This is some great inspiration information for the weekend from the indomitable Andrew WK— producer, musician, nightclub owner and inspirational speaker. An advice columnist for Anthem Magazine, I thought this was some real food for thought. Click for the full read.
ANDREW W.K. ON THE ECONOMY
I am 25 years old, and until recently had a media job in New York City. Like most people, I just lost my job and I'm now living on a few weeks of unemployment and trying to figure out what the hell to do with myself. Should I suck it up and escape the city, and go somewhere cheaper like Philadelphia or the Deep South, or should I keep on fighting to make my life work out the way I want it to in the greatest city in the world?
I've been thinking a lot about the recent situations with the economy, with New York City, with jobs, with money, and have been trying to decide how to think about it; how to keep those ideas in my mind in a way that's responsible and what some might call realistic, while also being optimistic and, I guess, confident.
Rather than thinking, “I lost my job because of the economy,” consider: "did I really want this job? Is there something deep down inside of me that wanted a change and has manifested this, using the economy as an excuse?" [Moving] to a Southern town or to Baltimore or Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, or any of these other nearby towns—is that a healthy urge that is taking you to new uncharted territory, or is that an urge that's been self-destructive and is trying to hold you back out of fear of doing bigger things or fear of success or just feeling overwhelmed?
For Andrew's advice and more click here.
Andrew WK says...
Friday, May 08, 2009 | | Labels: inspiration
Freezer Fun
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 | | Labels: food
I am kinda obsessed with Mark Bittman. I wish that I could hang out in his kitchen, maybe lick the spoon after he's mixed up something tasty and new. Besides his New Year's post about cleaning out our kitchen cabinets, today's article about freezing food will go up on my kitchen fridge to inspire thrift in these crazy times. Check it below:
If I tried to sell you a new appliance that could help you save money, reduce food waste and get meals on the table faster, the only thing you’d ask would be “How much?”
The answer is “Nothing.” You already own it. For just as the stove comes with a hidden and often overlooked bonus — the broiler — so does the refrigerator: the freezer. Why not use it?
I know: you do. In that messy box you have some ice cubes, some stuff you bought frozen — a pizza? Lean Gourmet? peas? — and maybe, if you cook a lot, some stock or hastily stored leftovers. You also have a load of things you’ve already forgotten about and will eventually toss, even though you would have been guilt-struck if you had discarded them when they were fresh.
But if you conscientiously use the freezer in two ways, you’ll value it as never before. The first: take raw ingredients you have too much of — or whose life you simply wish to prolong — and freeze them. The second: take things you’ve already cooked — basics like stock, beans, grains and the like, or fully cooked dishes — and freeze them.
To the extent that you do both of these tasks regularly, and keep your freezer organized, you’ll make your cooking cheaper, more efficient and faster.
Read the whole article here!
Click Mi Finger - World Premiere!
I heard this jam at the Jamrock Festival in Kingston back in December of 2007 and fell in love with it then. Eddie Stats dropped the official video for the song today! Big Ups!
Bjork and the Dirty Projectors
Tuesday, May 05, 2009 | | Labels: music, new york
Another strange and beautiful collaboration that could only happen in New York! Support Housing Works...they're a New York institution!
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
126 Crosby Street, New York
May 8, 2009
8PM
In a never before seen or heard collaboration with The Dirty Projectors, Björk will perform a suite of new music composed for her by David Longstreth of The Dirty Projectors. The suite, written for five voices, will pair Björk with the Projectors (Dave Longstreth, Amber Coffman, Angel Deradoorian, and Haley Dekle).
In 2008, the Dirty Projectors covered Björk’s “Hyperballad” for a Stereogum tribute CD, a track-by-track covers project that also includes Liars, No Age, High Places, and members of Grizzly Bear, among others. Housing Works Board Member and Stereogum Senior Writer Brandon Stosuy, who knew of Björk and David Longstreth’s admiration for each other’s work, approached the artists about performing together at Housing Works. It is their first collaboration.
With two opening acts selected by Bjork and The Dirty Projectors: Ólöf Arnalds and Kurt Weisman.
Only tickets available via auction here!
