I'm starting a new series tonight, one of two new ongoing artist features that I aim to keep posting to in the weeks, months, decades that follow. Raymond Pettibon, in my opinion is punk rock's answer to Andy Warhol, cynically stoking his work with such truly american made pop culture references as handguns and baseball, celebrity murder and mickey mouse. It is brilliant and dark and always provoking. But what makes me a fan most of all is his use of text and the hand drawn representation of design layout in his work. He is a designer's artist to be sure.
We'll get started this evening with this small gallery as well as a series of interviews from Art:21. Enjoy, and if you know of other great Pettibon links, be sure to send them my way.
Labels: Art, Artist Series, Raymond Pettibon
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Great Counterculture Logos - Part 6
The Public Image Ltd logo by Dennis Morris and John Lydon.
The Public Image Ltd logo by Dennis Morris and John Lydon.
Labels: Design, Great Counterculture Logos, Music
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Hunter S. Thompson Interviews Keith Richards
The warped and uncalibrated state of the first 20 seconds of this video seems a fitting start to the contents that follow as though serving to open a portal into an entirely different reality, one hosting the clash of two titans of the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll ethic.
It really does not get much more legendary than this. Amusingly, as one of the comments points out, it is Keith Richards that comes out seeming the most sober. But despite a good few moments of drug addled babble on both sides, exchanges on such topics as the events of Altamont, and the second life of J Edgar Hoover are truly priceless moments.
The warped and uncalibrated state of the first 20 seconds of this video seems a fitting start to the contents that follow as though serving to open a portal into an entirely different reality, one hosting the clash of two titans of the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll ethic.
It really does not get much more legendary than this. Amusingly, as one of the comments points out, it is Keith Richards that comes out seeming the most sober. But despite a good few moments of drug addled babble on both sides, exchanges on such topics as the events of Altamont, and the second life of J Edgar Hoover are truly priceless moments.
Labels: Music, Sixties, When the Going Gets Weird
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Hey Punx! Plan Ahead.
A great collection of punk rock flyers from the early 80's to the present.
A great collection of punk rock flyers from the early 80's to the present.
Labels: American Hardcore, Design, Music, Street Level
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Signs of Our Time
"The first video news I watched on a cellphone was a smoke signal. I saw it in the back of a cab. The Pope had died, and CNN had its cameras trained on the chimney over St. Peter’s Square. Viewers were told to expect white smoke when the cardinals had elected his replacement.
The sight of this primitive signal on a screen the size of a Saltine in a taxi in New York City was mind-blowing. I peered into the machine in my hand. I could make out the image. I could understand it. It needed no translation."
– Virginia Hefferman, Screens
The sight of this primitive signal on a screen the size of a Saltine in a taxi in New York City was mind-blowing. I peered into the machine in my hand. I could make out the image. I could understand it. It needed no translation."
– Virginia Hefferman, Screens
Labels: NY Times, Signs of Our Time, World at Large, YouTube
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Who would win?
It started as a joke during the research phase of a current project, but I was just informed that my t-shirt design Puma Vs. Unicorn has passed the Threadless submission phase and is now up for voting in the public sphere. Help make this shirt a reality. Vote now. Or at the very least chime in on who you think would win a battle of such mythic proportions.
It started as a joke during the research phase of a current project, but I was just informed that my t-shirt design Puma Vs. Unicorn has passed the Threadless submission phase and is now up for voting in the public sphere. Help make this shirt a reality. Vote now. Or at the very least chime in on who you think would win a battle of such mythic proportions.
Labels: Design, Shameless Self Promotion
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Something glorious is about to happen...
History has proven time and again that if the powers that be put up a wall, the people will eventually tear it down. Such was the case at last night's Bloc Party concert at the Orpheum when 80+ fans, grown tired of the formal sit down theatre setting of the venue, rushed the stage for the final song of the night.
The Bloc Party is not a sit down kind of band. I caught their act two years ago at the Commodore when they came through town pushing their epic debut Silent Alarm. What I remember most from that experience was the energy. They had the crowd dancing to be sure, and they were tight as all hell.
Both of these qualities were somewhat lacking at last night's performance. The former for reasons already mentioned -- taking the crowd's energy out of the equation tends to crater the momentum. And in the case of the latter, the new songs just did not come across as polished as the Silent Alarm tracks, of which they played a good number including Banquet, Like Eating Glass and Positive Tension.
It seems an admirable feat these days to see a show where when a band builds their set from their entire repertoire; it feels more like a concert and less like album promotion. But after the show, we debated whether the near 50/50 cut of old songs to new was more a reflection of their musicianship or the need to flush out the setlist with a few energetic tunes.
The crowd definitely seemed to respond more to the older offerings, but perhaps that's because A Weekend in the City has only been officially out for a month. It does take a little getting used to. Back in October, Stereogum.com had started posting rumours of an album leak for Bloc Party’s highly anticipated sophomore effort and within days, it surfaced in our music library at the studio. So I was well acquainted with the tracks. It is a different record from Silent Alarm, more produced – some have said overproduced – with others commenting that it was noticeably “slower” than the first. But while it did seem to need to grow on me, along the way came brilliant revelations that there are some really damn good songs, all with that underlying feeling of anxious jubilation that seems to run through Bloc Party songs as though taking in the beauty of a nuclear sky.
