Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Cardboard cutouts...

Little cardboard monsters turned into a stop motion animation by Sjors Vervoort; a perfectly executed simple idea. Made with only 800 cutouts it's not hugely complex or overworked but it flows nicely even without any real followable plot or story. He also has some rad tshirts for sale over at MySoti.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Songs for October...

SUMMER! YEAH! That is all.

Yo La Tengo - Mr Tough
Delightfully happy in true Yo La Tengo style. Sitting outside late into the evening + this song = win.

Chromeo - Night by Night
The same Chromeo formula but it doesn't fail to win me over. Disco heavy throwback tune full of juicy synth and bassy...well, bass. Hells yes.

Air - Sing Sang Sung
Romantic, melty and distinctly Air. If you have anything to do this afternoon it is not a wise move to listen to this single but if your to-do-list is empty then soak up the mellow goodness.

Karen O and the Kids - All Is Love
Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs has made an entire soundtrack for what must be the most anticipated movies of the year. This is one of two taster tracks that have appeared; needless to say it doesn't dissapoint.

We Shot The Moon - The Bright Side
I am going to see the freaking Ataris on Saturday night! This has awoken pop punk genes in me that I have neglected of late. We Shot The Moon; welcome to my upbringing.

Admittedly this is more songs than I intended but I loved harping back to pop punk sentiments and to ignore a nibble from the Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack would be a travesty.

Flippin' paper marvel...

Apart from the (very clever) pun in this posts title, I am not sure what else to add to this video as to be honest I am not exactly sure what it is I am watching. Whatever it is though, it is undoubtedly awesome. As far as I can tell it's a flip book animation but rather than the traditional, static, page by page flip books we are used to, it spreads elaborately in all directions on a giant flip book canvas...or something. Combining flip books with stop motion it really works very well indeed.

VIDEOGIOCO by Donato Sansone

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Lilliputian tenements...

Street side power boxes, wiring junctions, concrete blocks and ruined building foundations are painstakingly stencilled by the Berlin artist(s) EVOLS to look like miniature tower blocks circa 1960. The effect is truly awesome if not necessarily ground braking.




More of the Flickr photo stream here.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Where is all this advice coming from...

A couple of weeks ago I ordered the second in the series of 'Advice to Sink in Slowly' postcard books. Full of lovely little mixes of text and illustration which, in accordance with the site moto 'pass on personal advice in a creative way'. The first edition was fantastic but I foolishly gave it away as a present - reckless gift giving as it is now perpetually sold out. Anyhow, the second edition is just as good and I am waiting for the right time to send one on its way.

Buy it here

Coincidentally(?), on the same day it arrived I saw the photos from the 'Advice Portaits' exhibition by Maria Forde. A collection of portraits of her friends and the advice they have to offer their fellow humans. The display is just as, if not more so, simply heartfelt as the postcard book but unfortunately not purchasable in such a format. I am not sure why the interweb is sending so much out of context advice my way at the moment...strange but enjoyable.

Wiley - "Please Recycle" by Maria Forde

Advice Portraits exhibition found through the always excellent Needles & Pens...online shop, gallery and local artist supporter. Check them out.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Not quite Dick Van Dyke...

One of my favourite movies when I was growing up was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...apart from the Child Catcher; damn that guy is scary. There are some super awesome scenes but the best parts are Caractacus Potts' inventions so when I saw 'The Breakfast Machine' I practically squealed with delight...imagine squealing but something more manly and far less shameful.


Basically
'The Breakfast Machine' was built last weekend by platform21, an Amsterdam based studio under the direction of designer Yuri Suzuki and artist Masa Kimura. Once finished it served all-day breakfasts of omelet, coffee and toast with jam. One day, when I have way more space and way more tools I will have one of these and I'll dress up just like Dick Van Dyke when I use it.



Wafer keyboard for...juice?

This video is undoubtedly awesome but I'm not exactly sure what it's for. I'm going to guess juice as it ends with strawberries and some round things in a bowl that look a little like grapes. Oh and the description has these words in it 'Açaí Juice 100% fruit'...man I wish I could speak Spanish. Anyway, there's some sweet stop motion nuggets and bright colours. Love it.