About Housing Works
Housing Works is the largest community-based AIDS service organization in the United States, as well as the nation’s largest minority-controlled AIDS service organization. Since our founding in 1990, we have provided lifesaving services, such as housing, medical and mental health care, meals, job training, drug treatment, HIV prevention education, and social support to more than 20,000 homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS.
Housing Works also runs social enterprise businesses that raise millions of dollars every year to help pay for the services that we provide, spread awareness of our mission, and provide jobs to graduates of our Job Training Program. Our best-known businesses are Housing Works Thrift Shops, a chain of upscale thrift shops located throughout New York City, and the Housing Works Bookstore Café, a used bookstore, literary hub and concert venue located in Soho in downtown Manhattan.
Nieves Zine at Printed Matter
| | Labels: magazines, new york
100+ Nieves Zines at Printed Matter in New York
Come and have a look at all 100+ Nieves Zines since 2004 and a broad selection of Nieves Books.
Including rare and out of print titles by Aaron Rose, Adam Hayes, Alexis Saile, Alexis Zavialoff, Amigos Koike, Andrea Heller, Andreas Banderas, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Andro Wekua, Anja Kirschner, Annelise Coste, Anthony Record, Ari Marcopoulos, Bastien Aubry, Beau LaBute, Beni Bischof, Bruno Peinado, Catalina TM, Chris Johanson, Chris Lindig, Christian Andersen, Cody Hudson, Daniel Johnston, David Chieppo, David Shrigley, Dimitri Broquard, Dylan Martorell, Ed Templeton, Eddie Martinez, Fergus Purcell, Florencio Zavala, Francis Upritchard, Frédéric Fleury, French, Gabi Berüter, Gareth Bayliss, Geoff McFetridge, Georg Gatsas, Grrrr, Guy Meldem, Harmony Korine, Hendrik Hegray, Henry Roy, Himaa, Holly Stevenson, Jaret Penner, Jason McLean, Jay Nelson, Jo Jackson, Jockum Nordström, Jody Barton, Jonas Delaborde, Josh Petherick, Katerina Christidi, Keegan McHargue, Kevin Lyons, Kim Bennett, Kim Gordon, Kim Hiorthøy, Körner Union, Kuniko Nagasaki, Kyle Field, Larry Clark, Laura Owens, Leah Singer, Linus Bill, Lizzie Finn, Lorenzo Petrantoni, Marcus Oakley, Mari Eastman, Matt Leines, Matt Lock, Matthew Chapman, Marcel Dzama, Mark DeLong, Masumi Yamauchi, Maya Hayuk, Mehdi Hercberg, Michael Dumontier, Michael Günzburger, Mike Mills, Nakako Hayashi, Nathan Gray, Neil Farber, Nick Haymes, Nicola Pecoraro, Nicole Bachmann, Oliver Grajewski, Paul Davis, Perks and Mini, Peter Piller, Peter Sutherland, Reala, Rick Myers, Rita Ackermann, Robin Cameron, Rockmaster K., Ryoko Aoki, Samuel Nyholm, Scott Barry, Spike Jonze, Stefan Marx, Susan Cianciolo, Susanna Howe, Takashi Homma, Tal R, Talia Keinan, Tanja Helena Roscic, Taro Hirano, Taylor McKimens, The Changes, Thurston Moore, Tim Barber, Tobin Yelland, Tucker Nichols, Warja Lavater, Wesley Willis, Yoshimi, Yuka Katagiri and Yukari Miyagi
Printed Matter
195 Tenth Avenue at 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011
Tel. 212 925 0325
Opening Reception Saturday, April 4th, 5 - 7pm
Exhibition April 4th - May 23rd, 2009
Thanks Cody!
The Garden @ HSNY
THE GARDEN
NYC Premiere Film Screening
2008 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE: Best Documentary Feature
Directed by: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Featuring: Danny Glover, Willie Nelson, Joan Baez, Daryl Hannah, Dennis Kucinich, Zak de la Rocha
The Horticultural Society of New York
148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor
Wednesday, May 6
7PM
The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community.
But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis.
The Garden follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers:
Why was the land sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value? Why was the transaction done in a closed-door session of the LA City Council? Why has it never been made public?
And the powers-that-be have the same response: “The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do.”
