A LOOK BACK . . .
artist NICHOLAS STEINDORF and musician DARREN WILL – at SPRING BREAK, MARCH 2015 / NYC.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
last year at this time, NICHOLAS STEINDORF was exhibiting a handful of short, intense and lyrical animated CGI video clips at SPRING BREAK ART FAIR. DARREN WILL composed the original soundtracks, that accompanied each clip.
this year, Darren’s band, MOTHXR, [mother] for whom he is the bassist . . is a having a big release party for their new album, ‘Centerfold’, tomorrow night at BABY’S ALL RIGHT, and . . they just scored a real nice review in FADER – link follows.
this time around, Nicholas collaborated with Darren to produce a ‘lyric video’ for one of new album’s songs: ‘She Can’t Tell’ – link follows.
MOTHXR – ‘CENTERFOLD’ ALBUM RELEASE PARTY BABY’S ALL RIGHT, 146 BROADWAY, BROOKLYN, NY
FRI FEB 26, 2016 – DOORS OPEN at 8PM
+ SPECIAL GUESTS
totally dig the new album’s design, or what !!!!
esp that . . faux ‘commercial’ backdrop. and, the retro, 70s ? – nylon windbreaker jacket.
cheesy, NOT !!
absolute – fab. just grabbed me – the moment I saw it.
‘vernacular’, I think that’s the moment’s big . . style: key.
the release poster . . so mellow/exciting. so throw-back. so Americano.
just so, exactly on the right/wrong sweet spot . . of cool.
great graphic. chalkbaord fonts, everything. right down to the shade of the lipstick, orange (!!)
if you remember Nicholas’s clips for Spring Break 2015, as well as I do, you can take a real . . ride, forward.
pure visual poetry.
melodic intensity . . yours for the taking !!
NICHOLAS STEINDORF . . is a big, & dynamic part . . of that YALE MFA GRAD class of 2014 – which is blowing up big in NYC, and deservedly so.
must have some . . helluva 2 years !!
‘THE OUTDOOR WORLD’, 2016
A SHORT FILM BY – TOMMY MALEKOFF
FEATURING ORIGINAL MUSIC BY – JOE WILLIAMS
& running 10:17 minutes
FILM REVIEW – by NANCY SMITH, FEB 24, 2016
A singularly striking, but casually unwinding, almost freestyle cinematic ode – to MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE and also, to Black life . . .
as seen through the lens of a young New Yorker.
the word: vernacular – does come to mind.
TOMMY MALEKOFF leans into his subject, like a ski jumper leans into his skies.
‘The Outdoor World’ . . is a remarkable short film on MEMPHIS, of all places.
independently made by a young New Yorker, TOMMY MALEKOFF with a hand-held camera, and not much else. okay, and – with a lot of . . verve.
it also features . . an incredible, original sound track by JOE WILLIAMS aka DJ MOTION GRAPHICS. This singularly striking ‘travelogue’ with absolutely no words, but which is metaphor-rich, for your own taking !! is just transfixing – from frame one. it’s just the way TOMMY MALEKOFF, apparently a natural behind the camera, sees the world from his own very personal & straight-forward inquisitive . . vantage point. we are one with him, in his journey behind the lens, a young artist / explorer / producer just about to burst on the scene . . with no, or not much (!!) previous history or art world baggage to hold him back.
part of the magic spell of the film, besides just how strange vernacular Memphis can be . . . esp to a New Yorker, is the rhythm, the momentum, the framing & editing . . of the visuals – which pair up so nicely with the rhythm of the sound track, so completely, so sweetly. words ? who needs words. I might be wrong, but the closest I can come to describe the way the film moves, in words . . is, it’s the visual equivalent of house / wave / beach music.
it moves real casual, but it’s very transfixing. and then there’s the music.
in its own way, the film is also about . . BLACK LIFE.
as with most cutting edge art today – it’s also about indie low-key production, but big on both content, hand-lettered info graphics & real world digital photography . . in other words: small scale / big visions. DIY spirit, individual skills, and . . making your singular voice count, within the mass web of social media that surrounds us, bombards us 24/7 & then, focusing in on our own particular location-specific . . urban experience.
as for ‘graphics’ / sometimes called graphic design:
these 2 images are from Tommy’s website.
if ‘quiet beauty’ were a catalog, a style – this would be that, and that . . would be ok.
being right on the vibe – is hard to do.
don’t take it for granted, just how striking this singular home page . . is.
