The Wailing Wall: Hospital Blossoms

by Nathan Suberi

Any fan of introspective music on the alternative end of things must check out The Wailing Wall's debut album, Hospital Blossoms. The brainchild of NYC-based musician Jesse Rifkin, The Wailing Wall brings together an immensely talented group of musicians to tell a story of sadness, acceptance and catharsis. Rifkin relates the concept behind the album to a phoenix rising from the ashes; it's about embracing the pains of life and being able to blossom out of them, cleansed, content and ready for the next trial.

Using the layout of the album as structure, the track listing lends symbolism. Morning and Morning #2 are the first and last songs, respectively. Morning opens the album with the chirping of birds and menacing growls of thunder, while Morning #2 closes with a crescendo of chaos that suddenly cuts to silence, speaking to the cyclic chaos of life's tribulations.

A wide range of conventional and not-so-conventional instruments flavors the entire album, with Rifkin himself playing everything from guitar to gamelan, mandolin to accordion and harmonica to harmonium. His captivating lyrics are no less intentional; to explain his lengthy writing process Rifkin cites Twain, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

His masterful composition skills shine especially strong in the CD's title song, "Hospital Blossom." In fact, its a track so captivating that I lost myself in listening to it repeatedly, nearly missing my interview with Jesse.

An impressive compilation, the entire album is now available online for free download, courtesy of JDub Records.

Join: Ctrl + Alt + Design Review

by Karen Day

Boasting a lineup of 27 designers working in the disciplines of furniture, lighting, home accessories and jewelry, Join Design Seattle is holding their first annual design review entitled "Ctrl + Alt + Design." The group show brings American designers from around the nation together for the purpose of calling attention to up-and-coming designers.

Much like NYC-based American Design Club's recent exhibits, such as "Hue Are You," Join's Seattle exhibit highlights American talent, with the additional goal of building up a design community in Seattle on par with the aesthetic reflected by the modern design world.

Some of the pieces included in the show at the Ouch My Eye gallery are the Scrap Lights (above right) from Graypants, Inc., Urbancase's Camera Candle (pictured at top), Kiel Mead's cinder block necklace, Grain Design's Cafe Chair (above left), the colorful Crayon rings by Timothy Liles, Elisa Werbler's Dip Chair and much more.

See more images after the jump.

Ctrl + Alt+ Design 2009
Through 12 July 2009
Ouch My Eye Gallery
1022 1st Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98134 map
tel. +1 206 225 1173

Banksy Versus Bristol Museum

by CH Contributor

by Ariston Anderson

Street artist Banksy makes breaking the rules an artform, but his current exhibit, a legal installation of over 100 pieces at Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery is surprising even his closest followers. Playing on earlier covert stunts that targeted the Tate and MoMA, in an unusual reversal, this time the institution welcomes the anonymous artist with open arms for his biggest British exhibition to date.

By only informing a few museum officials—most employees were told a film crew was setting up—organizers managed to keep Banksy's anonymity intact while the officials worked to change out display cases usually housing museum classics.

Including many never-before-seen works, the show also revisits the animatronic pets from his recent New York show with the addition of a beret-clad chimp painting a sunset and a hiking gerbil. A marble statue of a lion fits in with the museum's surroundings, but its blood-smeared, whip-filled mouth and towering over a lion tamer’s coat signals otherwise. Banksy's political streak shows up in one of the largest canvases depicting a writer painting the old WWI slogan "Workers of the World Unite!" as a graffiti clean-up crew member looks on.

Positioned across from a sweater sporting the phrase "Thug for Life," a canvas of a pixelated face may be the closest it gets to a Banksy self-portrait. In addition to knitwear, he continues to experiment across multiple mediums with a series of modernized Greek sculptures and a stone engraved with the Pablo Picasso quote, "The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal," but the artist crosses out Picasso's name and adds his own.

Banksy, whose guerrilla approach and clever work has garnered international acclaim, will likely draw criticism for his museum exhibition from the same locals who condemned his early graffiti. But the museum expects to draw hundreds of thousands of guests this summer specifically interested in his exhibit.

See more images after the jump.

Banksy Versus Bristol Museum
Through 31 August 2009
Bristol Museum
Queen's Road, Bristol
BS8 1RL map
tel. +44 117 922 3571

Sparkle Labs' DIY Electronics Kit

by Jacob Resneck

Every boy likes to take things apart and most fathers are no different. Sparkle Labs of New York City brings a Father's Day gift idea that can be enjoyed by father and son (and daughter) alike. The Discovery Electronics kit allows for construction of an electronic circuit and in the process learning the fundamentals behind virtually every electronic device you come across in your daily life.

It's more than just a science lesson—these kits include all of the components necessary to construct a light-sensitive Theremin and a “dark detector” using a photosensor or work with LED lights for something visually artistic. You can even design your very own booby trap. There's always room for mischief when it comes to science.

Kits retail for less than $50 from the Sparkle Labs online store, where they will soon offer expansion sets for even more DIY fun.

Luke Kopycinski

by Bailee Wolfson

Luke Kopycinski is a concept artist for a game company in Melbourne, but his fine art transcends any niche genre with rough paint strokes converging into luminous and expressive figures.