EVOL @ Wilde Gallery
I saw EVOL's work at SCOPE New York this past March and really loved his architectural renderings on found cardboard. His work really speaks to an urban existence and a sort of nostalgia. He has a new show up at the WILDE gallery in Berlin this month! Check out some of his new work and support!
EVOL's interests have focused on the overlooked and the refuse of urban society, offering visual comments and thoughts that remind us of the failure of modernism and its visions of an architectural utopia. EVOL draws our attention to the collective memory of places, a memory that is open ended, but in it’s decoding always seems to remain strangely personal. The artists’ exploration of urban sites and the visual ‘background’ noise of the city is a stark reminder of the transience of life as well as the certainty of death. The pictures of EVOL are quite literally decaying from their moment of inception. The artist places materiality itself in the forefront of his expression of the urban condition, its promise of ruin and eventual cyclical gentrification.
Architectural elements dominate EVOL’s images and their photographic precision is the result of a multitude of labour-intensive stencils that are layered, applied and traced with spray cans on found wood and discarded cardboard. It is a reverse imaging process that finally arrives at a model of representation that is not painting, not photography, not graffiti and not drawing, but a synthesis of them all.
New Work by EVOL
May 1 - May 30
Wilde Gallery
Chausseestrasse 7
D-10115 Berlin
Celebrate Brooklyn 2009 Season
Monday, May 04, 2009 | | Labels: brooklyn, music
There is no better place than New York City in the summer. Besides the bike riding and bbq, we are lucky enough to enjoy FREE world class live music performances in the beauty of our public parks!! Celebrate Brooklyn!'s 2009 concert series was announced today with an opening night performance by David Byrne followed by a full season of shows from artists like Femi Kuti, Blonde Redhead, the Kronos Quartet and Big Daddy Kane! And did I mention the Purple Rain sing-a-long?
Thanks to BV for the listing and for more info about the Celebrate Brooklyn check here.
*********
Monday, June 8, 8:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) David Byrne
Thursday, June 11, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Goran Bregovic & His Weddings & Funerals Orchestra
Friday, June 19, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) David Rudder/Samantha Thornhill
Saturday, June 20, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.
La Nave de los Monstruos, with live score by Ethel and Gutbucket Part of Celebrate Brooklyn!'s Music & Movies Series
Thursday, June 25, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Femi Kuti & The Positive Force/Melvin Gibbs' Elevated Entity
Friday, June 26, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Blonde Redhead
Saturday, June 27, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 600 P.M.) Dr. Dog/Phosphorescent/These United States
Thursday, July 2, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Obie Juan Bermudéz/Cucu Diamantes/Rebel Diaz Bud Light Latin Music Series
Thursday, July 9, 8:00 P.M. (gates open at 7:00 P.M.) Dance
STREB: Invisible Forces
Friday, July 10, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Celebrate Brooklyn and LAMC present Los Amigos Invisibles/Aterciopelados Bud Light Latin Music Series
Saturday, July 11, 4:00 P.M. (gates open at 3:00 P.M.) Ezra Jack Keats Family Concert A Very Special Show with They Might Be Giants
Thursday, July 16, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Kronos Quartet/Luminescent Orchestrii
Friday, July 17, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) The Robert Cray Band/The Sweet Divines American Express Roots Music Series
Saturday, July 18, 2:00 P.M.‹9:00 P.M. (gates open at 1:00 P.M.) African Festival with King Sunny Adé/Freshly Ground/The Mandingo Ambassadors/Cheikh M'Baye & Sing Sing/Abena Koomson/Yasser Darwish American Express Roots Music Series
Thursday, July 23, 8:00 P.M. (gates open at 7:00 P.M.) Dance Stephen Petronio Company
Friday, July 24, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Buckwheat Zydeco/The Holmes Brothers American Express Roots Music Series
Saturday, July 25, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Kailash Kher/Electro Morocco
Thursday, July 30, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Burning Spear/Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens
Friday, July 31, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) The Royal Family: Soulive's 10th Anniversary Celebration, with Special Guests John Scofield and Christian Scott/Ivan Neville & Dumpstaphunk
Saturday, August 1, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Music & Movies Dean & Britta: 13 Most Beautiful Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests/ Crystal Stilts
Thursday, August 6, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Music & Movies Purple Rain Sing-A-Long with Escort
Friday, August 7, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Grace Potter & The Nocturnals/ Deer Tick / The London Souls
Saturday, August 8, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Celebrate Brooklyn & Lyricist Lounge Present Big Daddy Kane (with Special Guests TBA), Plus a Screening of BDK: The Big Daddy Kane Story
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Celebrate Brooklyn! Benefit Concerts
"Celebrate Brooklyn! benefit concerts offer rare opportunities to see great artists at a reasonable ticket price while supporting the festival's free performances."
