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July 22 2011
RADAR NYC 7.21.11 – feat. Diana Eng
Photo by Ricardo Louis via Diana Eng
This week, we bring back the blog with help from Diana Eng (RADAR ep 31 – Fairytale Fashion), and she made it easy for me, since I’m already a huge fan of most of her choices. She’s been quite busy lately, with her amazing line and increasing popularity in the fashion world, including her new collection of Laser Lace Tees and Tops. You can also check out her shop, as well as read up on her inspiration on her own blog.
nyan.cat
How long can you nyan for? This very well could be the last thing the Internet ever needs, as it combines the holy trifecta of cats, adorableness, and utter randomness. Based off of PRguitarman’s original Pop Tart Cat .gif (I suppose toast is healthier?) times how long you can, well, nyan. It’s so addictive, though, that you can nyan for hours on end if you allow it. Added bonuses here include putting the site into different languages such as Japanese (makes sense), Nyan (exactly what you’d expect) and Catalan, giving double meaning to the .cat domain name. We may think it’s cute now, but once cats successfully conquer the Internet, the rest of the world will surely follow. So cute though!
Unleash the fury of NYAN HERE.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps
This was Diana’s pick, but I have to interject here—this isn’t just one of my all time favorite songs, but possibly my all time favorite music video, and a big part of my inspiration for wanting to get into filming bands. A ballad off their definitely-classic-by-now debut LP Fever to Tell, it showed that the (at the time) rising buzz band Yeah Yeah Yeahs (and more specifically, lead singer Karen O) could do more than thrash and screech, but also create one of the most touching songs of the last decade.
You can buy the album HERE
Tina Fey – Bossypants
Tina Fey is just one of those people who do pretty much everything right—30 Rock is still the funniest thing on TV after like, what, 5 seasons? Then there’s Date Night and Baby Mama, and the fact that after she left Saturday Night Live the only time people talk about the show is when they mention how far downhill it’s gone since then. So clearly she’s some kind of sorceress and we should all be terrified. Or you can read her hilarious book and hopefully absorb some of its power. If nothing else, reading it on the subway is sure to piss off the disgruntled former frat bros who still insist, “women aren’t funny.” Tina Fey just happens to be at the top of a long list of women who prove them wrong.
You can pick up a copy HERE
Talk To Me
Talk To Me is a new exhibit at MoMA that examines the ways humans interact with objects. Every day we interact with things like computers and increasingly smarter phones, which in turn, interact with us. Talk To Me offers a look at the history and future of these interaction, going back to products from the 1960s and looking forward with some products in development. A lot goes into it—visual design, interface, information. In keeping with the theme, the organizers encourage communication and feedback from the visitors, ranging from suggestions from designers to visitor interaction using cell phones. Be sure to check out the blog as well.
Talk To Me
July 24–November 7
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019
EVENT INFO
Thingiverse and Ponoko
Diana has picked a couple of nice blogs for you to check out, specifically if you like, well, things and stuff. Thingiverse is a blog co-founded by fellow RADAR contributor Bre Pettis of Makerbot (RADAR ep 19), focusing on digital designs from ordinary people and realizing them through the use of machines like laser cutters and digital printers. In a similar vein is Ponoko, which is sort of like a digital Etsy (or rather, a more-digital Etsy), exploring the art of digital making even further.
June 19 2011
Branded Distribution
Remember the music industry isn’t struggling because people don’t love music. Social networks allow artists to have more reach and powerful connections with their listeners. Green Label Sound signed The Cool Kids to be part of their relationship with fans (consumers). I think that is a good investment when you consider the depth and duration of the relationship the fans have with the rap crew. This combined with (last time I checked) 3,370,297 views for their Black Mage music video on Youtube, 4,850,369 plays and 423,384 listeners on Lastfm, 187,861 Likes on their Facebook page, and they have 12,878 followers on Twitter. At SXSW The Cool Kids performed at the Green Label Sound Showcase and many top music blogs mentioned their label.
In exchange, the Cool Kids get to keep all of their income from iTunes album sales, except for processing fees (Source Billboard). They are promoted by a marketing budget much larger than most record labels, since Green Label Sound is owned by PepsiCo, a Fortune 500 company that has sold billions of dollars worth of soft drinks vs relying on album sales. “Labels suck,” the Cool Kids’ Chuck Inglish said, “What can they do that Pepsi can’t do? We had a good experience with Green Label Sound — we got more from that single than we got from our previous album. I was tired of the album sitting around and just wanted to get it out.”(Source Billboard)
Here’s where indie film distribution fits in. Sponsors at prestigious film festivals might evolve into distributors: starting to acquire titles that make sense for the brand’s identity, focusing on marketing themselves as patrons of the arts, distributing films to theaters where their target demographic lives e.g. college towns. This strategy increases brand loyalty by adding value to people’s lives.
Content producers will win because all of the typical costs associated with theatrical film distribution will be covered by the brand. So, creators are going to be able to keep more money. Filmmakers will still own the digital rights for their project and the buzz from screenings will increase the projects’ value. “Theatrical will drive awareness of the film,” WME agent Liesl Copland said regarding distribution for Blue Valentine (Source Eugene Hernande at IndieWire).
June 09 2011
RADAR NYC 6.9.11
My Potholes
What do you do when there’s a pothole in your street? Try avoiding it? Call the city to fill it in? Effective ideas, though they aren’t especially imaginative. With the help of Claudia Ficca and Davide Luciano, a couple of Montreal-based artists, these folks in several US and Canadian cities turned their potholes into works of art—at least temporarily. But the photos on My Potholes capture a number of whimsical moments created from minor nuisances. Watch as they turn common road hazards into swimming pools, donut fryers, gardens, rabbit holes, and more.
Check it out HERE
Noveller – Alone Star
NOVELLER “ALONE STAR” from Matt Kleiner on Vimeo.
Noveller, a.k.a. Sarah Lipstate (RADAR ep 28 – Before I Die) has just released this gorgeous black and white video on her website for her song “Alone Star” off her new album Glacial Glow. Directed by Matt Kleiner, this video chronicles several days in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne. It’s some powerful stuff when paired with the musical storytelling of this Brooklyn-based guitar goddess. Contrasting the busy city with vast desert, it creates a truly surreal scene.
Check out Sarah’s website HERE
Ben McCool Interview
Writer Ben McCool (RADAR ep 41 – Memoir) has a new comic series coming out this September, but in the meantime you can check out a preview of it as well as an interview with USA Today. Titled “Pigs,” the comic takes a gritty look at the Cold War, which if you can believe it, ended two decades ago this year. So now it’s far back enough in our collective subconscious that we can take another look at the whole terrifying era of mutually assured destruction, secret agents and the Cuban Missile Crisis and see that things weren’t quite as black-and-white as we all thought at the time.
Read the article HERE.
Magic and Bubbles
Poetry Brothel, House of Illusions NYC
Our friends at the Poetry Brothel (RADAR ep 20) are bringing it back this weekend, with a magical twist. The “whores” will be teaming up with a master magician for some old school, Houdini-esque illusions.
