Marta & Ryan

Big River Man.

2011-03-27T10:47:00.001-07:00

Rad!

2010-12-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

Man, this makes me miss NYC in the summer. Enjoy!

Rockaway Taco, A Selby Film from the selby on Vimeo.

It's been a long time, and now winter is here.

2010-11-17T13:47:00.000-08:00

Hi, it's been a long time since we've posted anything.
In the last couple of months Ryan and I moved into a new house, and before we could properly take advantage of our big deck and backyard, it suddenly became winter.

I don't watch movies during summer months, specifically while it's light out (living in Canada has made me desperately try to spend all daylight hours outdoors), but I figured it's a perfect time to post about MUBI. The site is full of films I've always wanted to see, streamed straight to my laptop, to be watched in the comfort of my warm bed.

On my "must-see-this-winter" list is anything by the wonderful Agnès Varda.

Favela on Blast

2010-07-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

Favela on Blast_Out everywhere in July. from Leandro HBL on Vimeo.

So people hate Diplo. I ain't on his dick but you're an idiot if you think he's not major. Baile funk I some serious ish. Brazil is mystical and intriging. This is the music of Brazil, get with it.

Go here for Diplo related stuff.

Lsd and animation.

2010-07-26T11:58:00.001-07:00

Great story really fun!

Chris Johanson Part deux

2010-07-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

He's so awesome.

Daedelus

2010-07-19T01:36:00.000-07:00

I need to be posting more. I will do my best. I have alot of random thoughts so this should work well. Daedelus blew my mind when he played at the club. So cool.

Check him here.

Up There Video

2010-07-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

UP THERE from Jon on Vimeo.

Sign painting is so great. I feel such a affinity towards it. Art is bullshit sometimes. Inspiration and all the classic ideas of art have created an ego stroking monster, the current day artist. There is no bullshit when it comes to sign painting. You have a medium, and image that needs to go on that medium in a very legible way, and a time frame in which this must be done. Sounds beautiful doesn't it? I would assume that's why I usually leave everything until the last minute, the thrill of constraint. These men are no different than the construction workers or the laborers of this world. Everybody in there own way is an artist yet they fail to realize it, or maybe this is a life lesson that has been constantly overlooked for generations. Art has always been seen as this gift, something that only "artistic" people are born with, what a terrible oversight. If everyone could see how everything is art things would be much different. You built a perfectly flat asphalt road, you developed a computer program that helps people learn, you make coffee, you work at 7-11, .....this could go on forever. My point is; if we all were taught that art and creativity are a part of everyday life, then maybe the world would be less mundane for everyone.

Chris Johanson

2010-07-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

I hate it when people say they can't draw. I think that the best drawings come from people who "technically" can't draw. Chris Johanson is a perfect example of this. My whole artistic career has been influenced too much I believe, wheter it be pictures, museums, galleries, and my peers. I would like to discover a state in which I just create what comes out of my head, without judgement, comparison, or prejudice. I don't mean that ethically, I meant artistically. I find that with many things, not just art, it is hard to free yourself from the confines that we setup in our own brain. Media of all sorts comvoludes and over exposes you to many different idea's good and bad but sometimes it is hard to know how to think freely. To me, post modernity all about looking at this from a clear and open persective. We have all been force fed information, how does one free themselves from the confines of that knowledge. Chris does a great job.

Go here to see beautifull things.

Garance Doré vs. P&P

2010-06-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

We all know fashion people can be a bit ridiculous.

Garance Dore is a famous fashion blogger who makes her money documenting the fabuulous fashion world. P&P filmed a parody of one of her videos. If you can manage to play these simultaneously you're in for a French & kooky visual treat!

A Month in Fashion by Garance Dore.

A Monster Invasion from Lorenzo P. & Vincent P.

Viviane Sassen

2010-06-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

I just received a new photo book in the mail by Viviane Sassen entitled Flamboya, that I've been looking for a while now. Viviane Sassen was born in 1972, and is a Dutch photographer living and working in Amsterdam. She grew up in Africa, and this book is a product of that. Flamboya is full of hyperstylized imagery that is graphic, boldly colored, and a little bit surreal.

Here's a bit about Viviane's work in her own words:

I am interested in strong shapes and colors. I have always been attracted to a sort of graphic style. In Africa I thought the very harsh sun was something I should take advantage of. For most photographers it's horror. But I felt like, No, this is how it really is.

In my photography you see a lot of transformed bodies, or faces that you can't really see. I like to create confusion and to make people to think... In a photo you always see the vision of the photographer translated. It's not objective, it's tainted.