TOMMY MALEKOFF, and ANDREW KASS . . at ‘The Outdoor World’ – 170 Suffolk St, Lower East Side, NYC screening.
TOMMY MALEKOFF & ANDREW KASS are key players i.e. big energy & innovative creative contributors . . among the informal swirl of the very downtown, very politically aware, ‘seed-like’ & ‘gonna be’ very influential . . openly subversive, indie rebel, creative, cutting-edge & mostly underground . . urban-based, and informally structured . . artist crew centered around curator / artist . . SEAN VEGEZZI, is the best I can put it.
you know, the guys of . . 15 WARREN ST, 170 SUFFOLK, and 34 JOEY.
again, very urban-based in outlook, as in rooted in the actual infra-structure of the city, or with regard to global politics. a general over-all dynamic, as opposed to say . . specifically sticker art, or street art per se, though the group shows I have seen obviously include a lot of street art just by the nature of how things roll indie in NYC. the key is, these guys grew up in the downtown area, and within the underground fringes of the downtown art scene, and they don’t wait for things to happen, they just throw up the shows – on their own, or hit up other indie pop-up venues, or subway stations, lol. and abandoned buildings, and let’s leave it at that.
TOMMY MALEKOFF . . seems to have been blessed, not only with a natural eye . . for the camera & in turn – indie filmmaking – but, also with the insight that it takes to inform the footage, and thus blow up a small film of 10 mins – into quite the entrancement.
quite the statement.
and, with no .. words.
JOE WILLIAMS aka DJ MOTION GRAPHICS, and of whose moniker . . we have no doubt.
motion graphics – is what this film is all about . . style-wise.
and JOE supplied the original film sound track – and it is pro, and it is brilliant.
I asked Tommy to tell me a little bit more about how the film’s music score came to be, & this is what he emailed me:
“For the score – I came to Joe with 3 songs:
‘Walking in Memphis’ by Marc Cohn, ‘Where is da Bud’ by 3 6 Mafia, and ‘I can’t help falling in love with you’, by Elvis.
Joe took the melodies from these songs and applied strings to them instead of lyrics to make a more orchestral, atmospheric sound that referenced popular songs from/about Memphis. He also used samples of noises from mosquitoes and ducks for parts of the song(s). Each segment of the video has a special song made up of these references.”
backtrack: 170 SUFFOLK appears to be a large, vacant one story floor-thru space, much like a garage. SEAN VEGEZZI and pals put up an incredible pop-up, group show there back in June, 2014.
and interestingly enough, TOMMY MALEKOFF was one the featured artists. no, he didn;t show a film, it was kind of the exact opposite of a film, he put subtle ‘trash / tracks’ throughout the space. I know – it sounds crazy, but it really gave the place some . . ‘spatial’ grit. trash from North Carolina. bye the way. Tommy seems to be into . . geography. cities.
it made the space ‘bounce’, transcend. added city infrastructure ‘narrative’ – does that say it better.
one day I have to post the pix.
maybe soon.
as if . . anything by this crew needs grit.
grit & hardcore thought – am I.
I’m up for as much grit as you can throw at me. anything, but the wall-to-wall mediocrity this town’s art scene has become, for the most part.
of course inside it is dark. it is quite huge, and wide open and beautiful. raw, but not dysfunctional, with a great bank of high windows at the back near the ceiling, bringing the city lights inside. there was just enough light to pick out ‘poster’ mages from the film.
football. hmm. the outdoor world, you just never know.