Sunday, June 12th, 8pm-1am
The Back Room
102 Norfolk Street
New York, NY
$5-$15
EVENT INFO
Newmindspace Bubble Battle NYC 2011
The folks at Newmindspace (RADAR ep 10) want to make New York a more bubbly, effervescent place for its residents. Join hundreds of other bubble battlers with your own bubble-making supplies, and let the air fill with soapy, prismatic orbs (and yes I was trying to avoid saying “bubble” again).
Location TBA
Saturday, June 18th 2010 @ 6:00pm
Rain or shine. Free and all ages!
New York, NY
EVENT INFO
Second Avenue Sagas
New Yorkers, be honest, how often do you find yourself silently (or not so silently) cursing the MTA for all the service changes and fare increases? Second Avenue Sagas hopes to answer some of the questions as to why all these annoyances happen. What started as a blog chronicling the progress of the long-delayed Second Avenue Subway, is now a blog covering all forms of New York City transit, offering opinions, insight, progress reports, and ideas to make transit better, as well as listing all the weekend service changes every Friday. It’s a great place for New Yorkers to get informed and involved with the city’s decisions on transportation.
May 27 2011
RADAR NYC 5.26.11
Symmetry
Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.
Do yourself a favor and watch this with headphones on, just to get the full effect. Symmetry is an inventive little short showing the dualities of life: peanut butter and jelly, faith and science, salt and pepper, and (spoiler alert maybe?) life and death, among others. And there are a few nice surprises and Easter eggs thrown in there as well to keep it from getting predictable. Tying it all together is a peaceful yet energetic soundtrack, a reminder to revel in the day-to-day things we often take for granted.
More videos from Everynone HERE.
The Antlers – Burst Apart
Brooklyn band The Antlers (RADAR ep 16 – Missed Connections) had the lovely challenge no band wants of having to follow up their nearly universally critically acclaimed 2009 album Hospice. Fortunately for them, their new LP, Burst Apart holds up well (or else I wouldn’t be writing this mini review). Although it doesn’t really burst, as the title suggests—it’s more of a nice slow burn record. Sounding at times like fellow New Yorkers TV on the Radio, other times taking a more electronic turn a la Portishead or Massive Attack, and many other times creating a sound all their own, they’ve crafted another instant classic.
You can buy the album on the band’s website HERE
Sophie Blackall – Are You Awake?
I feel like I mention Sophie Blackall (RADAR ep 16 – Missed Connections) a lot in this blog, but really, it’s purely because she so consistently creating new work. And I should mention a personal bias—I really love her artwork. But this particular book is a bit different from most of her published works. Not only did she illustrate it, but also wrote the story. It’s based on a personal tale of her own, when her son was young and wouldn’t go to sleep. Definitely relatable for any parent, but what makes me particularly want to check it out is that based on her description, it sounds seriously gorgeous.
You can pick up a copy from IndieBound HERE
More about the book on Sophie’s blog
Dr. Sketchy’s – Koala Kunst
Another contributor that’s always busy with something new is Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR ep 8), this month bringing Australian models Agent Cleave and Jess Daly for “Koala Kunst.” Surely a title as deceptively adorable as Australia itself, a continent home to fuzzy marsupials as well as spiders so big they have their own health bars. The night’s festivities are designed just in time for Amanda Palmer’s Down Under Tour.
Sun, June 05, 2011 • 4:00 – 6:00 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
$12 advance, $15 door
EVENT INFO
FUCK! i’m in my twenties
A question for all 20-somethings: how many of you find yourself saying this on a fairly regular basis? Because I’ve done it at least 15 times. Today. But at least now you know that you aren’t experiencing your quarter-life crisis on your own, right? And existential crises are so much more fun when they happen to someone else, and that someone else has a gratuitous love of profanities. I have no idea who writes this blog, but really, it’s all of us. And someday we’ll all look back and realize that our twenties were actually pretty entertaining, if not utterly terrifying.
May 13 2011
RADAR NYC 5.12.11 – feat. Lori Nix
This week, we return to our contributor-curated series of blog posts with Lori Nix (RADAR ep 33 – Unnatural History). She found us a nice mix of beautiful works of art and some quirky, off the wall stuff–sort of like her own work.
Cravendale Cats
That’s it, I’m officially jealous of the British. After outdoing us in music and comedy for years, they now roll out this oddly addicting TV spot for milk—which is undoubtedly a result of years of its creators spending too much time on the Internet. Because—and I’ve mentioned this before—the equation goes: cats + doing weird things = roughly 85% of Internet content. Also, note the strange milk cartons they use over there (hey, at least it doesn’t come in bags like in Canada).
Find more on this clever campaign HERE.
Bodies of Water: Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink
The music from this extremely talented LA-based collective has this rolling, lively Spaghetti Western-esque epicness to it that hooked me pretty much immediately, sort of like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros without all the gimmickry. Ennio Morricone would be proud. But don’t get me wrong, there’s still enough theatrics and choral pieces to make this record the very definition of grand. Listen to it while walking down the street makes your life an instant musical. Just don’t blame me if people stare at you when you start singing along.
You can buy the album HERE
Bodies of Water’s website
Hi-Fructose Magazine
Despite new media’s repeated attempts to kill off the magazine once and for all (blogger’s note: hi there, sorry about that!), Hi-Fructose Magazine may be all the proof needed to show that there will always be a place for a beautifully-made, high quality, full color quarterly. Hi-Fructose aims to profile and discuss alternative artists, while at the same time dissecting what “alternative” means, bending genres and shattering norms in the process. Whatever you want to call it, there’s really some stunning work on display here.
You can pick up a copy at most bookstores, or check out their web presence HERE
Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities
It may still be a ways off, but Otherworldly at the Museum of Arts and Design should definitely be worth the wait. Lori Nix and other diorama artists will be showcasing their different creations, extremely detailed microcosms of worlds that are both realistic and surreal—glimpses of our world both as it is and as it could be.
Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities
June 7 – September 18
Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
$15 Admission
EVENT INFO
New York Mag (and comments)
When Lori told me she liked to liked to read New York Magazine online to laugh at the comments following the articles, I wasn’t quite sure what she meant. But I didn’t have to look far to find out—the comments section is a nice concentrated cross-section of the Internet as a whole. You’ll find cynical, snarky millennials, sarcastic storytellers, political pundits who insert their opinions of Bush and/or Obama into every conversation, and trolls of course, because trolls simply are and always will be—they are as deeply ingrained into comment threads as the Pope is into Catholicism. It’s worth a laugh on any day you could use a bit of a confidence boost.
May 05 2011
RADAR NYC 5.5.11
Image via Dr. Sketchy’s
Welcome to Pine Point
I’ll be honest; it’s difficult for me to describe this without just suggesting you watch it for yourself, and it’s even more difficult to classify this as “watch.” From the National Film Board of Canada, this project tells the story of Pine Point, a planned mining community in central Canada, the people who lived there, and its eventual demise—being completely razed and taken off the map. It’s told through interactive bits, archival footage, pieces of animation, and recorded interviews with the former residents, and it all combines with some lovely music from The Besnard Lakes (one of my personal favorite Canadian bands) for a truly engaging experience that tells more than a straight up documentary ever could.
