:12 am
Look at Book
For thirty-six weeks in 2003 and 2004, a set of sketchbooks were sent between four artists-- two in Brooklyn, two in Belfast-- to create book.
Every Wednesday, one participant would receive a book and send it to the next artist with a completed spread in response to the one that preceded it. A small portion of each entry extends on to the following page. Beyond this, there was no communication between the artists concerning the content of book during its making.
Saturday, November 25, 2006 @ 10:54 am
First Nations of Canada
As if a big Indian head in the middle of Canada weren't weird enough-- I believe it's listening to an ipod, no?
Friday, November 24, 2006 @ 6:09 pm
Remote Control Mail
I've been wanting somebody to email me my snailmail for years. Remote Control Mail scans all your mail and lets you click shred, send or toss. It's just that easy for you, you lazy ass.
Friday, November 24, 2006 @ 6:06 pm
Peat Wollaeger
You might like the extra stencily goodness of the public spraycan art created by Paint Louis, MO artist Peat Wollaeger. On his site stensoul.com you can order tshirts of dead fat comedians and see how he's got cat class and got cat style.
Friday, November 24, 2006 @ 5:54 pm
Amy Stein
What is our relationship with the wild? And what kinds of relationships do wild animals have with us? New York photographer Amy Stein does a beautiful job asking these questions in her photo series domesticated. But don't stop there. Be sure to check out women and guns (where this photo so tersely captures the inextricableness of family) and also the halloween in harlem series.
Thursday, November 23, 2006 @ 11:31 am
Flickr Camera Finder
Flickr has a new Camera Finder that lets you compare cameras by the photos they take, stats from user uploads and full-on feature guides. Yo Santa, that Nikon D80 and the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi look pretty sweet.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006 @ 7:47 am
Skarabej: Museum of Old Family Photographs
A couple in Zagreb created the world's first Online Museum of Old Family Photographs. Most images came from photos found in Croatian flea markets, but now include submissions from around the world.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006 @ 8:22 am
Contactboxen
The Contactboxen hides your chargers.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006 @ 8:15 am
Fusion at Home
A 17 year-old Michigan high school student created a nuclear fusion device in his parent's garage. The reactor, which took two years and 1,000 hours to research to build, uses deuterium gas and about 40,000 volts of electricity.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006 @ 7:58 am
Ernesto Neto
Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto has put up a cool looking installation inside the Panthéon in Paris. The work, inspired by a biblical monster, is called Leviathan Thot and it's made of fabric stretched into organic shapes that hang from the ceiling of the 18th Century French landmark as a part of the Festival d’Automne à Paris.
Sunday, November 19, 2006 @ 10:56 pm
Lucrecia Troncoso
Lucrecia Troncoso makes great sculptures using very mundane materials. She's carved deer out of bars of Irish Spring Soap (detail), an 8 foot long nasturtium made of sponges she buys at Walgreen's (detail), and a pair of shoes made of orange peels.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 @ 7:07 am
R. Luke DuBois
In Academy New York artist R. Luke DuBois explores Academy winning movies in a very condensed timeframe. He's condensed 'Wings' (1927), 'Gone With the Wind' (1939), 'From Here to the Eternity' (1953), 'West Side Story' (1961), 'Amadeus' (1984), 'Titanic' (1997) into a 75 minute film.
Monday, November 13, 2006 @ 6:50 pm
One Card
From the irony-free employees of Bank of America, One Card.
Monday, November 13, 2006 @ 6:36 pm
Beat Street Battle
Watch this Beat Street Battle between Rock Steady Crew and New York City Breakers from the 1984 movie Beat Street.
Saturday, November 11, 2006 @ 12:57 pm
Dean Kessmann
Washington, D.C. artist Dean Kessmann makes some beautiful images out of very mundane things. He's taken the best photos of plastic shopping bags you've ever seen. And stacks of magazines never looked as good before. See more of his work at Conner Contemporary Art in Washington.
Friday, November 10, 2006 @ 7:38 am
1913 Sketchbook
A couple of guys found a sketchbook from 1913 in a box of trash at a flea market. It's in perfect shape.
Thursday, November 9, 2006 @ 8:15 am
Erick Swenson
Dallas artist Erick Swenson makes weird haunting tableaux of animals frozen in place. See more at the James Cohan Gallery in New York.
Sunday, November 5, 2006 @ 5:11 pm
Future of the User Interface
This is going to change the way we interact with machines from now on, proclaims NYU research scientist Jeff Han. He's been working on a new touch-driven computer screen that does away with the mouse and keyboard and lets you control the screen by touching it at mulitple points. The only way to explain it is to see it. Or you can read more at Jeff Han's site.
Saturday, November 4, 2006 @ 4:48 pm
Installing Ron Mueck
Installing the Ron Mueck Exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. It opens November 3rd. More info.
