The Journal of Popular Noise Fall/Winter '08 Events

by Ami Kealoha

If CH was ever to go print, we'd like to think we could execute it with the same thoughtful elegance as the semi-annual audio magazine The Journal of Popular Noise, which is why we're excited to be sponsors of the latest issue's launch. This time around the limited-edition (only 300 are made) and letter pressed publication includes Climax Golden Twins, PWRFL Power and Linda & Ron's Dad.

An event at Printed Matter on 11 December 2008 officially kicks it off but the real party is on 15 December with performances by Pwrfl Power, Free Blood and Shy Child at Santos Party House, which is free for the first 100 to arrive and who RSVP to rsvp [at] popularnoise [dot] net or $10.

The Journal of Popular Noise Fall/Winter '08 Launch
11 December 2008, 5–7pm
Printed Matter
195 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10011 map
tel. +1 212 925 0325

Pwrfl Power, Free Blood, Shy Child
15 December 2008, 7-11pm
Santos Party House
100 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10013 map
tel. +1 212 343 8088

Goods for Good: Gala for Good

by Ami Kealoha

Perhaps this holiday season more than ever, it's a crucial time to think of others. One of the charities getting the CH seal of approval is Goods for Good, an organization whose mission is to send excess goods from America to orphans and vulnerable children in Africa. There are a few ways to help out but if you're in NYC on 8 December 2008, there's no better (or more fun) way to support the cause than by attending Goods for Good's holiday party, Gala for Good, at City Winery.

The event not only provides an opportunity to learn more about the non-profit but guests will enjoy mingling at an open bar, perusing a photography exhibit, dancing to DJ Chroma and nibbling on African food catered by renowned Brooklyn restaurant Madiba. Purchase tickets (starting at $120 in advance, $150 after 1 December 2008) from NYCharities.org.

If you can't make it and want to do your part to improve the lives of African children, there are a couple other easy ways you can help.

Help Goods for Good find those tons and tons (literally!) of goods that are going to waste by asking your boss, your friends, bosses and your friends' friends' bosses if they have extra stuff like communications materials laying around. Goods for Good is looking for bulk excess clothing, school supplies, personal hygiene products, etc. to donate to orphans in Malawi who are without these basic necessities. See the Goods for Good website for more info.

And, of course, there's nothing like a cash donation to help ship goods to children who have no one to provide for them. A little goes a long way—for example $25 ships 1,300 pens to Malawi! Visit NYCharities.org to contribute.

For some inspiration, watch their four-minute documentary above.

KAWS x Kanye West: 808 & Heartbreak Cover Art

by CH Contributor

by Tamara Warren

For those of you not paying attention to recent pop culture news, New York artist KAWS' fantastical cover art montage—a cartoon-like image in red, purple pink and shades of blue swallowing up musical/sartorial/blogger sensation Kanye West—may prove to be more of a hit than the forthcoming album itself. Converging the world of animation, art and hip-hop, the work will appear on a special edition of Kanye's latest album “808 & Heartbreak.”

The extended version of the album is available on iTunes, Amazon and will be in stores on 16 December 2008.As Walt Disney (forefather of the corporation that KAWS once freelanced for), "Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. This facility makes it the most versatile and explicit means of communication yet devised for quick mass appreciation." KAWS himself has a long history of bridging the pop culture medium incorporating a past of graffiti billboards, art school and creature design. On the commercial side of the fence he has produced limited editions with Bathing Ape, Burton, Nike, Vans and Commes des Garçons.

More recently, the artist has devoted considerable time to fine art with his first solo show on display at Gering & López Gallery in New York. (See info below.) Works in the show range from geometric acrylics on canvas to bronze sculptures of the artist's head and a life size rendition of one of his better-known toy figures, demonstrating his prowess to navigate through multiple mediums.

KAWS
Through 23 December 2008
Gering & López Gallery
730 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10019 map
tel. +1 646 336 7183

Chris Mendoza x Ray-Ban Wayfarers

by CH Contributor

by Ariston Anderson

Until Barnstormer Chris Mendoza teamed up with Ray-Ban to custom paint 100 pairs of Wayfarers in his inimitable style, nothing would've torn me away from my trusty black ones.

Chris's personal history with the brand dates back to his childhood when he'd see them on his father, who played for the Nicaragua national football team. The senior Mendoza, a close friend of Pele, defined hip for the young artist with his Wayfarers. And nothing much has changed.

The $250 version that Chris came up with pays tribute to 1980s graffiti, is available in red, black and white and will come in a signed and numbered case.

Chris will be at the Sunglass Hut SoHo this Friday, 28 November 2008, hand painting glasses from 1-5pm. And if that's not enough to make you pick up these one-of-a-kind frames, 25% of the proceeds will go to Give the Gift of Sight, a charity that brings glasses to the world's poor.

The glasses will be available online at Sunglass Hut starting Wednesday, 3 December 2008.

Sunglass Hut
157 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012 map
tel. +1 212 966 7293

Illustrator Oscar Giminez

by Lost At E Minor

Says Barcelona-based illustrator, Oscar Giminez, of his beautiful line drawings, "I used to be a big fan of fashion illustration. When I started illustrating, that's what everybody was doing, at least in Barcelona. But I get so easily distracted and bored with trends that I quickly came off it. However, it looks like a few people out there thought I had to pay off for my contempt, and they decided I had to do it this year. Hence all the work on fashion I've been doing lately. Lots of vain people posing just for beauty's sake! Luckily, I got distracted by a couple of conceptual jobs that came in between and temporarily woke my brain up. One of them, a short animation for the Audi Q5 Generis, has given me the chance to see for the first time my work in motion."

ZEVS: Visual Attack

by Karen Day

French graffiti artist ZEVS, famous for investigating the relationship between commercialized cityscapes and the public's unquestioned acceptance of it, presents his first solo show this Saturday in Zurich.

Known for targeting omnipresent corporate identities such as IBM, Coca Cola and McDonalds by manipulating their billboards, Zeus brings that same aesthetic to the gallery by transforming the space into an urban setting. Tagging the walls and interfering with the architecture through installations and use of light, he destabilizes the interior and demands questioning of the total acceptance of corporations' representation in our subconscious.

Despite ZEVS’ heavy critique of the silent acceptance of urban surroundings loaded with commercial adverts, his work contains repulsion on one hand and a strong element of beauty and allure on the other.

Visual Attack
Gallery de Pury & Luxembourg
Limmatstrasse 264
8005 Zürich, Switzerland maps
tel. +41 44 276 8020