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January 27, 2006
Fresh and Tasty NYC Street Art by "Momo"
Fresh and tasty street art from our Global Graphica file ... Once again, the street artist Momo strikes the building at 11 Spring St., in Nolita, New York City. This wheat-paste is a sweet tongue-in-cheek poster. The black-and-white work is of a fictional New Yorker magazine cover depicting Momo in the act of pasting up his (her?) work. Brilliant, fresh stuff.
(Global Graphica / Ivan Corsa Photo)
Essential Links
New Yorker Cover Paste-Up by Momo at 11 Spring St. - #1 [Global Graphica]
New Yorker Cover Paste-Up by Momo at 11 Spring St. - #2 Detail [Global Graphica]
Global Graphica
Posted by Supercore at 02:09 AM
January 24, 2006
More Cutting-Edge iPod Gear: The "Tetran" Earbud Cable Winder by Tunewear
Ok, just when you thought you had seen just about every conceiveable iPod accessory, there's Tetran, a rubbery, spiky sea-urchin like monster designed as -- you guessed it -- an "earbud cable winder," you know, that thingie for wrappping your iPod earbuds cord around so that it doesn't get into a tangled mess. The little figure has a "mouth" in which you can place the actual earbuds themselves. We think Tetran is pretty cool actually, because it looks so funky and can be used for something beyond which it was intended. That is, Tetran can be used as a fun desktop objet, something you can keep next to your Kid Robot Dunny figures and toys without it lookng out of place. Made by a company called Tunewear, the Tetran comes in a variety of colors, as pictured above, and can be ordered online, naturally.
Essential Links
Tetran by Tunewear
"Microbe TETRAN" walkman headset organizer [Akihabara News]
Posted by Ray Chan at 11:42 PM
"Neckface" Sticker in NYC
More from the Global Graphica street art file ... The work of Neckface is among the most familiar array of street-art images in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City. Neckface works in several mediums and is known for stickers and wall pieces featuring creepy characters who have little if any neck (hence the apt name "Neckface"). Neckface also often simply scrawls his name in large child-like lettering on the sides of buildings and other urban surfaces. But it is for his stickers that he is probably best known. These can be found in many major cities, including NYC, San Francisco and Tokyo. The Brooklyn-based artist is oringally from California. He has exhibited his work in galleries throughout the world and has had his art (and himself) featured in magazines and newspapers.
Essential Links
Neckface Sticker, NYC - Detail [Global Graphica]
Neckface Sticker, NYC - Context [Global Graphica]
Global Graphica
BBC "Collective" Magazine Article About Neckface
Posted by Supercore at 01:32 AM
January 22, 2006
Fresh Street Art By "Swoon" in NYC
From the Global Graphica file ... There's some fresh work by the artist Swoon on Rivington St., between Bowery and Chrystie, in that interzone between Nolita/Soho and the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Brooklyn-based Swoon is our favorite New York street artist. This work, which depicts an African-American boy with first pumped, continues Swoon's series of life-size cut-out wheat-paste images of people engaged in everyday activities on the streets of the city.
Essential Links
Street Artist Swoon Hits Rivington St. - No. 2 [Global Graphica]
Street Artist Swoon Hits Rivington St. - No. 1 [Global Graphica]
Global Graphica
Swoon Info at Deitch Projects NYC
Posted by Supercore at 09:42 PM
January 20, 2006
Movie Night: "Syriana"
We caught "Syriana" this past week. It's one of those rare films that immediately after you've seen it for the first time you want to see it again. It's not because "Syriana" is full of things that audiences might miss the first time. Nor is it because the movie is a cinematic thrill ride. The film is neither of those by a stretch. Rather it's because "Syriana" is gorgeous to look at from purely a cinematographic point of view.
But "Syriana" is also an excellent film, albeit highly unusual in the way it manages to be ultra spare in back-story and storytelling while simultaneously weaving multiple narrative threads. The threads are connected, but the key characters in each thread rarely, if ever, cross paths, hence the apt tagline "Everything is connected" that is being used in the film's advertising. In short stories of "Syriana" follow a half-dozen players from all sides of a major oil business deal between American companies and a major middle-eastern petroleum-rich nation, a la Saudi Arabia. There's the story of a laid-off immigrant Pakistani worker who joins an Islamic madrassa and becomes suicide bomber. There's the story of a C.I.A. field operative in Iran (played by George Clooney in the closest to what amounts to a starring role in the film) sent to covertly assassinate the heir-apparent prince of the middle-eastern nation. Then there's a Washington lawyer "investigating" the American oil companies involved in the deal. And so on and on.
"Syriana" is a fascinating look depiction of how the each of the players in the this global economic and political game thinks and views the world -- from the elites who call the shots to the downtrodden wage slaves that keep it running. The movie manages to come across as agnostic on political rights and wrongs. That's a pretty amazing feat, especially considering that the film's subject matter is so directly relevant to current geo-politics. Air Massive rating: 8 out 10.