Wednesday, November 1, 2006 @ 4:55 pm
Institute for the Future of the Book
Interesting projects are coming out of the Institute for the Future of the Book. I especially like Brooklyn artist Alex Itin's IT IN place and the Institute's if:book project.
Wednesday, November 1, 2006 @ 8:17 am
Ellen Kooi
Check out the work of Dutch photographer Ellen Kooi. More of her work is on view at the PPOW Gallery in New York.
Monday, October 30, 2006 @ 8:56 pm
Lived in Bars
Cat Power's Lived in Bars video has a cameo by photographer William Eggelston. He kisses her ear.
Monday, October 30, 2006 @ 8:49 pm
learningtoloveyoumore
Delve more deeply into the assignments of Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July's learningtoloveyoumore.com.
Monday, October 30, 2006 @ 8:47 pm
The Google
Henceforth, it's called the Google.
Monday, October 30, 2006 @ 7:36 pm
I'm Just Saying
I'm just saying there might be a resemblance.
Monday, October 30, 2006 @ 7:34 pm
Hacking Everyday Objects
Swiss graphic design firm Atelier V. has posted a great collection of everyday household object that are hacked into fun new objects.
Monday, October 30, 2006 @ 8:10 am
Photos From Kites
Here's a Flickr group of photos that are all taken from kites.
Friday, October 27, 2006 @ 3:13 pm
Vintage Book Covers
Inspired by the book Penguin by Design, Los Angeles art director/graphic designer Joe Kral has started collecting vintage Penguin paperback book covers and putting them in a Flickr set. His Found Type set is nice too.
Thursday, October 26, 2006 @ 7:47 am
Benjamin Donaldson
Nice photo portfolio from Brooklyn photographer Benjamin Donaldson. All the sets on his site are great, but I especially like Terrain, Siberia and Portraits. He's also got a set examining the life and accumulations of a 96 year old bachelor.
Monday, October 23, 2006 @ 7:52 am
Caterpillar Invasion
Photos of a caterpillars invasion in Sweden.
Monday, October 23, 2006 @ 7:26 am
Tiina Itkonen
Finnish photographer Tiina Itkonen has travelled to the northernmost part of Greenland four times to take photos and enjoy the lack of haste, the friendliness of the people, the silence of the glaciers and the peace of the landscape. And she's taken some great photos there. Here everything happens immaqa agaqu—maybe tomorrow. And again the next day, they say immaqa agaqu. See more on her site or at the Kashya Hildbrand gallery in Zurich.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 @ 7:04 am
Schwinn Streamline
A new line of electric bikes are coming from your old friend Schwinn. This 2007 Streamline is not bad looking.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 @ 6:57 am
Beth Alice Cook
San Francisco artist Beth Alice Cook has made some cool and hilarious charts to define and understand relationships, emotions and decisions in her life. I especially like the elegantly succinct Hamburger Theory of Love and the dryly honest Sex History. But all her charts are great.
Sunday, October 15, 2006 @ 11:14 am
Steve MacDonald
Bitchin' stitchin from San Francisco artist Steve MacDonald. With a Singer sewing machine, thread and big canvases, MacDonald makes some really cool art. He's also made some messenger bags and hoodies. See more work here.
Friday, October 13, 2006 @ 7:45 am
Carsten Höller's Slides
German artist Carsten Höller has turned Tate Modern's vast turbine hall into a giant playground, by putting a 5 story slide right in the middle. Sorry, Children under 0.9m are not permitted to use the slides. See more photos here and in the Guardian here.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 @ 8:06 am
Bicycle Coffee Systems
How does one drink a cup o' joe on the way to work when you commute by bike? Bicycle Coffee Systems, the Earth's Leading Authority on Conveying Coffee by Bicycle--Since 1996, has answers.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 @ 7:03 am
Simone Shubuck
Weird, cool drawings by Simone Shubuck are up at the Jack Hanley Gallery in San Francisco. Also See more at the Kantor / Freuer Gallery in Los Angeles.
Sunday, October 8, 2006 @ 7:13 pm
Earwig
There's a really, really big earwig in a field in Germany.
Sunday, October 8, 2006 @ 7:09 pm
Jeff Brouws
Check out the photos of San Franciscan photographer Jeff Brouws. I especially like his Approaching Nowhere series of photos of lonesome, ruinous urban landscapes and the cheery Freshly Painted Houses of Daly City. See more of Brouws' work at the Robert Koch Gallery in San Francisco
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 7:51 am
When You Stare Directly at the Sun
Here's a cool photo of the silhouette of the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Atlantis set against the sun.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006 @ 7:37 am
Moo Flickr MiniCards
Great idea. English startup Moo has launch Flickr MiniCards, half-sized business cards that have your flickr photos printed on the back and your contact info on the front. You get 100 different cards for $20 --and free shipping on September orders.
