Robert Bradford creates his life-size and larger-than-life sculptures of humans and animals from discarded plastic items, mainly toys but also other colorful plastic bits and pieces, such as combs and buttons, brushes and parts of clothes pegs.
Contrary to some reports, he’s not a self-taught artist who tinkered in his shed one day and suddenly decided to create something out of his kids’ discarded toys. He is a London-born and U.K. and U.S.-trained visual artist who, like many artists, also had another career on the side. His was that of a psychotherapist.
In 2002, he started to consider the possibilities that his children’s forgotten toys could have as part of something bigger. Bradford says he likes the idea that the plastic pieces have a history, some unknown past, and that they also pass on a “cultural” history as each of the pieces represents a point in time. Recycling is not his primary concern, but each sculpture certainly keeps quite a few pieces from becoming landfill. Some of the sculptures contain pieces from up to 3,000 toys and sell for £12,000 (US$19,000). - Tuija Seipell
Via The Cool Hunter
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Recycled Toy Sculptures
Artist: Pat Perry
And check out this time lapse video of him doing one of his paintings. I like the technique.
Timelapse Painting Yeah from Pat Perry on Vimeo.
Via Pat Perry
Karen O and Spike Jonze
Here's a video of Spike Jonze and Karen O on the making of "Where The Wild Things Are?" soundtrack. The music is clearly going to be fantastic.
New music: The Micropops
I have a serious affinity for indie pop bands from Scandinavia. These guys come from Norway and their pretty fantastic. And look at this album art above. They are clearly sickeningly happy about their lives. Check out the video below of them playing an acoustic version of their song "Moonlight". I really hope that's their hometown that the video is filmed in.
www.myspace.com/micropops
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
James Roper
Wow! So much talent from James Roper! From drawing to painting to graphic work and even sculpture, this guy has a style that Kanye West would lose his shit over.
The Ecstasy of Jenna Jameson II
mixed media on paper
29.5cm x 42cm
2006
The Ecstasy of Puma Swede
mixed media on paper
29.5cm x 42cm
2006
Devotion (mandala)
2005
Deep structure dispersal
acrylic on canvas
120cm x 120cm
2008
Autosarcophagy (The host within the host)
acrylic on canvas
120cm x 100cm
2009
As illusions burst
2006
Via JamesRoper.co.uk
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Meeeeelllttttttt
French designer Florent Degourc takes a playful approach to design, as demonstrated in this table – bench set entitled Smooth & Smoothie. First seen on TrendsNow, the set is almost reminiscent of bubble gum, and is made of a mixture polyurethane foam and resin coating, allowing for the ‘melted’ effect, yet durable enough for everyday use. This combo set could easily work inside and out, or as a perfect addition to your cracked out Willy Wonka room.
Via LimitedHype
The Ear
Inspired by Gogol's short story entitled "The Nose" from the "Petersburg tales". Yi Zhou has writtern her latest short film about the absurd story of the loss of an ear. The ear is actually the key element of the film, shot in RED and partly in 3d animation. Throughout the film, the ear and inner ear as a whole turn themselves into an EarBridge as they get crossed by a bridge. The EarBridge is part of a public project proposal for Baku, Azerbaijan that includes a number of important international contemporary artists.
Oh, and it stars Pharrell.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Customize your sneaks!
As one of China’s emerging footwear labels, MS teams up with Shanghainese retailer FOOTMARK on an innovative collaboration shoe. The shoe itself comes in as a patent leather mid with an over-sized tongue. The defining point of the FutureStep is the ability to fully customize the sneaker’s aesthetic thanks to select Velcro panels. A total of 6 different colors sets are included with 6 different areas of customization. The shoe will release mid-October only at FOOTMARK with a suggested retail price of ¥2999 RMB (approximately $439 USD).
Via Hype Beast
Vote for DAVE!
He puts the "Dave" into "Hey, Dave!"
Vote for Dave Clarke to be the Best Exhibit winner for this year's Nuit Blanche, or else we will kill the blog.
VOTE HERE.
Danielle Greer Solo Exhibition: Ethereal Semaphores
Awesome exhibit by photographer Danielle Greer happening NOW until October 31st at Switch Contemporary in Toronto. Check it.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Posters!
