VIS/ED: Beautiful Decay Video Festival

by Tim Yu

Beautiful Decay got together with Brand New School, The Happy Corp Global and yours truly to put on a video festival, that they're calling VIS/ED. Showcasing the kind of creative, short-format video that's making waves in our visual landscape, VIS/ED will take place next Tuesday, 20 November 2007 at 7pm at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City. (Click the flyer at right for a larger size.)

Both Brand New School and the Happy Corp curated a selection of both their own works as well as motion graphics, animation, commercial and video art that inspires them. We've got a 30-minute, hand-picked compilation of videos culled from our the archives of our weekly series. A short talk by the individuals behind each brand will precede each program: Jonathan Notaro from Brand New School, Doug Jaeger of the Happy Corp and, of course, Josh Rubin from Cool Hunting.

Only 200 seats are available and the event will most likely sell out so get your tickets in advance for $5 at Ticket Web. Or you can risk it and try to buy tickets at the door for $8.

VIS/ED
Tuesday, 20 November 2007, doors open at 6:30pm, screening starts at 7pm
Anthology Film Archives
32 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003 map
tel. +1 212.505.5181

Cavern Tees

by Ami Kealoha

by Gabriel Bell

Ironically named for a line so bold and bright, Los Angeles's Cavern is the creation of fashion-school friends Adam Tullie and Angeline Rivas. "When we first conjured Cavern," says Rivas, "our focus was to make solid, hand-drawn T-shirts." While the market is glutted with such wears, particularly on the West Coast, the duo was determined to distinguish themselves. "Everybody is making the same shit," Rivas says of his competitors, "taking clip art, mixing it up, and slapping it on a t-shirt. There was more to be done." With references to utopianism and mystic symbols, Rivas and Tullie have set themselves apart with the use of metallic appliques, intelligent cuts, arresting abstract designs and a complete rejection of camp.

The duo has followed up their initial successes with some collaborations and more ambitious plans. "We recently completed a collaboration with Devendra Banhart on the merchandise for his world tour," says Tullie. "And some of the more recent work we are creating is looking more painterly and loose. We're doing plenty of experimentation for our Fall 2008 collection. All in all," he says, "we promise to keep it interesting."

Read more...

Wild Style: DVD and Book Giveaway

by Jacob Resneck

Wooden acting and choppy production quality aside (we think it's part of its charm), when "Wild Style" was produced in 1982 the movie-going public was barely aware of the burgeoning hip hop scene sprouting up in the decaying urban centers that had been abandoned by the comfortable classes in the previous decade.

“Nothing else comes close to capturing the atmosphere of the early days of hip-hop and spray can art, of the burned-out and derelict Bronx,” recently noted The Guardian newspaper in England.

Centered around a 22-year-old graffiti artist named “Zoro” (real life Brooklyn artist Lee Quiñones) and shot on location in the the city's rail yards with the generous permission of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the film helped bring break dancers, hip hop DJs and the portrayal of graffiti as an art form (as opposed to abject vandalism) into the nation's consciousness.

Twenty-five years later after its release, the independently produced film that helped springboard the likes of Grandmaster Flash and Fab Five Freddy has been reissued by Rhino Records. To celebrate, we're giving away copies of the 25th anniversary DVD and book. Some of the extras included with the commemorative DVD include a documentary short featuring footage from the 20th Anniversary concert and new interviews with the musicians featured in the film.

One grand prize winner will receive: a "Wild Style" DVD (25th Anniversary Edition) and a Wild Style book (also available directly from the publisher, PowerHouse. Two runners up will each receive: a DVD copy of "Wild Style (25th Anniversary Edition)."

To enter follow the contact link at the bottom of the page, select "Wild Style Giveaway" from the pull-down menu by Tuesday, 20 November 2007, 11:59pm EST.

Street World

by Wendy Dembo

The new project from Roger Gastman, Caleb Neelon and Anthony Smyrski, Street World: Urban Art and Culture from Five Continents, clocks in at nearly 400 pages of full-color images of all the street culture we knew we loved (graffiti, fashion, skateboarding, and so on) with plenty of more esoteric global happenings. Think pigeon keeping, protests, activism, drum lines, urban exploration, signage and plenty of stuff that you'll have to see the book to make sense of it. With contributions from Estevan Oriol, Adam Wallacavage, WK Interact, We Are Supervision, Blu, Shepard Fairey and dozens and dozens more, Street World hits a nice balance, introducing newcomers to urban culture while giving the cognoscenti plenty to look at. As author Caleb Neelon explains, "not everything in the book is obvious 'street culture,' but some of those curve balls in the book are what we like the most." Available on Abrams in the United States and Thames and Hudson in the U.K. Buy it from Amazon or Powell's.