[Your Face Here]

: How Much Would It Cost to Build the Death Star from Star Wars?

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:09:35 -0500

: How Much Would It Cost to Build the Death Star from Star Wars?:

“Let’s say you’re an evil Imperial overlord in the Star Wars universe, and you want to keep the rebels in line. You should build something they fear, say, a Death Star. How much will advancing your evil plans set you back? Short answer: it’s more expensive than you can possibly imagine.

Even…

“They’ve already evolved from their original...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:56:00 -0500

“They’ve already evolved from their original function as person-to-person communication technology into their second iteration as pedestrian-scaled billboards.

I wanted to see if there is a third option in that, yes, they get our eyes for advertising dollars, but they can also give value back to a neighborhood. I was most interested in turning what is perceived as an urban liability into an opportunity.”

John Locke from the Department of Urban Betterment (or DUB New York) on How New York Pay Phones Became Guerilla Libraries.

Our Infamous Lana Del Rey Interview

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:29:23 -0500

Our Infamous Lana Del Rey Interview:

“I think we should just end this because… I don’t know. I feel like you don’t really like it.”

Stephen King is like literary McDonalds; you know its bad for...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:03:00 -0500

Stephen King is like literary McDonalds; you know its bad for you but every now and then you just want something really tacky and hope for dear God that nobody sees you devouring it in a moment of weakness.

Nerdgasm alert:

The above is a video of King reading out a chapter from Dr. Sleep, his sequel to The Shining. If you haven’t read/seen The Shining then The Simpsons sums it up quite beautifully here.

Yes, there’s a new serving of supernatural douchebaggery in the works and this time the story resportedly focusses on Danny 30 years after his dad Jack Nicholson (sorry, Jack Torrance) tried to bring the family closer with the aid of a fire axe.

Danny now works in hospice as sort of John Edwards-esque psychic shrink helping terminally ill patients feel better about crossing over. For a moment everything seems perfect until psychic vampires turn up and begin to feed on life force of the living. As they do.

Either way it’ll probably be amazing in a “I’ll read it on Kindle and nobody will know” kind of way.

If it doesn’t end up with the Stephen King go-to ending of choice, that is, disrupted Indian burial ground/Satan did it, then I’ll be very disappointed.

“Come play with us Danny….Forever… And ever… And ever.”

This is an oldie but a goodie. The above video is Strange Poses...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:32:00 -0500

This is an oldie but a goodie. The above video is Strange Poses by Madrid-based artist Yolanda Dominguez. The aim was to demonstrate how absurd and ridiculous the the poses used in glamourous fashion spreads translate to the mundane real world (in comparison).

The result is all arched-back or hunched over hilarity in the most prosaic of every locations; in the supermarket, on the sidewalk, at the bus stop.

While fashion magazines have sometimes provided easy target practice for critics, Yolanda’s poses has sparked the conversation with shrewd humour.

Newt Gingrich provided what looks to be the most awkward and...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:59:00 -0500

Newt Gingrich provided what looks to be the most awkward and defining soundbite of the Republican primary race earlier this week when he suggested (flat out said) that immigrants learn English because it is the language of prosperity.

I was inspired to know more about about this wizard of speechcraft and after reading about where Newt stands on the issues I stumbled on the video above from the team at Bad Lipreading. As one commenter said, “this is the most sense Newt Gingrich has ever made.”

Enjoy.

At this point it Mitt Romney could walk around Harlem with Bruce Willis’ sandwich board sign a la Die Hard With a Vengeance and still get out alive.

Meanwhile in the Megalong Valley in the Blue Mountains…

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:49:00 -0500

Meanwhile in the Megalong Valley in the Blue Mountains…

Global roaming with Ruby Rose

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:55:00 -0400

“… Not necessarily, I think they are great for people that aren’t as open with their sexuality as I am. For people who want to feel comfortable being free to express themselves knowing it is completely acceptable. I guess the only time I would consider staying in one is if I was in a country where I didn’t feel safe to be who I am in that regard.”

Ruby Rose and I pow-wowing on the LGBT hotel trend. Click here for more.

Interesting article (here) from Fast Company on how the words...

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 03:44:00 -0400

Interesting article (here) from Fast Company on how the words you use in your tweets give away your gender and politics.

Kenzo Digital: Directors Cut

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 05:07:00 -0400

So a few weeks ago I exchanged words with Weiden + Kennedy creative director Kenzo Digital (click), otherwise known as the video artist behind Beyonce’s living-music-video-esque, ubiquitously revered performance (here) at this years Billboard Music Awards.

Kenzo has also created video geniosity for President Barack Obama and is just now putting the finishing touches on concert documentary for Kanye West so you can gather that if anyone’s getting “up there” in the visual art game, it’s him.

It’s light, it’s fluffy and the edited for travel version is here (click) but anybody interested in hearing about exploitative 2005 hip-hop, recontextualisation, or just want tips on where to hang in New York then read on.

You’ve garnered a huge amount of attention since your Beyonce collab, how were you approached by her team?

Beyonce’s choreographer Frank Gatson reached out to me. We spoke about different ways to approach the concept. I came back the next day and met with Beyonce and we started from there.

Did she put any creative restrictions on how far you could push her?

It was a collaborative effort. I wouldn’t say there were restrictions; in fact it was the opposite. She is a great performer and being able to collaborate with talent who dances and performs so masterfully really just opened up many possibilities for me creatively.