Saturday, September 30, 2006 @ 10:57 am
Graffiti in Brooklyn
To go along with the Brooklyn Museum's exhibit Graffiti, which just closed this month, the curators invited Flickr users to upload their own photos of Brooklyn Graffiti. The exhaustive Flickr photo set now has more than 800 photos of street art in the borough of Brooklyn.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 @ 7:58 am
Rachell Sumpter
Recently smitten with the work of San Francisco artist Rachell Sumpter. Her drawings of nomadic, hipster Sami/Laplander/Sampi of Northern Europe are quiet little delicacies. And apparently the Sami subjects are accidental, because she didn't know the people she was painting even existed. It was kind of a shock. Maybe it's a collective unconscious thing, she says in the latest issue of Giant Robot. ...I'm half Norwegian. Maybe I'm supposed to paint them. She has a great little show of paintings, prints and sculptures that just opened at Giant Robot, San Francisco.
Sunday, September 24, 2006 @ 1:56 pm
New New York Times
The New York Times has launched a new Times Reader beta that will be a new software package from the Times that will let you read the entire paper online or offline in a paginated format which promises more readibility. It's built on Windows Presentation Foundation, a platform of great contention to me lately.
Sunday, September 24, 2006 @ 1:19 pm
Doug Dubois
You've got to look at 'em all. Every one of Doug Dubois's portrait photo series and family photos are perfect.
Sunday, September 24, 2006 @ 10:49 am
Cai Guo-Qiang
In his recent show at the Guggenheim in Berlin, Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang has filled a gallery room with 99 stuffed wolves. The bravery of the wolves is met head on by the unyielding wall. As the leading wolves go down, many more follow with force and determination. As those in the front fall and pile up, those behind take up their positions.
Saturday, September 23, 2006 @ 6:27 pm
Thomas Weinberger
German photographer Thomas Weinberger takes large-format photos of landscapes that are exposed once during the daylight and once at night for a subtly eerie effect.
Friday, September 22, 2006 @ 7:51 am
Hatchback Canvas
Texan Scott Wade draws on dirty cars.
Friday, September 22, 2006 @ 7:25 am
USBcell
The USBcell is a smart, simple battery that plugs into your computer's USB port to get recharged. The batteries take 5 hours for a full charge and they come in standard AA, AAA, C/D sizes. 9 volt and mobile phone/blackberry batteries coming soon.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 @ 8:10 am
Death and Taxes
Death and Taxes is a visual guide to where your tax dollars go. Did you know the U.S. gave more money to the Millenium Challenge Corporation ($3.0b) than it did for all National Guard pay ($2.4b)? Did you know the U.S. gave more money to Israel last year ($2.34b) than it did to the National Parks Service ($2.15b)?
Monday, September 18, 2006 @ 10:45 pm
Marjaana Kella
Finnish photographer Marjaana Kella takes portraits of people from behind.
Monday, September 18, 2006 @ 5:54 pm
The Elephant in the Room
...is an elephant. Nice review in the UK Guardian of Banksy's first LA show. Brad, Jolena, Keanu, a spray painted elephant; good times. See his Punking of Paris. Y mas.
Monday, September 18, 2006 @ 9:00 am
Noah Kalina
Noah Kalina takes a photo of himself everyday for 6 years.
Monday, September 18, 2006 @ 8:59 am
Ian Stephenson
English artist Ian Stephenson, who likes to draw on rubbish, has made done some great scribbling on the bathroom walls of the London ad agency MotherLondon. See more images in the stalls here and here. Stephenson also has some posters and prints for sale too.
Monday, September 18, 2006 @ 8:50 am
'Sup Knitta?
Oakland artist Sarah Applebaum knits afghan/sweater installation pieces that require shoe-less luxurating by gallery-goers. In her latest show at the Michelle O'Connor Gallery in San Francisco she also offered a sweater to be worn by four at a time. See more here and phone cam photos here.
Sunday, September 10, 2006 @ 9:59 pm
Cheap and Plentiful Mastepieces in China
About 60 percent of the cheap oil paintings in the world --around five million oil paintings-- are produced each year in Dafen, China,
the world's leading center for mass-produced works of art, reports an article in Der Spiegel. Real oil-painted reproductions of famous paintings go for between $8 and $50 each. Check out this photo essay too. When it comes to classic masterpieces, I'll take one Madame X and one Asparagus, please. Have they done any Phillip Guston yet?
Sunday, September 10, 2006 @ 9:49 pm
Drop the Bottled Water, Skeletor
Pretty insane photo spread by Steven Meisel in the latest Italian Vogue (What, you don't read Italian Vogue?) that apes the TSA and "homeland security." It's pretty and insane.
Sunday, September 10, 2006 @ 8:42 pm
Idris Khan
English artist Idris Khan takes photos of objects, places and artwork in a series and overlays them onto one another to create a sort of combined view of that series. Khan describes the photos as looking more like a drawing. It's not systematic or uniform. The opacity of every layer is a different fallible, human decision. The subjects include the photographic work of Muybridge, Bernd & Hilla Becher, the sonatas of Beethoven, JWM Turner postcards and pages of the Holy Koran. Khan's work is on view at the Victoria Miro Gallery in London.