What I love about Viviane's work is that she tends to treat the body like an element, an abstract shape with blocks of shadow and bright colors that seem like cut outs or paper collages. Bodies become bold, abstract and beautiful.

Here's a bit more of her commercial & editorial work:

I always thought the trickery & illusion on this campaign were also super clever.

Memory Lane and other crap.

2010-04-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

I love skateboarding. It is the coolest and here is some stuff that really got me stoked. Maybe I will hit the wood this summer again. Maybe.

So amazing this whole video was so insane. Marc Johnson is so smooth.

Danny Gonzalez was always very underrated.

Kerry Getz is so smooth and this part made me always want to go shred. Skatemore was an amazing video.

Dan Drehobl is a real shredder. If you don't like this part your not a man.

Jon Cardiel fucking kills and I hope that he can skate again. He's also a big reggae head which is always a plus.

Wow!!!

2010-04-05T01:44:00.001-07:00

Skateboardanimation from Tilles Singer on Vimeo.

This is so cool. Very smart.

Andrea Zittel

2010-04-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

Andrea combines many of my favorite forms aesthetics. Architecture, Sculpture, Industrial design, Realtionism, and modernism. She deals with ideas of contemporary living spaces. Trying to give people their individual space with in a world where private space is becoming more and more of a commodity. This are my own opinions not hers. Aesthetically these pieces are very beautiful but confining but also freeing. Yes, I am having a hard time explaning what I think. Here is a video that goes deeper into her process.

Andrea Zittel on personal space at PSU from PORT: portlandart.net on Vimeo.

Opening Ceremony

2010-03-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

Awesome interview by Spike Jonze with Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Opening Ceremony

New York Trip. Marta Edit.

2010-03-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Just saw your post Ryan! Super sweet.

Just wanted to say I'm effin' excited, I've been to Dia Beacon a couple of years ago, and it was awesome. The space is amazing, and you get to see a bit of New York state on the train ride up.

Also, I'm also excited to see Elaine Cameron-Weir and our dear friend Amber of Make Believe that I haven't seen in ages. AND Ryan's djing the Rub, and Pianos and one more place that I can't remember. That, and all the Greenpoint Polish food we can eat. YEAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

New York Trip.

2010-03-31T10:42:00.000-07:00

Marta and I are going to NYC in May and we are really gonna art it up. We are both already super excited and its only a month away. I am really excited for the art. Here's a preview of the trip!!
The Whitney. Last time we went to the Whitney I was tired and a bit burnt out from art school so I shitted on it. But now I am back in the swing of things and am ready to roll in. Nice building and the Biennial is on so its going to be big.

P.S.1 Really excited for this one. On our first trip we walked by it, but it was Sunday and at night so we couldn't go in. They do big ass parties here during the summer and they look cool. Plus its in Queens and I haven't been there much so it's going to be fun.
New Museum. I have walked by it lots but have never been in it. Such a cool building and the art looks really cutting edge. They have some really nice shows lined up for when were there which is really exciting.

MOMA. The area that Moma is in is definitely not my favorite but the stuff they have is amazing. A big highlight from our last trip was the design section which is so amazing. I'm ready to see what they're showing this time around. Also they have a big flat couch on the lobby so if your exhausted you can lie down for abit.
The Gugg. Its a really nice building but the space interferes with the viewing process. It was one of my least favorites but they did have a show by Louise Bourgeois and she is so awesome, so I am complaining for nothing.
Deitch Projects. This has been one of the stand outs on everyone of our trips. The space is amazing and it has the coolest shows I have even seen. I heard they are not doing it much longer which will be a shame. Chris Johanson's show that was on the first time we went to New York was amazing(best ever). This place is a must see for anybody into the next generation of big artists.NYU Grad Show. My friend Elaine Cameron-Weir is graduating from NYU this year. She was the first person I ever stayed with in NYC and she is so cool. She is the best artist that I know personally. Its an easy thing to say but she really is on some next level shit. I foresee a big future for her and she most defiantly deserves it. Also she bought a car so we will be rolling deep in Brooklyn. In a Jaguar no less.
Dia Beacon. It's in upstate New York and I have no idea what to expect but I've never heard anyone complain, ever. This is going to be a journey of epic proportions and I will do a post once we get back!!!

Magazines!

2010-03-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Some new magazines I'm super excited about, I really like the direction independent publishing is going in, and surprisingly most of the covers are in black & white!

