Birthday Suit – the Winter 2010 #fashion offering from the #Kingpins

Jordan Graham for Birthday Suit 2010

The Emperor got around in his birthday suit when two sneaky weavers promised him the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who was an incompetent ninny. Ninny he was – not because he couldn’t see the fabric, but because he trusted a pair of mimes. Mimes are creepy, everyone knows that.

This Birthday Suit collection is the opposite of invisible. Where some collections have one story behind them and others have none, the Winter 2010 offering from transgressive drag all-femme improv group The Kingpins has about five different narratives underpinning its hitched full petticoats, butterfly ikat prints and trademark catsuits. It’s wild west crossed with ancient tribal and a touch of S&M.

Hitting the racks this week, get your hands on the Smokin’ silk tee , or the teal corduroy jumpsuit and you’ll guarantee your crown jewels are well and truly covered with the most outlandishly stylish of threads. You’re no ninny in the nuddy.

Source 2000

7 Evils in One! #exhibition #melbourne

11th June to 24th June, 2010

The title 7 Evils in One! is derived from the work of American artist and comic book illustrator Robert Crumb (Fritz the Cat, Mr Natural). Crumb’s work is widely recognised for it’s distinctive style and subversive, satirical content.

In 1994 Kitchen Sink Press commissioned Robert Crumb to design the packaging of a chocolate bar using his character, “Devil Girl”. On the back of the wrapper of Devil Girl Choco Bar the ingredients were listed:

7 Evils in One! 1-Delicious Taste; 2-Quick, cheap buzz;
3-Bad for your health; 4-Leads to hard drugs;
5-Waste of money; 6-Made by sleazy businessmen;
7-Exploits women.

The above tongue-in-cheek anti-marketing statement sets the scene for what to expect from these seven artists. With a range of popular culture influences from; comic books, cartoons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Spiderman, basketball cards, heavy metal paraphernalia, toys from the 70’s and all things mystical and psychedelic, these artists revel in childhood fantasies whilst poking fun at Western culture.

Don’t miss the opening night performance by Melbourne band Love Connection and many thanks to Androniki Douramakos for her mountain installation.
Opening Thursday 10th June 6-9pm.

THE ARTISTS

JAMES BLAGDEN
Brooklyn artist James Blagden is inspired by popular culture and it’s many diverse sub-sects. His major clients include the New York Times, MTV, Vice and Nike.

KELIE BOWMAN
Kelie is the founder of Cinders Gallery in Brooklyn. She uses her time drawing, painting, making murals and killing time at Cinders gallery.

COUGAR FLASHY
Cougar Flashy was born in Illinois and now lives in Melbourne. He is forever drawing, creating comics, writing songs and collaborating with friends.

PATRICK KYLE
Canadian artist Patrick Kyle is the founder of Wowee Zonk a comic book anthology featuring contemporary comic strips by Toronto artists. His clients include Vice and Rice paper magazine.

MICHAEL FIKARIS
Melbourne artist Michael Fikaris paints and illustrates. He has self-published his own Froth comic since 1991 and is the founder of Silent Army a publication showcasing the work of young emerging artists.

JOANNA ANDERSON
Joanna is a Melbourne based illustrator. Her focus on characters ranges from human portraits, depictions of animals and the creation of letters. She has illustrated for the National Gallery of Victoria.

MARK SILIPO
Melbourne’s Mark Silipo is the man behind Magic Sweater. He is a freelance illustrator and maker of zines. His self-published zine is called Teen Vomit.

Curated by: Louise Klerks

NO VACANCY GALLERY

34-40 Jane Bell Lane, Melbourne 3000. (enter from Russell St)
Phone: (03) 9663 3798
Email: info@no-vacancy.com.au
Web: http://www.no-vacancy.com.au/

Japanese #Robot Genius Clones Model – introducing Geminoid F.

Japanese robot maker Hiroshi Ishiguro has unveiled his latest robot: Geminoid F. The robot is a replica of a 20-something woman who’s identity is being kept confidential. The robot is more advanced than the clone Ishiguro made of himself a few years ago, and can make much more convincing facial expressions. Is it even possible to see this without thinking about the 1975 movie, “The Stepford Wives”? 

Source Spectrum magazine

Reverie exhibition at Villa Alba Museum

The exhibition Reverie, an event held at the historic house Villa Alba, will explore through sound, design and the painted surface a dialogue with the space itself. Situated in Walmer St Kew,  (Melbourne) The Villa Alba Museum is one of the finest examples of 19th Century interior decoration, marked by the unique and opulent hand painted murals that line the interior walls and ceilings.

Artist Sarah Parker, Isobel Philip, Melbourne street artist Prowla, architect Zvi Belling, musician Stephen Philip and sound artists sodacake (Solange Kershaw and Damian Castaldi) will draw attention to the similarities and differences in the way we configure not only art, but space and how art and space speak of time.

A house is a repository of memories. The character of a house is marked as much by its history as by the space itself. The space is both museum and home. A museum collects memories. The exhibition, Reverie is an engagement with the concept of memory and its spatial presence expressed in a variety of mediums.

The History of Villa Alba Museum.Villa Alba was built for Anna Greenlaw  in 1870 and was handed down from mother to daughter, later to be remodeled as a dormitory for mid wives in the 1950’s and a post natal hospital for mothers and babies. Today it is in the process of conservation and is now a Museum. Villa Alba Museum is of National significance by virtue of the quality of its hand painted interiors, it’s one of Australia’s finest examples of 19th Century decoration. www.villaalbamuseum.org/

Exhibition dates. 23^rd 24^th 25^th October 2009.

