February 3, 2010

{     Selector!     }    

Selector! is a reggae-inspired, design-oriented t-shirt brand made by reggae fans for reggae fans, owned and operated out of Venice, California by longtime clothing and magazine industry player John Hall. Having worked for several years in the biz with the likes of Mass Appeal, Vapors, Missbehave, Staple, Digital Gravel, Ludwig, The Hundreds and more, in 2006 John decided his obvious next move was to create a label of his own. Focusing on his love of reggae and it's poor representation in the market, Selector! was born.

Looking at the available tees for the serious reggae fan all John saw were weak, nearly insulting efforts consisting of tired designers throwing pictures of drums under palm trees and slapping bad cliche phrases underneath. And Bob Marley - so much Bob Markey. Where were those that came before Nesta? Beginning with simple, creative pieces, John payed tribute to classic reggae artists like 60's ska groundbreaker Prince Buster and the "Godfather of Rocksteady", innovator Alton Ellis. The graphics were strong, the icons classic, and Selector! was off.

With Selector! John wavered into darker, "street" territory only on a few occasions, focusing more-so on the positive "one love, one heart" message which has carried reggae around the world over these past decades, even unifying island music's many "one" concepts (one blood, one God, one people, one world, one love, one peace) into the label's hand-drawn, most signature design titled 'Universal'.

Moving forward with the brand, John has recently pushed to widen his label's appeal by interlacing Selector!'s Jamaican-roots with reggae's international influence, resulting in designs like the 'Jamaican in NY' tee and it's spirited overlaying of the NY logo with the colors of the Jamaican flag.

These backward-recognizing tributes compounded with Selector!'s forward-facing ideas, as well as John's creativity and continuing close involvement with the clothing and magazine industry, solidify the label's upward rise and ensure us that there is much more greatness yet to come.

~ You can find Selector! at RiddimSelector.com and on DigitalGravel.com.

December 23, 2009

{     2009 Miami Art Fair Snapshots     }    

One more year, one more whirlwind week of aesthetic overstimulation. As usual: No credits, no judgments, no control. Just a whole lot of snapshots of the art that caught my eye in Miami in early December 2009.

The 9 Set Flickr Collection

October 12, 2009

{     Three Hearts Club     }    

Three Hearts Club (a.k.a. The Hash Crew) is a prominent and influential graffiti crew from Chicago, formed in the early 90's and still going strong these many years later. With a diverse membership of not only graffiti artists, but also fine artists, graphic artists and musicians, the Three Hearts Club crew is known for their smooth blend of classic graffiti with contemporary abstractions, ideas and mediums.

You've seen their work on the street, in the galleries, on skateboards, posters, books and album covers, so it's only fitting that you be able to find them on some tees, right? Well, that's what's up with Bopzink.com, the Three Hearts Club online store. You can pick up mixes, prints, and of course tees - our favorite being the Auto Drop pictured above. I just got mine in the mail today and I love it!

- Check their work at ThreeHeartsClub.com
- Check the store at Bopzink.com

September 9, 2009

{     Daisy De Villeneuve for TFL     }    

TFL = Transport For London = tube lines never functining = iconic tube (subway for those across the pond) symbols = lots more

Well, TFL has regular makeover and when they launched their new ticketing system, they had nothing but free Tracy Emin card holders distributed to random dazzled passangers.

The current makeover is by daughter-of-semi-famous-parents extraordinaire (very common title where it does not matter if you have anything at all to say as long as your lineage is even remotely rock and roll) Daisy De Villeneuve.

September 4, 2009

{     Low Fidelity by Space Invaders     }    

This is a case in which the artist has become more famous than…er…the videogame his name was inspired by: the one and only Space Invader is back with a solo show at Lazarides Gallery Rathbone, central London.

We all know him for the small mosaic tiles applied to buildings all over the world: look carefully around you at about 3.5 meters from the ground and one will magically appear, whether in Katmandu, Varanasi or Mombassa (as well as the more prosaic Paris, New York and Sydney). A primordial form of street art before the word was even invented.

But this time this Frenchman is using something else to create his pixel fantasies, something by far chunkier but just as iconic: Rubik cubes.