July 1
MGMT (Sold Out)
July 21
Jackson Browne
August 11
TV on the Radio
August 12
Bonnie Raitt & Taj Mahal
August 14 & 15
Animal Collective
Chicken Fried Steak
Sometimes, you just cant get the real thing in New York. When it comes to Southern home cooking, New York is lacking in a solid place that serves a consistently satisfying meal. After a disappointing bout with Jambalaya, I had an even more disappointing Chicken Fried Steak at Marlow & Sons this past weekend. It was soggy, served with salad, and not only was there no gravy (gasp!) but when I asked for some, I was told there was a lot of butter on the steak.
I used to go back to Houston for the holidays and my mom and I would have a special meal together...at The Black Eyed Pea. Now this local Texas franchise we rarely frequented growing up but as a college student my mom would take me there for one thing and one thing only...the best chicken fried steak in our 'hood. Now I've had my fair share of CFS...Thursdays at Clear Lake High School was CFS day. You'd get it served smothered with gravy and with some corn, mashed potatoes, and a roll on the side. Cracker Barrel is also a good option if you're not in Texas. In New York, Chat N' Chew's CFS can hold you over until you cross the Mason-Dixon line. But theres always something missing. My answer is just to make it yourself...this might have to be my weekend project.
Chicken Fried Steak
Ingredients
* 2 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
* 1 3/4 teaspoons black pepper, divided
* 4 (4-ounce) cube steaks
* 38 saltine crackers (1 sleeve), crushed
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 4 3/4 cups milk, divided
* 2 large eggs
* 3 1/2 cups peanut oil
* Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper evenly over steaks. Combine cracker crumbs, 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, red pepper, and baking powder. Whisk together 3/4 cup milk and eggs. Dredge steaks in cracker mixture; dip in milk mixture, and dredge again in cracker mixture.
Pour oil into a 12-inch skillet; heat to 360°. (Do not use a nonstick skillet.) Fry steaks 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and fry 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove steaks to a wire rack in a jelly-roll pan. Keep steaks warm in a 225° oven. Carefully drain hot oil, reserving cooked bits and 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet.
Whisk together remaining 4 cups milk, 1/4 cup flour, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon black pepper. Add milk mixture to reserved drippings in skillet; cook, whisking constantly, over medium-high heat 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened. Serve gravy with steaks. Garnish, if desired.
From Southern Living, JANUARY 2006
Food Party with Thu Tran
Friday, May 01, 2009 | | Labels: art, food, new york
Food Party is a mind-bending, non-reality cooking show with Thu Tran as your hostess, a cast of unruly puppets as culinary aides, and a cavalcade of fictitious celebrities as surprise dinner guests. Shot on location in a technicolor cardboard kitchen as well as other foreign and exotic cardboard locations, each episode will or will not instruct you on how to prepare wild gourmet multi-course meals with ingredients you probably have on hand in your kitchen already, such as pretzel rods, eggs, narwhal lungs, bizarre plot twists, secret ingredients, and pizza. After all, you never know who might show up for dinner.
Check out more from Thu and her friends here.
Harry E Smith
Photo by Eric Schwartz
At last night's film screening at the Horticultural Society, I was introduced to the amazing work of Harry E Smith (1923-1991), an American experimental filmmaker, musicologist, and spiritualist. A prolific artist working across mediums—animation, filmmaking, batik, collage, painting, music, graphic design— he displayed a lifelong passion for exploring the spiritual and interconnected nature of things through artmaking.