Thursday, September 7, 2006 @ 8:10 am
Michael Wolf
I like photographer Michael Wolf's images of Hong Kong buildings in his series Architecture of Density. More at the Robert Koch Gallery in San Francisco.
Tuesday, September 5, 2006 @ 8:33 am
Black Sun
During spring in Denmark, at approximately one half an hour before sunset, flocks of more than a million European starlings (sturnus vulgaris) gather from all corners to join in the incredible formations shown above. This phenomenon is called Black Sun (in Denmark)
Saturday, September 2, 2006 @ 10:59 pm
Tapedeck
For the greatest hits of the '70s, '80s and '90s. Tapedeck.org was built to showcase the amazing beauty and (sometimes) weirdness found in the designs of the common audio tape cassette.
Friday, September 1, 2006 @ 9:03 am
Shopping Cart Art
English artist Ptolemy Elrington has made some amazing sculptures from shopping carts as a part of a promotion for the English environmental organization RiverCare. These amazing creations highlight some of the rubbish pulled from rivers in the region by RiverCare volunteers every week. Elrington also makes hubcap creatures.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006 @ 7:37 pm
Infinity MPG
Bike commuter pride can get kinda dorky, but these Infinity MPG shirts from Threadless aren't bad. And Honk if you're going to run me over if you wanna wear your pedestrian pride on your sleeves.
Monday, August 21, 2006 @ 8:18 am
Ghostface
So why do people give that wide-eyed, open-mouthed face when a camera comes out? Ghostface is beginning to research this.
Monday, August 21, 2006 @ 8:08 am
Joerg Maxzin
Great collection of blurry photos from German photographer Joerg Maxzin. You can also buy Mazin's prints online at pretty resonable prices.
Friday, August 18, 2006 @ 8:14 am
Andrew Miksys
Seattle photographer Andrew Miksys has taken some great portraits of Lithuanian kids and Louisiana bingo geezers.
Friday, August 18, 2006 @ 8:05 am
Google's Free WiFi in Mountain View
Last night Google started to give free WiFi to the city of Mountain View. With 380 access points, the network covers 12 square miles and should give 90% of the city's 90,000 residents 1Mb/sec. internet access. The project cost about $1M. Transceiver nodes for Google's network are mostly mounted on city light poles and the company agreed to pay Mountain View $36 per light pole, or about $13,680, annually, according to the Mercury News.
Thursday, August 17, 2006 @ 7:18 am
Camille Rose Garcia
You might like the work of Los Angeles artist Camille Rose Garcia, or you might find it too creepy. See more of her work at the Jonathan Levine Gallery in New York. And apparently Garcia is about to start her own toy company too.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 @ 8:05 am
Goggles Flight Sim
Fly over yer town in the Goggles Flight Sim.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 @ 7:52 am
Is T'at an I'land?
The New York Times consistently delivers great web content. Here's a quirky video: Andy Newman takes his backpack, tent and canteen on a six-day 45-mile hike and explores the beaches, quicksands, mansions, pyramids and Kills of the 6th largest island in the continental U.S.-- Staten Island. Read more and see more photos.
Sunday, August 13, 2006 @ 9:10 pm
Carlos Tarrats
Los Angeles photographer Carlos Tarrats makes some really interesting painterly photos that seem to be like something out of a Brothers Quay film. Tarrats' favorite favorite fish taco lunch special is at Senor Fish in Eagle Rock.
Sunday, August 13, 2006 @ 10:20 am
The Way They Roll
Hold on and watch this helmet-level view of a NYC bike messenger race.
Sunday, August 13, 2006 @ 9:58 am
dqbooks
Great drawings, photos and site at dqbooks.com.
Thursday, August 10, 2006 @ 8:32 am
Lunacy
Jan Svankmajer's latest film Lunacy (Sílení) opens in San Francisco 8/25 at the Lumiere Theatre. Watch the trailer and read more on Svankmajer.
Thursday, August 10, 2006 @ 7:50 am
Alexis Mackenzie
I like Alexis Mackenzie's collages.
Wednesday, August 9, 2006 @ 9:55 pm
Fools Gold Rush
You think there are a lot of fixed gear nerds in this town now, just wait 'til this weekend.
Tuesday, August 8, 2006 @ 7:46 am
William Christenberry
Great article on photographer William Christenberry in the New York Times. He takes pictures of personal landmarks of his youth in rural Alabama, returning every year to document changes in these sometimes dilapidated stores and shacks. There's a nice slideshow with the NYT article and another with this NPR piece on Christenberry. See more of his photos, including some nice shots of kudzu and red clay here. Also his photos are on view until August 17 at the Aperture Foundation Gallery in NYC.