I recently came across Bad Day while on a trip in Toronto, super awesome small Canadian publication.

Encens is also a new favourite, essentially put together by just 2 people in Paris and featuring mostly one (Polish!) model, it's a stylist wet dream. I've been stalking the magazine store for weeks, and finally got the newest issue the other say.

I'm super excited about Gentlewoman too, it's the female equivalent of Fantastic Man Magazine, which is amazing. Can't wait til it comes out!

Haven't seen Grey in person yet, but judging by the covers, I know I'm gonna love it. The Last Magazine comes in a super large newspaper format, and it printed on beautiful paper.

ARKTIP Magazine

2010-03-02T16:57:00.000-08:00

Peter Saville

KAWS
Steven Harrington
Supreme
Kevin Lyons

This is the coolest magazines there is. It is very expensive but each one is signed and a limited edition. Some of them easy to get and some are impossible. They treat each magazine as if it is a curated art show. They select an artist or brand and they get to take over the magazine making for some seriously cool stuff!!. I will start buying them I promise! ARKTIP

www.terrysdiary.com

2010-02-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

I don't care what people say, Terry Richardson is pretty amazing, and so is his blog terrysdiary.com

His straight forward point & shoot style isn't brain surgery, but he has a special gift for making it look super fun. I saw him in NYC once, walking his dog. My favourite "celebrity" sighting so far....

Take a look at this blog to see some shots of the Jersey Shore dudes, actors or famous Eastern European models.

My favourite holiday! Fat Thursday!

2010-02-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

Pączki (PONCH-kee) are traditional Polish doughnuts, round deep-fried a pieces of dough filled with jam or other sweet filling, and usually covered with icing sugar.

Pączki have been known in Poland at least since the Middle Ages and are eaten especially on Fat Thursday, which falls on THIS Thursday! You eat as many donughts or fried pastry as possible and celebrate!

Many Polish Americans celebrate Pączki Day on Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday). Traditionally, the reason for making pączki was to use up all the lard, sugar and eggs in the house, because they were forbidden to be consumed due to Catholic fast during Lent.

This was my favourite holiday when I was a child, right next to Śmigus-Dyngus.

todayforlunch.com

2010-02-09T19:51:00.000-08:00

Just a quick link to a Brendan Harrison's blog. He's my best friend's boyfriend. Pretty funny if you ask me. Take a look at todayforlunch.com

Gregor Schneider makes people feel funny.

2010-02-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

Gregor Sneider's work is hard to describe. Maybe its erie and cold, it could be warm and inviting, maybe familiar and full of memories. Gregor is one of the most sought after German contemporary artists working today. I think that coming from a north american perspective his work seems brooding and evil, but from what I have seen about him that is not the intention. His images are conceived from discarded human spaces, empty houses, alleys, rooms, basements, bodies. His piece "Totes Haus u r" which was exhibited at the 49th Venice Biennial was very intricate. He uses his old family house to create space within spaces. There are the regular rooms (which are all bare) that every family house in the world contains, then there are the rooms which are hidden inbetween the rooms with secret cooridors and entrances. This is a must see peice. I have seen it on video but I must see it in real life to get the full experience. His work is visually very simple but the ideas that one conjures up while looking at it are very personal and individual. Check out his web site here!!

Vanessa Bruno - Lou Doillon by Stéphanie Di Giusto

2010-02-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

A really lovely video featuring Lou Doillon, with music by Gonzales for the french fashion label Vanessa Bruno's Spring/Summer 2010 Collection.

Here are some stills:

I also found a video for last year's Fall/Winter collection, a nice contrast to the bright and sunny spring film.

To find out more about the director, please go to www.stephaniedigiusto.com

The Fantastic Reynard Li

2009-12-16T18:28:00.000-08:00

My good friend and fantastic photographer Reynard Li has self-published a magazine entitlted Young Once, a collection of photographs from his daily life taken from 2004 to 2009 in New York City. I make an appearance on page 50 and 54!

Here's a photo of Rey I took a couple years ago, and the cover of the magazine.

Rachel Whiteread

2009-12-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Well this might be hard for some but the beauty in her work is very subtle. I was turned on to her by one of my teachers in school, William MacDonnel. She is part of the YBA's (Young British Artists) and they have been some of the biggest contributers to art in the last little while. She does reverse castings of spaces, the subtlties that come out are are very beautiful. In the video she talks about Ghost which is definitely one of the most interesting pieces of the century. I tried to find a web site but there doesn't seem to be one. I have a couple of her books yous should really look into it. I wish I was this good.