In 1952, Folkways Records released a 6-disc compilation culled from Smith's own collection of 78s that he had amassed over the course of his travels throughout America. Smith wrote that he selected recordings from between "1927, when electronic recording made possible accurate music reproduction, and 1932, when the Depression halted folk music sales." Loosely filed under the Folk genre, this collection of blues, spiritual, country and cajun music was hugely influential not only because of the music, but because of the cosmologic cover art, extensive linernotes (that Smith penned himself), and sequencing of the collection. The Anthology of American Folk Music was re-released in '97 on CD. A lifetime collector of "things" he was crate-digging before it was cool and had amassed several thousand records before pitching the compilation idea to Folkways. Check the reissue here.
The series of shorts, collectively known as Early Abstractions, is a phenomenal journey in mid-century avant garde filmmaking. Cellular shapes take on organismic forms to morph and pulse to a universal beat, geometries formed of light overlap and tumble across the screen and hand batik-ed patterns emerge from an unknown texture to fade in and out. Created to accompany any piece of music (the images will magically sync to the beat!), Early Abstractions was created over the course of about 20 years and combines elements of collage to explore Smith's lifelong interest in the occult and higher realms of spirituality.
Smith's work really touched me in a profound way and learning more about the artist behind the work fueled a deep appreciation for his contributions to creative culture. Contemporary artists like Fred Tomaselli (whose work I fell in love with at the Prospect New Orleans Biennial) owe a huge debt to Smith's explorations on film and canvas. Check out more from Harry here.
Sun Ra @ Institute of Contemporary Art
| | Labels: art, music, philly
Illustration by Claude Dangerfield
PHILADELPHIA — The jazz musician Sun Ra, ambassador from the Airy Kingdom World Tomorrow, creator of Enterplanetary Solar Exploding Music, and founder of the Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra, is a hero of mine.
To my ears he was not only a genius composer, keyboardist and bandleader, but also constantly surprising. One minute he’s playing elevator schmaltz; then he’s making you float on air; then he’s making you deaf. I love that he was a sharp dresser, sort of kingly, sort of queenly, in faux leopard-skin capes and miner’s hats with lights.
I also admire him for transcending existential categories. He insisted he hadn’t been born, but always existed, coming to Earth from outer space, specifically the planet Saturn. Like many immigrants, he was self-invented, but radically so. He rejected being black or white or American or even human. He opted for extraterrestrial and wore his otherness like a crown.
You’ll find evidence for all of this in “Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn & Chicago’s Afro-Futurist Underground, 1954-68,” a small, piquant exhibition of art, writing and ephemera related to his life at the Institute of Contemporary Art here.
Read Holland Cotter's full article for the NYTimes here.
The Economy is Tanking
Thursday, April 30, 2009 | | Labels: news
From the NYTimes
The American economy is contracting at its steepest pace in 50 years, the government reported Wednesday, but an unanticipated rise in consumer spending since January suggested to many economists that the worst of the recession might have passed.
The last six months were brutal. Output fell at a 6.1 percent annual rate in the January-through-March quarter after falling at a rate of 6.3 percent in last year’s fourth quarter, according to the Commerce Department. If that pace were to continue, nearly $1 trillion would be wiped out this year from the nation’s economic output of $14.2 trillion last year.
Not since 1958, in the wake of a brief but severe collapse in home construction, has the national economy lost so much ground in just six months. But as tax breaks and government stimulus spending kick in, the decline in the gross domestic product could be cut in half by summer.
“The situation is not nearly as dark as the first-quarter number suggests,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, echoing the opinion of many forecasters, who see the contraction continuing, but at a slower rate until growth returns late this year or in early 2010.
Stock prices rose, partly in response to this prospect. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 168.78 points, or 2.11 percent, closing at 8,185.73.
The looming question remains the severity of job losses. More than five million jobs have disappeared since the recession began in December 2007. As their wages disappear, households spend less, and business, in response, reduces the output of goods and services, cutting more jobs in the process.
That dog-chasing-its-tail cycle was evident in the latest G.D.P. report, except for consumer spending, which rose at its best pace since the recession began. A sharp drop in fuel prices, economists said, helped to free up money for other spending.
“The biggest wild card going forward is whether that spending can hold up,” said Brian A. Bethune, an economist at IHS Global Insight.