DJ DONDERO, in front of one of the ‘film’ posters – featuring the MEMPHIS PYRAMID, what a strange tourist attraction.
and that’s just how the movie starts . .
the film’s outlook is curious, more than anything, I would say.
the ‘souvenir’ site, the ‘tourists’, mainstream America, America . . the Great Mall, speaks for itself. come up with your own metaphors, they are yours – free for the taking.
form the elevator ride down, to the crocs in the water. to the history of the place itself.
there was an info sheet hand-out, (it hosted the mega-fight between LENNON LEWIS vs MIKE TYSON in in 20020) – when you entered.
the projection screen was just off to the right, the back wall.
you can see the lights & buildings of the city’s night . . just outside, through the bank of large windows at the ceiling, just above the screen. very nice, lucky random draw-of-the-straw – real estate touch.
and then the film opens.
epic.
the film begins, with an aerial shot, and we descend via elevator into the Memphis Pyramid.
at first I thought, ok . . it’s going to be an ‘extreme urban infrastructure’ take down. a walk on the wild side, illegal high storied intrusion. but it was in fact, quite the opposite.
it was like finding a home movie souvenir, by a really smart kid. and then the music kicks in & you are off and running. entranced & wondering. wtf. this was no kid. this was a master at the vernacular. vernacular photography – look it up. not quite the same as ‘found’ photography . . because Mr. Malekoff is indeed the eye behind the camera of his very own footage. . with a pictorial style . . all his own, somewhere within the genre of ‘reality’ ‘souvenir’ and ‘documentary. it’s not fiction. it’s not made-up, but it is chosen & composed. and the vibe is very very cool, very chill. the direction, the easy scope, the unobtrusiveness, yet the telling . . of the average day to day, is not average at all. trust me, I’ve seen too many film projects in my lifetime – to know. the diff.
talent is rare, but when it spools – trust me, talent . . outs.
the croc.
the Outdoor World. Memphis – style !!
the big catfish . . ?
scale, size. animals. bio. haven’t I been hearing those very words, lately ?
the ‘tiny’ minnows.
we are minnows swimming in a sea of technology, social media & information overload.
we are on the other side of that glass. whose in the outdoor world, them or us ?
and hey, that’s just what I’ve been thinking . . who is really bio these days. we are . .
we are wired. we are . . wireless. we are computer merged. we are . . mutated.
and we are under assault by the nano life of the food chain. invisible particles. viruses. the icebergs are melting, but the viruses are growing.
everything is upside down.
the chicks, the cars. The Outdoor World – Memphis style.
the world was once so – easy. maybe that’s why souvenirs are so – pleasant.
LIL RON – the indoor / outdoor world ?!! (reference footage)
fab. bio. skills.
the dancing is called . . gangsta walking. it seems to be a form of ‘bio’ competition.
no wires, but wired !! but smooth wired. and nothing . . digital. well maybe the music recorded. it’s also referred to as ‘jooking’ . . it’s a dance native to Memphis.
Memphis must be such a special place. what’s in the water ?
besides crocs and catfish ? or maybe that’s it.
even, just the songs. the Memphis blues.
B. FRANK (reference footage)
LIL BUCK (reference footage)
back inside ‘The Outdoor World’ – at 170 SUFFOLK.
the hardcore party . . life.
sure to be a player. . .
in the outdoor world of NYC . . night life.
ASPEN and MOSIE.
yep.
