Nothing to do? Why not meet someone at the MET. Catch The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion, closing August 9th. It examines the changing ideal of beauty from 1947 to 1997 and the people that helped project them. This riveting exibit features photography, video and articles of clothing from Yves Saint Laurent to Versace. Go on a sunny day to see Roxy Paine on the Roof:Maelstrom, a 130 foot by 45 foot stainless steel sculpture that looks like a tree on steroids. Ok maybe not exactly. There’s plenty else to see including Michelangelo’s First Painting. If none of this tickles your fancy, feel free to pout in the room full of Monets’. I mean, really, how many brillant works can you have in one building? … I guess that’s why they put one of the roof.

Here are a few photos of The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion, courtesy of the special exhibitions page.

Cristobal Balenciaga (French, b. Spain 1895-1972)
Day dress, 1955-56

Gianni Versace (Italian, b. 1946-1997)
Evening dress, spring/summer 1991

Bert Stern (American, b. 1929)
Twiggy in Yves Saint Laurent, Vogue, March 15, 1967

Ok, I’ll cut to the chase. Mug shots are usually ugly. Seriously. No criminal says, “Hey I should definitely put on some more lip balm in case I get arrested tonight. Wouldn’t want a busted mug shot.” And the photographer certainly doesn’t care about capturing your good side… no pun intended, or the guilty twinkle in your eye. Too bad now-a-days mug shots don’t look like they use to. These next few, most likely taken by police photographers, look art gallery worthy when they were really just functional; full body and a head shot and into jail you go. Little did these old time criminals know they’d be plastered all over the internet…

Check out A Time to Get for more mug shots.

History repeats itself, that’s for sure. Music is a perfect example. Ever notice why a new song is so easily catchy? Maybe it’s because you’ve already heard it in the past. Who would have thought worldwide classics could be so ripped off. Are these songs “influenced” or just flat out plagiarized?

Racism and thread? Ok, wait, hold on.
Racism: An American Family Value is a new exhibition open at The Center for Book Arts in NYC. The striking title is centered on racism used in art to expose it, satirize it, and document it. The bold pieces are coupled with an annual members show, Threads: Interweaving Textu[r]al Meaning. Members of the Center’s art community and other select artists use actual thread to suggest content and form. This isn’t your mama’s type of thread. Visually compelling and equally thought provoking, these works from over 60 different artists will have you looking at art in a new light. The show is free 6 days a week until September 12th. So don’t sew your mouth shut about it.

Check out a few photos I took on opening night.

Candice Hicks, Common Thread Series (detail)

Heidi Neilson and Chris Petrone, Uniform Paper (text reads 100% Prison Jumpsuit)

Miguel Luciano, Cracker Juan

Vandana Jain, The Lego Alphabet

Banksy is an English artist more undercover than an FBI agent. Even his birth name is a mystery. And good luck on sending a birthday card; was it 1974? ‘75? … Is he real? This graffiti writing and stenciling talent focuses his work on satire, politics and culture. You may never be able to shake his hand but you’ll sure enjoy his unconventional work like anarchist rats and homicidal ATM machines. And if you happen to be in the U.K., check out his exhibit at Bristol Museum now until August 31st. Mystery man isn’t a penny squeezer either, you can see his crazy pieces for free.

Banksy vs Bristol

Thobias Fäldt, a Swedish photographer lives and works in Gothenburg, Sweden.  He uses flash photography in the most bizarre, yet intriguing way. It’s up to the viewer to interpret what each photograph means to them because he chooses to keep it a mystery.

His brand new book, Year One, is expected to be released in spring of this year.

“None of the pictures from my series, ‘year one,’ are planned or staged—they’re always snapshots—but i try to frame the picture so you don’t know where it’s taken and you don’t get any geographic information; no answers are given.”

Quote borrowed from I heart photography’s interview with the artist.

Sammy Lin, a coffee shop in Vancouver takes its coffee with art. See how dressed up a latte can be! Playing with your food is so passé.

Street art is what usually refers to graffiti, but we’re forgetting perfect spaces to cover; the street.

Roadworth isn’t forgetting. Check out these crazy alterations of blacktop.

Neither does his art. Mark Jenkins’ website has a great section on Street Installations. In what must be a very confusing situation to see, he displays what looks like bodies in weird positions such as halfway in a fountain, diving in a trashbag and even with their head through a wall.

I am curious to people reactions. It seems as though his stuff is all over the world, so I am wondering if anyone who reads this has ever seen one of his pieces.

We would like to give a big THANKS to our good friends at Uncle Magazine  for helping us get hammered the right way!

Friday night at Public Assembly, formally known as Galapagos, (we all remember Cut & Sewn’s epic Everyone Wants a Piece Party) brought good vibes, good people and excellent exclusive reading material.

Sponsored by New Rome, the night kicked off right with mix-masters Indian Giver. There wasn’t a single booty in the crowd that wasn’t shaking. Using a Girl-Talk minded mix, they spun their own original flavor with a very energetic guitarist, drummer and singer. Singing along with Bono takes cajones. Here’s a video quicky if you’re curious and feel free to download their sweet album, Taking It All Back: The Mixtape Album.

Closing the night was DJ Swaaan. He rocked the house, we danced until bedtime aka when our motor skills began to shut down.

So why were we there anyway? To celebrate Uncle Magazine’s launch of Issue II . To read it in full, click here.
In only a matter of days will you be able to get your hands on a hard copy. We assume you don’t want to have to look long for it, so here’s an answer to the savenger hunt.

If that’s not enough for you, put on Indian Giver’s Mixtape, load up the photo album of the night, and let the slideshow begin.

For more stuff about the Uncle Empire, click here.

This week as I was roaming the streets of Noho, I noticed this contrast of black and white on the ground known as a crosswalk. As I approached 3rd St and Broadway, maybe, I found this:

This begs two questions:

1. Is that true? Has the origami I’ve been so fond of for years been for the uncool? Diddy told me he liked it!

2. Who is behind this?

In answering these, I found new depths of sadness. The first answer is a resounding yes. I didn’t know it, but I was tricked by supernerds to make origami; they schemed for a long time and finally pulled me in. Oh well, I still think I’ve been majorly suave giving origami cranes on all of my first dates. The second answer came to me in a dream or better yet, google. It turns out this crew, the Not So Cool Kids were just doing some advertising. Also unfortunately, I wasn’t the first to find this.

Have you seen this?

I met Janine Martel, the creator of Thumbook a few months ago. Not knowing if this was an undercover scheme, Janine pulled out a set of different colored stamp pads, asked me to smudge my thumb into the color of my choice, press it onto a page of her teeny tiny book, and draw a self portrait with her matching colored markers. As if my finger print couldn’t be more of a self-identifier, she had me write a quote or philosophy that I live by on the opposite page (see below).

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