September 2, 2009

{     Cougar     }    

”Cougar style their music “epic emergency rock.” However, the presence of producer and Tortoise luminary John McEntire is clue enough that epic emergency rock also sits in the heritage of post-rock (and its own multitude of glories). The album is narrated by six numbered fragments built from found sound and muted voices. The compositions are melodically lush and rhythmically compelling. A penetratingly ruffed high-tom sample drives the hypnotic “Pulse Conditioner”. “Your Excellency” is sleepy and drifting, a reflectively rounded guitar tone carrying the riff before a more crunching coda replaces reflection with nagging doubt. The mellowed acoustic loop that opens standout track “Atlatl” is pushed aside by a gloriously precise and urgent second movement of dual lead guitars.”
- The Wire (Album review)

• Cougar Official Site
• Cougar on Myspace
• "Stay Famous" (Mediafire)
• "Stay Famous (Mike Ladd Remix)" (Mediafire)

August 29, 2009

{     Banksy VS. Bristol Museum     }    

Beg, borrow or steal whichever ticket you need to get to Bristol. For the museum itself you will not need a ticket at all. However, the entrance is not free: it comes at the expensive price of about 4 hours of queuing, like it happened to me last Tuesday. The wait was insane, but well worth.

You are authorized to think whatever you want about Banksy: that he is a sell-out, a British copy of his mentor Blek Le Rat, that he has made millions on the hype... but until you have seen this exhibition, hold on on commenting on the art itself (or perhaps you are really jealous??). Forget technique for a moment (isn't actual skill gone out of fashion with Warhol anyway? And here there is a lot of arguing to do about that as well). If art is meant to speak to the public, Bansky's work is the most readable and punchier in the realm of social commentary. His ironic, scornful attitude to prejudice, taboos, welfare and everything that we consider proper, acceptable, normal, standard, is unmatchable and these are the reasons behind his success.

August 24, 2009

{     Giro Flak cycling helmet and cousins     }    

You wonder if they exist. And they do. Differently from the Minotaur, Avalon and Hell, for what we know, there is such a thing as a magnificently glorious cycling helmet. I am not sure your hood has been swept by the bike crazy, but in mine you can even book bike classes for free in order to get as many commuters on bikes as possible. Hard to believe, but London is being turned into China! Plus helmets.

August 2, 2009

{     Chester 5000 XYV by Jess Fink     }    

I'm at a loss for words. Not that words matter. Or are even necessary...

I really wish I could put into words what exactly Chester 5000 XYV by Jess Fink exactly is about and why you should care, but I can't. It's just that good.

Okay. I'll try...

July 21, 2009

{     Deradoorian • "Mind Raft EP"     }    

When Dirty Projectors band member, Angel Deradoorian decided to give the solo road a ride, many were expecting more of the same: the experimental, indie grind that walks a delicate line. Instead, listeners will be taken aback with the R&B like vocals Angel owns you with from the very first song. Angel’s EP, “Mind Raft” carries an eclectic mix of tracks that showcase the beautiful ranges Angel possess in spades.

Buy It Here

April 6, 2009

{     Lost Constellations - The Art of Tara McPherson Vol. II     }    

Crowndozen has been digging the work of Tara McPherson since back in her early gig-poster days, her muted pastel palettes and signature characters have taken up permanent residence in our minds ever since we first laid eyes on them. The past few years have seen an explosion of interest in her work and a subsequent unfolding of her skills into a variety of mediums, from toys and sculpture to paintings and screenprints. This collection from Dark Horse manages to capture McPherson in full bloom, with the same attention to detail and lavish presentation seen in Volume 1 applied to these newer works.

March 15, 2009

{     New York Art Fair Snapshots 2009     }    

The 2009 round of Snobicons made their appearances last week and yet again crowndozen.com was there.

With Obama now in the White House, The Great Recession on us and everyone twitbooking about EVERYthing it would be easy for me to connect the dots and throw in some cheeky analysis that trashes the upper echelons of the artistocracy. But any Marxist schaudenfreude I may feel watching the mighty tremble over sales vanished and portfolios diminished provides only temporary comfort. After all, I like many of my contemporaries have had nothing all along and prospects for getting by are steadily growing dimmer.

Instead we're going to take a little look back as a way of striking a contrast to the 140 character nature of a "now" that is shorter and shortr and shrtr than it ever has been. (Aaron is OMG! LMAO at this tinyurl!) I'd like to draw your attention to the review I did of this same cycle 2 years ago when the economic environment was better and now was just a bit longer than it is in 2009. When you come back from the jump check out what I saw at the following 2009 fairs:

The Armory Show
Scope New York
Pulse Contemporary Art Fair
Volta New York
Bridge New York Art Fair