‘The Outdoor World’ . . comes inside, and takes over . . your world.
if just for 10 mins.
you are knocked out of the water, taken deep down into the faux pyramid, and turned onto ‘jook’.
just a homemade ‘vignette’. not.
just another spectacular NYC night !! this crew never fails to knock it out of the park.
and they’re so chill – at it. the way they throw you – for a loop.
style. graphics. timing. curiosity. music. culture story-telling. slice of life documentary. the celebration of the great American vernacular. Memphis as seen by NYC.
the great American city adventure. cities are . .. us.
downtown indie filmmaker TOMMY MALEKOFF, and musician JOE WILLIAMS . . aced it.
always remember: ‘REVOLUTIONARY’ does NOT mean . . . terrorist.
witness our world after 9/11: terrorist equals . . FASCIST, BRUTALLY REPRESSIVE, HYPER-VIOLENT & the very anti-thesis of . . freedom, liberty, speech, art & LIFE !!
my other take away – was the discovery of this artist: EMORY DOUGLAS.
I had seen his work, but wasn’t aware of the total story – Minister of Culture for the BPP, the Black Panther Party from 1967 thru 80s – his art defined a generation & then took off and became global symbols for freedom.
there is a wonderful, vivid, and profoundly informative video clip on Mr. Douglas, his historical take on the Black Panthers – and the times they rose up from, his own involvement, as well personal first person background about his art-making.
this video was produced & directed by . . DRESS CODE out of NYC. dresscodeny.com
@dressscodeny
image: EMORY DOUGLAS – DRESS CODE VIMEO
EMORY DOUGLAS . . is still very much around, and his work is being exhibited globally.
I’d like to see another exhibit – in NYC.
super talented, super articulate, and for all appearances well-grounded & easy going . . but very, very focused, his oral history of the BBP movement, and his own work – this video clip is a gift. to us all, and it’s al the more remarkable by its non-strident tone & the first person narration.
oral history: priceless.
image: EMORY DOUGLAS – DRESS CODE VIMEO
his first formal foray into ‘art’ – was in a school print shop & the format of woodblock prints – made a lasting impression.
image: EMORY DOUGLAS – DRESS CODE VIMEO
his early depiction of cops . . as PIGS standing on 2 feet – went on to transcend the Black Panther Party & became a universal symbol for the abuse of power.
image: EMORY DOUGLAS – DRESS CODE VIMEO
his use of markers to ‘mimic’ the heavy black outlines of woodblock printing – reminded me of the very popular use of makers, ink pens, and Sharpies – today. esp among ‘sticker’ & cartoon artists. and illustrators and legions of graphic artists in general . . across the board. this is where art is today, in every sense Mr. Emory is a very much . . living artist.
image: EMORY DOUGLAS – DRESS CODE VIMEO
his words – are just as stirring as his art.
he says: art is a LANGUAGE – and that’s why it’s so POWERFUL.
image: EMORY DOUGLAS – DRESS CODE VIMEO
sticker art – or what ?!!!!!!!!!
art – as COMMUNICATION.
‘THE BLACK PANTHERS: Vanguard of the Revolution’, 2015
DIRECTED, PRODUCED & WRITTEN BY: STANLEY NELSON
A PBS DOCUMENTARY
FILM REVIEW – BY NANCY SMITH, FEB 18, 2016
An amazing archival & living history document, I was lucky enough to catch a PBS screening on my TV yesterday.
All these people I had heard tell about, but never really knew the facts about – came to life with wall-to-wall archival photos. The historical record, fleshed story & behind-the-scenes narratives are provided by a wide array of players – from all sides of the story: from FBI informants to the very compelling first person accounts provided by luminaries such as: KATHLEEN CLEAVER, ERIKA HUGGINS & JAMAL JOSEPH. All three, still very much alive, strong & vital . . . and, who had been there. in person, played a role, & lived through it. how can you beat that ?
so often with these historical PBS documentaries, fascinating as they are, we have only the archival footage, the old sienna, or black & white photos, the strips of journals and scraps of letters. dry, crusty, newspaper clippings – imbedded, colored, intentionally or not, and still interesting, don’t get me wrong – with the ‘bias’ of their times, which is invaluably telling – in its own way.