Essential Links
Syriana Movie Web Site
Posted by Robsam at 11:52 PM
Getting Our Kicks with FIFA 06
One of the gifts we received during the recent holidays was the latest, just-released edition of the FIFA 06 videogame for PlayStation 2. FIFA 06 is the officially sponsored classic soccer (or "football") game by gamemaker EA Sports. The videogame's realism is mesmerizing, while the game itself is a little harder than the last version we picked-up, FIFA 2004. (We didn't bother with the 2005 edition, because the changes didn't seem significant enough at the time to make it worth our money.) BUT ... FIFA 06 is a quite a leap from '04 and '05. The controls are slightly different, more varied and with more combinations, and the off-the-ball functions are gone. The gameplay itself is a lot more realistic, even in amateur mode.
One of our favorite features of the FIFA series has been the number of accurate real-life European stadiums recreated in the game, and fortunately there are now more stadiums than ever. The players and teams are all up to date as of August 2005, so if you currently follow any of the major European soccer/football leagues, you'll find all your favorite players there. Anyway, we're already spending way to much of our precious free time playing this game. Our rating: 8.5 out of 10.
Essential Links
EA Sports FIFA 06 Official Website
Game Review: FIFA 06 [Gamespot]
Posted by Thurston Ali at 11:26 PM
January 18, 2006
Cool "Tetris" Graf in NYC
Via Global Graphica, some cool NYC graf documented ... We've walked along the stretch of Charlton St. between Varick and Greenwich in Soho, NYC, at least a dozen times during the past year. Yet it was only yesterday that we notcied one of coolest tags we've ever seen in the west Soho neighborhood known as Hudson Square. The tag is that of "Tetris," which, of course, is also the name of one of the most popular old-school arcade-style video games of all time. The tag is on the wall of a warehouse between a pair of truck bays. (Global Graphica / Ivan Corsa Photo)
Essential Links
"Tetris" Graf No. 2
Global Graphica Website
Posted by icorsa at 08:25 PM
January 11, 2006
Pop Artist Ed Ruscha "Course of Empire" Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC
The Massive spent last Sunday afternoon at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. We were there to check out an exhibition of works by the influential pop artist Ed Ruscha. The show is titled "Course of Empire: Paintings by Ed Ruscha," and it consists of just ten works. As a collection, this set of Ruscha's works were exhibited as the U.S. contribution to this year's Venice Bienniale.
We've been fans of Ruscha's work ever since we first laid eyes on it as a teenager at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Course of Empire" is an update on what is perhaps Ruscha's most famous paintings, a series of black-and-white minimalist perspective landscapes called "Blue Collar." The paintings depict 20th Century industrial buildings and scenes.
For "Course of Empire," Ruscha has added a series of color paintings depicting the same buildings and scenes in their re-purposed post-industrial state 13 years later. The corresponding paintings are displayed across from each other in the Whitney Museum's massive fifth floor gallery.
Though this is a small exhibtiion (albeit in a big space), it's most defintiely worth seeing.
Essential Links
Catching Up with Ed Ruscha [N+1 Magazine]
Ed Ruscha Biography [Wikipedia]
Whitney Museum of American Art
Posted by Supercore at 11:55 PM
January 10, 2006
Street Art: Brooklyn Sharks
From the Global Graphica file ... The well-groomed and excessively gentrified (and real estate crazy) Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope isn't full of the street art and graf so common in other parts of New York's largest borough, such as Williamsburg. But the street art is there, tucked between apartments and brownstones, especially the further down the slope and away Prospect Park one heads. Such is the case of these wonderful stencilled silhouettes of sharks near the 7th Avenue F-Train subway station. (Global Graphica /Ivan Corsa Photo)
Essential Links
Brooklyn Street Art: Sharks on the Slope 1 [Global Graphica]
Global Graphica
Posted by Supercore at 07:48 AM
French Movie Night: "Cache (Hidden)"
We caught a screening last week of "Cache," the latest movie from French director Michael Haneke, who directed "The Piano Teacher." "Cache" is an excellent piece of contemporary French cinema. The story is about a TV personality and his family and the turmoil that unfolds as they are harassed by a stranger who sends them secretly taped videos of their private life. The narrative is riveting, to say the least, and the shocking conclusion left us and the audience we were with audibly bewildered. Still, the filmmaking and storytelling are first-rate.
Air Massive rating: 4 stars out 5.
Essential Linkage
"Cache" Movie Website
Posted by Robsam at 02:20 AM
January 06, 2006
NYC Street Artist "Flower Guy" Makes Cover of New York Magazine
In a special double issue that hit stands last week, New York Magazine published a feature under the teaser "123 Reasons to Love New York Right Now." It's, as they say, a keeper. But what we really love about this issue is the magazine cover. There's a photo of a street artist painting a massive line-drawing of a flower.