Bok Bok

2009-12-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

Really is there a better name out there. He has a new label with L-Vis 1990. There both good but Bok Bok's stuff is killer. Here a remix Teddy turned me on too. Really good. Jinder - Youth Blood (Bok Bok Remix)

Also a cool shirt!

Fernie!!!

2009-12-07T22:44:00.000-08:00

Just went up to Fernie this weekend to DJ. It was really fun, and everytime is for Kyle. Fernie is cool but maybe the roads are a bit sketchy. Bulldogs is awesome.

Nadav Kander - Yangtze, The Long River

2009-12-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

I came across these photos by Nadav Kander a couple moths ago, and thought they were an amazing documentation of the crazy development and landscape alteration that's happening all over the world, especially in China.

Yangtze, The Long River uses the river as a metaphor for constant change, Nadav photographed the landscape and people along its banks from mouth to source. China’s landscape is changing daily economically and physically, and that is why according to Nadav these are photographs that can never be taken again.

The Yangtze River flows 6380km across China, and it's banks and waterways provide homes and livelihood for hundreds of millions of Chinese. It's estimated that more people live along its banks than the entire population of the US, one in every eighteen people on the planet. That's a lot of people.

As usual, Nadav's photos are gorgeous, and the project has won numerous photo awards.

Sarah Moon, Photographer

2009-12-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

I've been a fan of Sarah Moon's work for years. Born in 1940 in England, the formal model has been working as a photographer since 1967. Sarah lives in Paris.

As a poor student I returned her book "Coincidences" that I bought in 2001, which has since gone out of print. Biggest mistake. While in Berlin this summer I decided not to pick up her new book, "12345", a comprehensive 5 volume look at her extraordinary work, because of it's size & price. Thinking I could order it when I got home, it has also since gone out of print. What a disaster and horrible luck. I'm trying to get my hands on a copy of these, I'm hoping there are some still floating around.

You can read a recent interview with Sarah by Ilona Suschitzky in conjunction with the release of Sara's "12345" book here. There's also a You Tube video of someone flipping through the book (cheesy music included!)

Sarah Moon is represented by Michael Hoppen Gallery, and Renate Gallois Montbrun.

All photographs © Sarah Moon

Dec 20th 2009 Update: Ryan gave me Coincidences for my birthday. Super sweet! More scans to follow.

Bogdan Raczynski - Samurai Math Beats

2009-11-29T15:30:00.000-08:00

I used to be really into IDM. Bogdan Raczynski was one of my favorites and he is Polish!!! This stuff is pretty crazy but the melodies are amazing. Reminds me of crazy kids music.
Bogdan Raczynski - Sayonara Tsutara He's pretty artsy if you ask me!!

This Morning.

2009-11-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

There's nothing sweeter than a heart shaped breakfast! I got this frying pan from my sister a while ago, and it almost makes me want to cook! I'm pretty sure she picked it up in Spain, but you can get one from Amazon.

The Tuss - Rushup Edge EP on Rephlex

2009-11-27T10:06:00.000-08:00

I used to be infatuated with Aphex Twin. He has made some of the coolest stuff on the planet. The last thing he did was the Analord series which was comprised of 11 12" and I managed to get them all. But disappointingly I realized that there was a binder sold on Warpmart which I missed that would have really been amazing to own. Anyway Rusko played at the Hifi here in Calgary and he was telling me about The Tuss. Suposedly its him but really who cares its just good!! The Tuss - Synthacon 9 on Rephlex

Martyn - Vancouver

2009-11-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

This song is really nice. I have been playing it every Wednesday. I wish I could find more Dubstep like this. Martyn - Vancouver

Wim Delvoye is nice.

2009-11-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

So when I was watching Art Safari I discovered Wim Delvoye. Man he is on some next level things. He makes beautiful work that is very challenging. For instance Cloaca is a machine that mechanically replicates the Human Digestive system. This work is very weird and would be very hard for me to understand had I not seen the show (Art Safari). I also found out that Cloaca was shown here in Calgary and he was here!!! Damn it I wish I would have known. You can find more stuff on him here. His website is killer!

Art Safari DVD

2009-11-26T15:52:00.000-08:00

Man this DVD series rules hard. I was kind of burnt out after art school and haven't really been that into art. Then I rented Art Safari from Bird Dog and man I was blown away. So cool man, so cool.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

2009-11-26T15:42:00.000-08:00

Marta and I now have a blog! I think we will put up some neat stuff!