Sunday, August 6, 2006 @ 10:23 am
Old Flatiron Photo
Flatiron Building, New York City, taken by Canadian photographer
M. O. Hammond in 1908. See more from the Archives of Ontario.
Thursday, August 3, 2006 @ 8:08 am
NORAD on 9/11/01
Interesting Vanity Fair article that annotates 30 hours of newly released tapes from the control room of NORAD's Northeast headquarters the morning of 9/11/01. Listen and read along.
Wednesday, August 2, 2006 @ 9:19 pm
Simon Wheatley
English photographer Simon Wheatley has a great narrated photo essay on the East London Grime scene and the kids who live in the council estates there. See more of his grimy portfolios on the Magnum Photos site.
Tuesday, August 1, 2006 @ 8:05 am
Russian Tunnels
Weird, cool underground world somewhere in Russia.
Tuesday, August 1, 2006 @ 8:01 am
Tod Seelie
Some great portraits and travel photos from Tod Seelie.
Thursday, July 27, 2006 @ 8:26 am
Middle-Aged Arkansas Execs Create Site For Kids
Check it out kids, The Hub; it's Wal-Mart's competitor to MySpace and it's possibly the most uncool thing a teenager could click on. It's a social networking site for teens that notifies parents when their kids join and then doesn't let teens e-mail each other. Any video posted deemed profane, disruptive, unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, vulgar, obscene, hateful, or racially or ethnically-motivated, or otherwise objectionable is deleted by Wal-Mart. School, Grandma's Way.
Thursday, July 27, 2006 @ 8:09 am
Todd Deutsch
In Gamers Minneapolis photographer Todd Deutch has taken some great photos of video game LAN parties in empty storefronts. These events resemble a cross between the rebellious bravado of a biker rally and the adolescent nerdiness of Boy Scout camp. Check out Deutsch's other folios too.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 @ 9:00 pm
e-Anchorage
From Pacific Outdoor Equipment comes the e-Anchorage, a messenger bag that's got a solar panel for charging your USB and 12v gadgets on your bike commute to work. Yo, Sandy Claus, I'm raising my eyebrows and looking in your direction.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 @ 8:54 pm
Tesla Roadster
It's among the quickest production cars in the world, goes 0-60 in 4 seconds and has a top speed above 130. It's the Tesla Roadster and it's electric. It's got a range of 250 miles and can get a full charge in three and a half hours. Created by Silicon Valley engineer Martin Eberhard, the Tesla will be available next year. With the backing of PayPal cofounder Elon Musk, Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and ex-eBay chief Jeff Skoll, engineer Martin Eberhard has created Silicon Valley's first real auto company.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 @ 8:45 pm
The Way They Rolled Back in the Day
Thursday, July 20, 2006 @ 9:09 pm
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Have you heard the news today. Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
Thursday, July 20, 2006 @ 9:08 pm
Be Your Own PET
How fun is it to be in a teenage punk band in Nashville? Ask Be Your Own PET.
Thursday, July 20, 2006 @ 8:49 pm
EVHAP
New York artist Michael Berens has started the Eleventh Hour Volunteer Assistance Project (EHVAP) to assist individuals who are fast approaching a deadline or the completion of a project and would benefit from his help during crunch time. He'll give you a hand with putting up drywall or baking cookies, you've just got to apply. Check out the archive of his assistance. The project was funded in part by Josh Greene's Serviceworks, another node in an expanding network of artists who provide each other with micro-grants
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 @ 8:18 am
LED Throwies
Looking for an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surface in your neighborhood? You should try using some LED Throwies. Learn how to make your own throwies. Read more about graffiti and technology in the Sunday NYT.
Sunday, June 25, 2006 @ 9:45 pm
Nicholas Prior
Photos of kinda creepy New England kids from New York photographer Nicholas Prior. See more at his site, including a nice series on Seattle homeless, Home/Less. His photos are showing at the Robert Koch Gallery in San Francisco until July first.
Monday, June 12, 2006 @ 7:53 am
Wave Dragon
A group of Danish engineers have created a giant wave power generator of the coast of
Nissum Bredning, Denmark. And they are building another 7 megawatt device off the coast of Wales. The Wave Dragon overtopping device elevates ocean waves to a reservoir above sea level where water is let out through a number of turbines. And these turbines are the only moving parts.
Thursday, June 8, 2006 @ 7:58 am
What I Killed Today
I work with a lot of injured wildlife. Also not wild animals that are just in a lot of pain. Sometimes I have to euthanize them. I decided to record each animal I euthanize here. What I Killed Today.
Tuesday, June 6, 2006 @ 8:08 am
Play Safe
You must remember to be very, very careful when playing with a flying disc. A safety reminder from your friends at the Central Office of Information for Department of Transport and the UK National Archives.
Monday, June 5, 2006 @ 11:40 pm
Amyville
Amy Carpenter is a little scared of zoo babies. And I guess so am I. More.
