Needled: SkinBag

by Ami Kealoha

Skin-deep fashion gets literal with these synthetic skin accessories made by French artist Olivier Goulet. Marisa wrote about them today on Needled, pointing out that the totes, purses, laptop sleeves, belts, and bracelets can be customized with tattoos and piercings. She also explains how the creepy chic aesthetic's purposefully aged-looking material is intended to reference natural "instinctive" bodies versus the artificial.

Your Helicopter is Waiting

by Joel Niedfeldt

If you've been planning one of those sight-seeing helicopter tours around New York, you might want to wait a couple more weeks. On 27 March, US Helicopter is slated to commence air "taxi" service between JFK/LGA (Newark service coming soon) and two heliports in Manhattan. Flights are scheduled every 30 minutes between 7am and 7pm, with introductory fares at only $139 each way. For those of you who think that's expensive, you've obviously never paid $90 for car service, only to sit in traffic for two hours while the driver plays tapes of his pet canaries for you. And the best part isn't just the time you'll be saving with the eight-minute trip to JFK—before boarding you'll be cleared by TSA security, so you can proceed directly to your flight upon arrival at the airport.

Quick Flicks

by Jacob Resneck

Two filmmaking collectives, QuickFlick World, a loose-knit international organization, and the NYC-based QuickFlicks, share a title as well as a goal that urges filmmakers to stop whining and start producing. Like Quick Flicks’s motto announces,"Our Mission: One Month. One Film. No Excuses."

Sound overly ambitious? Ambitious, yes, but these groups of basement cinematographers prove that where there's a will, there's a way. With the onset of relatively inexpensive digital technology, so the argument goes, expensive acetate film and cutting room editing has been replaced with digital non-linear editing that's quicker, easier, and way less complex.

Quick Flicks has an open call out for volunteers and fellow shooters. Anyone with a camera, some basic editing equipment, and a month to shoot a film on zero budget is eligible (and that makes for a lot of eligible artists by my count); those wishing to lend a hand as cast and crew can give these guys a shout, too.

QuickFlick World organizes it’s monthly screenings around a theme (February’s was “Fragile”), which member directors then have a month to work with. The results are submitted to a jury who then decides on a line-up that’s presented at a monthly screening party in each of the six cities.

Even if you're not the next Kubrick who's living out of his car, both sites have a wide array films they've already finished. On Quick Flicks, some were made from start to finish in 48 hours. Their 'Turbo Treads' shoe commercial spoof? Classic.

Kelly Dobson's Blendie

by Josh Rubin

I know I wasn't the only kid humming along with the household appliances trying to find the right harmony to make my head vibrate. Right? Um, anyway, MIT Media Lab's Kelly Dobson must have because one avenue of her work takes that interaction and flips it around. Blendie is part of her series called Machine Therapy which was undoubtedly influenced by her childhood spent living in a junkyard. Created in 2004, it's a blender that is voice operated where the pitch of your voice controls the speed of the blender. Besides being a heady exploration of the personal, societal, and psychoanalytical role machines take in our lives, the video demonstration of Blendie is really funny!

V for Vendetta Artwork Exhibition

by SummerSeventySix

Regardless of whether or not the Wachowski's forthcoming movie take on graphic novel V For Vendetta is any good, the promotional artwork is undoubtedly fantastic. Concept Arts has stayed true to British artist David Lloyd's original comic book creations, many of which are going on show in London at The Guardian's newsroom from next Tuesday, 7 March 2006. As part of the ten-day exhibition, the man himself will be talking about his work on Monday, 13 March 2006. Eager fanboys are likely to snap up the tickets quick-sharp, but if you fancy going, email newsroom [at] guardian [dot] co [dot] uk.

via Londonist.

Salvor SS06

by Josh Rubin

SoHo NYC based Salvor continues to rock my world, this time with their Spring-Summer 2006 collection. For some it may be a bit early to start thinking about T-Shirts, but for me these prints are more about artistry than seasonal fashion. The designs are delicately screened on their own super soft stock to avoid that crunchy-screen feeling. Petals (above, left. click to zoom) is particularly stunning with a cherry and copper pattern on a faded blue T. Another favorite on the edgier side that keeps with Salvor's ongoing dedication to animal skulls, is Sea Monster (above, right. click to zoom). More designs after the jump.

Stay tuned for these at stores listed here.

Related Entries: Salvor Kiosk, Odin, Salvor