We don't know much about Bryan Olson. He's a collage artist based in North Carolina, that's about it. But his sci-fi collages excite our imaginations. They have the epic scale of the great Hipgnosis-designed album covers of the '70s, and some of the pop contrast of the now classic Guided By Voices collage art sleeves. Whatever the case, his images make us want to finish that sci-fi novel we've been secretly writing or start that prog band.
If you're like us, your bare walls are sorely in need of a 2013 update, perhaps some color and texture. These modern woven pieces by Mimi Jung are a beautifully composed version of something you might have made in grade school—and just the thing to enliven a space. Naturally, they're selling quick. To get dibs on Jung's new releases, you'll need to get on the Brook&Lyn Art Objects email list. To see how Jung makes the pieces, follow her on Instagram.
The asteroid that exploded over Russia last week awoke us to an interesting fact: these days, many Russians drive the highways with dashboard mounted video cameras. With all the police harassment, insurance scam accidents, and gangster crime that can befall the ordinary driver, these cams are something of a must. And thus, there's a surplus of footage of the asteroid and its ill effects.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg, evidently. There's an incredible amount of dashcam footage from Russia roads that's almost surreal. We're not talking about morbid car crash and road rage videos. It's the pissed-off babushkas, tumbling cows, runaway horses, military tanks, and drivers tossed through windows unscathed that make this crowd-sourced documentation of adventures and mishaps so interesting. Here are some of those that have caught our eye this morning.
If you're not lucky enough to live in the shadow of a snow-capped mountain range in Switzerland or the American West, a new line of knives was designed just for you. The Panorama Knife company wanted to put mountain ranges in reach of those of us challenged by geography or free time to travel. Their solution was to design a serrated bread knife using the outline of famous European mountain ranges, complete with the names and elevations of every mountain they include.
The knives can be ordered with a handle made from recycled Indian rosewood, leftover from furniture manufacturing, or simple plastic. But if you're not convinced European mountain ranges make the best knife blades, look no further than this demo video to see how well these work on a few different, but equally delicious looking, breads.
To celebrate thirty years of diet drink dominance, American designer Marc Jacobs has designed three limited-edition Diet Coke cans for the European market (hence the Coca-Cola Light logo). Each one represents female empowerment in the '80s, '90s, and '00s. Jacobs also seems to have done a photo shoot without his shirt on in which he splashes Diet Coke all over the place—a "tribute" to the Diet Coke "hunk" ads of the '80s, apparently.
You might known Brazilian Gustavo Bockos AKA Vokos for his exuberant, graffiti-influenced art direction, fashion photography, and illustration work, but we think his "Dirty Land" series, opening tomorrow at Empty Frame in Oslo, Norway is more memorable.
As the name implies, Vokos delves into the darker reaches of Walt Disney's adult mind, playing with a theory he discovered in research that Walt himself infused those classic films with secret, somewhat unsavory messages. Whatever the man was up to, the collision of Mickey and adult content has a jarring appeal.
The opening is February 20, 7pm and followed by a talk at 8pm with Vokos and various guest artists. There's a Facebook event if you need more info.
Artist Rutherford Chang has amassed quite a record collection. Sure, hardcore vinyl junkies might sniff at the size, 693, but they would have to be as impressed as we are by the obsessive lack of variety. Chang's collection consists of 693 copies of the first pressings of The White Album by the Beatles—some picked up for just a buck. Many of the album covers (originally designed by Richard Hamilton as either a blank canvas or a stark take on modern minimalism) are worn and naturally distressed, or customized (sometimes beautifully) by their owners past.
Dust & Grooves has a fantastic photo gallery and complete interview with Chang on the piece.
"We Buy White Albums" is showing at Recess (41 Grand St) in New York's SoHo through March 9. Chang is digitally recording every album he plays (and scanning the cover and gatefold covers) during the show and pressing a new double album of the layered version once the show concludes.
Visit dustandgrooves.com for more info.
Founded by the Italians Luca Bendandi and Matteo Cossu, SHS Publishing has a deceptively nondescript name, a roving area of operation, and almost microscopic print-runs. The small publishing house/collective of authors based in Berlin specializes in art, graphic design, typography, and architecture books and believes making small books for niche markets makes it more likely to get to the trends first.
Small means nimble for the publishers, who have a passion for ink on paper. "We don't believe in flooding bookshelves with a million copies. Isn't it better to print less and get them all on the right bookshelves, where they can be read, lived, and consumed?" writes Cossu.
The company has an eclectic catalog. One Gear is about fixed gear bikes, while Studiospace is concerned with architecture practices, office space, and work in general. GrAphorisms features 59 insights set in innovative typography. And Totem shows off the handcut shapes of PIRO, an Italian artist favoring motifs inspired by the iconography of ancient religions. Printing methods vary by publication. "Depending on the printrun we'll either use conventional offset or resort to a low-fi Duplo that we have in-house," Cossu explains. Totem was made on the Duplo 63s printer (a "poor cousin" to the Risograph, he says) and handbound.
ToTeM from Roberto López Mélinchon on Vimeo.
It might be young and small, but SHS hasn't wasted time. Last year, it organized "Fahrenheit 39" in Barcelona, a mini-festival celebrating independent print culture featuring workshops and live music.
With "Fahrenheit 39"-type events in mind, SHS has advice for other would-be small publishers: The work isn't done when the books come off the press. "Once finished, we always try to take the book by the hand and accompany it out, organizing events, building a community, and including our readers in the discussion generated by the publication."
Have you ever used one of those photo booths that blends the photos of a couple to predict what their child would look like? If you have, and you're older than 14, there's a good chance that resulting photo was overwhelmingly creepy. The flaw with these machines is that the software has no way of eliminating adult features like beards or face wrinkles, which end up being transferred to the "blended" photo, placing it firmly in the strange land of the Uncanny Valley.
Parisian photo retoucher Cristian Girotto takes this inherent freakiness to the next level in his series, L'Enfant Extérieur (translation: "The Outer Child"). Girotto believes that we all maintain the hidden alter ego of ourselves as a child, and we suddenly revert to this state when we witness something overwhelmingly nasty about "the real world." His series intends to give a physical form to our reaction to the world's affronts to our innocence.
When it comes to bags, minimalism has a strong appeal, as long as it's functional. Incase's Range Collection is inspired by cycling gear, but made for everyday excursions. It's big on space for storage, features protection against the elements (weather-resistant coatings, cinch collar on the backpack), plus reflective material, padding, and faux fur, as well as extra stash pockets and space for a U-lock. The collection is also low on goofy branding or ugly logos, very often hard to avoid in messengers and backpacks. The Range Collection in black (backpack, large backpack, messenger bag, large messenger bag, and iPhone pounch) is now available from goincase.com.