What would you say if I said “visual artists are the new rockstars.”

I’ve never actually heard that before. There is no question that we live in a visually driven society, and that video and the moving image has taken on a new meaning and function in the world. We are fast trying to inject ourselves into the narrative, and the people that can create that mythology can create worlds.

Your most recent work City of God’s Son blends opera and hip-hop and video samples to create a narrative. How to you even concept a project that looks and sounds as ambitious as that?

It comes from a combination of things. Growing up as a kid my childhood fantasy movie stared all my favourite rappers who were like my heroes at the time (Nas, Jay Z, Ghostface, Biggie, Raekwon). As I got older I and started making films years later, that kind of crime imagery was exploited by pop gangster rap in like 2005. That imagery was exploitive, ignorant and most importantly boring. So I wanted to still tell that story but find a whole new medium to convey it and give some real depth to the characters. From a concept stand point, as a visual artist it was an opportunity for me to comment on our over reliance on visuals, and make something that was visual through audio to show how under developed some of our other senses have become.

How do you imagine people will interpret the film?

It is a really unique experience. I film experience unlike anything else really. I can imagine its kind of like if you could breathe underwater. At first you would probably freak out a little getting used to it, then after you intuitively adapt to how to explore the world it becomes liberating and a sensory awakening experience of sorts.

Do you think there is ever a line artists can cross when it comes to sampling and appropriation? If so, how do you stay careful not to cross it when re-contextualising a video or piece of music?

Yeah absolutely. Sometimes I think a simplistic nod to an original is great, especially when it is properly contextualized. But there are a lot of cheap rip offs in everything from music, to film, to art. I think great appropriators are able to really add to new value to the original and expand upon or recontextualize the original meaning. I think a masterful sampler intimately knows what the source is and how he’s playing it, you have to have a full spectrum understanding to do it justice.

You’ve done work for L’Oreal, H&M and the Obama campaign. Are you careful about who you align yourself with and is it difficult to maintain creative integrity when cash and politics get involved?

It’s new and unexplored territory out there. To me I look at working with brands as part of being an artist in this era which is a vastly different experience and world than that of many of the artists I look up to from previous generations. I’m not saying its what everyone does or should do but it’s a new path that I don’t think was there before like it is now.

I can say for me it’s a combination of things. I like telling different kinds of stories, some are best expressed through film, other music, and others through more concept driven art. That being said I’m looking for different kinds of challenges from different projects. With commercials I’m just trying to make short films that are fun to watch and have an interesting take on the brand, I’m not looking for a chance to make an artistic statement. To me it’s just an opportunity to work on my craft, and learn other ways of filmmaking that’s at a bigger scale budget wise.

My independent projects never stop, if anything it just makes me better at what I do when I work with no compromise, and that’s always when I make my best work. I recently creative directed the most recent Jordan commercials for Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul for ad agency Wieden + Kennedy NY, who I joined about a year ago as a creative director.

To me the land scape of all moving image communication commercial or not is all shifting in the same direction and it is a credit to Wieden + Kennedy that they work with some of the more non-traditional filmmakers and artists like myself to help define how art and commerce merge through the moving image by supporting our vision in various ways and plugging us into brands that we naturally speak the language of like Nike or Jordan in my case.

How much did/does New York City and the world in general influence your work?

I love New York, its my favourite city for sure. I am addicted to the visual textures of the city, the chaos, and it has some of the best food in the world. I would also love to live in Paris, I get the same bombardment of visual textures from cities all over the world, but Paris is on another level. I would love to live out there to make work and just see how it effects me. For me there is no lack of inspiration in NY.

Do you visit local galleries, museums or are there books that inspire you?

Sometimes, I definitely go in phases. If im in the middle of concepting something I don’t like to look or think about anything other than what I’m working on. The whole process of thinking it through on your own terms is very important to me. Sometimes its just nice to walk around the MET and listen to music. I mostly opt for just walking around the city though, that really does it for me.

Where are your favourite places in the city to…

Eat: Torrisi, Kanoyama, Baohaus, and Ippudo

Shop: A bunch of different places, I like Opening Ceremony and Supreme, and always Raulph Lauren

What’s next after City of God’s Son?

I have many projects in the pipeline, everything from TV projects, to short films and video art projects. After the Beyonce project I hopped on this concert documentary project I’m directing for Kanye West that’s gonna be cool.

I woke up at 6am and was greeted by The New York Times gallery...

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:15:00 -0400

I woke up at 6am and was greeted by The New York Times gallery of Sarah Palin’s hacked emails, including a couple about her installing a tanning bed. So in the interest of distracting everyone from giving her too many clicks let’s snuggle up and enjoy Net-a-porter’s video on how fashion bloggers are changing fashion.

Email of the Day

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:12:00 -0400

“I am shooting this video for kanye tomorrow and it is very time consuming. Can we interview Tuesday? Thanks again”

Like a punch in the face.

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:35:00 -0400

On Sunday I gave visual artist Chris Cunningham $80 to assault my brain with the expected images of hardcore violence, murderous drum beats and fanboys shouting “I love you Chris!” from the Opera House balconies. I kind of got a feeling that he was having a laugh and that this was his way of giving us the finger. At least I hope so.

Caffeinated and ready to tumbl again.

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:35:00 -0400

Caffeinated and ready to tumbl again.

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Fri, 20 May 2011 00:24:00 -0400