Cool Hunting
| 15 February 2006view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
i am 8-bit book
by Carol T Chung
The wonderful folks at i am 8-bit and Chronicle Books were gracious enough to send a preview copy of this collection of work to me. If I wasn't still living out of my boxes in S.F., I'd be honored to place this on my (currently non existent) coffee table. The book showcases artwork inspired by 1980s video games. It has taken the best images from the i am 8-bit exhibition that occurred at Gallery 1988 in 2005. It also includes select images from 2006. With work from artists Ashley Wood, Jim Mahfood, and over 60 other prominent artists, there's no denying video games' impact and there isn't any turning back now.
i am 8 bit: Art Inspired by Classic Videogames of the '80s will be released April 1, 2006. You can preorder for $16 at Amazon.
Yutaka Loves London
by Ami Kealoha
Yutaka Loves London, a slick flash-based guide to the city that's as amusing as it is useful. Yutaka cheekily narrates, describing everything from galleries to flights in terse yet detail-rich anecdotes that charmingly lapse into the third person. While lodging options seem to be lacking, the recommendations give detailed information about each location and they can be added to a downloadable 'to do' list.
via City Page One.
Future Marketing Summit
by Josh Rubin
A week from tomorrow is the Future Marketing Summit here in NYC. Organized by our friends over at PSFK / IF!, the day is looking like it will be one well spent. Speakers will include Alex Bogusky (CP+B), Paul Woolmington (Naked NY), Justin Barocas (Anomaly), Rick Boyko (VCU Adcentre), Paul Lavioe (Taxi) and Scott Goodson (Strawberry Frog). Piers (the P+F of PSFK) has also prepared a panel session with "new wave trend spotters" including Dave Gensler (the KDU), Bucky Turco (Animal Magazine), Graham Hill (Tree Hugger) and myself. The fee for the day is $600 which is a bargain compared to some of the other 1-day events, so check out the program and go book now.
Riv's Fall 2006 Collection
by Ami Kealoha
West coasters Riv have a new collection out that builds on their Tequila-soaked mix of punk rock and LA surf culture that they've come to be known for. The design called "PCH" (Pacific Coast Highway if you didn't know) is a hand-drawn rendering of a neo-Gaucho looking dude printed on army green, black, and teal (pictured left) buttery soft tees. "Loaded," a full-chest gun design composed of ornate floral patterns on either a grey or white hand-dyed thermal, neatly fuses weaponry and baroque themes that are widely-done these days.
Although they're not quite available yet, expect them in stores like Fred Segal Man in LA, Atrium in NYC, United Arrows in Tokyo, and Coolestshop online.
Also on Cool Hunting: Riv
Malfis and More
by Ami Kealoha
Miami-based makers of quirky toys Friends With You have been busy as usual. They were recently featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami during Art Basel where they debuted The Boy—a new pleather figure that they call "a magical spirit." Currently, they have a solo show at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles that runs through 4 March 2006, and just last month introduced six new plush toys. One of these, a Super Malfi (pictured above, middle) showed up at Cool Hunting HQ and has been amusing passersby since with details like the bellybutton sewn in the center of its pleather squash-shaped body.
The other line of toys, the Burger Bunch, are a group of segmented, modular dolls that include Bumble Grump, Mr. TTT Burger, and Muffin. See a group shot after the jump.
Also on Cool Hunting: The Everywhere Show, The Good Wood Gang, and Friends With You.
Ghostly International: Idol Tryouts 2
by Mike Reger
Back in 2003 when I first received the first Idol Tryouts compilation from Michigan's Ghostly International label in Ann Arbor I was in a musical lull.
I was stuck between a love for all the ceaselessly innovative but increasingly anonymous sounding electronic stuff coming out and fond memories of the more idiosyncratic pop and rock I grew up with as a kid in the 1980's. It was the post "bubble" era and Idol Tryouts presented the tension between the faceless exuberance of technology fetishism and the cult of personality of rock and roll directly without too much fanfare or liner notes. It simply sounded out a rift in the zeitgeist few of us could articulate but we all knew and were trying to evaluate.
Fast forward to 2006, Idol Tryouts 2 further exploits this notion with 2 discs, Avant Pop and the obscurant SMM. Where the "Avant" disc measures the platonic shifts of electronic styles and seismic rock currents, the SMM disc dives into longer deeper ambient spaces. Both discs are like a mini-adventure into the Ghostly world.
Idol Tryouts 2 is available from Ghostly International.
