Secret Bar Sticker
This is a sticker design that I created for Thanksgiving. I would tell you more about it but, like it says, I would have to kick your ass first. If you know what I am talking about, you are a very lucky person.
Patton Oswalt Posters From Jay Ryan
Oh my. It is not fair that I have five posters sitting at home that need framing and then come across these two awesome posters by Jay Ryan at The Bird Machine. These are from Patton Oswalt’s recent gigs in Athens and Atlanta Georgia and featuring Patton’s dog Grumpus and Star Wars action figures. (Patton is a huge Star Wars nerd.) I really shouldn’t get any more posters since we are out of wall space and I still have those other five to frame but, since my wife is gone for the week, the only question for me at this point is which one to buy. I think I am leaning toward the Boba Fett one.
The two posters approximately 17.5 x 23 inches, printed on white cover using five screens. Each has an edition of 300 that are signed and sell for $20. Fine art for twenty bucks, folks. Good deal. Now go support an artist!
Saturday Morning Animation – Her Morning Elegance
Some great stop motion animation in this video from Oren Lavie.
High Line Park, NYC
I find this both exciting and inspirational. I remember hearing about plans to take a portion of the elevated train system in NYC and turn it into a park a few years ago but I wrote it off as just being a beautiful pipe dream that would never come to fruition. I have never been more glad to be wrong.
The High Line was built in between 1929 and 1934 on Manhattan’s West side. The High Line went right through the middle of city blocks so that freight trains (it could support 2, fully loaded) could roll right in to warehouses and factories to pick up and drop off goods. This alleviated any interference with street traffic that was starting to become a problem in the bustling city. By the 50’s, trucking began replacing the railway and, after some demolition in the 60’s, it finally stopped seeing any use in 1980.
To make a long story short, advocates spoke, protection of the abandoned railway was granted and funding was raised. A design competition was held and architects were chosen. And now, it is physically happening. The first section of the High Line (Gansevoort Street to 20th Street) is projected to open in the Spring of 2009. That is almost now, people!
Here is a great video kind of showing what it will be:
Here is the Friends of the High Line blog that has some great info and updates.
Name My Design Company Machine
I have always been asked, “Why ‘Big Plastic Head’?” And I’m all, “I don’t know. It just sounds badass and is easy to remember.” And then they are all, “Pft. Whatever.” And then they never ask about it again. Nor return to the site. (Unless ‘they’ are my wife and brother-in-law. They are like groupies. Seriously. Can’t shake ’em.)
I guess next time I’ll use the “Name My Design Company Machine” from Breadline. It does a pretty good job except there are too many animals and not enough body parts. (One time it came up Green Banana Designs. Not bad, actually…)
(Via Draplin)
Over 40 – January 2009
A new year. A new president. Actually, A president because the last one in that office did nothing. Asshole.
Other than that it was a pretty quiet month. The weather was horrible so I didn’t get to ride my new birthday bike very much. We did build a Secret Bar. It is pretty sweet. Finally played a round of disc golf out at Whistlers Bend which is a pretty great course.
Saturday Morning Animation – Big Buck Bunny
Big Buck Bunny is a great little animation made with Blender, an open source (read: free) software that anyone can download and use to create their own animations. I highly recommend watching this in HD here.
Art-O-Mat
What do you do with those old cigarette vending machines? Decorate them all ‘Fantastico’, cram ’em full of cheap art, spread them out across the country and create an army of Art-o-Mats!
These things have been around for ten years already. There are 82 active machines featuring the works of over 400 artists. Put in your money, pull the lever and you are rewarded with a one-of-a-kind original art piece. How cool is that? Very cool, I say. It looks like there is one up in Eugene so I may have to drop in and check it out next time I am there.
The Impossible Project
Remember my post last week about Polaroid failing to understanding their market value and stopped making their self-developing film? Well it sure created a flurry of comments on this site the likes of which I have never seen before. Thank you to all of the commenters. (I would thank you all individually but I am a very busy man. Sorry.)
Anyway, there is hope yet…sort of. A group calling themselves Impossible b.v. has signed a 10 year lease agreement with Polaroid for the factory and all the equipment used in the Netherlands plant which made the now defunct film and film cartridges. Impossible b.v. plans to use the facility to make:
“… a new product with new characteristics, consisting of new optimised components, produced with a streamlined modern setup. An innovative and fresh analog material, sold under a new brand name that perfectly will match the global re-positioning of Integral Films.”
Whatever that means. Just give us back our wonderful grainy odd-colored auto-developing film, will ya? Does it have to be that complicated? Sheesh.
We’re All Gonna Die – 100 Meters of Existence
Simon Høgsberg has created a photograph that is 100 meters long and 78 centimeters tall by stitching together a whole bunch of photos. All the photos were taken from approximately the same spot on a bridge in Berlin over a course of 20 days. I didn’t think I would like this as much as I do. This could have easily failed but I think the results are quite effective. (via Kottke)
I also really like the photos from his “Tower of Babel” series that he gave up on because he, “…no longer believed in the idea behind it”. And, actually, all of his work is very good. Highly recommended.
obamicon.me
Wooden Laptop Cases
These wooden Mac laptop cases designed by for Rainer Spehl are oh-so impractical but for some reason, I really want one.
Polaroid PoGo SO Misses the Point
Back in February of 2008, Polaroid announced that it would stop making instant developing film at the beginning of the new year. Hey wait…that is NOW!! Millions of art nerds and lo-fi addicts will no longer be able to purchase auto-developing film for those Polaroid cameras that they bought for $10 at a thrift store . I myself, thinks that sucks.
But now, Polariod has released PoGo, a camera that inklessly prints a 2X3 inch photo in about 60 seconds. You better have some extra batteries on hand as you can only print about 20 photos on one charge. And the thing is only 5 megapixels.
If you ask me, I think Polaroid’s instant film popularity wasn’t due to the on-the-fly results that you got with a Polaroid camera. It was the murky quality and physical properties that you could futz with during the developing process that made them so endearing. To me, it was the ‘non-instant’ developing speed of their ‘instant film’ that I loved. It created in me a mysterious anticipation for what may appear on that plastic sheet that I waved back and forth in my hand (which may or may not have accelerated developing time – no one knows for sure).
Is it me or is Polaroid missing the point on this one?
Here is a save Polaroid site if anyone is interested in putting up a futile fight.
Saturday Morning Animation – Unbox the Box
A neat little commercial for AUDI that has been running in Europe featuring an animated man forming the box he is drawn on into a fancy automobile.
And, yes, that Woodie Guthrie song will be in your head for the rest of the day after viewing it.
The commercial was created by BBH.
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