COOL HUNTING

The Marshmallow Show, a one-night private viewing and auction of works this Sunday by Gregory Siff promises to be "an evening of beauty, madness, love and junkfood." The event will feature 37 new works by Siff, including the delightful junk food water colors shown after the jump. The works will be auctioned to benefit J.U.i.C.E. Justice By Uniting in Creative Energy, a charitable organization committed to providing free sessions in all elements of hip hop: word, music, art and dance. An "anti-L.A. show in the heart of L.A." the Marshmallow Show will take place at The Standard Hotel in Hollywood, and guests will be treated to a champagne toast and sugary treats at midnight.

The Marshmallow Show
12 November 2006, 8:00 p.m. - Midnight
The Standard Hotel
8300 Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90069 map
Tel. +1 323.650.9090

TAGS: Art (553), Hip Hop (25), L.A. (1),

The Septemberists, artist Anthony Goicolea's film mythologizing the creation of Thom Browne's Spring/Summer 2007 collection, is as neo-18th century Americana as the suits themselves. Gorgeously-shot by Brooklyn-based cinematographer Brian Rigney Hubbard over five days on a farm in Massachusetts, the story follows a cadre of young men through the lush landscape as they pick cotton, shear sheep and gather ink from an octopus (pictured), among other more morbid tasks. Originally shown in a 30-minute version as part of New York's fashion week, you can watch a version of the piece here.

TAGS: Art (553), Brooklyn (53), Fashion (313), Film (60), London (82), New York (179),

Artist, tattooist and designer of one of the CH x Timbuk2 Artist Bags, Joseph Ari Aloi (aka JK5) celebrates the birthday of his Flowbots next Friday, 17 November 2006, at ToyTokyo's Showroom NYC. In addition to revealing the introductory series of three-inch vinyl toys, produced in collaboration with Kidrobot, new paintings, drawings and sculpture created by JK5 exclusively for this event will be on display. JK5 says of the Flowbots—nine distinct characters with two secret additional colorways—“Each one is a symbol, an archetype, an art form and one is my best friend.” CH can’t decide which we like more, Cutie Cane (the pink figure on the left) or Sir Oscar Cloud (pictured right).

Happy Birthday Flowbots
Opening Friday, 17 November 2006, 7-10pm
Through 22 November 2006
The Showroom NYC
117 Second Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10003 map
tel. 01 212 673 5424

TAGS: Art (553), Kidrobot (14), New York (179), Tattoos (7), Toys (73),

Do you really need a white cube to show art? Is a great painting sitting on a street corner still a great painting? Can someone make something new happen in an art world where everybody has seen everything already?

Steve Powers, armed with enough gallery and museum credentials to stuff a resume (he's a graffiti writer, author of The Art Of Getting Over and First and Fifteenth: Pop Art Short Stories, co-proprietor of The Indelible Market / Street Market and more) is betting all he needs to have a successful fall show in New York is eight feet of concrete sidewalk.

This Saturday, 11 November 2006, starting at 11am, the populist artist will show 20 new paintings on the corner of West Broadway at Prince Street, including "You and Me" (pictured right), which is also available as a print in an edition of 50, and "Puzzle" (pictured here), until all the works are gone.

TAGS: Art (553), Events (132), Exhibitions (60), Graffiti (55), Street Art (42),

Op-Art pioneer Victor Vasarely was profoundly influenced by Bauhaus, constructivism, cubism and surrealism. He began his unmistakable geometric abstraction from the 1930's through his heyday of optical illusion of the sixties and seventies. Late in his career, Bulova produced a series of wristwatches with Vasarely's artwork on the dial and engraved signature on the caseback. Very difficult to find, one of the more interesting models was the "Four Squares" (pictured above). A double-sided propeller-style seconds hand made this watch even more unique.

by Watchismo

TAGS: Accessories (111), Art (553), Collectibles (23), Fashion (313), Watches (25),

I never really took to Hulk Hogan and his friends when I was a kid, preferring instead the low-rent British version of wrestling. Big Daddy in a leotard and top-hat was about as colorful as it got though, so looking at Malcolm Venville's vivid portraits of masked Mexican Lucha Libre wrestlers makes me feel like I missed out big time.

The British photographer and filmmaker (above middle, with furry luchador 'Alushe') has collected more than 120 pictures he took in Mexico City last year for new book Lucha Loco. Fighters like Raziel (above right) didn't just pose for shots, but also gave interviews to Venville about their noble sport. As one of them says, "Mexican wrestlers have that sparkle, we make people laugh and cry." Who are we to argue?

Lucha Loco is available for $80 or £45, plus shipping.

TAGS: Art (553), Books (132), Photography (117),

Karl Escritt is a Kyoto-based graphic artist who's been quietly making a name for himself as an accomplished designer of flyers, posters and t-shirts for the underground music scene in this Englishman's adopted Japan.

Recently, Escritt has made a foray as a performance artist as a live painter. He crafts his artwork over Japanese electronica dance music and remixes the final product to show a collage of visual art and Japonica music. One of his performances can be seen here:

On 12 November 2006 Escritt has a show in Kyoto; 1 December 2006 he hosts the first in a series of monthly Kyoto creative showcases of local talent called Creative Japonica; 10 December 2006 is another live painting in Kyoto. "I also promote and design for various Underground Events in Kyoto and have many more projects planned in the upcoming months," Escritt told us in a recent interview.

TAGS: Art (553), Design (715), Japan (72), Kyoto (1), Performance (3),

Rife with paradox, the finely-detailed metal sculptures by Cal Lane (Wheel Barrel, 2005 pictured) and Elissa Levy's military-themed felt pieces, mix delicate filigree with more substantial materials and topics. Their complimentary work is the subject of a show called "Purfle" that opens at Foley Gallery in NYC tomorrow, 2 November 2006 and runs through 6 January 2007. Lane will show a series of plasma-cut objects that includes an I-beam, steel car parts and a dumpster. The industrial themes are a thread in Lane's work; older pieces include shovels, tires and dirt.

Purfle
Opening Reception: 2 November 2006, 6-8pm
Foley Gallery
547 W 27th Street, 5th floor
New York, NY 10001 map
tel. 01 212 244 9081

TAGS: Art (553), Exhibitions (60), New York (179), Openings (24), Sculpture (42),

Standing proudly in the Stockholm suburb of Midsommarkransen, the 10 story, 72 meter tall Telefonplan tower—built and used by Ericsson for many years—stood as the center of their corporate campus and served as a neighborhood landmark. Today the neighborhood has grown beyond Ericsson's presence, and local architect Milo Lavén, artist Erik Krikortz and interaction designer Loove Broms have transformed the tower to be a landmark in a new way that brings energy and dialogue to the neighborhood.

The Colour By Numbers project changes the lights on each story of the Telefonplan Tower and is programmable by mobile phone. Anyone can call +46 (70) 57 57 807, select the floor(s) they want to color and then hold down a series of keys to create a unique color. You keep selecting floors and choosing colors until you are finished, and then you can see your creation on the live web cam.

Via WMMNA

TAGS: Architecture (83), Art (553), Europe (3), Interactive (47), Lights (3), Mobility (133), Stockholm (7), Sweden (14),