Overhyped: Elizabeth Charles NYC

Whenever I've been in New York, I'd always wanted to go into Elizabeth Charles, an Australian boutique, on Horatio. I never did until last week.
I now understand why I never had.
Elizabeth Charles is a horribly done space, completely unorganized, and though it's been around for years, they have no cash register and you can make returns, but you won't get your money back.

Ridiculous.
Don't waste your time here.

Watch out for: Omer Fast @ The Whitney Biennial

You know, modern art has a tendency to be a real drag. With a vast amount of people all across the globe trying to make a name for themselves through art, pieces that truly catch your eye are very rare.

Last Wednesday, as I wandered The Whitney for their biennial exhibition, very few things were truly grabbing at me. I was bored, looking for something that felt note-worthy. I crept into every room I could find, before slipping into one densely-populated screening room tucked away in the corner of the second floor. Walking in, on its own, was a strange experience.
You hear an American man describing two different events while everything and everyone on the screen is frozen-- but you know the camera's still rolling. You'll see lights flashing and people blinking. Walking a little further in, you'll see that there is not one screen, but two, each with their own different frozen piece. There are even two more different "channels" on the other side of each screen, but they are just footage of the man as he speaks.
I sat in here and submersed myself in this, completely captivated.
The story, by film artist Omer Fast called "The Casting", follows the narrator's description of two different events: an evening with a masochistic German girl and the impulsive shooting of an Iraqi. These two events switch interchangeably as the narrator draws parallels throughout the 14-minute piece.
I had to sit there and watch. I was angry for not being able to finish it, as I worried that my mother and sister were probably unaware of my whereabouts, but the few minutes I did see of this mindblowing piece were not ones I'll forget.
Since that day, I've had a growing fascination with this political artist's work. I've seen two short works of his, and now I want to see more from this incredibly promising individual.

I highly recommend those in the New York area to head over to The Whitney and catch this magnificent piece while they still can-- you won't regret it, and you probably won't be able to see it anywhere else, either!
Fantastic work. Certainly want to see more from this one.

Omer Fast: CNN Concentrated (2002)

Temperature's Rising: Andrea Crews

Heat is accumulating in parts all over the northern hemisphere, but not just in temperature...

Of the sects currently gaining heat, Andrea Crews is one of the hottest. I've been watching them for over a year. I swear, it's like sitting on a radiator, and with the impending need for more things eco-friendly, it might be what the fashion industry is looking for.

Okay, so Andrea Crews is a badass collective of French people who take stuff that you'd never dream of liking or using and then making it totally candy-colored and club-friendly, and this stuff is intense-- you've got them turning crappy purses into hats, making running jackets into hella tight bodysuits, metal springs into scarves... it doesn't end. It's very inspired, not to mention amazingly inspiring.

Just so you know, I despise look at the Andrea Crews website. Why? Because, Goddammit, I want everything on there. It's painful to look at, it's all so badass. But keep in mind Andrea Crews is not just there for you to buy from: it's also a great reminder of the potential any object can possess, if you give it a chance. This is stuff you could do yourselves! AC just beat you to it, is all.

But if you DO like something and want it, you'd probably better get your hands on it quick. These pieces are super-unique and there's bound to be a small stock of certain objects.

In the runways of eco-friendly fashion, Andrea Crews needs to be a front-runner. Bono's wife can step back, and that family needs an ego deflation anyway.

Andrea Crews also designs for the likes of Katerine, a super-de-duper esoteric French techno group that sings songs about ejaculating onto the hair of older relatives, and M.I.A. (seen wearing a bow of theirs in a winter issue of French mag Jalouse).

SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT!

Then, why don't you buy it?

GNOME!

Okay, so this morning I was just chillin' in art class when my teacher was sitting at his computer and starts talking about this gnome. He shows us THIS video from British news source The Sun.
These kids in Argentina are just chilling when they hear something from afar. This kid has a camera, so he turns it and...

Yeah.
A sideways-walkin' small man, complete with pointy cap and a hint of a beard? Totally a gnome. We spent a helluva long time debating this.

What would you do if you saw it?
"I'd freak out at first," my friend Liz said. "But then I'd try to catch it! It's walking sideways, I don't think it would be going that fast!"

Lohdy. I could watch this like five hundred times in a row. I love this tiny creature.
If it is a gnome, ponder this: is it here for good, or evil? "With those things, you never gnow!"

Hmm.

I love Lily Allen.

In fact, I forgot how I much I do before tonight. I remembered how excited I am for her album that'll be out this year, so I went to her website and found a really quite amazing article from the UK Marie-Claire's February issue.
Ugh, I love this woman. Lily Allen knows her shit, there is no doubt about it. And the best part is that for all the people out there who criticize her, she gives less and less of a damn by the day.
I think that people forget that by entering the limelight, their humanity doesn't change. No matter how many people know your name, you are still just a human, not a relic or talisman or anything. Celebrities shouldn't try to censor themselves just to keep their images pure. It almost feels like a lie. Being human is so much more powerful. So what if Lily likes to drink in the day? I don't care. Bitch is human. She can do what she wants. She doesn't have to try and please the people by falsely manipulating her public image under a persona that the media has turned her into-- she just lives the way she wants. That takes a lot of guts.

Oh, and who else thinks this album's going to be amazing? Dude, I want a preview. Now.
I love this woman. Can't even describe how much.

Read the article in snippets.
Lily Allen: Marie-Claire UK 1
Lily Allen: Marie-Claire UK 2
Lily Allen: Marie-Claire UK 3

Badass badass BADASS. God, this chick is not afraid.
Want even more of this article? Go to lilyallenmusic.com and click on "Who is Lily?" for some other awesome articles that will get you even more excited!

Watch out for: Mark Bodnar

This year's been a bit of an awakening in art for me, and even a discovery that not all artistic discoveries must be rooted in the classics (though their significance cannot be denied).
The other day I was looking through the archive of the blog of Audrey Kawasaki (whom I adore, and you really must check out if you haven't already) and came across one of her several recommendation artists whose sample pictures immediately captivated me, by the name of Mark Bodnar.
Bodnar is an artist from Ohio with a very strong background in animation, not to mention an amount of prestigious clients, including The New York Times and National Geographic. He also animates a show on Cartoon Network, though I'm not quite sure what it is called, nor does his website clarify.

Not only does he have a history in animation-- he also seems to draw influence from modern animation legends, like the edgy Gary Baseman.
Pictures from his personal portfolio have the oxymoronic quality that Audrey Kawasaki is drawn to-- a lot of the pictures evoke a childlike nostalgia, but also a morbid understanding of a dark side. Hair is one his central motifs, and has a real talent of personifying little fears in a clever way that is attractive to both child and adult sides of a human. One of my favorite examples is a piece, entitled "Barber Beach" (shown at right), in which a child is screaming as a barberpole with scissors comes for him.

The motif of hair, and how frequently is being shown in his pieces, seems to evoke a bit of a Samsonite appreciation of hair, with pieces expressing reluctance to rid of it, being haunted by its presence, and of course, admiration of it.

The style is whimsical without factors of kitsch or shallowness in it.

His pieces are magical, a great exploration of the human's inner child, and I highly recommend you check him out.

Get properly introduced at markbodnar.com.