Flexible Thoughts

Pulp Shakespeare

Well, now that it's been six months, I'm spearheading a new attitude for myself, it's called: Embrace L.A.

This weekend I hit up an art faire and some small theater action, and there was something similar about both experiences that points to a larger trend. In our information-overload digital age, nothing is unique in its wholeness.

At the Beverly Hills "Affaire in the Gardens Art Show," many of the artists presented high-end canvas prints of their paintings (sometimes using fancy terms like glicee to indicate something more than a computer print). And not even in small-batch limited editions. This was a trend noticed at the Renegade Craft Faire as well. It's great that artists are finding ways to support themselves; however, it's just a nicely-inked print, then what value does this art object have long-term? These are just Pokemon cards for the hipster crowd; whereas, a brushstroke still denotes an artists labors that are an emotional and financial investment for the buyer. By turning this paradigm on its head, will artists lower their overall value by making their work cheaply ubiquitous?

As for the theater, there's a definite movement of antiquated and new. The other month, went to see the Jane Austen improv team which was hilarious and quirky. So thought I'd give some other mash-up a try and went to Pulp Shakespeare. The concept is fun; however, if you haven't seen Pulp Fiction (or haven't seen it recently) you spend the entire time trying to sort out what's happening in the movie and then carrying it to the scene. Thus, the Shakespearean language is just a device rather than being transportive to another time/place. I think this lies in the fact that the Pulp Fiction script does not lend itself to emotional portrayals. Overall, the acting was good and a special call out is deserved for the guy who played the Sam Jackson character—he was commanding and his impersonation of that character came through effectively, while still being tongue-in-cheek.

In the world of performance, this trend is fascinating because although not all of it will hit, there's always been something interesting in re-setting Shakespeare (think the Ian McKellen version of "Richard III")—how do our modern stories flesh out when seen through an antiquated lens?

 

 

Generation Gap

In a post-Lawrence Lessig remix world, anything is up for grabs in the creation of new; however, checking out the recently launched Canvas site I simply feel dumb, old, and shocked that "these kids today" waste so much time making stuff like this:

And yet I'm completely fascinated that a website of remixing words and images can genuinely make me realize that the Generation Gap has shifted. It's here. It's happened. I'm now on the other side. <sigh>

 

Missed Connections

 

Listed on Craigslist sites around the globe, the Missed Connections is a curious read that can easily suck in a voyeuristic reader. One such web peeper is artist Sophie Blackall. Although normally earning her income through illustrating children's books, she found herself perusing the personals for entertainment—c'mon, admit, you've done it—and discovered inspiration. Behold her collection of illustrated "Missed Connections" at the New York Transit Museum in downtown Brooklyn.

Along with the "Love in Transit" party that featured MTA-sanctioned subway singers, the museum itself is a great date option as it playfully conveys the history of this city and how deeply it's tied to getting about. To think, only two hundred years ago the population of NYC was 191,000; whereas, today it's over 8 million. And to watch as it evolved from horse-drawn carriages and omnibuses to motorized contraptions was not as "duh?" as you might think ... for instance, one piece that inspired the great need to find something other than horses was an equine influenza epidemic in which nearly 20,000 horses were slaughtered within a week to prevent spreading. 

But, back to the hilarity of many of the MCs, such as the above, is the fantastic honesty found within the writing and the imaginitive POV of Ms. Blackall's illustrations. Luckily, along with her Etsy store, all will soon be collected and published in a book titled, "Missed Connections: Love Lost and Found."

Bathtub Cheerleaders

performing the pyramid ...

 

Better Than an Ewok Village*

Mike + Doug Starn's fantastical "Big Bambu" takes the possibilities of sculpture on the Met Rooftop to new heights. Literally. The ever-growing structure has been in a constant transformation since work began this Spring, and continuing since it's opening in April creating at this point three distinct sections. The artists plan to continue the work through the exhibition's last day on October 31st. That said, if you live in the NYC vicinity it is imperative that you get up early and go stand in line to get tickets for the guided tour as it's the only way to get onto the structure—and it's worht the wait! Ascending the giant jungle gym, rising 45' above the roof itself, gives a phenomenal view of the city and Central Park. It's breathtaking.

*Subject Line by D. Manley

 

Here are a few pictures from back on the roof:

sprouting bamboo

 

 

the insides

 

the walking path

 

the steps

 

the Eastern side of the wave

 

the Western wave ... at sunset

 

that blurry blue fella is running around with his sister because the structure has become a game :-)

 

 

I love maps. I love design. I love comedy.

Mapping Sterotypes: Seeing Europe from different viewpoints, such as:

• Euro-centric 
• U.S.-centric 
• Germany
• France
• Russia
• Poland
• Bulgaria
• Italy
• Britain
• Gay men

 

Here's the American view of Europe:

 

Hipster Porn

 
Sexually explicit images are what sells everything from cars to clothes and with the ubiquity of the internet, harcore pornography has upped the ante on all sexuality. As mentioned in The Brain That Changes Itself, studies show that long-term exposure to porn creates new neural roadmaps that require more and more stimulation to keep the experience fresh, interesting, and thus bringing the voyeur to climax. But now there's a flip side ... a longing of pornographic nostalgia that harkens the sticky pages of a 1960s Playboy magazine [The irony of which, I was just perusing a few issues in a junk shop back in August and was amazed to realize that when people said they bought the magazine for the articles, they meant it! The pictorial spreads were few, three at most, and the articles were in-depth written by the heroes of modern American literature.] where the girls were real, untouched, and unkempt without vajazzle.

In attempt to step back from sex and get back to sexy, indie porn mags, such as Jacques, are the new thing. The images are flattering fantasies of real erotica in natural light, offering the viewer a more tangible visualization with a bit of a guazy haze. Of course, even though these images present a bit more reality, it doesn't mean that it's not objectifying women in a way that can still place ladies as second-class citizens.

And that's where Richardson comes in as it caters to all sexualities: straight, gay, bi, male, female. Which is truly part of the larger trend of artistic porn as it's a great equalizer. The young ones growing up in a post-web world love Lady GaGa's bisexuality and find that they too should experiment, believe that gays should have the right to marry, and also take condom use more seriously than the grown-ups—all of which gives hope to the fact that maybe the evolutionary response to all this porn it to create beauty along with a fuck, seeing as the chemical reaction of falling in love is way more addictive and euphoric than a single orgasm.

 

 

Great comment as to why he shoots on film versus digital ...

 

Amazingly Awesome Artistry

Because countries other than China can put on a big production too!

Pega-corn

Alright, sexy sultry NYC ... I'm leaping on the back of a Pega-corn and heading into the sunset. I'll see you in September ... <mwah!>

Steal This Book (for Me!)!

Penguin has long been a publishing house of more than classics, but also classic design. This new book brings together 75 years of covers (1 per year) in one bound edition. Although, you can buy the entire set of 75 books for just over $1100 ... Super Saver Shipping, of course.

Also, the book's website provides lots of fancy extras ... even if it does feature chick lit's Melissa Bank (I don't know why I get so cranky about her ... I always think about how if I'm late it means people don't think I care—Girl's Guide to Hunting & Fishing).

Anywho, the tradition of beautiful graphic design continues with in-house Art Director Paul Buckley (who edited the 75 book covers), and has he's pushed the designs it's interesting to see how far the covers have come since the traditional orange (although the image below has modern titles). This is especially true in his influence of the Great Ideas paperback series.