Thursday, May 31, 2007

Entry #80: Semi-secret Show, snip, snip.

Happily Ever After duo Matt & Kim are having a show tonight (go now!) in the good old LBC (Esther Ave + Santa Fe). It's in a semi-shoddy part of town so they definitely have street cred.

But alas, tonight I'm @ the hiz-ouse, peelin potatos and milking cows: i.e. pattern-cutting! The vast amounts of fabric I've ruined because of my poor shearing abilities has me downtown touchin' and violatin' fabrics on a daily basis. This little trek has me practicing my Spanish skills with fabric/textile makers. My curiosity about the beginnings (you see, the silkworm...) will eventually get me to a holier than thou place.

God, can ya save me?
God --> no
doctor --> maybe
pharmacist --> yes
And down the food chain we go.

Entry #79: State of Suspended Animation, Complete Rapture

Yesterday I was posed the question: Are kittens the new owl?

Completely.



In other news, I'm in L-to-the-O-V-E with Dries Van Noten and his fantastic Spring/Summer 08 (yes, 2008) line. The heroin chic look is soooo-x 2004-2008 (and on).

Nomenus Quarterly is a new fashion magazine set to launch July 1st. 300! pages. An article entitled Forever Young is an ode to, what else- nostalgia. (You can read it online, but will have to go through a series of flash- yuck). Not exactly a new theme in the realm of nonfiction and something Cabinet Magazine did a better take on.

As you can see, I completely lied regarding the title. Not enough swooning on my end. Perhaps it will happen on June 9 and 10, when I trek to the Cooper Design Space + New Mart for their Designers + Agents event.

Please say yes and whatever you do, don't feed the models.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Entry #78: Only in Los Angeles

My day-time job forces me in architectural business casual suits. All the ladies in the office (male dominated- makes it even more nail biting) judge you by your shoes & handbag. The real world is effing tough, homie.

But I went to the thrift store (Los Angeles- on Figueroa) last weekend and bought THESE professional beauties for $5.50! They look absolutely new. Retail: $377+

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Entry #77: Mickey is Melting.



A jewel asked to befriend me recently via myspace (que raro!) and I completely dig Dirt Don't Hurt (particularly Mickey- Meltin, as pictured above).

And word on the street is that The Academy will be holding their line soon, son, soon!

Related to the heartbreaking news of uneven proportions, I've been sporting Marc for Marc Jacobs political tees lately. At $20 a piece, they are soft, friendly, and understated. Politics is tough, but I think we can agree that it's time for some Cha-Cha-Changes.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Entry #76: Art Show & Good Bands Make a Good Night

For the locals, here's a show you just want to check out. Presented by The Academy, it's happening at The Academy.



The artist featured is Ronald.
His work rules. I'll give more info on the sucka later, when I actually meet the fellow.

The latest untaken picture is:
This is a picture I did not take of a woman in a long purple coat, boarding a bus with her hands wrapped-up in purse straps and bag handles, a full wad of wrinkled cash register receipts stuffed into her mouth, half-in, half-out, as if they'd set-up a little encampment there at the entrance of a cave, a crumpled few hanging out on her bottom lip, dangling their legs down her chin, taking in the afternoon breeze.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Entry #75: Running the Numbers

From the absolutely amazing website of Chris Jordan:

"Running the Numbers"
An American Self-Portrait

This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs.

My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so. The series is a work in progress, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned.

~chris jordan, Seattle, 2007

Example:

Paper Bags, 2007
60x80"

Depicts 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the US every hour.


Partial Zoom


Detail @ actual size.


I totally want to see this! But where? Note to self: google this, but for now, back to my drawings.

Entry #74: Superexcellent Scheme

Presentation, China 2008 Olympic Stadium

Design 1


Design 2


Design 3


Design 4


Design 5


Design 6


Design 7


Design 8


Design 9


Design 10


Design 11


Design 12


And the winner, as recommended by the evaluation panel, is Design 3. I placed them out of order, sorry.

Dammit...I was hoping they would implement a rooftop garden. I don't want the future to be metal and hardware.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Entry #73: The Silent Movie Theatre



Thursday
MAY 24 at 8pm

Alfred Hitchcock's
The Pleasure Garden
in 35mm (1925)

with

Menilmontant (1924)

and

The Londale Operator (1911)

AT: 611 N. Fairfax Avenue - Los Angeles, California 90036 - 323.655.2520

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Entry #71: Farm Lab

Memories of childhood and even a bit o' college. I heard about this group of hoodlums on NPR & got a reminder via flavapill.



May 25, 2007
Fallen Fruit
(Dave Burns and Austin Young)

Take Back The Fruit
Public Space & Community Activism

The Fallen Fruit collective uses locational interventions to rethink public space, ecology and private ownership in the city. Fruit'ers David Burns, Matias Viegener and Austin Young will be presenting a series of projects that include neighborhood mapping, public fruit parks, bus shelter posters, nighttime fruit forages, and public fruit jams. By integrating aesthetic strategies with folk art and old-time activism, the group aims to create new ways to inhabit and construct our cities.