Monday, June 5, 2006 @ 11:25 pm
ZeroOne San Jose
ZeroOne San Jose looks like it might be a fun thing full of art and electronics weirdness. August 7-13th.
Monday, June 5, 2006 @ 11:22 pm
Matthew Mahon
So the Jersey-bred, Austin-based photographer Matthew Mahon has produced, hands-down, my favorite photo portfolio site. First off, his photos are good. But the way he presents them is fun, breezy and really entertaining. About a third of his photos have a little face icon on them that puts Mahon --and his assistant Hodgie-- in the photos with the subjects as they explain the shot for you. You can't stop until you click every one of them.
Friday, June 2, 2006 @ 8:28 pm
Christoph Martin Schmid
Attractive photos from Christoph Martin Schmid. I especially like the Fire in the Hood series. And the Trouble in Paradise folio has got some great stuff. Makes me wonder if Tina Barney's photos would have turned out like this if she'd come from Southern California or South Africa. Read more about Schmid's work in German or poorly translated English.
Friday, June 2, 2006 @ 8:04 pm
Bunchgrass Map of San Francisco
It's finally here, the Bunchgrass Map of San Francisco. Lots of hours were put in on this by Tom Annese, who wrote and researched all the grasses and had the local botanical knowlege to pull it off. Me, I had fun working out the kinks with the Google Maps thing and making the colors match. Check it out, it's a new way to explore San Francisco. grassmap.houze.net
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 @ 8:00 am
The Helsinki Look
Cause you always want to keep up with what the kids in Helsinki are wearing.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 @ 7:47 am
Erika Larsen
Really like the work of New York photographer Erika Larsen. You've never seen a hunting trip photographed like this before. Or a portrait like hers of Vijay Singh for that matter.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 @ 10:44 pm
Koki Tanaka
View 3 short films from Japanese Artist Koki Tanaka
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 @ 10:40 pm
Neu-York
Neu-York is Melissa Gould's obsessively detailed alternate-history map, imagining how Manhattan might have looked had the Nazis conquered it in World War II.
Sunday, May 28, 2006 @ 8:38 pm
KickStart
KickStart is a non-profit organization that develops and markets new technologies for small-scale entrepreneurs in East Africa that are durable, easy to operate and cost under $1,000. They develop things like micro-irrigation, cooking oil and building technologies that make an impact: 41,000 new businesses started, 800 new businesses per month, $41 million a year in new profits and wages generated by the new businesses.
Sunday, May 28, 2006 @ 8:06 pm
Burrito Eater
Hungry? Find the best burrito in your neighborhood at Burrito Eater where nearly all of San Francisco's burritos are given mustache ratings. El Castillito is the official taqueria of Houze.net.
Thursday, May 18, 2006 @ 7:49 am
A Zero Energy Home
Builders in Oklahoma have constructed a 3-bedroom, 2-bath suburban home that produces as much energy as it consumes in a year, achieving net zero energy consumption. And it costs less than $200k. The builders, Ideal Homes of Norman, Ok., did pretty simple things to achieve this feat. They placed photovoltaics on the south-facing roof to capture energy from the sun and help offset consumption; used ground source heat pumps buried underground to harness the earth's constant temperature to heat in winter and cool in summer.
Thursday, May 18, 2006 @ 7:47 am
Found Polaroids
Nice collection of found polaroids from Polaroid Photography Collective.
Friday, May 12, 2006 @ 6:46 am
Brian Ulrich
Terrific stuff from Chicago photographer Brian Ulrich. Click to Projects>Photographs>all of 'em. But Copia just kills me-- the most exalted images of suburban shopping you'll ever see. More at Ulrich's blog.
Sunday, May 7, 2006 @ 9:31 pm
Powerwash Ads
Powerwash Ads on the sidewalks of Chicago to fight air pollution.
Sunday, May 7, 2006 @ 8:31 pm
ASCII Map
Google Maps in ASCII characters and nationwide Traffic Maps from Poly9.
Sunday, May 7, 2006 @ 8:14 pm
Stephen Colbert Roasts Bush
One of the strangest and most hilarious political moments. Stephen Colbert roasts the President at the White House Correspondents' dinner. Guys like us, Colbert gestures to the President twelve feet away, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in reality. And reality has a well-known liberal bias. When Colbert left the podium the President and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling . Although some are thanking Colbert for his truthiness, he'll get an IRS audit very soon. See it all in three parts: 1, 2, 3 [links offline now] - or a torrent file of the entire night.
Sunday, April 30, 2006 @ 9:44 pm
Sharad Haksar
Checkout this nice flashy site for Indian commercial photographer Sharad Haksar.
Sunday, April 30, 2006 @ 1:09 pm
Miss Van
See the crazy graffiti dolls of French artist Miss Van at Galerie Magda Danysz in Paris. And see more here from a recent show in Barcelona.