Check it out HERE
Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed
Ernest Greene, better known by his recording name Washed Out (RADAR season 3) will be following up last year’s excellent EP with his just-announced debut LP, Within and Without (complete with NSFW-ish cover art), due out July 12. But if you can’t wait that long, you can download the first single off the album right now. Eyes Be Closed sounds like a dreamy, trippy journey through a beautiful desert, or perhaps flying through the clouds. Either way, it’d be cool to listen to on the subway just as your train bursts above ground, the sunlight hitting your face.
You can get the mp3 straight from Sub Pop HERE
How the Social Web Reflected on bin Laden’s Death
By the time President Obama came on to announce the death of Osama bin Laden, it was already old news for a lot of wired people—myself included—who probably found out on Facebook or Twitter, and had about an hour to divulge their two cents on the matter. And it really showed how much the world has changed in the past 10 years. It was fascinating to watch the news unfold over the Internet, through mediums such as social media and imageboards, while major news sites struggled to keep up. Mashable has an interesting article on the role of social media in bin Laden’s death, complete with several fascinating infographics that reveal a lot about the world in 2011.
Read the article HERE.
Cake on the Bowery, Murder in Victorian England
Let Us Make Cake
Shantell Martin (RADAR ep 26 – Hidden Oras) will be joining about a dozen other visual artists will be using the façade of the New Museum as a canvas for their collaborative projection installation, Let Us Make Cake, part of Flash:Light, a night time, site-specific series of temporary art installations that re-imagine public space. Other events are planned at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and on Mulberry Street, so it should be quite a night.
Saturday, May 7 · 8:00 pm
The New Museum
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
Free
EVENT INFO
Dr. Sketchy’s Does Jack the Ripper
Not even one of England’s creepiest and bloodiest legends is safe from the imaginations of the good people at Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School (RADAR ep 8). Though really, in hindsight it seems like the perfect backdrop for the grisly tale of murders that scared the petticoats off of Victorian England.
Sunday, May 8 · 4:00pm – 7:00pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
$12-$15
EVENT INFO
FreedomLab
FreedomLab Future Studies is an Amsterdam-based think tank and research lab committed to finding creative solutions to issues in technology, business, and society. The site also features a blog offering thoughts on subjects such as social media, storytelling, and intelligent green energy, while also emphasizing the growing influence of non-Western societies, such as Brazil and Africa, on the world stage. This is definitely a site to watch if you want to get ahead of the curve in the 21st Century.
FreedomLab’s website
@freedomlab on Twitter
April 29 2011
RADAR NYC 4.28.11
Eliza Skinner – The Oscar Party
Eliza Skinner (RADAR ep 2 – I Eat Pandas) returns to the world of Internet videos with this short about a couple going through an angry breakup just as their friends arrive for an Oscars party. Hijinks ensue, guests are weirded out, and movie puns are thrown around—and for some reason movie puns are so much funnier when shouted in a fit of rage. Movie nerds will either cringe or chortle. Or both. Either way, Eliza is quite hilarious as a pissed off ex-girlfriend.
Morningbell – Lovefool
Before I watched this video, I thought the title was just a coincidence—surely they weren’t covering that classic 90s radio mainstay? But that’s exactly what Morningbell (RADAR ep 33 – Unnatural History) did. And they did it gloriously. They stayed true to the original while giving it a bit of their own odd flair. And the breakfast-tastic video definitely ups the weirdness factor. You know, for those of you who like your 90s nostalgia with a side of scrambled eggs.
Download the mp3 for free HERE
Morningbell’s website
Morningbell’s MySpace
Sophie Blackall – The Crows of Pearblossom
Sophie Blackall has to be one of our busiest contributors. When she’s not creating beautiful blog posts about her father’s adventures or the Missed Connections of complete strangers, she’s creating amazing illustrations for children’s books. Her latest work is the illustrations for The Crows of Pearblossom, a short story originally written in 1944 by the legendary British author Aldous Huxley. Her vivid artwork gives a modern and whimsical flair to the classic tale.
You can buy the book HERE.
The Digitour & SLAM Theatre
The Digitour feat. The Gregory Brothers
Have you ever wanted to see Internet memes live on stage? As it turns out, the Gregory Brothers (RADAR ep 27 – Auto Tune the News) are among the many YouTube musicians performing as part of the DigiTour—and they’re playing New York on May 1. Go see the show, and then spend the rest of May with musical current events stuck in your head.
Sunday, May 1 · 7:00 pm
Gramercy Theatre
127 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
$18
EVENT INFO
Slam Theatre week 1
SLAM Theatre (RADAR ep 6) is back this spring with another round of their fast-paced playwright and actor competition. It will be going on for the next four weeks, but Sunday is the first round of eliminations for this series, and you don’t want to miss the beginning.
Sunday April 24 · 7:00 – 12:00 am
Sunday, May 1 · 7:00pm – 10:00pm
The Tank NYC
354 West 45th Street
New York, NY
$5 suggested donation
EVENT INFO
@LukeGWilliams
Luke Williams is a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business who specializes in disruptive innovation—a constant stream of unexpected changes and challenges to the old status quo. And in this world where “recession” is the word on everyone’s mind, new, disruptive ideas are more important than ever. While his blog (and book), DISRUPT may have been written with businesses in mind, the ideas he gives in his posts are surprisingly applicable to anyone.
DISRUPT blog
Luke Williams on Twitter
April 26 2011
Find Out How To Monetize Transmedia Storytelling And ARG On Hollywood 2.0!
My co-host Rich Silverman (Emmy-winner writer) and I (producer/neurocinema innovator) will tell you how…Welcome to Hollywood 2.0, a new podcast that covers innovation in the entertainment industry.
Subscribe to Hollywood 2.0. Follow Rich and Peter.
April 22 2011
RADAR NYC 4.21.11
Image by The Oatmeal
The American Energy Spectrum
Click here for the full version of this amazing infographic in all its interactive, clickable, mouseover glory, which shows all the ways we generate, use and waste energy in the United States. Aside from the overwhelming ratio of fossil fuels to renewable energy, the real shocking statistic here is just how much energy is wasted—it certainly makes me think twice about leaving the light on when I go for a quick grocery run. This and tons of other gorgeous and enlightening infographics can be found at Good Magazine, a multimedia platform by and for people who want to learn more about the world and make it a better place.
Bear Hands – New EP
After releasing their excellent debut LP, Burning Bush Supper Club last year, Brooklyn’s own Bear Hands are keeping busy with a new EP, High Society, released just last month, available as a digital download. It has the catchy title track, “High Society,” as well as wonderfully dancey remixes of “Tablasaurus” and “Wicksey Boxing,” and an acoustic live rendition of “Tall Trees.” It should make a nice addition to your springtime playlist.
