DJs Brothers Grimm, Pink Frankenstein and Cali Kid will be spinning French-mod pop this evening at the Rickshaw to help you celebrate Bastille Day in style!
Anyone who trolls the blogosphere (at least, the way we do) should be well aware of this event. But now, a friendly reminder from your favorite Bay Area bourgies.
BROZONE LAYER: Mark Inglis Taylor & Porous Walker
Opening Friday, July 3rd : 5 - 9pm
Through August 1st
@ Hatch Gallery
Wood and Water: Mary Curtis Ratcliff and Anna Vaughan
July 3rd from 6-9 pm
@ Mercury 20
"Alex (Abajian) and I are both graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design. Our education was weighted by history, as well as technical faculties. For years after college, I had wandered the world in search of more training, more stories, more adventures. This had bought me to Japan, the Czech Republic, NYC, and many other places in the US. I had worked with many different artists in NYC. They were predominantly non-glass artists. I enjoy fabricating designs for different artists- it's a great feeling to be able to help somebody materialize their ideas.Be sure to check out more of Jerry and Alex's work at the their site, fireprintstudio.com- or talk shop and get your grub on with Jerry and neighbor Sam at EB BBQ.Fabrication allowed me to explore different techniques and meet lots of different people. I had carved a niche for myself as the answer guy. I would often be hired to solve production problems and issues with work flow. One of the projects was the lighting in the DeYoung Museum's cafeteria.Alex and I created Fireprint Studio (FPS) shortly after he moved here from New Mexico w/ his lady. We joined forces to tackle larger projects, often using unconventional methods.
The body of work, in the photos, was a response to the ever present question of art and/or craft. Art was the culmination of maturity of both skill and thought. Training has been replaced by marketing and maturity has been replaced by consumption. We created these shiny objects as a way to put sentries into the world around us. Something to make us look at ourselves in a distorted and tweaked way. They are very appealing and smooth forms that elicit thoughts of animals in motion, herds, as well as the aerodynamic sensibilities of ergonomics. They simultaneously breathe in that which is around them and exhale the audience's presence.
We tend to think of art as a reflection of the world around us. It breathes in and exhales. The idea was to create a body of work that had pop-culture (japanime) qualities as well as futuristic stylings. We noticed that as the world moves forward, things end up looking alike. Cars, clothes, electronics are a great example of this. Most of this is driven by consumption. If a hot new item is selling, twenty other companies will put out something similar, all of them looking the same. In many ways, art is no different.When it comes to classical forms in craft, the pinnacle of mastery often yields objects non-discernible with other well crafted objects. There's a code of sorts. If excellence is defined by the amount of financial gain, then this is the goal to attain. If excellence is defined by grace, effectiveness, and efficiency then this becomes the goal. All arenas have these goals. We noticed all too often these goals or agendas are all mixed up.I guess in the end we enjoy the cute things that make us think a bit more... " -Jerry Kung, 7.1.09
It's amazing how trendy wearing glasses has seemed to become. I guess I should be glad that it's so hip to be square and that everyone wants to look like they have poor eyesight, but it's a little ridiculous when it's gotten to the point where people ask each other, "Do you really need those?" or "Are those prescripps' or no?" (and yes, 'prescripps' is currently being used by at least one person). I do need glasses, unfortunately, and already feel like a caricature- which is why I actually feel torn about these Prism glasses featured on Garance Dore today:
A few months after I moved to San Francisco, I stumbled across Liz Hickoks video work. I was immediately charmed and would revisit the video from time to time for a dose of spry comedic art. I knew that a city that could host - and be re-molded in Jell-O by - an artist of this nature would certainly do me some good.
If you're looking for a way to party hard while avoiding the masses bound to clog the streets at Pride this weekend, Spectrum Fest is your best bet.
