Gaia x NohJColey in BK

This is awesome. Thank you Brooklyn Street Art.

Saber’s Health Care Reform PSA

via Wooster Collective

Pampers, Dunnies & Valencia

Today was busy (I started this post yesterday). This morning I scrambled to finish my Pampers Cruisers brief and quickly biked over to 60 Federal to delivery my pecha kucha presentation (20 slides, 20 sec for each). I could definitely use a mulligan, but it’s nice to not worry about diapers anymore (the 20×20 format is much more challenging than it sounds).

After that I tried out The Toaster Oven for lunch. Not bad. Not great. The best part was deciding my next move mid-bbq chicken sandwich – a visit to Roman at 1AM.

I missed the opening of Eternal Sleep so I needed to check out the work…and buy some Fat Caps. The show provided me with some much needed inspiration for a few upcoming assignments. My favorites are below:

I like to end each visit by buying a toy (action figure) or two. For the last couple of months I’ve been a huge fan of Fat Caps (I actually have all 4 in that picture), but not without caution. The problem is that none of the boxes are labeled so you don’t know which design you get until you open it up. The suspense is fun, until you get a duplicate, which I have experienced several times already. Instead of a let down, I decided to explore another design that caught my eye last trip, Kid Robot’s Dunny. The decision was a success as I opened up two ridiculously awesome designs.

Dunny – Ye Olde English – HiCalorie x Julie West

Dunny – Ye Olde English – Mimic Black 2/25

I was feeling pretty good after this trip so I decided to keep things going. I hopped on my bike and headed down Howard St and into the Mission. I made a couple of quick stops at thrift and bike stores before stopping in 826 Valencia. There I bought two books: “Fever Chart” by Bill Cotter and “The Wild Things” by David Eggers (an adaptation of both the children’s book and recent screenplay). I love going into 826 by the way, the place is always filled with kids and the energy is palpable. I spoke with the cashier, who was lovely, and she said that the kids were all writing about their worst fears for a Halloween contest (the winner gets the pajamas that the character Max wears in the movie, awesome). Anyway, on my way back I saw some phenomenal street art. Neatly placed across the sidewalks off 18th street were long and short pieces of tape with words written on each one in sharpie. I snapped the following shots:

Pretty cool medium and a very fitting way to wrap up my trip to the Mission. Look for more on Valencia Street when I finish my cultural map for class. Respect.

Wooster TV

Sara & Marc Schiller (@SaraSchiller & @MarcDSchiller in digital form) have provided a great deal of inspiration in my life. Since discovering Wooster Collective in 2006, I have become a different person.

I began looking at things differently, asking more questions and demanding more of myself. I felt the need to address the creative void in my life by pushing my comfort zone and following my impulses. As a direct result, and a byproduct of my aimless walks around Manhattan, I too became obsessed with street art.

From posters in midtown to the tags in the lower east side to murals in bushwick, I discovered an artwork that was filled with passion, brimming and crouched ninja-like ready to attack.

It’s beautiful and it’s real and it speaks to me. The dirty sidewalks and abandoned brownstones can (and do) effectively communicate with any culture or ethnicity. It tells a better story too. And the story, no matter what, has my attention. This style of artwork, although powerful in the streets, has become more and more accessible to the masses through social media platforms and file sharing communities like Flickr and YouTube. I mean, how else would I have seen Logan Hicks creating an alley in Taipai or Elbow Toe’s cross country journey. Sharing their stories online helps to connect the dots. You learn more about the artists you admire and see them for the people they are and not just for the amazing work they produce. Insights like these, about passion and dedication, make us all better and more appreciative individuals.

It should come as no surprise that WC is one step ahead. Yesterday, they announced the launch of their new YouTube channel that will curate and archive art videos from around the world. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

A couple of openings

There have been so many great openings lately. Over the last week I’ve attended Attaboy’s “Antidote” at 1AM and El Mac’s “Faces of Life” at Fifty24SF.

Attaboy’s (Daniel Seifert) work, below, features a lot of color pencil illustrations and stencil work on transparent plastic. I thought the installation was incredible. Roman and the crew at 1AM are first class all the way.

It’s also worth noting that Attaboy is the co-founder of Hi-Fructose magazine. Badass.

Fifty24SF had an equally impressive show. El Mac’s giant portraits are created using spray paint on burlap. I’ve been fortunate enough to pass by a couple of his street murals over the last couple of days too. See below.