About Fallen Fruit

Fallen Fruit is an activist art project which started as a mapping of all the public fruit in our Silver Lake neighborhood. As the group explains: "We encourage everyone to harvest, map, plant and sample public fruit, which is what we call all fruit on or overhanging public spaces such as sidewalks, streets or parking lots. We believe fruit is a resource that should be commonly shared, like shells from the beach or mushrooms from the forest. Our goal is to get people thinking about the life and vitality of our ighborhoods and to consider how we can change the dynamic of our cities and common values."

Farmlab Location

Farmlab / Under Spring, 1745 N. Spring Street #4, LA, CA 90012
Across the street from the site of the Not A Cornfield project, in a warehouse colocated at Baker Street and N. Spring Street

Salons are always free-of-charge, all ages welcome.
Refreshments will be served.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Entry #70: Highlights of the High Life

The following is mad money.

All discovered via a quick google search on Sophia Kokosalaki...

Takes you here:

Below are the A for adorables.









p.s. I ran 2 miles today & work is stellar.

Entry #69: The Wonders of the Modern Day World

The Seven "New" Wonders of the World published a count of the top 10 wonders voted by the internet community, as of May 7, 2007. You can continue to vote at the website above, with the winners to be declared July 7, 2007. A few countries, such as Egypt, have declared this vote as a publicity stunt for the travel agency, as the previous Wonders of the World were named by historians as opposed to a for-profit agency. Additionally, there are questions as to whether or not these wonders can be considered a world vote, as many of the inhabitants of the 22-sites shortlist and many people in the world at large lack internet access. You can find a list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Here.

Top 10:

Acropolis in Greece




Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico



Coliseum in Rome




Eiffel tower in Paris



Great Wall of China



Incan ruins of Machu Picchu



Petra in Jordan



Statues on Easter Island


Britain's Stonehenge


Taj Mahal in India


A chronological map of the Ancient Wonders below:


If I had the skills to paint, I'd do a painting of the above map in some cool way?

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Entry #68: Sweet Pretty Little Thing

The following bag from Anya Hindmarch is a killer in the UK and will be available in June at select U.S. stores. I placed my name on the waiting list at Ron Herman.

According the the website regarding the U.S. Launch:
These bags will launch on June 20th in Anya Hindmarch US stores, Ron Herman and Fred Segal Flair in LA and Holt Renfrew in Canada. In July these bags will be available through selected East Coast Whole Foods Markets.



Also: ran into this!



It's less than $5 t cb2.com

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Entry #67: Pavement Kicks & The Smell of New Leather

These babies will be hittin' the streets, soon, son, soon!

These boots were made by hand (handmade, writing is hard today) by a cobbler! How cool is that? Super cool. Everything, from the mold to the soles and the wood is carved, cut, sewn, stapled, & polished by hand. Intimacy, in a pair of shoes before they are broken into, is rather hard to come by. It's the Introduction into the American Life that many immigrants receive upon arrival on the shores of Mother Liberty.

Brand Name: Marco Locos
Retail: $300
Reason: "We can't compete against mass production and we won't anytime soon."
Smells Like New Leather & Your Favorite Dance Move






In other news, The Mai Shi are absolutely amazing.

From their Myspace website:
...
"This is our story, and we invite you to come along. It's about self-improvement and trying to live life at the top of your lungs, living life rightly, respecting others, making something you're proud of, and trying to sort out all the static and figuring out what matters. It's about trying to forge that third way, that way everyone said it couldn't be done. We do this in basements and backyards and in fancy clubs we don't even feel comfortable in. We do this in living rooms and bathrooms and bedrooms and wherever the sound sounds best. We do this with ten dollar keyboards and Olvera Street guitars and with light-reactive synths we built ourselves. We do this with broken cymbals and busted speakers. We do this the first thing when we wake up. We do this after a hard day at work, when it's the only solace and life seems to be a constant source of frustration. We do this on weekends. We do this all the time."

The above is something akin to the rings formed around drops of holy water and may even be a psalm for life and living.

Entry #66: Interior Cavities & Designer in Training

My new job at an interior framing architecture company is rather interesting. I'm learning a lot about borrowed lites (windows, lights spelled "lites") and Sidelites. I just do pricing and drawings, but o mi, o my, architecture makes me swoon with delicious dreams.

My favorite building is actually Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Perhaps it's because it is located on the fertile soils of my roots, but the trees into concrete faces that seem to cuuuuurve and smile or frown with misery while overlooking the water or war scene... it just whispers zen and lyrical stories galore.



via: Wood s Lot



via: Travel Adventures

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Entry #65: Richard Sweeney Models Paper Beautifully

From his Flickr Post:
I use paper modelling as a means to generate form.



Flickr website

Entry #64: Model Turned Photographer, Ellen is Amazing

Ellen von Unwerth is an amazing photographer who gets down and dirty with her photographs.

"Von Unwerth seems less of an auteur directing her subjects than a co-conspirator who intimately knows the inner lives of these girls who want to have fun."--American Photo



"Von Unwerth brings an energetic femininity to fashion photography--call it girl power. The models in her pictures seem to have real identities, and the photos often convey a sexuality without reducing the subjects to sex objects."--American Photo









I adore these collections:
Kate Moss
Brad Pitt

(All of the photos were taken from this site)

Hopefully, the wikipedia on von Unwerth will get updated with more info.