You can pick up the EP HERE
Bear Hands’s website
Bear Hands’s MySpace
5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth
Right now, off the top of your head, you probably can’t think of any reasons to punch a dolphin in the mouth. But that’s why this book is so helpful! Matthew Inman writes and draws The Oatmeal, which is part webcomic, part infographic, and always hilarious. And now there’s a book, containing pretty much the entire series, plus several more comics. Mixing topics like grammar, biology, chemistry, and cracked-out Tyrannosaurus Rexes, it just might teach you something.
You can find the book HERE.
Music, Drawing and Poetry
Dr. Sketchy’s Tribute to Tura Satana
Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR ep 8) returns this month with a tribute to the exotic dancer and actress Tura Satana. Cult movie fans will recognize that name from the classic exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Sunday, April 24 · 4:00 – 7:00 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
$12 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO
Noveller at La Poisson Rouge
Sarah Lipstate, a.k.a Noveller (RADAR ep 28 – Before I Die) will be performing for the release party of SMM: Context, a compilation album featuring lush, ambient, experimental music, so of course she’d be an excellent choice for the show. Seating is limited and not guaranteed, so you’ll want to pick up tickets quickly.
Sunday April 24 · 7:00 – 12:00 am
La Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012
$12 – $15
EVENT INFO
The Poetry Brothel: Burlesque for Books
Our friends at the Poetry Brothel (RADAR ep 20) will also be making an appearance this month, in celebration of Spring (finally!) being upon us. Perfect for those who like their literature mixed with sultriness.
Sunday, May 1 · 8:00 pm – 1:00 am
The Back Room
102 Norfolk St.
New York, NY 10002
$5 – $15
EVENT INFO
CuteRoulette
Just because you can always use a daily dose of cuteness. CuteRoulette is a lot like ChatRoulette except instead of random webcam chats with random people, you get random video clips of adorable animals. That, and you don’t run the risk of seeing anyone’s genitalia. But providing people with clips and pictures of cute animals is the Internet’s second-most widely used function (you know, after porn). CuteRoulette has just found a way to keep it fresh and spontaneous.
RADAR NYC 4.14.11 – feat. Molly Crabapple
At this year’s DIY Days, I had the pleasure of getting to see Molly Crabapple (RADAR ep 8) speak about how she created Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School and turned it into a global affair with branches of amazing models and artists all over the world. And while she was speaking, I asked myself “why haven’t we gotten her to curate a blog yet? She’d have some amazing stuff.” And she did.
Serge Gainsbourg – Poinconneur des Lilas
In this classic clip, legendary French musician Serge Gainsbourg disguises himself as a ticket puncher (“poinconneur”) in the Paris Metro and sings a song about the monotony of the job. It sounds boring, but the song is quite catchy and builds up a rather frantic pace, and the unexpectedly morbid lyrics (at least, for those of us who speak French!) keep it interesting. Definitely something to think about as you ride the subway to work!
Dave van Ronk – “Luang Prabang”
When I first heard this song, my first impression was that of a very dark folk song, or an Irish rebellion chant. It’s actually, of course, American and much more recent—a Vietnam protest song, though the tune is based off of an old English folk song about coal miners. Here, Dave Van Ronk challenges the idea that going to war and sacrificing yourself makes you a “hero”—what good does that actually accomplish? Is it really worth it?
You can find the song on Van Ronk’s album Going Back to Brooklyn, HERE.
Kiki de Montparnasse: The Graphic Biography
You probably recognize the above image, based off the famous photograph by artist Man Ray, though odds are you don’t know much about the model of said photo. Alice Prin, a.k.a. Kiki de Montparnasse, was truly a liberated woman of the 20s: born into poverty but quickly rose up as a muse for many artists, as well as an artist in her own right. Now you can read her story in graphic novel form—because words alone wouldn’t do such an artistic figure justice.
You can find the book on SelfMadeHero
PEN World Voices Festival
Beginning April 25 and continuing for a week, the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature returns for its seventh year. The festival will feature speakers, panels and films, and will discuss the role of literature and writing, and where it all fits into today’s ultra-connected world of social media, WikiLeaks and revolutions in the Middle East. Be sure to see Molly Crabapple’s live painting installation in the plaza of The Standard hotel—she’ll be working on it every day of the festival.
April 25-May 1
The Standard Hotel
848 Washington Street
New York, New York 10014
EVENT INFO
Coilhouse, Biorequiem, and Gala Darling
Coilhouse is part blog, part published magazine, and devoted to the expression of love for alternative culture. Expect to see everything ranging from short films, fashion, photography and art—anything that’s forward thinking yet still has a vintage style.
Zoetica Ebb is one of the co-founders of Coilhouse, and has her own site too, where she posts blogs, art and photos of her own, all done in a very distinctive and beautiful style. You can also buy some of her work as well.
“Hello! I’m Gala” is what greets visitors to the blog of Gala Darling, a bright and sunny corner of the web that celebrates femininity and promotes “radical self-love.” I found it impossible not to feel awesome after reading a few entries—and I’m a guy, not even the target audience.
April 07 2011
RADAR NYC 4.7.11
Artwork via Bambi Killers
Making the Geeky Bar Top
RM100: Geeky Bar Top from ReadyMade Magazine on Vimeo.
Oh this is wonderful. This little video from ReadyMade Magazine shows how they made a gorgeous bar top from some wood, paint, glass, and a ton of old keyboard keys, holding true to the DIY aesthetic while making something surprisingly beautiful from recycled material. You may also recognize Shantell Martin (RADAR ep 26 – Hidden Oras) near the end, modeling with the finished table (always a part of something cool; she shot the video as well!) And I have to say, I’m digging the soundtrack to the video as well – “Wild Palms” by Night Gallery.
More info HERE
Reading Rainbow – “Cover the Sky”
Philadelphia’s Reading Rainbow (RADAR ep 38 – Weathervane) has a lovely new single coming out on a limited edition 7” record. But in this age of try-before-you-buy, you can listen to it right now through your Internet tubes! Such modern technology magic, but the song itself will take you back to a 60s beach party, full of hazy guitars, catchy riffs and dreamy vocal harmonies. Adding to the retro feel, the 400 copies will released with “juke box” labels. You may want to go ahead and preorder before it’s officially released next week.
Listen to “Cover the Sky” HERE.
Reading Rainbow on MySpace
Reading Rainbow’s website
An Absolutely Phony Guide on How to Write More Good
“World War” should be used only for conflicts involving countries on at least three continents. For large-scale battles against clones, killer tomatoes, or a fifty-foot woman, use “attack” instead.
The Bureau Chiefs, on proper usage
This is perfect for the Twitter-addicted grammar snob who loves irony. Designed to help readers “embrace, not resist, the lowering of standards for the written word,” this book is written by the people behind the Fake AP Stylebook on Twitter, and presented as, well, a fake AP Stylebook, with a healthy dose of snark. And every aspiring writer could use more snark.
You can find the book HERE
Fake AP Stylebook on Twitter
Bambi Killers and F5 Fest
Happy F5 April 15 – 16 2011 by Hi-Sim from F5 on Vimeo.
Bambi Killers Benefit for Japan & Brooklyn Show
It looks like Bambi Killers (RADAR ep 12) are back in New York, and they have not one, but two shows this weekend! The first show, in Manhattan, is a benefit for the recent tragic disaster in Japan, with all proceeds going to help those affected by it. The show the following night is in Brooklyn.
