All photos by Lucian Perkins from Hard Art DC 1979 (Akashic Books).
Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post photographer Lucian Perkins has turned his lens on everything from the high fashion runway to the Persian Gulf War, but it so happens he also shot the heck out of D.C.'s young punk scene on one night in 1979. Akashic Books has just published Hard Art DC 1979 which features live shots of punks and punk bands (Bad Brains, Teen Idles, Slickee Boys, Untouchables, Trenchmouth) at a seminal concert at the Hard Art gallery. Young punk of the era Alec MacKaye contributes the narrative text and there's a piece by Henry Rollins, too. Call it a must for the D.C. punk historians out there. For a bit of context, the Washington Post has a great piece on the September, 1979 show documented in the book.
Hard Art is on sale at Akashic Books for $18.
Hard Art featuring Lucian Perkins, Alex MacKaye, and special guests hits Brooklyn's Word bookstore on June 19 and NYC's St. Marks Bookshop on June 20.
The MOCAtv web series "The Art of Punk" we told you about is underway and the first installment on Black Flag and Raymond Pettibon is up. Pettibon's album art and logo were key bits of iconography for his brother Greg Ginn's hardcore act in the '80s. Pettibon's often captioned, often disturbing hand-drawn black and white images undercut the return to a golden age that the Reagan years promised mainstream America. Pettibon's work also turned up on Minutemen albums, and later Sonic Youth's major label record Goo. As great and lasting as Pettibon's work (he also named the band, we learn) has been on American punks, his Black Flag logo remains a masterpiece of underground artwork, expressing an attitude in a visual code that's both rebellious, mysterious, and incredibly powerful. The video features Keith Morris, Henry Rollins, and Flea as well as Pettibon himself talking about the Black Flag band name, logo, flyers, and album art.
The Middle Mind Project, Gus Gavino's independent motion picture studio based in Chicago's Logan Square, takes an unusual approach to documenting artists, experimenting with the narrative format, and producing something contemporary and original. Today, we're debuting MMP's video on Debbie Carlos.
See more of the Middle Mind Project online in its archives Tumblr.
See more of Carlos's work online at debbiecarlos.com
TFBTDC from Middle Mind Project on Vimeo.
Two British designers, who for the last eight years have designed the film magazine Little White Lies and youth culture publication Huck, are working on a new book about the creative process surrounding magazine design. Curious Iconic Craft collects their original illustrations and typefaces, as well as outtakes and sketches from nearly a decade of design work. For a Kickstarter campaign's rewards, the pair is offering a digital package of original fonts and wallpapers, a limited run giclée print, and for one backer, a day of creative consulting with both designers.
The Curious Iconic Craft Kickstarter is ongoing. E-book versions are available for £5, and the printed version is £13.
To launch its new ideas platform, called "Smart Ideas for Smarter Cities," IBM worked with Ogilvy and Mather France to design ads that make urban life slightly easier. By adding simple curves, or using standard materials in clever ways, the partnership produced ads that double as benches, ramps, and awnings for cover from the elements.
IBM has a strong reputation with advertising and sponsorship. In 1977 it funded the Eames Studio classic, "Powers of Ten".
Father's Day isn't nearly the stumper it used to be. Just think about the availability of fashionable ties and handmade socks in today's online marketplace. But if one is still in need of inspiration, take a look at our suggestions for gifts that dads will likely enjoy for years to come. Yes folks, it's NoMa's first Father's Day Guide.
Outlier Ultrafine Merino T-shirt, $98 at outlier.cc
This comfortable lightweight tee has the right stuff to become a summer favorite for minimalist dads.
Imperial Shave Bundle, $30 at ImperialBarberProducts.com
Simply great shaving products in masculine packaging are a no brainer for fathers with stubble issues.
Front Loading Toolbox, $89 at bestmadeco.com
A legit metal toolbox that can go to the workbench or the art studio. Hands-on dad, we've got your number.
Nothing Belongs to Ebbets: Navy Noma Script Fitted Hat, $49 at nothingmajor.com
The captain of your squad deserves some Noma flannel up top.
Single Slash Wallet from Winter Session, $49 at winter-session.com
Handmade dad gear for under $100—dads who decry bulging back pockets will thank you.
Jacob Bromwell + Winter Session: Covered Flask, $195 at winter-session.com
Pure copper flask in handmade Horween leather cover suits dads with Americana style just fine.
Normann Copenhagen & Rikke Hagen's Whiskey Tumblers, $50 at aplusrstore.com
Glassware that looks to future makes sure that every toast your modernist pops proposes is optimistic.
French Jump Rope, $35 at kaufmann-mercantile.com
If dad longs for the days when he could float like a butterfly, skip the gym membership and get this.
Brooks Bicycle Messenger Bag, $305 at modern-bike.com
Why mess with the rest? This bike bag from the century-old Brooks is downright manly.
Whole Larder Love, $35 at wholelarderlove.com
DIY hunter-gatherer and Aussie father Rohan Anderson has written a how-to manual for cooking dads with farm-to-table tendencies.
During the height of WWII, the English government wanted to discourage civilians from using trains for leisure travel. Instead of implementing restrictions, they launched a poster campaign with the intention of guilting potential vacationers. While some of the posters are innocuous boasting ("Over Half A Million Railwaymen Are Maintaining A Vital National Service") others are much more passive aggressive than your average PSA ("Now that our men have landed on enemy soil surely no one will endanger their supply of vital munitions by taking unnecessary journeys.") [via Retronaut]
In 2010 Chicago singer Willis Earl Beal published an autobiographical novella in the form of a few issues of a zine. For his contribution to Nowness' "Shorts on Sundays" series, he adapted elements of that original zine into the short film, "Principles of a Protagonist." In the six-and-a-half minute film using the same hand-drawn line aesthetic as his Acousmatic Sorcery album cover, Beal outlines the character traits that every protagonist requires. One of those principles, he explains, is the reason for his "Nobody" T-shirt and tattoo.
The Hill-Side and Gitman Bros. Vintage continue a healthy collab with these summer shirts, a special collection for the Hill-Side made by Gitman. The Hill-Side collection uses seven floral-printed fabrics (four from Japan, three from the States) in short-sleeve button-down summer shirts.
The video is something special, too. It features menswear blogger James WIlson of Secret Forts trying on (or peeling off) all seven shirts in photos taken with disposable cameras.
The Hill-Side x Gitman Bros. Vintage summer shirts are available at hickorees.com and online menswear retailers such as shoppenelopes.com and unionmadegoods.com or needsupply.com
The Hill-Side + Gitman Vintage Summer Shirts from The Hill-Side on Vimeo.
Neue Werkstatt isn't an audio company. Rather, it's a design studio with a focus on small scale manufacturing with environmentally sound materials and local German carpenters. The group previously designed a tool-less assembly bed frame, and a wall clock using materials from the Black Forest. The new NW3 speaker is its first electronics design. As a guarantee of quality, each carpenter involved signs the bottom of the speaker, and the wax finish was chosen with the health of those carpenters in mind. [via designboom]
Like a record label, Neue Werkstatt's products have catalog numbers. Head to their site to check out NW1 and NW2.