Opening hours. 12.00-6.00pm

Please note no stiletto heels are allowed in the museum…

Building Online Games To Save Nature

Geekgirlers: meet Pawan Maulik. Maulik is a game developer who actually cares about the state of the natural world. As a fresh 2008 Toy and Game Design graduate from the Ahmedabad National Institute of Design, Maulik found:

“…that people did not like to read pamphlets or literature about social messages on environment. I was looking for some way to make these things interesting for the younger generation. It was then that I started exploring the medium of online games and spreading social messages through them…The games that are under development right now are on global warming, tree plantation, power consumption, renewable energy and water conservation. The games would go into the public forum and be accessible in a couple of months. I am waiting for funding and as soon as it is through, these games will be available on already existing online gaming websites.”

Read more about Maulik and his projects here.

Augmentology Facebook fanpage

Hey, these kids are up to some wicked stuff. You don’t have to be logged in to your FB account to view these.

Ever wanted to voluntarily expose your brain to newness so bright it’ll make it ooze out of your ears? We’ll, if you join up to the new Facebook _Augmentology-1L0L1_ project that’s what you’ll get:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/_Augmentology-1L0L1_/125444933372

The page is chocked full of augmented reality tech vids, pics, obs, and demos. The augmentology project itself is “…a working manual discussing the formation and evolution of synthetic environments” (plus a little brain-stretching thrown in for good measure): http://www.facebook.com/l/;arsvirtuafoundation.org/research/

_Augmentology 1[L]0[L]1_ explores concepts that shape and are shaped by an extensive range of online/synthetic encounters.
http://augmentology.com

Leaked Michael Jackon autopsy

According to what the Sun newspapers claims is a leaked autopsy report, the body of Michael Jackson was ruined by starvation, drugs, plastic surgery and a recent fall. According to the report, Jackson weighed only 112 pounds, was nearly bald (he was wearing a wig when he died), had pills but no food in his stomach and had needle marks all over his arms and legs. The report also said that because of plastic surgery to his face, the bridge to his nose was gone and part of his nose had “collapsed.” Adding to the damage, attempts to revive him caused a long list of injuries to his body as well, including broken ribs.

Source: The Raw Feed

Editor’s note: poor poor MJ. Not sure if it’s appropriate to have an AD to lose weight under this article, but I guess Mike Elgan needs to make some dosh somehow! GG

Yarnbombing – wool art for Activists

Knitted bus: Photo: BNPS

Hundreds of knitters around the world have begun wrapping their huge woolly creations around public property like trees, street signs and lampposts.

They then take photos of their colourful “art” and post them on internet sites for fellow knitters to view and comment on.

One of the most ambitious pieces of work saw a woman spend an entire week covering a disused single decker bus in colourful swatches.

The phenomenon, called Yarnbombing, is thought to have originated in the US but knitters are now beginning to cover British streets in woollen ‘tags’.

More from the Telegraph, UK

Renew Newcastle: Stopping the Rot

Posted by Marcus Westbury

My other little obsession at the moment is trying to do something about the hundred or more empty buildings in my home town of Newcastle. I covered some of this issue in the first NQA (Not Quite Art) series. Now I am trying to set up a tax friendly structure that will make those buildings available to artists, community groups and others who can clean them up and stop them rotting.

I’ve set up a Facebook Group for the project that i would LOVE you to join if you have even the vaguest interest:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50532040184&ref=nf

I will be appearing at a public meeting in Newcastle on WEDNESDAY 10th of SEPTEMBER at 6:30pm at the Lock Up, 90 Hunter Street Newcastle (in the shadow of the derelict 150 year old Newcastle post office).

I will be speaking along with Six Degrees Architect’s co founder CRAIG ALLCHIN.

Please come along if you are in the area and tell everyone you know in Newcastle to do the same!

Zombie Surfers

Zombie Surfers is a moment inspired by a surf session at Sennen Cove, Cornwall. An eerie fog rolled in whilst waiting for swell in the line-up, causing a quiet and stillness of the sea, surfers losing all sense of direction to the shore. For a while lost surfer souls drifted in the fog like grey shadows…waiting. The art here is not surf inspired, although surfer and artist are in pursuit of the same elusive moment of perfection. It is this elusive moment, which drives them to continue to obsessive lengths. Ironically, attainment of this legendary and enigmatic perfect moment may endanger the perpetuation of the individuals’ obsession, but until then they are drawn towards their goal like stumbling zombies. The exhibition will examine hierarchies within sub-cultural structures and focus on the individuals’ obsession with inclusion or exclusion into the group. For Zombie Surfers, Richard Priestley will build the mythical surf shack, its contents become its icons, effigies and shrines, and its gallerist come shack keeper, its minister. The work selected draws from hybrids of popular culture, which raises questions about the hopes and aspirations of individuals who have an interest in counter-cultural activity. They include cultural references that have, over time, become embedded into a collective consciousness. This work becomes part of the shack and the blurring of edges between art, interior and product opens a dialogue about collaboration and authorship. Visitors are invited to participate and try smoothies, watch films, leaf through zines, play music and hang out…

Cell Project Space 258 Cambridge Heath Road London E2 9DA

E-mail: info@cell.org.uk
Web: www.cell.org.uk