The flower image is instantly recognizable to New Yorkers, especially downtowners, and anybody who follows street art. The artist is known generally as "Flower Guy." His real name is Michael De Feo, an artist whose work has been exhibited worldwide. De Feo is also the author of "Alphabet City," one of several books on street art recently published in the U.S.
De Feo's flowers have become icons within NYC. Flower Guy's work can be found as massive paintings that appear on sides of tenement buildings and lofts (like the one on the New York cover) and as small wheat-paste posters on post boxes and the bases of lamp posts.
According to British author and graphic designer Tristan Manco in "Street Logos," his ever reliable book on street art around the world, De Feo started creating stencils of moons, flowers and safety pins around downtown New York City in the early 1990's, but locked onto the flower image while experimenting with a paint brush.
In a cheeky touch, the New York mag editors list De Feo as reason "NO. 124." (the cover teaser, as noted above says "123"). Love it.
Essential Linkage
Michael De Feo (aka Flower Guy) website
New York Magazine Website [NY Metro]
Posted by Supercore at 08:28 AM
January 03, 2006
Paris Street Art: "Paris is My Baghdad"
From the Global Graphica street art file ... This phrase has greater resonance in light of recent riots in the suburbs of Paris and other cities throughout France, as well as ongoing events in Iraq. We found this phrase sprayed in English and Arabic on the asphalt outside the entrance to the Swiss cutural center's art gallery in Les Marais in Paris. (Global Graphica / Ivan Corsa Photo)
Essential Linkage
Global Graphica
Paris: "X" Mural at Swiss Cultural Center [Global Graphica]
Paris is My Baghdad [Global Graphica]
Posted by Robsam at 11:14 PM
Spielberg Does Spy Thriller and It's All Good: "Munich" on Our Minds
We caught a couple of movies over the holiday period, including one that we had been looking forward to for a long time, the new Steven Spielberg film "Munich." The movie is an embellished docu-drama based on the alleged covert assassination and espionage campaign conducted by a secret Israeli Mossad unit in the 1970's.
The campaign was a response to the -- at the time -- shocking terrorist acts that unfolded at the summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Eleven Israeli athletes were taken hostage by an Arab terrorist group at the Olympic Village compound. Two of those Israelis were murdered in their dormitory. The remaining nine were killed in an explosive showdown between the German authorities and the terrorists at a local airport as they attempted to flee the country with the hostages.
The entire terrorist episode was reported live to a worldwide audience and arguably spawned the terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" as we use them today (and established the benchmark for the methods and extreme violence employed by the former in the act of the latter).
"Munich" the film is a riveting, engaging thriller that methodically follows the gang of Jewish assassins assembled by the Israeli Mossad to seek eye-for-an-eye retribution by hunting down and killing 11 senior terrorist masterminds responsible for planning the Munich hostage-taking and murders. The film is practically flawless and probably one of director Steven Spielberg's best ever.
In some ways, "Munich" is also one of the most un-Spielberg-like films the director has ever made. For Spielberg, the usual manipulative pulling of heartstrings that the he is so good at employing in his cinematic narratives has been (relatively) restrained in "Munich." Though the movie does at times veer into that most loathed of territories: a film that makes a point of its self-importance.
Eric Bana as Avner, the leader of the Israeli assassination unit, pulls off such a remarkable acting job in "Munich" that it makes his performance in "Hulk" look like a paint-by-numbers act. Avner is a deep, conflicted three-dimensional character who wrestles with the meaning and consequences of his actions, killing in the name of revenge.
"Munich," despite its inherent seriousness and sense of importance, plays out as a suspenseful and intriguing spy thriller. The mechanics of the planning, research and execution of the "black bag" assassination campaign is fascinating and full of surprises. But ultimately, "Munich" is a meditation on the destructive, tragic and senseless cycle of violence perpetrated by all sides in the struggle over the land claimed by Israel and Palestine.
Air Massive rating is 4.5 out of 5.
Essential Linkage
Munich Movie Website
Munich (2005) Info [IMDb]
Posted by Robsam at 04:24 AM
January 01, 2006
Air Massive Graphic T-Shirts Now Available for Sale Online!
The Air Massive graphic tees are here! This first series of four limited edition graphic t-shirts were created by Air Massive and Lower East Side Design NYC and are now being offered for sale online at our web store with Cafe Press, Inc. Check out our fresh "Soho Graffiti Truck" and "Diamond Geezer" graphics tees, or get yourself some Air Massive flava' with our "Cityscape" logo shirt or the "Consuing culture, sppittin' hype" slogan tee!
Essential Linkage
Air Massive Online Store
Soho Graffiti Truck Graphic Tee [Air Massive/Cafe Press]
Posted by Supercore at 06:23 AM