The Federal Reserve’s policy makers, echoing the incipient optimism, said in a statement issued Wednesday, at the end of a two-day meeting, that the outlook had “improved modestly” and that the Fed would continue to pump tens of billions of dollars into the economy to keep credit flowing. To encourage this borrowing, and spending, interest rates controlled by the Fed would remain near zero, the policy makers said.
In a rare public forecast, Paul A. Volcker, a former Fed chairman and now an economic adviser to President Obama, added his voice to the optimism, although cautiously. “I’m not here to tell you the economy is going to recover very strongly in the short run,” Mr. Volcker said in an interview recorded for a weekend show on Bloomberg Television. But he said the improvement was sufficient to avoid a second government stimulus on top of the $787 billion in spending and tax breaks enacted in February.
An obstacle to easier credit, however, might come from the Treasury Department, which said in a report issued Wednesday that it would step up the issuing of 30-year bonds. The funding is needed to help finance the hundreds of billions of dollars that the government is spending on bank bailouts and stimulus. But the quickening pace could force Treasury to raise long-term interest rates to attract enough buyers for the bonds — an action that in turn could impede lending.
Read the rest of the article here.
Scott Campbell @ OHWOW
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 | | Labels: art, miami
I first met Scott barefoot at Angelo's 30th birthday blowout and the next time we ran into each other we were on the plane back to New York from Art Basel and hashing it up about growing up in Houston and his artmaking process (working with stacks of money and lasers...f*cking cool.)
Congrats to Scott on his first solo exhibition debuting at the O.H.W.O.W. Gallery a couple weeks ago! Also check out this great interview about life, tattoo and art on Worship Worthy.
Scott Campbell
Make It Rain
April 11 - May 9, 2009
3100 NW 7 Avenue / Miami / Florida / 33127
In what will be his first major solo presentation of his works, Campbell will showcase his unique aesthetic via sculptures, paintings, drawings and photography.
Scott Campbell was born and raised in a fishing camp, perched alongside a muddy bayou in rural Louisiana. With a clever knack for drawing and a fondness of stories, he began his career by doing illustration and assistant editing. Curiosity soon led him to experiment with tattooing and his immediate mastery of the art was undeniable. After a subsequent 18 month stint in Spain honing his craft, he packed up his skills and his tattoo machines and traveled for the next 5 years taking inspiration from the art and folklore of tattoo cultures all over the world.
In 2004, he opened Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Since then, it has grown to be the East Coast's premier tattoo shop with a devout following of celebrity clientele. Campbell has the taken the blue collar grit and lore of tattoo culture and extracted a visual language and wit that are supremely refined and deliberate. He has an uncanny ability to tell a story with any medium, flesh or otherwise.
Gelitin @ Tomio Koyama Gallery
From the T Magazine Blog
The gallerist Tomio Koyama represents some of the most influential contemporary Japanese artists and consistently brings new ideas and talent to Tokyo. His current show featuring Gelitin, the four-person collective from Austria known for its provocative installations and performances, is another example of his willingness to challenge us by making us smile while we think.
Bridge to exhibit.
To view the current show you must climb a rickety little bridge, then crawl through a small hole smashed through the wall. As you come through the other side, you see a large installation resembling a traditional Kyoto rock garden.
It’s not until the large garden rocks begin to shift that one realizes that each of them is actually a part of a human body, contorted to fit above the ground. (Since the opening, friends, volunteers and other artists have been filling for the artists as substitute rocks — no small feat when you consider that the gig largely involves being still for hours on end.)
Koyama’s ability to surprise and willingness to provoke a nervous reaction through art has been his gift to Tokyo.
Yummy No.3
Monday, April 27, 2009 | | Labels: events, magazines, paris
With a passion for pre-packaged industrial food, Pascal Monfort and a crew of his creative friends working in art and fashion launched Yummy, a magazine celebrating food the way one might celebrate high fashion. With artful collages of fast food boxes and high fashion models sprinkled in candy-colored, well, candy, Yummy takes an entirely new perspective on fast food—“design, coolness, seduction, trends...all the ingredients for the creative industry.”
Celebrate the new YUMMY 3 with Pascal and Co. this Thursday!