Sunday, April 30, 2006 @ 11:48 am
Your Artwork in a Saatchi Collection, of Sorts
British art mogul Charles Saatchi has added a new area to the Saatchi Gallery website where artists can upload their work -for free. With the Your Gallery section, Saatchi wants to offer a way for collectors and artists to get together and cut out the dealer. Of course, with just a few thousand more uploads it'll turn out to be a crass mess. And also checkout the expansive collection of online images from the Triumph of Painting exhibit. It's one of the best online collection of modern painting in one place.
Sunday, April 30, 2006 @ 10:29 am
Kill Kinski
Director David Schmoeller describes what it's like directing Klaus Kinski. Don't say action! Kinski orders the director. What about if I just say 'Klaus?' Schmoeller offers. And the film crew mumbles incessently for him to Please Kill Mr. Kinksi.
Friday, April 28, 2006 @ 6:44 pm
Danielle Aubert
Graphic designer Danielle Aubert has created a collection of drawings using Excel.
Friday, April 28, 2006 @ 7:53 am
Jane Jacobs
Urban theorist and activist Jane Jacobs has died at the age of 89. Read more about Jacobs and listen to a recent interview with her.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 @ 6:45 pm
Gehry's Grand Plans for Downtown L.A.
Frank Gehry has unveiled plans to bring more density to downtown Los Angeles with a $750 million project to remake Grand Avenue as a pedestrian-based gathering point. On a three acre spot across the street from the Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, the plans call for a 47-story hotel/condo building, a 25-story apartment/loft building, and two nearby three-story retail pavilions made of limestone and glass at Grand near First Street. The projected completion date for the first phase is 2009, with the entire nine-acre Grand Avenue project by 2014. More at grandavenuecommittee.org.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 @ 5:54 pm
Allison V. Smith
Great collection of photos of Marfa, TX from Texas photographer Allison V. Smith. See more of Smith's work here.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 @ 7:42 am
It's the Way They Roll
Hybrid cabs in San Francisco are hitting the 100,000 mile mark. It's been generally good news: Fuel savings between $20 and $31 over the traditional, full-size sedan cabs per 150- to 300-mile shifts. Air conditioning cost on hot days: $5 a shift, about half the sedan-version cost. Brakes are lasting twice as long.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006 @ 7:32 am
Simon Norfolk
I'm sure you'll find something you like in the portfolio of English photographer Simon Norfolk. The Bosnia:Bleed portfolio is particularly moving.
Thursday, April 20, 2006 @ 8:20 pm
Kami-Robo
So you see in Japan, the nerds there make little paper toy robot figures and battle each other in a multi-leagued wrestling federation. It's called Kami-Robo and is been going on for over 23 frickin' years. London's ICA is puttin' on a show of Kami-Robos this month.
Monday, April 17, 2006 @ 7:40 pm
Cabspotting
Cabspotting maps San Francisco Yellow Cab taxis in real-time in a ghostly, pulsing way.
Monday, April 17, 2006 @ 7:17 pm
Andy Stillpass
Today's New York Times Sunday Magazine has a nice peek inside the cupboards, closet and yard of eccentric Cincinnati art collector Andy Stillpass. And a slideshow.
Sunday, April 16, 2006 @ 12:18 pm
Bart Michiels
Belgium-born NYC photographer Bart Michiels has taken beautiful photographs of some of Europes most notorious battlefields.
The photographs in The Course Of History are landscapes of the worst killing fields of Europe, of battles that were turning points in our history, defining our future. See more of Michiels' work at the Foley Gallery in NYC and as a finalist for the Santa Fe Prize for Photography.
Saturday, April 15, 2006 @ 11:13 am
Paulo Mendes da Rocha
Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha has won this year's Pritzker Prize for architecture. He's best known for designing the Museu Brasileiro de Escultura in São Paulo, a Brazilian Brutalist masterpiece. Listen to more.
Thursday, April 13, 2006 @ 7:22 am
Phillips Collection
The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. has just launched a great new site, American Art at The Phillips Collection that has hundreds of images of terrific paintings.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006 @ 7:28 am
Serial No. 3817131
In her series Serial No. 3817131 New York photographer Rachel Papo took photos of Israeli female soldiers from the the summer of 2004. Her photos are currently up at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006 @ 7:22 am
Loan Nguyen
Swiss photographer Loan Nguyen has taken some great photos of the feet of toy animals. Her other photos of forests, family and figures in the fog are nearly as quirky.
Thursday, April 6, 2006 @ 7:56 am
Semapedia
Semapedia is trying to create a way to tag the physical world with footnotes. They want to create a physical Wikipedia by tagging little semacodes to buildings and objects so that people can use their mobile phone cameras to retrieve relevant wikipedia articles. Check out some photos of tagged objects.