Benefit for Japan
Friday, April 8 · 9:30pm
The Delancey
168 Delancey Street
New York, NY
$5
EVENT INFO
Brooklyn Show
Saturday, April 9 · 11:00pm
I Made An Art Gallery
53 Richard Street
Brooklyn, NY
EVENT INFO
F5 Fest
The following week, look for contributors Shantell Martin, Eclectic Method, and Kid Koala at F5 Fest, a nonprofit festival that seeks to unite people and inspire change through art, design and entertainment. Expect to see films, speakers, and lots of partying.
Friday-Saturday, April 15-16 · 3:00 pm
Roseland Ballroom
239 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
$280-$480
EVENT INFO
Drawn from my Father’s Adventures
“Drawn from my Father’s Adventures” is the newest blog from artist Sophie Blackall, which she now maintains in addition to her Missed Connections (RADAR ep 16) blog. Inspired by the many stories from her father’s eventful and well-traveled life. Each post consists of a story from his point of view, and a picture by Sophie that captures the story in an image. It’s still fairly new, so there aren’t many posts yet, but the stories already posted range from gas mask drills in World War II Britain to the ordeals of getting a Chinese visa in the 60s. I, for one, can’t wait to see what adventure is posted next.
Drawn from my Father’s Adventues
March 31 2011
RADAR NYC 3.31.11 feat. Stephanie Berger and Nicholas Adamski
This week, we let Stephanie Berger and Nicholas Adamski, founders of the Poetry Brothel (RADAR ep 20) curate our blog and give us an insight into what interests them at the moment. What follows is a series of performers who, like the Poetry Brothel, go beyond the traditional boundaries of their fields of work and create something truly unique.
Salvador Dali on “What’s My Line?”
Start your day with a bowl of surreal. I’ve been on a bit of a Salvador Dali kick lately, and this clip just further proves his awesomeness. Watch as he utterly stumps all of these 50s game show contestants, as he quite honestly answers each of their questions with a laconic “yes.” After a while, the contestants get flustered and the announcer can’t hold in his laughter. The best part though, comes around the end when you can pinpoint the exact moment one woman has an epiphany. Listen for her “oh!” around 8:30.
Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
The second album from the British indie folk band Noah and the Whale serves as a soundtrack to the breakup between lead singer Charlie Fink and his girlfriend, though really, the themes explored here could apply to any breakup. As a result, the progression of songs has a theatrical feel, as if it could have been played in its entirety in a theatre (and the gorgeous string sections, which come out most prominently in the two instrumental pieces, certainly help). Then there’s the choral piece, “Love of an Orchestra,” which plays up the theatrics even further. The album tells a complete story, full of highs and lows, and should serve as a great, optimistic soundtrack to this year’s first days of spring.
Noah and the Whale on Myspace
You can buy the album HERE
Karen Abbott – American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee
In this biography, Karen Abbott tells the story of burlesque performer, actress and writer Gypsy Rose Lee against the backdrop of the Great Depression. But rather than a dry, historical take or a romanticized tale, Abbott presents Lee as a woman pursuing the American Dream, at a time when it was most difficult to do so. She clearly did her research, giving portraits of the glamorous public life and the turbulent private life of a legendary entertainer.
You can buy the book HERE
Sleep No More
I’ve been hearing so much about this lately. “Sleep No More” is a production by the British theater company Punchdrunk which combines Shakespeare and Hitchcock into an immersive theatre-noir experience. Taking place in the old McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea, audience members wander through the building as the story unfolds before them. With the world of theater constantly changing, this is definitely a leap forward in creative storytelling. Side note: you may want to snatch up tickets while you can; they seem to be going pretty quick.
Ongoing through May 7
The McKittrick Hotel
530 West 27th Street
New York, New York 10001
EVENT INFO
The Poetry Brothel
And what better time than now to follow the Poetry Brothel itself? Their next event, Cabaret Voltaire, is coming up this weekend and, similar to the aforementioned “Sleep No More,” gives the audience a chance to be more than spectators, but to interact and become part of the performance itself.
Poetry Brothel’s website
Poetry Brothel on Twitter
March 24 2011
RADAR NYC 3.24.11
Artwork by Cynthia Von Buhler via Dr. Sketchy’s
Parts + Labor
Parts + Labor from Sean O'Malley on Vimeo.
Parts + Labor is a cute short film made by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Sean O’Malley and starring Barak Hardley and Tipper Newton. In it, a girl on a budget tries to get her motorbike fixed and strikes up a conversation with the mechanic. What follows is a simple yet extremely well made and funny short about a short but sweet connection between two people. It’s nice to see a comedy short that feels natural and doesn’t rely so much on awkwardness as similar films tend to do. If you’ve been having a nasty day so far, this should quickly turn it around.
Javelin – Canyon Candy
Electro/hip-hop duo Javelin (RADAR ep 27 – Auto-Tune the News) just wrapped up their latest 10” entitled Canyon Candy, which will be out later this spring. Their next project will be a film to go along with it—a surreal, epic western, shot in Brooklyn of all places (but if the final product is anything like the preview video, it should be quite amazing). They’ll be shooting it this April, and you can actually help out—they launched a Kickstarter campaign, and as of today they’re quite close to reaching their $9500 goal. Maybe your pledge will be the one that accomplishes that feat? Either way, there’s also something cool in it for you—a $25 pledge gets you the full album on a sheriff’s badge Playbutton.
Javelin on MySpace
Javelin’s website
Thought Catalog
Thought Catalog is exactly what it sounds like: a catalog of thoughts. It’s a regularly-updated site where writers from all walks of life, from bloggers to published journalists, publish short opinion pieces on various subjects, ranging from Facebook to the New York City Subway to house parties. The reflections are more cultural than political, and clever without being pretentious, and the pieces are packaged together on a clean, well-designed site that doesn’t inundate the reader with ads. Take a look; odds are you’ll find something that interests you on the first page.
Thought Catalog
Thought Catalog on Twitter
Springtime Events in New York City
Now that the snow’s all thawed and everyone’s back from SXSW, spring has finally arrived in New York! And that can only mean one thing: funny, sexy pillow fights?
Dr. Sketchy’s Tribute to Cynthia Von Buhler
Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR ep 8) is back, and what better way to celebrate spring than showing off your art skills? This Sunday’s show features doing a tribute to artist Cynthia Von Buhler.
Sunday, March 27 · 4:00pm – 6:45pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
$12 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO
G.L.O.C. Launch Party
When Glennis McMurray (RADAR ep 2 – I Eat Pandas) curated for us a while back, we mentioned her new project G.L.O.C. (Gorgeous Ladies of Comedy). Now that the website TheGLOC.net has launched, it’s time for a party! Expect to see some hilarious comedy from some of the funniest women out there, as well as some other surprises.
