Ben Wolf at SPRING 2011 ART + ARCHITECTURE SHOW

Ben Wolf (b. 1983, Nashville) is a Brooklyn-based sculptor whose abstract assemblages and installations express the “decadence of abandonment” in architectural materials including rotten boards, rusted stair wells, peeling paint and other found and salvaged objects. Wolf often works on a large scale, taking over and reconfiguring entire lost buildings and towns. He received a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute in 2005 and in 2008 received a Brooklyn Arts Council grant for public art works and a residency with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC). In 2010 Wolf participated in a Power House Productions group residency in Detroit, constructing a massive sculptural work from the remnants of forgotten homes. An avid traveler, Wolf has produced and exhibited projects in Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, as well as throughout the U.S. You can see more of Ben’s work on his website.

Art + Architecture 2011 at the Gowanus Ballroom
55 9th Street Building 61, Brooklyn, NY 11215 April 8th – April 17th

Raphael Saadiq's "Good Man"

Beautiful new video from Raphael Saadiq featuring Chad Coleman (Cutty, from The Wire) and Yaya Da Costa.

Hipstamatic, GQ Taiwan & 3rd Ward...mmmm

The Chunky Lens World Release & Gallery Show
Presented by Hipstamatic, GQ Taiwan & 3rd Ward
Thursday, February 10, 2011, 7-9pm
195 Morgan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
FREE Admission includes Chunky app, gallery show, live music & drinks

At this interactive gallery show, experience what Chunky and his lens are all about. Meet Chunky himself and view Chunky's GQ Taiwan fashion spread with Taylor Fuchs (shot entirely on the iPhone). If you’re a fashion-type, art enthusiast, app-buying addict, or just looking for a fun Thursday night, stop by. Music by DJ Travis Kavovit, free drinks...With support from ILFORD.

GQ Taiwan

Harper's Bazaar China here.

RSVPs are required at www.3rdward.com/rsvp

*FREE beer provided by Brooklyn Brewery!

Erykah Badu x Flying Lotus, "Gone Baby, Don't Be Long"

Erykah Badu - Gone Baby, Don't be Long from beeple on Vimeo.

New video from Erykah Badu, directed by Flying Lotus. Cool Open Source platform from the post-production folks at Beeple!

Slim Gaillard's Yep Roc Heresy, the first Jazz Song in Arabic

Food is always an amazing inspiration. Just learned about the great Slim Gaillard today and loved Yep Roc Heresy.

From Wikipedia:
Arabic is sprinkled about Gaillard's songs. The song "Yep-Roc-Heresy" 3:07 - 1945 is a good example. This song is made up almost entirely of Arabic food names. The title of the song is taken from the first two words of the song, which are "yabraq" or in Arabic "يبرق" (pronounced "يبرأ" "yabra'" in the Levant, and mostly in northern parts of today's Syria), which is another name for the Turkish Dolma or stuffed grape leaves. The second word is "[harisseh]," which is a sweet desert made from semolina flour - recipe.

Other Arabic words used in the song are: Burghal (burghal), Mahshi (stuffed), kibbeh siniyyeh (kibbe in a tray), anna biddi (I want), Masari bahh (No money), banadoura (tomato), ruzz (rice), eidi maksura (I am broke), Arak (Arabic: عرق [ʕaraq]) (a liquorice liquor), lahame mishwie (grilled meat), basal (onion).

This may be the first jazz song in Arabic. Some say he was reading from a menu of an Arabic restaurant, but this does not explain for his use of phrases such as, "no money" or "I am broke."

In the 1940s, the song was "banned in the radio for being suggestive", for its suspicious lyric references to drugs and crime.

The actual origin from these phrases comes from his time living in Detroit. He was out of money by the time he made it to Detroit and was turned down a job at Ford. An Armenian woman named Rose Malhalab (last name indicates connection to Aleppo, Syria) took Slim in, where he lived in the basement of her and her husband's beauty shop on Woodward Avenue. She cooked much Arabic food for him, explaining Slim's entire song.

Blvck America + Bidoun present Vintage Short Films

This Sunday join Blvck America and the folks at Bidoun to check out some awesome vintage short films from the Middle East. This is the last of the Liberty Hall screenings at the Ace Hotel for January. Not only is the screening free, but they'll have DJs spinning and a drink special for folks who get there early.

Sunday, January 30th
7PM
Liberty Hall at the Ace Hotel

The Suzan

The Suzan "Home" from Mr Goldbar on Vimeo.

The Suzan are a boundlessly energetic all-girl band from Japan, and director Pomp&Clout perfectly captures their colorful, kinectic approach to music with his kaleidoscopic video for "Home."

Be sure to check the free, interactive iPhone / iPad app version, allowing users to play with the kaleidoscope speed, position, angle and more themselves, while the Suzan knock out their xylophone riffs, surf guitar, and tom tom grooves.

HAPPY NEW YEAR from Turquoise Jeep + Slick Mahony

I ride for Turquoise Jeep. Tummiscratch is my hero. This New Year gift dropped on 1/1/11. BANG!!!