here, we have the real voices of a remarkable generation – an incredible oral history rolls out, closely following the chronological timeline of the events, and enriching our ‘take’ beyond all hope & imagination. It’s really a remarkable accomplishment. the film has a beautiful cinematic rhythm, too. not too shrill nor militant in tone – but it ‘packs’. the archival footage of then FBI Director J. EDGAR HOOVER – proves our by now, only ‘inherited’ subliminal thoughts on the guy – to be right on. ugly, ugly as sin. secret files, unfair trials, brutality, killings, by outright assassination, or by paper trails, as in no true affordable legal representation, etc. etc. at one point it even drops that even the ‘personal’ security guard with . . was it Fred Hampton or Huey Newton, or both – was a federal agent/informant.
on the other side, although the empowerment was real, and the uniform went a long way towards making the exploitive white folks wake up, and feel threatened, the proud afros, the cinematic black leather jackets, and the ubiquitous guns, was not so much truly terrorist in nature – as it was posing. strutting. these guys weren’t thugs, they were pop cultural visionaries, & as I write that – hope I’m not offending anybody – from the perspective of 2016 – they didn’t bomb schools, derail trains, blow-up suicide, mass machine gun, or poison. they walked their walk, they talked their talk, they strutted their stance. it was a form of power, but it was not terrorist, as we know it. it was militant, it was organized, it had a target, but it was also kind of by and for ‘writers’ – if you know what I mean. Bob Dylan was subversive, too. it was just finally time for a change, and these guys seized it. as far as I could see, they got pretty beat up, too. in the process. it was urban resistance, the militant style was their most potent weapon.
for artists, I think we all love anything ‘archival’ and esp of the photographic record . . one of the inherent visual strengths of the film – is just watching the self-empowerment & pride that glows out from these young strong faces. usually all we get to see in PBS records of the history of the USA . . are the beat-downs, the sadly mis-used & doomed genius musicians, and the true root/giants of our culture . . or the severely kicked-in-the-backside, if not lynched, downtrodden ordinary folk from the Jim Crow era. ok, occasionally we get brilliant film portraits of the modern gifted black women writers, like Zora Neal Huston and Alice Walker. this doc was so much different. you had to wonder, over and over – at the power of the Party, which came, truly – from within.
the other surprising aspect of the film, that will captivate artists is the actual artwork that runs through the film, and even informs the film’s final credits – artwork by EMORY DOUGLAS – the “Black Panther Party’s Minister of Culture and chief art director for their newspaper for 12 years.” Today we would call that – an indie zine !! a cross between folk lore, folk art, and mid-century revolutionary art. And lucky for us, as this documentary is made to celebrate the 50th (!!) of the movement – a very youthful and sweet Mr. Emory Douglas is still around and kicking, teaching, and making art . . to tell us his story – in the first person. priceless. I always saw the soulful woodblock print-type art. . on the covers of the books by the black woman writers I so revere, I never knew from where it had sprung, now I do. boy, is his time for global recognition overdue, or what !!
though of course, following the lives and different sets of circumstances of the various leaders, and even the heroic small ‘folks’ who get caught up in the party’s momentum – they all glowed with charisma and down home fire, coming from NYC 2016 – you can’t not appreciate their street style. and smarts. drives. dreams, goals. just such a beautiful, beautiful generation. again, I’m not saying this, to be smart-ass, nor to trivialize their fight, plight, brutalization, tragedy & the crass covert way the American system ‘played’ them, and the so-called ‘democratic’ gov’t failed them. except in New York, bye the way, witness the ultimate freedom of the New York 21.
just put it this way: the white cops, and the white feds look like mad-crazed un-educated nasty, rural dogs. fat, sweaty, mean, ill-clothed, and just so full of fear. such an attractive look, no wonder time is on the Black panther side, you are what you – eat.