Some of the most compelling moments of the night actually came prior to the Bloc Party taking the stage in the form of the second act, Final Fantasy. Armed with violin, keyboard and various effects pedals, Owen Pallett, the band's sole member, unleashed an array of classically inspired riffs that looped in, around and beneath his self-proclaimed "thin, stupid vocals". Truly something unique to see for yourself, his live act being a much different animal from his most recent release, the difficult but brilliantly titled "He Poos Clouds". Equally brilliant were the accompanying background visuals, provided by a female artist introduced simply as "Steph". Using only an overhead projector of the style that would be found in most high school science classrooms, she overlayed transparencies on top of one another creating rudimentary animations and juxtipositions, often with the shadows of her hands playing a role in the composition. Now this was an act suited to the Orpheum's setting.
Despite all of my criticisms, it was a pretty sweet show. No doubt if the Bloc Party continue on their current rise, their next visit to Vancouver could very well be GM Place. But I'm hoping it will be back at the Commodore. The energy is good there.
History has proven time and again that if the powers that be put up a wall, the people will eventually tear it down. Such was the case at last night's Bloc Party concert at the Orpheum when 80+ fans, grown tired of the formal sit down theatre setting of the venue, rushed the stage for the final song of the night.
The Bloc Party is not a sit down kind of band. I caught their act two years ago at the Commodore when they came through town pushing their epic debut Silent Alarm. What I remember most from that experience was the energy. They had the crowd dancing to be sure, and they were tight as all hell.
Both of these qualities were somewhat lacking at last night's performance. The former for reasons already mentioned -- taking the crowd's energy out of the equation tends to crater the momentum. And in the case of the latter, the new songs just did not come across as polished as the Silent Alarm tracks, of which they played a good number including Banquet, Like Eating Glass and Positive Tension.
It seems an admirable feat these days to see a show where when a band builds their set from their entire repertoire; it feels more like a concert and less like album promotion. But after the show, we debated whether the near 50/50 cut of old songs to new was more a reflection of their musicianship or the need to flush out the setlist with a few energetic tunes.
The crowd definitely seemed to respond more to the older offerings, but perhaps that's because A Weekend in the City has only been officially out for a month. It does take a little getting used to. Back in October, Stereogum.com had started posting rumours of an album leak for Bloc Party’s highly anticipated sophomore effort and within days, it surfaced in our music library at the studio. So I was well acquainted with the tracks. It is a different record from Silent Alarm, more produced – some have said overproduced – with others commenting that it was noticeably “slower” than the first. But while it did seem to need to grow on me, along the way came brilliant revelations that there are some really damn good songs, all with that underlying feeling of anxious jubilation that seems to run through Bloc Party songs as though taking in the beauty of a nuclear sky.
Some of the most compelling moments of the night actually came prior to the Bloc Party taking the stage in the form of the second act, Final Fantasy. Armed with violin, keyboard and various effects pedals, Owen Pallett, the band's sole member, unleashed an array of classically inspired riffs that looped in, around and beneath his self-proclaimed "thin, stupid vocals". Truly something unique to see for yourself, his live act being a much different animal from his most recent release, the difficult but brilliantly titled "He Poos Clouds". Equally brilliant were the accompanying background visuals, provided by a female artist introduced simply as "Steph". Using only an overhead projector of the style that would be found in most high school science classrooms, she overlayed transparencies on top of one another creating rudimentary animations and juxtipositions, often with the shadows of her hands playing a role in the composition. Now this was an act suited to the Orpheum's setting.
Despite all of my criticisms, it was a pretty sweet show. No doubt if the Bloc Party continue on their current rise, their next visit to Vancouver could very well be GM Place. But I'm hoping it will be back at the Commodore. The energy is good there.
Labels: Music
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Art I Pass By On My Way To Work - #2
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Canstruction Threepeat with PicniCantics
Canstruction is a fundraising event for the Food Bank where teams compete by building 10'X 10'X 8' sculptures out of cans and non-perishable goods. The two day competition ended this afternoon with our team (Industrial Brand Creative and Legends Memorabilia) taking the top prize of Juror's Choice for the third year in a row with our entry PiniCantics. More photos and our usual timelapse QT of the build are soon to follow in the days ahead. But in the meantime, if you are in the Vancouver area, I encourage you to drop by the Cruise Ship Terminal at Canada Place to view the structures and show your support.
UPDATE: More photos have been posted at Flickr and
The timelapse of our build has been posted over on Todd's site.
Canstruction is a fundraising event for the Food Bank where teams compete by building 10'X 10'X 8' sculptures out of cans and non-perishable goods. The two day competition ended this afternoon with our team (Industrial Brand Creative and Legends Memorabilia) taking the top prize of Juror's Choice for the third year in a row with our entry PiniCantics. More photos and our usual timelapse QT of the build are soon to follow in the days ahead. But in the meantime, if you are in the Vancouver area, I encourage you to drop by the Cruise Ship Terminal at Canada Place to view the structures and show your support.
UPDATE: More photos have been posted at Flickr and
The timelapse of our build has been posted over on Todd's site.
Labels: Design Can Change the World, Industrial Brand Creative, Shameless Self Promotion
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Somebody is trying to tell you something
Can inspiration occur after the fact? Yesterday's post, the first in a new series entitled "Art I Pass By On My Way To Work" could very well have been born from a website that I stumbled upon today. Written On The City, a project by the troublemakers over at Language In Common "celebrates the conversation that's happening on the walls and sidewalks of the places we live."
Can inspiration occur after the fact? Yesterday's post, the first in a new series entitled "Art I Pass By On My Way To Work" could very well have been born from a website that I stumbled upon today. Written On The City, a project by the troublemakers over at Language In Common "celebrates the conversation that's happening on the walls and sidewalks of the places we live."
Labels: Art, Art-I-Pass-By, Street Level, World at Large