Thursday, March 31 · 6:00pm – 8:00pm
92Y Tribeca
200 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10013
$6
EVENT INFO
Newmindspace Pillow Fight NYC 2011
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Newmindspace (RADAR ep 10), but they’ve returned with a new website and big plans for the 4th annual Pillow Fight Day! Bring your own feather-free pillow and meet at Union Square for the pillow battle of a lifetime.
Saturday, April 2 · 3:00 pm
Union Square
E. 14th St. & Broadway
New York, NY
EVENT INFO
Regretsy
You know, when I used to think of Etsy, I always thought of cute things, like polka dotted dresses and hipster-ish girls selling scarves and ribbons and such. So I was not prepared for what lurking horrors awaited me on Regretsy. And by “lurking horrors” I mean things like “vegan” soap made with human breast milk, ball-exposing man thongs, and actual dead mice dried up (mummified?) and made into craft… things. I’m actually not sure what the mouse things are, except terrifying, and a constant reminder of one’s own mortality—which can be yours for $12.00! Regretsy does us all the service of digging deep into the bizarre, frightening, and occasionally depressing world of the very worst stuff people try to hawk on Etsy, and blogs it to the world with a healthy dose of snark.
Regretsy (occasionally NSFW)
March 10 2011
RADAR NYC 3.10.11
Image by Natasha Allegri
Diana Eng’s new line
Diana Eng’s profile (RADAR ep 31 – Fairytale Fashion) just keeps rising and rising in the fashion world. And now she’s released her first line to the public—a collection of Smart Scarves, and they each showcase what she does best: combine hip fashion with science geekery. Using inspiration from things like Fibonacci numbers and the biometric Miura Ori structure, she’s once again created beauty from brains. Who says geeks can’t be fashionable?
Diana Eng’s website
The Gregory Brothers and Charlie Sheen – “Winning”
In the lightning fast world of Internet memes, no one can seize on a cultural phenomenon quite like our friends at Auto-Tune the News (RADAR ep 27). And in terms of satirizing potential, Charlie Sheen’s spectacular crash and burn is a gold mine. So it was only inevitable that the Gregory Brothers would take on the task. The above video does not disappoint. Even if you’ve been following the news and are suffering from Sheen overload, this could be the Sheen video to end all Sheen videos.
Missed Connections Interview
Personal anecdote time: I posted a Missed Connection once. I was at a Sleigh Bells concert and met a girl with awesome hair, kind of like the singer La Roux (I have weird taste, don’t ask). And while I never heard back on the ad, I did end up randomly running into her on a dating site. But there is something about missed connections—each one’s a tiny love story with mystery, humor, and artistic potential. In this interview, Sophie Blackall (RADAR ep 16 – Missed Connections) talks for a bit with NPR about some of her experiences with her Craigslist-based artwork.
Read the interview HERE
Missed Connections Blog
Mother Mother at Knitting Factory
Many people, including a lot of our contributors, will be spending the next week in the Lone Star State for Austin’s South by Southwest Festival. But for those of us who can’t make it out, our own music supervisor JC Scruggs helped put together a show at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory. Mother Mother is an amazing Canadian indie rock band with some awesomely catchy and crazy songs that should get you dancing wildly this Friday night. And make sure to get there early for opening acts Elijah Bonfire (ex-Stars of Track and Field) and Bajzel, a one-man Polish act who Newsweek calls the Polish Beck, “only better.”
Friday March 11 · Doors @ 8:00/Show @ 8:30 pm
Knitting Factory
361 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
$10.00 – $12.00
EVENT INFO
@natazilla
A few years ago, Natasha Allegri drew a journal comic on Livejournal that I followed pretty religiously. She discontinued it after a while, and kind of disappeared for a few years, only to return pretty recently as an artist on the show Adventure Time, of all places. Now she has a Tumblr, where her original artwork and comics have returned to the Internet once again, and it’s all come full circle. Expect to see some gorgeous portraits, cute cartoony drawings, and more hilarious journal comics.
natazilla on Tumblr
@natazilla on Twitter
March 04 2011
RADAR NYC 3.3.11 – feat Marc Horowitz
This week’s edition of RADAR NYC is brought to you by Marc Horowitz (RADAR ep 18 – Google Maps Road Trip). When we last checked in on him, he was working on The Advice of Strangers, a project where he had strangers vote on all his life choices. His latest project is a series of short video “studies,” showing a day in the life of things like talking random objects and dust. Many of his selections for this blog seem to fit the theme of “a day in the life,” whether it’s the life of a city or the life of an imaginative teenager.
You can see the rest of the videos HERE.
Manhatta
Directed by Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler, Manhatta is a short film depicting the city in 1921. And it’s honestly amazing how much hasn’t changed since then—the film depicts shots of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island Ferry, as well as a few buildings modern New Yorkers would certainly recognize. These are things we see every day, just as we did 90 years ago. A series of shots filmed to show the creators’ love of the city, the stark images of steel and steam invoke a feeling of strength and power It chronicles a moment in the life of not just any city, but The City.
Martin Creed: Thinking / Not Thinking
At first glance I thought this was a music video, but it’s actually much more than that. Martin Creed is a Glaswegian conceptual artist, though many of his works mix music and visuals. The song itself manages to be both catchy and chaotic, which contrasts nicely from the minimalist video of two dogs of (very) different size representing Thinking (the small one) and Not Thinking (the large one). It’s quite a funny juxtaposition, reflecting the different roles of consciousness and unconsciousness.
Patton Oswalt: Zombie Spaceship Wasteland
Zombie? Spaceship? Or wasteland? Take your pick, if you like awesome things. Or if you’re a teenager with an overactive imagination. According to comedian Patton Oswalt, these are the themes we tend to gravitate toward as young storytellers. Oswalt shares his thoughts on growing up in this hilarious memoir of his own experiences (of the three above topics, he picked wastelands), from dealing with relatives as a child to working in a “grim Canadian comedy club.” It should definitely be a great read for all those creative kids who grew up in the suburbs.
You can buy the book HERE
Roman Signer at Young Projects
This week’s even goes out to our readers in LA. Roman Signer is a Swiss Artist who specializes in what he calls “momentary sculptures,” essentially small live installations that are captured on video. One work, “Barrel with Camera,” is of Signer placing a camera in a barrel and rolling it down a hill, though the video withholds this information until the end to give the viewer a humorous revelation. Many of his works invoke humor, ranging from slapstick to dark comedy, all laced with social commentary against pretensions. The art world could always use a bit more humor.
Ongoing through March 14
Young Projects
8687 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA
EVENT INFO
News, Words, and Drawings of the Day
Finally, Marc gives us a few things to follow, including a couple we can follow on our smart phones. The Fluent News app gives us a break from the cacophony of all the different news outlets out there, and aggregates the top stories into a mobile newspaper that the viewer can customize to his or her own tastes. For all the language geeks out there, there’s the Dictionary app, which includes a Word of the Day feature for those of us who like to confuse our friends with our ever-expanding vocabularies. And this last one isn’t an app, but artist Lauren Nassef posts a new drawing every day on her website, ranging from current events (Gaddafi) to some rather beautiful vintage-esque portraits.