Galerie LAZY DOG
2 passage Thiéré - Paris 11
THURSDAY APRIL 30
19 to 22 hours
Bonbons, musique, drinks & juicy magazine.
SonarSoundNY
In case you're not jumping on a quick flight to Barcelona mid-June, Sonar, the huge Barcelona-based electronic music and arts festival is heading to New York. Celebrating it's 15th year, Sonar is held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona with over 30,000 people in attendance last year! This year's Barcelona lineup includes Grace Jones, Animal Collective, Micachu and the Shapes, Ebony Bones, Buraka Som Sistema and special showcases from Ed Banger and Ghostly International. Wikked lineup!
Their debut event in New York, SonarSoundNY, will showcase the best of Catalan and American artists, combining multimedia art ideas with experiemental electronica. The SonarSound NY bill includes installations by Marcel·lí Antúnez and ReacTable, featuring Ikue Mori; the mysterious ambient of Balago; the soundtrack, performed live, by Árbol and Fibla for a film by Taiwan's Tsai Ming-Liang; the extravagant pop of Hidrogenesse; hip-hop in a trio format with the Del Palo Soundsystem; two sets by the Barcelona dj d.a.r.y.l.; the highly unconventional rhythm of the Americans (both ex-residents of Barcelona) DJ/Rupture and Prefuse 73; and visuals by No-Domain.
SONARSOUND NY
8pm - 1am
Baryshnikov Arts Center NYC
450 West 37th Street, Suite 501
New York, NY 10018
All performances are free but RSVP here.
Crawfish Season
| | Labels: brooklyn, food, recipes
This past weekend we experienced 80 degree weather and a taste for the upcoming summer season of events. I met up with my friends on Sunday for Flatbush Farm's crawfish boil, aka an ode to cajun cooking. The restaurant and bar is a favorite hangout serving great drinks (Try the Mo'Stormy, a minty twist on the Dark & Stormy), solid food and a nice backyard patio for those warm spring nights. The crawfish boil was okay—it lacked the kick that I'm used to—but I was kinda horrified that what they called jambalaya was actually just gumbo served on top of some dirty rice. Im a bit of a gumbo snob and I really love the complex flavors of cajun cooking. Check out this great jambalaya recipe adapated from NOLA Cuisine:
Chicken & Andouille Sausage Jambalaya Recipe
2-3 Servings
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Andouille Sausage, Diced
1/2 Cup Onion, Diced
1/2 Cup Bell Pepper, Diced
1/2 Cup Celery, Diced
2 Tbsp. Garlic, Minced
1/2 Cup Tomatoes, Diced
1/4 Cup Tomato Sauce
3/4 Cup Enriched Long grain Rice
1 3/4 Cup Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Hot Sauce
1 Cup Boneless Chicken Thigh, Diced
(Seasoning Mix: 1/2 tsp Cayenne, 3/4 tsp White Pepper, 1 tsp Kosher Salt, 1/2 tsp Dried Thyme, 1/2 tsp Rubbed Sage, 3 Bay Leaves)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter, saute the Andouille until slightly browned. Add 1/2 of the trinity (onion, bell pepper, celery) saute until tender. Add the Tomato and cook for about one minute, then add the Tomato Sauce, cook 1 minute more. Add the Rice, cook 1 minute. Add the Stock, Worcestershire, Hot Sauce, Garlic, Seasoning Mix, Bay Leaves, the other half of the Trinity, and Raw Chicken. Stir well and bake uncovered for about 30-40 minutes, or until the rice is cooked, but still has a little bite. Top with chopped Parsley, and sliced Green Onions. Put on some Zydeco and enjoy!
Federation Blowout
Friday, April 24, 2009 | | Labels: events, music
This is gonna be f*cking bananas! Happy Anniversary to Max and Kenny! Check out the newly relaunched FederationSound.com and their weekly podcast. More Fiyah!