there is one other one small slice of cinematic telling included here, that maybe won’t mean much to many, and . . if you blink you’ll miss it, so I’m mentioning it. and that’s the brief alliance of the Black Panther Party . . with THE YOUNG PATRIOTS aka the HILLBILLY NATIONALISTS – the young revolutionary voices that sprung up out of the deep, raw poverty & the outright government abuse of the stubborn & early-rooted Appalachia. if you are into quilts, fiddles, banjos & vintage hand-painted Southern Potteries – Blue Ridge dinnerware, you know what I’m talking about. another folk art rich area of America – that also got really ripped off. American dream, right. I think they were among the first to fight in the Revolutionary War, the Mountain Boys (?), and, the first to be ripped off by the new nation – by GEORGE WASHINGTON, himself, who taxed the hell out of their whiskey & beer industry, even stole the recipe – for his own big money-making use.
so yeah, with all the authentic first-hand accounts, and the glorious, if steely archival clips . . and, ‘clips’, i.e. moving film . . not just still black & white photographs – it’s hard to believe this film comes out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party . . whose full and
official title always was – and is: The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. self-defense being the key phrase.
and, after 9-11-2001, and certainly in light of the recent sad, brutal & shocking events in Paris, and elsewhere & even still here at home in the urban trenches, and it’s not just in the streets, bye the way: why isn’t . . ‘STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON’ up for an Oscar this month, why wasn’t the awesome JAMES BROWN biopic, ‘GET ON UP’ . . sweeping up at last year’s Oscars ?
don’t get me started, but even so . . repeat after 9-11, and on-wards – I think we all should really really think hard, about our ‘domestic’ policing, and I hope we can as a nation, better appreciate . . 50 years on, just how truly revolutionary their stance, their ideology, their intellect, their artistry, their power, their poetry, their militancy, their voice, their struggle . . was.
‘Black Panthers from Sacramento, Free Huey Rally, Bobby Hutton Memorial Park in Oakland, CA, 1969.’
courtesy of PIRKLE JONES & RUTH-MARION BARUCH
photo via: PHOTO GALLERY – THE BLACK PANTHERS.COM
‘THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD of the REVOLUTION’, ARTWORK BY: EMORY DOUGLAS
ANDY MISTER, ‘Fred Hampton’s Deathbed’, 2015. carbon pencil on handmade paper on panel, 20 x 16 in.
FRED HAMPTON, 1948-1969. African-American activist & revolutionary. Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party – who was gunned down in his sleep – by the ‘authorities’.
see: FRED HAMPTON
ps:
behind every joker . . the tears of a clown, ain’t that the truth !!
UP-DATE:THURS FEB 18, 2016 – 12:46 PM
growing up Canadian, and, just not knowing . . everything !!
I posted this artwork by ANDY MISTER . . because it really resonated with me. as a pure visual. raw, powerful. skills. I was first drawn to look at his work yesterday, I had checked it out before . . by the seemingly ‘random’, but very catchy !! & simple, ‘single unit’ image of a ‘small’ object – he had just posted to Instagram.
you know, the single cell . . of the big info aggregate. it’s fun to see what grabs our attention – in the huge sea of images & info we swim in.
that’s what I mean: how one small image can grab your attention . . and before you know it – you are up, off and running down info highway. Alice in Wonderland – among the infinite universe of Instagram posts.
in this case . . first I googled FRED HAMPTON & I found out who he was. and I was amazed. and I thought that – was that. but I guess there was a reason why ANDY MISTER had highlighted this particular work of his, done in 2015 – on his homepage.
because . . a couple of hours later I turn on my TV – and there is the PBS documentary . . ‘THE BLACK PANTHERS: Vanguard of the Revolution’ . . playing in my living room, on my big screen. I almost fell off my couch, oh yeah. the serendipity of the ‘info’ food chain & catching the wave.
the life of a dedicated ‘super-encounterer’, oh yeah.
jump started from: art.
now, that’s what makes me feel – it’s all for REAL.
sometimes in the search for art, I call that “following the bread crumbs” . . but this was much more than that – because it was such a random , a lucky, random connect. the power of the digital web. the power of the digital collective mind. the power of the . . ‘info trippin’.
talent seeking. world understanding. they used to use TAROT CARDS back in the day. before computers & smart phones.
just joking, maybe.
which I only found because . . an artist I follow, ever since I saw his work at LITTLE CAKES back in the 2000s . . BRENDAN MONROE . . @brendantheblob – did the huge wonderful illustration that accompanied it & took up 3/4 of the NYT, Sunday Review page of . . Jan 3, 2016.