DAIN has produced these really cool multi-medium posters that he is showing at Brooklynite Gallery in Brooklyn.
Clip of the day
Someone sent me this clip this morning of a dream sequence from Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Spellbound" (1945). The dream sequence was designed by the perfectly twisted Salvador Dali. It's pretty brilliant.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Mekanism Skateboards once again impresses, having worked for their second 2009 project with Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. The artist is well known for his large exhibition structures and most recently for the impressive sun artwork. With Mekanism the artist of course worked on skateboard decks. The “Your Mercury Ocean” decks have a silver reflective upper and for the first time the artist also reworked the upper structure of the board into a 3D structure. The various levels on the board, give the impression of a wave pattern. The artist worked on overall 90 skatedecks, as well as 10 artist proofs and 10 exhibition pieces. Without a doubt this has to be the most impressive project by Mekanism to date.
Via High Snobiety
Music: The XX
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Mr Sub fires ad agency after complaints of homophobia
Does this Mr Sub commercial offend you? If you can't watch the video, here's a synopsis: a large family is sitting at a dining room table, and the father says he has announcement to make: he's gay. One of the children asks, "You mean, like gay, gay?" to which the father responds, "Like super, super gay." Then a voice-over: "Not everyone likes surprises - so count on Mr Sub, a Canadian classic for over 40 years."
Marketing Mag reports today that Mr Sub has fired the ad agency, BOS, that created the 30-second spot. The decision comes after a few disgruntled tweets, a Facebook group and a letter-writing campaign by some members of the Canadian Auto Workers union.
"We must let Mr Sub know that making fun of our LGBT sisters and brothers and the very difficult and often painful coming out process is no way to sell submarine sandwiches," says CAW communications director Shannon Divine, according to Marketing Mag.
But cooler heads on Twitter and gay activist listservs questioned the outrage: is the ad actually homophobic? Or is it a step forward for gay visibility? Some encouraged others to email Mr Sub to express their support for the ad campaign.
"We did not mean to belittle the ‘coming out’ experience," wrote BOS in an email to Marketing Mag. "Nor did we mean to imply that it was a bad thing. In fact, we were very careful to downplay the reactions of the family members so the father’s announcement would not be perceived as being catastrophic. It is most unfortunate that others have interpreted this commercial otherwise.”
Via Xtra
KAWS HALLOWEEN ornaments
Continuing with their Halloween Series, OriginalFake create a new version of their hanging ornament, originally spotted last year during the Mark Dean Veca exhibition. This time around, KAWS’ companion is featured in a black/orange color scheme within a skeleton motif. Look for this to soon become available through various OriginalFake retailers.
Monday, October 5, 2009
7-11 does Domo
Domo, the Japanese stop-action character and meme celebrity, is appearing this fall in an elaborate 7-Eleven storewide promotion, and his toothy brown face is plastered on everything imaginable. Tons of signage of all over, collectible Slurpee cups (and Domo's own custom flavor, Fuji Frost), character straws, coffee cups, and some truly inventive and funny packaging design for the hot dog containers. There's even Domo schwag like hats, t-shirts, and books. Evan Brody, the marketing manager for Slurpee, told Brandweek that 7-Eleven's consumers "love crazy Japanese shit."
Hail Dave!
Tattoo's Dave Clarke caused quite the stir as Toronto's Messiah of Traditional Communication during Nuit Blanche on Saturday, October 3rd.
The Clarke sat for 12 hours from sunset to sunrise on a stage outside of Old City Hall. Under a sign saying "Hey Dave!", he had one motive and one motive only: to talk face to face with the people of Toronto.
It didn't take long for Hey Dave! to establish the reputation of being a must-see event. Upon advising the crowds on their lives, answering many questions, taking many photos and shaking many hands, Dave Clarke became the city's go-to guy. Long live Dave the mentor, Dave the pal!
Hey, Dave! Thank you for being awesome.
Dave Listens.
Dave gives handshakes.
Dave brings joy!
Dave draws crowds!
Dave draws signs!
More photos of Dave here.
Read more about Hey Dave! here.
Posts