Cupid's Chariot is a Yellow Cab
After a late night of hobnobbing with our community's finest, 2 airkisses and a hug later, I hopped a cab outside of the NDA party at SubMercer. The warm night had everyone in a good mood and I got into an easy conversation with the cabbie, Ahmed Ibrahim. With a conspicuous "No Autographs" sign taped to the back of the plastic divider, I wasn't quite sure what I was in for. Friendly and warm, he notified me that I was in the presence of a celebrity. He handed over a stack of laminated articles dating back to 2005—turns out I was taking a ride in cupid's chariot! Mr. Ahmed has been setting up his passengers on dates since 2005, an idea that came to him after a distraught and tearful passenger challenged him to find her a boyfriend. After some easy banter—he's attending two weddings this summer (one in Monaco, both passenger success stories), he recently returned from Hollywood where his agent from William Morris has him ready to ink a film deal and we're both residents of the great planet of Brooklyn—we got to talking about his formula for success. "It's just a feeling," he explained. No arrows or fairy dust. A nice conversation and a $15 meter ride later, he gave me my change and his email and encouraged me to google him and think about his offer to include me in his database of eligible New Yorkers. Warm New York City nights and a chance run-in with Cupid remind me to remember the magic in every day encounters! Check out his story here and here.
Spring!! Mushrooms in Film
The weather is glorious in New York and that means backyard barbecues, lazy weekends in the park, and mischievous adventures. To inspire our inner psychonaut, the HSNY is holding a great film screening next Thursday.
The Horticultural Society of New York presents
MUSHROOMS - 16mm Film Screening & Reception
Thursday, April 30th, from 7:00 to 9:00pm
Featuring films by:
Bruce Conner (Looking for Mushrooms, 1967)
Jonas Mekas (Award Presentation to Andy Warhol, 1964)
Harry E. Smith (Early Abstractions #1-5, 7, 10, 1939)
Jud Yalkut (John Cage Mushroom Hunting in Stony Point, 1973)
The Horticultural Society of New York
148 W 37th Street, 13th Floor
Dust La Rock @ Christopher Henry
Last Night Dust La Rock had an epic opening at the Christopher Henry Gallery! A great mix of faces old and new came out to support the artist whose work has graced album covers, party flyers and magazine spreads, he is currently the creative director for Nick Catchdubs and A-Trak's Fool's Gold records. Check some images of his work below.
Ateliers Ruby x Maison Martin Margiela
Parisian designer Jérôme Coste founded Ruby to solve the conundrum of being both safe and sexy. His beautifully crafted retro-chic cycling helmets use a carbon shell that is borrowed from aerospace technology with a signature ruby red nappa lambskin lining inside. For their third collaboration from the "Signature" collection, Coste teamed up with avantgarde fashion darling Maison Martin Margiela to celebrate the Antwerp line's 20th Anniversary. Margiela and his colleagues at 163 Rue St-Maur took the program title literally and each person placed his signature on the helmet to create a collective work. This limited edition collection will be sold at Colette.
Maya Lin Makes Waves at Storm King
What could be better than communing with nature and art. One of my favorite art spaces, Storm King Art Center in the Hudson Valley is now open to visitors for their 2009 season. With over 500 acres of fields and woodlands, this is a perfect space to interact with some of the greats of postwar sculpture. Artists like Richard Serra, Nam June Paik, Isamu Noguchi, and Louise Borgeois have work on the property.
Ive been waiting all winter to check out Maya Lin's Wavefields. The work is inspired by the tidal waves and currents and each wave measures 305 and 368 feet in length and, with the grasses, rises to a height of between ten and fifteen feet. I can't wait to walk through and experience such a monumental work in such a unique and serene environment. Check out a great video interview with the artist here. The exhibition opens up on May 9th.
Enter the 37th Chamber
Thursday, April 23, 2009 | | Labels: music, new york
When Brooklyn-favorites El Michael Affairs went on tour with the Wu-Tang Clan in 2006 it was a strange but beautiful love affair between the live music soul/funk band and the legendary Staten Island crew.
Today, the lovechild from this collaboration is out for the world to admire. Enter the 37th Chamber is a full-on instrumental interpretation of classic Wu-Tang tracks. The album is out on Truth and Soul Records, the independent label run by the guys behind El Michaels Affair. Besides their own projects, they're home to the Phenomenal Handclap Band, a great catalog of funk/soul compilations (featuring art direction from Rostarr), and responsible for reviving the career of soul crooner Lee Fields who is dropping his first album on the label this June 2nd!! Check out the video below of "Bring the Ruckus"!
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