Fluent News app
Dictionary app
Lauren Nassef’s website
February 24 2011
RADAR NYC 2.24.11
Image by Dean Haspiel
Dean Haspiel – The Angel
Dean Haspiel’s “THE ANGEL” from Daniel J. Kramer on Vimeo.
Yeah, I don’t know about you guys, but my recently single self spent Valentine’s Day at an event called “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” a night of speed dating to the soundtrack of the Smiths. But as upbeat and happy-go-lucky as that sounds, for some people Valentine’s Day can be kind of tragic. But luckily, for those people (and anyone else who appreciates amazing artwork and a good story), Dean Haspiel (RADAR ep 1 – Next Door Neighbor) created “The Angel,” an impressive motion comic with a soundtrack by Moby. Rather than a voiceover, the story is told by typography slowly revealed over time, which creates quite a powerful experience and a wholly satisfying story.
LA Times Article on Haspiel’s motion comic HERE
Floating Action – Desert Etiquette LP
Floating Action (RADAR ep 38 – Weathervane) is the recording name of Seth Kauffman, a singer-songwriter based in Black Mountain, North Carolina. This week he released his third album, Desert Etiquette, and it’s mesmerizing. It’s really hard to believe it’s the work of just one guy. This album sounds like a mix of classic rock, folk, a bit of reggae, and a few other genres thrown in for good measure, all blended together expertly through production that manages to sound both crisp and warm. It’s available on the website of label Park the Van, as well as on iTunes.
Floating Action on MySpace
Mike Birbiglia – Sleepwalk With Me
Sleep disorders are Serious Business and nothing to laugh about—except when sleepwalking causes a guy to leap through and shatter a La Quinta Inn window and run across the parking lot, relatively unscathed. This is one of the many stories in the new book by comedian Mike Birbiglia, a frequent contributor at NYC’s The Moth and NPR’s This American Life, who manages to turn his many odd misfortunes into hilarious stories. So one could say that either the stuff that happens to him is funnier than most people’s problems, or he’s just a really good storyteller. I say both.
The book is available HERE
Choose Your Own Weekend Adventure
Once again, there’s a lot going on in the worlds of our contributors. Fortunately for you, you’re totally invited to join them in their adventures.
URDB World Record Appreciation Society #21: Blackjack!
Do you like watching people do odd things on stage, not for money, but for glory? The Universal Records Database (RADAR ep 4) is on a mission to capture that glory, under the mantra that everyone is the world’s best at something. This Thursday, 10 people will make their attempts to set their own records, and you can be there to witness them make history.
Thursday, February 24 · 7:30pm – 10:30pm
Littlefield
622 Degraw Street (between 3rd and 4th Ave)
Brooklyn, NY
Advance tickets $5
EVENT INFO
Story Pirates Main Stage Show
It’s amazing just how creative kids can be. They don’t hold anything back. On Saturday, you can see their creative minds in action at the Story Pirates (RADAR ep 30) Main Stage show, where the Pirates will act out stories written by elementary students. I mean, where else could you see a stage show about Tickle Monsters?
Saturday, February 26 · 2:00 pm
The Drama Book Shop
250 West 40th St. (between 7th and 8th Ave)
New York, NY 10018
$15
EVENT INFO
Dr. Sketchy’s Tribute to Transmetropolitan
Any time is a good time for people to get together and draw sexy pictures; that’s why Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR ep 8) has become so successful. But this time it’s in support of a new art book inspired by Transmetropolitan, of which Dr. Sketchy’s founder Molly Crabapple is a contributor.
Sunday, February 27 · 4:00pm – 7:00pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
$12 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO
NastyCute
If there are two things that the Internet is all about, it’s gross-out humor and pictures of adorable animals. Surely these things couldn’t be any more different, right? I mean, there’s no way you could possibly combine—oh wait, Eliza Skinner just did. We covered Glennis McMurray, the other half of I Eat Pandas (RADAR ep 2) a couple weeks ago, and now it’s Eliza’s turn. She’s made a blog of translating the thoughts of all those cute animals for us, and their thoughts are…surprisingly vulgar. It’s a surprisingly genius concept I’m surprised no one’s thought of before. And best of all, it’s updated every day, for your recommended daily dose of cuteness + vulgarity.
NastyCute website
Eliza Skinner’s other blog
February 20 2011
Transmedia Talk Podcast – Episode 19
Welcome to Transmedia Talk, a new podcast covering all things Story. Transmedia Talk is co-hosted by Nick Braccia, Dee Cook, and Haley Moore and looks to shed light on the topic of transmedia storytelling with commentary, interviews and tips on how storytelling is moving into the 21st century.
Download | Subscribe with iTunes
Running Time: 1:15:03
Hosts:
Nick Braccia from Culture Hacker
Haley Moore
and Host Emeritus Robert Pratten from Transmedia Storyteller
Special Guest:
Mike Monello, Executive Creative Director of Campfire.
Campfire’s Mike Monello joins us for a discussion of transmedia approaches in the music world.
From This Episode:
(0:02:47) 12 laptops synchronize to play The Flaming Lips’ Two Blobs F**cking
(0:12:00) The Brady Bunch’s cover of “American Pie”
(0:13:35) Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson, a manga retelling of the Robert Johnson legend by Akira Hiramoto
(0:16:10) Madonna’s book, Sex, her documentary, Truth or Dare, and the story of her music video that was banned from MTV, “Justify My Love”.
(0:24:10) The Kiss Coffeehouse in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
(0:24:52) Kiss: Psycho Circus the 1997 comic by Image Comics and Todd McFalane.
(0:25:43) The Kiss Kasket.
(0:25:51) Garth Brooks covers Kiss’s ‘Hard Luck Women.’
(0:27:20) American Idiot on Broadway
(0:27:48) Year Zero The alternate reality campaign for Nine Inch Nails’ album of the same name.
(0:32:18) Year Zero is currently being produced as a series for HBO.
(0:35:50) A quick link dump of the things we mentioned in this minute: Rhapsody, Grooveshark, Die Antwoord, The Twilight Singers, Sub Pop Records, eMusic, Janelle Monae The Archandroid.
(0:39:27) Kevin Smith’s Red State.
(0:46:00) Brooklyn Vegan and Pitchfork
(0:52:33) The controversy over Bob Dylan going electric
(1:00:45) An opening for a fictional childrens’ show created by fans of MS Paint Adventures’ latest story, “Homestuck”. More fan videos http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=homestuck”>here.
(1:03:18) Jay-Z’s transmedia campaign, Decode.
(1:05:15) Beyond music: Pop stars in the transmedia age from The Guardian
(1:06:01) The E! series Married to Rock
February 17 2011
RADAR NYC 2.17.11 – feat. Mary Mattingly
This week’s installment RADAR NYC is brought to you by Mary Mattingly (RADAR ep 17 – Waterpod), a well-known New York-based visual artist who uses a variety of different mediums from photography to living installations to explore themes of different relationships. She shared with us some things that inspire her and offer a glimpse into her world, including a book from a famous experimental composer, an Italian organization that focuses on smart city planning, and an avant-garde turntablist from Peru. And while they all come from very different backgrounds, each of the artists she chose have something in common – they all find creative and brilliant ways to reevaluate things that are part of our everyday lives, from time to silence to the city itself.