Monday, April 3, 2006 @ 5:25 pm
United Visual Artists
Great looking video of an LED/3D interactivce lighting installation from London-based United Visual Artists Ltd. The photos from their onedotzero’s transvision event at the Victoria and Albert museum are pretty great too.
Monday, April 3, 2006 @ 5:20 pm
Takashi Kawashima's Seasons
UCLA student Takashi Kawashima's Seasons, is a live shadow puppet/video performance made in collaboration with Togo Kida, Yoshimasa Niawa. Watch the video and if you wait through the explanations, you'll see the whole performance all the way through. More about the Japanese art of Utsushi-e and Takashi Kawashima.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 @ 7:17 am
Central Park Coyote
Wednesday morning New York's finest captured a 35-pound coyote in Central Park. It was the first coyote sighting in NYC since 1999. The NYPD, who used an infrared camera from a helicopter to track the canine for a time, suspect the coyote swam Spuytin Duyvil to reach northern Manhattan. It's likely there is a breeding population in the Bronx, said Michael Klemens, senior conservationist for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Friday, March 24, 2006 @ 8:14 pm
Google Finance
Finance.google is Google's new financial portal that uses some fancy flash and ajax to create another category-killer site. It's also got some nice features like private company info for non-publicly traded companies and links to blogs writing about the company.
Friday, March 24, 2006 @ 7:35 am
Billboardom
Ilya Vedrashko has a great blog about creative billboards. Some cool/infuriating examples of his finds include a nipple-ring basketball hoop, ads on bathroom mirrors and a shirt that makes you look like you've got a Fedex Letter under your arm.
Thursday, March 23, 2006 @ 7:02 am
There's a Hole in Yer Apartment Building
Photos of the Edificio Mirador, an apartment in the Madrid suburb of Sanchinarro designed by Blanca Lleó asociados.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006 @ 9:18 am
River Rug
Bay Area-Iranian artist Seyed Alavi has created a 150 ft woven carpet for the Sacramento Airport that shows an aerial view of a 50 mile stretch of the Sacramento River.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006 @ 8:59 am
Fordham Spire
Check out photos of the Fordham Spire. A Chicago residential tower by Santiago Calatrava that will be tallest building in the U.S. when completed around 2010.
Monday, March 20, 2006 @ 7:33 am
Luke Chueh
You gotta smile at the cuddly cruelty behind Angleno artist Luke Chueh's paintings. He'll be a part of "The Unicorn Show", a unicorn (and other horned animals) themed group art show at the Nucleus Gallery in Alhambra, CA which opens this weekend.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006 @ 7:24 am
Simone Lueck
Photos of Southern California karaoke bars by Simone Lueck. Each picture's exposure lasted the length of the karaoke performance, between 2 and 4 minutes, the duration of the pop song. Also see Lueck's photos of Cuban television sets. And don't miss other good series at Polar Inertia, including David Maisel's aerial photos of LA and Daniil Dugaev's photos of Polar station at Rudolf Island.
Sunday, March 12, 2006 @ 8:28 pm
Your Dancing Shoes
Code M shoes have a 100-song mp3 player with a wireless headset, speakers in the sides and a USB port for updating songs and recharging the 6-hour battery.
Friday, March 10, 2006 @ 7:08 am
William Laven
San Francisco photographer William Laven has taken a series of photos of unassembled models of airplanes that are being flown in the Iraq War. War Models contains 30 types of airplanes at 1/50th scale. You can see more at his website or at the Folley Gallery in New York, where his work is currently shown.
Friday, March 10, 2006 @ 7:02 am
The Family That Walks On All Fours
Scientists have discoverd a Turkish family of 5 that walks on all fours. A study of their heavily callused hands shows they have been walking like this for years. These kids have kept their fingers very agile, for example, the girls in the family can do crochet and embroidery, says Professor Nicholas Humphrey of the London School of Economics. BBC2 will show a documentary on the family March 17 called The Family That Walks On All Fours.
Tuesday, March 7, 2006 @ 7:36 pm
Lisa Kokin
Checkout Bay Area artist Lisa Kokin's buttonworks and sewn found photos. More of her work at the Catherine Clark Gallery in San Francisco.
Friday, March 3, 2006 @ 11:19 am
Whitney Biennial
Nice guide from New York Magazine of the Whitney Biennial that opened this week. Also see the Whitney Biennial 2006 website, including films you can watch online.
Thursday, March 2, 2006 @ 3:58 pm
Sigur Rós Busking in Fort Worth
Eric from Oklahoma stumbles onto Sigur Rós' jaming on the street after their show in Fort Worth. Coming back to our car after dinner, there they were - chipped teeth and kind of bug-eyed - standing outside their tour bus. With an acoustic guitar and a banjo. There were like three other people around. We stood there in absolute disbelief for a little while, then they started motioning for us to join in (I am not making this up). We went over there and started clapping, singing, and whooping along to this funny little country song they were playing. Sigur Rós' only Bay Area appearance will be