I don’t have emojis on this keyboard – or I’d be going crazy with fireworks !!
fer sure.
it’s interesting to see ‘scale’ or ‘size’ . . . which is trending small in the art world, i.e. sticker art, i.e. Instagram & social media in general . . . also manifesting in the quote unquote: ‘real’ world – across many levels.
here’s 3 BIG ones:
the state of global health, global currency & . . global FASHION.
1. in the FILE UNDER: tell me I wasn’t right, category . . . and the huge threat of the ultra ‘tiny’- to OUR . . . human tiniest.
and, also FILE UNDER: it doesn’t take a rocket scientist that maybe it’s NOT a good idea to add pesticide to human drinking water.
apparently some common sense science, as opposed to the rigid old world science of the ‘unseen and therefore does not exist kind’ . . by some Argentinian scientists, Red Universitaria de Ambiente y Salud – are linking the surge of micro-cephaly with the wide spread use of a mosquito larvicide, Pyriproxyfen which has been widely added to Brazil’s drinking water (!!) in an effort to destroy mosquito eggs (a tiny unit of life – if there ever was one) & larvae (ditto).
Manufactured by SUMITOMO Chemical . . which is linked in turned to MONSANTO – which in turn is moving further & further away from the association – as more articles on this are published . . Sumitomo claims Pyripoxtyfen “had been approved by the WHO to combat mosquitoes and that extensive testing has shown that it doesn’t cause nervous system damage or affect reproductive ability.” Further, there are widely published “assertions by the Brazilian gov’t and U.S. health ‘authorities’ that there is NO scientific basis linking the use of the chemical to the birth defect”.
Tell that . . to the people of Flint, Michigan who were told by their good ole American gov’t & elected “authorities” – that their drinking water was safe. super high levels of lead are a threat to the cognitive development of their next generation(s) of babies (our tiniest unit of life).
“A gov’t truck sprayed a street with insecticide in Brazil’s capital, Brasilla, on Thursday”. note: the children being exposed.
PHOTO: ADRIANO MACHADO/REUTERS via WALL STREET JOURNAL
2. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY . . going smaller, too !!
in an effort to fight forgery, tax evasion, and make life harder for “terrorists, drug dealers, financial criminals and human traffickers (!!) and, to help with ‘negative interest rates’ – “former treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers is calling for a global agreement by monetary authorities to STOP issuing notes worth more than $50 or $100.
WALL STREET JOURNAL, PG C2. Wed Feb 17, 2016.
3. SHOES !!!!!!!!
you know – those tiny things you wear on your smallest appendage.
of course, nowhere is the (relatively) tiny impish monkey . . wreaking more havoc – than in the world of fashion. SHOES – the smallest unit of the ‘look’: have it right or lose it all. no in-betweens. no second chances.
I’m serious. anybody in the fashion world is going to agree, or else lose their job – this year. if you haven’t called the right shoe . . you have nothing. zero. zilch. doesn’t matter how fashion-forward, or pretty the frock. how ‘fresh’ or young the model, or DIY down & dirty the props.
wrong show: game over.
and it’s not just calling the right style: flat, pointy toes, sneaker construction – it also breaks down within all that. ballet flats – out. pointy toes, but heels too high – out. sneakers – too high of a platform sole: out.
you gotta be on your toes – to master the fashion scene in this year of the tricky monkey !!
style editors: good luck.
PUBLIC SCHOOL . . for DKNY – does semi-chunky urban boot, just right. of course !!