Christian Marclay – “The Clock”
This is kind of amazing. Would you watch a clock for 24 hours straight? What if it was the most captivating clock ever? Artist Christian Marclay spliced together thousands of film clips from across the history of cinema, each one referencing a different moment in the day. So think of whenever a movie character looks at his or her watch, or mentions what time it is—Marclay has somehow crafted an entire day out of these moments, and presents it in real time, as a living clock. So if you tune in at 8:37 a.m., that’s what time it will be for the characters on screen. The Clock will be showing at the Paula Cooper Gallery until February 19.
“The Clock” at the Paula Cooper Gallery
Frazey Ford – “Blue Streak Mama”
Frazey Ford has lived quite an interesting life. Born in a Canadian commune in the late 70s, she spent the 80s traveling Asia with her family. Then in the late 90s, she formed the Canadian band The Be Good Tanyas, which split in 2008. And just last year, she released her debut solo album, Obadiah. The album is full of wonderful soulful folk (or is it folky soul?) that’s definitely worth a full listen, but the song “Blue Streak Mama” stands out particularly well. It has a distinctive blues-rock feel to it, sort of like a female-fronted Black Keys. But with more stripped-back instrumentation, the amazing vocals and lyrics take center stage and really shine through.
Free download available at Frazey Ford’s Myspace
John Cage – “Silence: Lectures and Writings”
I have nothing to say/ and I am saying it/ and that is poetry/ as I need it.
-John Cage, “Lecture on Nothing” (1949)
Composer John Cage was a pioneer of American experimental music and one of the most influential American composers of the 20th Century. His most famous composition, 4’33”, consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds without a note being played, and instead encourages the listener to focus on the sounds of the environment as it is played. Silence is Cage’s first book, published in 1961, made up of a collection of essays and lectures he wrote from 1939 to 1961, including “Lecture on Nothing,” quoted above. It is also his best known book, in which he discusses the nature of writing and ideas.
You can buy the book HERE
Turntable Artist Maria Chavez at The Stone
Maria Chavez Live 11-16-10 from Forest Christenson on Vimeo.
Maria Chavez is a Brooklyn-based experimental turntablist from Peru. She uses both new and broken needles (she calls them “pencils of sound”) on different records to create live sound installations, of which no two are ever exactly alike. Above is a live video of Chavez at a show in Queens last November. You can see her use a variety of different objects to create her sound, including (very) broken records, showing that a turntablist can many things beyond getting people onto the dance floor. She’ll be joined by harpist Shelley Burgon at The Stone on March 1.
Tuesday, March 1 · 8:00 pm
The Stone
East 2nd Street @ Avenue C
New York, NY 10009
EVENT INFO
cluster.eu
As we make our way through the 21st Century, one important issue for all urban-dwellers is the ever-growing and changing landscape of cities. Any New Yorker can attest that cities continue to grow quite rapidly. Cluster is a non-profit organization based in Turin, Italy, which seeks to answer these questions, looking for innovative and creative ways to plan and design modern cities. Their goal, to improve and revitalize urban life, has already helped Turin to become a cultural center in northwest Italy, and now they want to reach out to other cities in Europe and beyond, from improving drinking water in Haiti to experimental architecture in Brazil.
Follow Cluster HERE.
January 12 2011
Lone Wolf and Cub – RADAR S4 Ep 42 [vid]
(picture from Sodafine – Brooklyn)
Suzanne (Cub) Rogaleski grew tired of choreographing her trapeze act to popular music and canned sounds. Ryan (Lone Wolf) Sawyer was looking to showcase a more avant-garde side of his drumming. Born out of need for each to perform original material while challenging their own artistry, Lone Wolf and Cub is a collaboration that defies category. And while they might seem like two disparate acts, the two of them are able to communicate with each other through a common language of painting. Their canvases act as visual road maps while they perform so that they are fully able to understand where each other is heading. Performing in unison, they invite their audience to share their childlike wonder and inspiration.
Relevant sites:
Credits:
CREATED by Lance Weiler & Alex Johnson
DIRECTOR Josh Cramer
EDITOR Jawad Metni
DP Jen Schneider
SEGMENT PRODUCER Janine Saunders
POST PRODUCTION House of Trim
FEATURED MUSIC by:
Chica Vas “Te Quiero”
January 10 2011
RADAR NYC – 1.10.11
Shantell Martin – Tape 4 Fun
Our friend Shantell Martin (RADAR ep 26 – Hidden Oras) is at it again, and perhaps she was a bit inspired by fellow RADAR contributor Aakash Nihalani and his preferred medium of brightly colored tape. So what you get in this video is a time lapse of Shantell and some of her friends putting together and taking apart a beautiful mural on the ground. And maybe I’m a bit slow, but it took me a few views to realize the video is actually in reverse. Mind = blown.
Shantell Martin’s website
Lavalier – “Twilight Lovebite” music video
"Twilight Lovebite" (official)
Lavalier | Myspace Video
We haven’t heard much from Lavalier (RADAR ep 16 – Missed Connections) lately, but clearly they’ve been busy. Their video for their new single, “Twilight Lovebite” seems to be less about the bafflingly popular vampire series and more in line with the weirder old episodes of The Twilight Zone. More specifically, it seems to be a trippy combination of The Twilight Zone, The Shining, and a video game from the 70s. And maybe you shouldn’t watch it before going to bed…
Lavalier’s MySpace
The Book of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks
If you’re a grammar snob like me, taking the time to make sure even your text messages use proper spelling and grammar, then you probably know what it’s like to seethe with quiet rage every time you see a sign with quotation marks where they simply should not be present. Quotation marks are quite a loaded piece of punctuation—they tend to suggest sarcasm, disbelief, or suspicion when used for something other than actually quoting someone. This book, as well as the blog it is based on, highlight the strangest and most out of place instances of quotation marks we see every day. It should definitely be an “interesting” read.
You can buy the book HERE
The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks
SLAM Theatre Returns
After being quiet for a while, SLAM Theatre (RADAR ep 6) is back this month! The spontaneous play writing and acting competition is open for everyone–so if you are an actor or writer, you just might get to participate. The first 10 scripts through the door compete, and actors may drop their names into a hat. Of course, anyone is also welcome as an audience member as well. This session is actually five weeks long, meeting every Sunday night, same time and place–four weeks of competition, with the fifth week showcasing the champion. It began last night, but you can still check out the rest of the show.
Begins Sunday January 9 · 7:00 pm
Downstairs at the Tank Theatre
354 West 45th St. at 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10036
EVENT INFO
@DianaEng
Diana Eng (RADAR ep 31 – Fairytale Fashion) has been busy. With her newfound success as a designer who creates whimsical fashions using math and technology, she’s gained recognition from tech geeks and fashionistas alike. She’ll even be a curator at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this year. And recently, she launched a new website for her brand, which features a blog on how she designs and creates her work.
Diana Eng’s blog
@DianaEng on Twitter
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