I Heart Switch

by Ami Kealoha

I Heart Switch may be a work in progress, but here's a chance to get in on the ground floor. Basically what we have here is a DIY show in which our host Alison demonstrates how to assemble all kinds of groovy knicknacks.

It's not terribly difficult stuff, but it requires some degree of competence. Imagine a baking show with some basic soldering skills required and you're getting there...

The pilot episode demonstrates how to construct a little gadget that's basically a talking box inside a dental floss box that allows you leave a pre-recorded voice message inside a picture frame. So you can leave audio messages with a picture.

The possibilities are endless; it could be used for anything from a love poem for your significant other to a "Dear John/Johanna," letter to your spouse.

Arthouse Films

by Ami Kealoha

Brought to our attention this past week, Palm Pictures released a new series, Art House, Inc., a collection hard-hitting and fascinating documentaries that chronicle art, fashion, and music. (With some crossover, naturally.)

Arthouse focuses more on the development of the American art scene, with its acclaimed retrospective documentary "Who Gets to Call it Art?" about the creative renaissance centered in NYC in the 1960s and a portrait of renowned photographer William Eggleston ("William Eggleston in the Real World"), but also includes other image-making luminaries like a film about Henri-Cartier Bresson called "The Impassioned Eye."

Heady stuff that you probably won't find at your local Blockbuster.

Starting at $25 from Palm or Amazon

You Must Create, Spring/Summer 06

by SummerSeventySix

To drastically paraphrase The Smiths, there are dandies on the streets of London. The languorous lifestyle of Britain's wealthy young is proving to be an inspiration for spring and summer, especially for label You Must Create. It's been in business here since the mid-90s and is taking its cue from "the mid-century sporting activities of the rich and privileged". That means hard-to-understand pursuits like rugby and cricket, but the look is straightforward enough. Having picked up one of their slim chocolate polkadot scarves myself, I like that the idea has been extended to the harrington jacket. Elsewhere the wing-tip brogues and Eton blazer stay just the right side of the Henley Regatta. However, if you don't speak with the cut-glass vowels of the English upper crust, best keep your mouth shut, lest you ruin the gentlemanly air.

Details of where YMC is stocked are available here.

adicolor Delux Box Set

by Josh Rubin

Reminding us that shoe customization has been around for decades, adidas is re-releasing the adicolor LO (originally from 1983) in a kit that includes the original plain white shoes, paints, brushes and a wooden palette. The box will also include sealant to keep your painted shoes looking great, though the fact of the matter is people who are able to get their hands on one of these are most likely going to keep everything in tact on a shelf behind glass.

adicolor is a huge push from adidas this Spring including the release of 36 pre-customized pairs that extend the concept beyond the original adicolor style to include Superstars, Centuries and Stan Smiths. All the pairs will feauture limited editions and the release will be staggered. Hypebeast has pictures and a release schedule.

via Sneaker Freaker

Related: adicolor Berlin

Ryan Trecartin: "A Family Finds Entertainment"

by Josh Rubin

Judging by 24-year-old artist Ryan Trecartin's infectious, semi-hallucinogenic debut, "A Family Finds Entertainment," reports of video art's demise have been greatly exaggerated. With nods to Jack Smith and very early John Waters, the 40 minute piece—packed with refreshingly raw computer graphics and a manic soundtrack—loosely follows the story of an unstable gay boy who comes out to his parents, gets hit by a car and is somehow reborn as the life of a very wild party. Trecartin made the video with friends in New Orleans before their house was swept away in Katrina. After a curator stumbled onto the piece via Friendster, Trecartin relocated to Los Angeles in 2005, where he prepared his first solo show at the Q.E.D. gallery in Culver City. Now his video, one of the most convincing statements from a young artist in recent memory, will be on view at the Whitney Biennial in New York. (2 March –28 May 2006.)

by Nathan Cooper

Basco

by Wendy Dembo

He goes by Vasco, Bazko, Vasko or Basco. At 20 years old he still has some time to figure out what his tag should be. But he doesn’t have that much time. Due to his success at the Upper Playground in association with Fifty24SF. The show opens Thursday, 2 March 2006 and runs through 1 April 2006.

Look for his simple yet expressive faces, body parts painted on wallpaper, and Aubrey Beardsley-like graphics used for skeletons and animals. The young Chilean likes to destroy buildings and walls in a traditional graffiti manner, but you would be smart to pick up one of his smaller paintings.

See more images after the jump.

Opening Reception: 2 March 2006, 7-9:30pm
Fifty24SF
248 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA
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