PHOTO SOURCE: print ad, WSJ – MARCH 2016 WOMEN’S STYLE
DIOR . . has got the dressy shoe – nailed.
the kittenish heel, preferably in metal !! is the big winner this season. but this higher one, a modified kitten heel if you look closely. though slightly chunky, still / but just . . on it’s very tippy tip toes .. . makes the mark. helped by the sharp contrast colors, black & white rule. maybe red. two tones are good. but absolutely no nude, nude is so over. so dated. (sorry, Bloomingdales & Princess Kate/Duchess of Cambridge).
and a nice big bow, or buckle – is fab. esp in the front of that long pointy toe – voila !! tres chic. and everything else, fuggetaboutit.
don’t you just love how fashion world is so . . cruel. so fas-chist.
so art world-like.
PHOTO SOURCE: print ad, NYT STYLE MAGAZINE – WOMEN’S FASHION Feb 14, 2016
shoes by – PACO RABANNE. ($860)
PHOTO SOURCE: print ad, NYT STYLE MAGAZINE – WOMEN’S FASHION Feb 14, 2016
CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION . . SNEAKER.
PHOTO SOURCE: print ad, WSJ WOMEN’S STYLE – MARCH 2016
and just to pull it . . . FULL CIRCLE / art world-wise for the . . purists, lol !
(tiny) video game inspired . . ski STICKERS . . to put on your skis, and – which also appeared as embroideries . . on & by: LACOSTE – AW 2016 collection.
image via Instagram . . @wallpapermag
NASTY NECKFACE will be airbrushing shirts . . LIVE TODAY !!!
at the LA ART BOOK FAIR !!!
8 BALL ZINES . . presents:
NASTY NECKFACE – CUSTOM AIRBRUSH SHIRTS !!!
ONLY 50 SHIRTS !!! – GO GET ‘EM !!!
TODAY – SAT FEB 13, 2016 / 3-6 PM
LAABF / LA ART BOOK FAIR – 2016
MOCCA GEFFEN – 152 CENTRAL AVE, L.A., CALIFORNIA
poster image via Instagram: @8BALLCOMMUNITY
like, I said: HAPPY VALENTINES DAY !!
image by NASTY NECKFACE via Instagram:@nastyneckface1
and, just because . . .
1) I . . can !!
2) LMAO
3) I’m a hard-core, natural-born contrarian !!
image by NASTY NECKFACE via Instagram: @nastyneckface1
NYC . . street legend CHRIS RWK / ROBOTS WILL KILL . . .
has work in the FAB – ‘YAB’ group show at GALERIE F in Chicago.
this is the LAST weekend – to catch the show, though all the works remain – up for sale, on their website store.
Chris RWK – YAB sticker (boy)
size: 8.5 x 11 in.
price: $100
markers on paper sticker – this work is unique & was created specifically for this exhibit.
image & purchase info: Robots Will Kill – YAB – Galerie F
http://www.galerief.com/portfolio/robots-will-kill-yab-sticker-boy/
Chris RWK – YAB – YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL sticker
size: 8.5 x 11 in.
price: $100
markers on sticker paper – this work is unique & was created specifically for this exhibit.
image & purchase info: Robots Will Kill – YAB – GALERIE F
we FINALLY . .
caught up with Chris RWK – at VOLA VIDA on the Lower East Side, this past November 2015.
CHRIS RWK . . . paintings on canvas
left: ‘Feeling Grey With a Hint of Blue’, mixed media. 12 x 24 in.
($800)
right: ‘Still Rings True’, mixed media, 12 x 24 in.
($800)
been a fan for a long, long time & CHRIS RWK . . knows it.
CHRIS RWK . . whips me up – a souvenir – to take home.
the appreciation, goes a long way – both ways !!
CHRIS RWK, VOLA VIDA, Lower East Side, NYC. Nov 14, 2015.
PHOTOS OF CHRIS RWK & his work, at VOLA VIDA, NYC: NANCY SMITH, NOV 14, 2015
