Laurent La Gamba (b. 1967) is an artist, photographer, and video artist interested in pro-crypsis (camouflage) La Gamba’s projects span a variety of in situ installations, performances and photographic installations to look at Procrypsis in relationship to the world of urban space and technology. His work aims at creating a kind of urban camouflage (“homochromie”in French) that mimics what is naturally found in nature with Procrypsis, using painting, photography and video as a tool. This background explains the term for his work: Pro-cryptic Photography.

La Gamba's work is based on this utilization of the urban space as a reflection on the self and explores through identification processes the chromatic response of the human body to the urban environment. He is known for his public supermarket camouflage photographs (Pet food, 2002) and for his peculiar use of consumer appliance objects extracted from their original environment and camouflaged into a natural setting (Open fridge, 2002). He carried out several works-in-progress based on audiovisual performances conducted under the action of camera circling (Full open fridges, 2003).

Previously, La Gamba studied literature at the Sorbonne/Paris, specializing in the clinical aspects of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan’s work. He began his work with photo-realistic self-portraits (One hundred Self-portraits, 1999). He received a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and since 2002 holds an artist-in-residence position at the La Napoule Art Foundation.

"Cash Registers" - 2002
homochromie (pro-cryptic installations in a supermarket series)
acrylic on protective suit
color photograph - 80 x 120 cm

"Open fridge (outdoor)" - 2002
homochromie (pro-cryptic installations Appliances series)
acrylic on protective suit
color photograph
75 x 50 cm

"Croissants, 1,70 euros" - 2002
homochromie (pro-cryptic installations in a supermarket series)
acrylic on protective suit
color photograph - 60 x 160 cm

"Open washing-machines" - 2002
homochromie (pro-cryptic installations Appliances series)
acrylic on protective suit
color photograph - 90 x 160 cm

"Andreas and his yellow plane" - 2002
homochromie acrylic on protective suit
color photograph - 100 x 175 cm

"Open cookers" - 2002
homochromie (pro-cryptic installations Appliances series)
acrylic on protective suit
color photograph - 120 x 80 cm

For more information on Camouflage art by Laurent La Gamba click here

On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris.

No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit.

Read the full story here

The story continues... Some clever dick has combined the footage of the race around the streets of Paris with a live google map. When you hit play on the video a google map below traces the journey the mentalist ferrari driver has taken. Brilliant! 10 geek points.

Click here to see it http://bhendrix.com/wall/Gmaps_GVideo_Mashup_Rendezvous.html

What is Hola Amiga?

Hola Amiga is a zine I publish every few months. Its a collection of random pictures, illustrations, patterns or anything I happen to be thinking about. I tend not to use many words so it may seem very cryptic .. but there is no intentional hidden message.

I named the zine “Hola Amiga” because I’m fascinated with Spanish/Latin/Brazilian Culture. This was before I had ever been to a Spanish speaking country or could speak a word of Spanish. My main influences/inspirations were Mexican food packaging, Mexican Wrestling Posters, Brazilian Jui-Jitsui, the art of Marisol Escobar and the music of the Brazilian singer, Atrud Gilberto. With Luck, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go Spain where my interest in Spanish/Latin culture grew exponentially and I decided I had to live in Latin America. I have been living throughout Latin America countries since Oct 2003 (Argentina, Chile, and Costa Rica) .. while looking at Hola Amiga, you can see Latin cultural influences and my very gradual process of learning how to speak Spanish.

I create Hola Amiga because I like to make art and I find it fascinating how people are influenced, including the manifestations of my own influences.

Hola Amiga consists of three main components: Input, Output and Reflection.

Input

are the things going on in my life at that specific moment in time. Input are things ranging from music, environments, letters, emails, cultural learning's to things people say, concepts, observations, food, books, weather, mass media, relationships, inspirational people, experiences, exercise, etc .. basically anything a human experiences.

Output

is Hola Amiga .. the disregarded, impulsive, spontaneous, unconsidered, unplanned, unstudied by-product of life's daily influences. These are my drawing, sketches, thoughts, etc.

Reflection

is something I just do in my head. This is when I try to bridge the gap and explain the relationship between the Input and Output. Most of the time I don't realize why I decide to use specific imagery at the time. Eventually I track down the source/influence. In life a lot of the time you have an idea and then you execute it. With Hola Amiga I do the opposite ... I execute it and then sometimes successfully track down the idea. Really not much different than trying to explain the odd events of a dream.

For more information simply click here

Nate Williams (aka n8w) is originally from the Western United States, but has spent the last 3 years wandering around South and Central America.

Go check his site here www.n8w.com

A the new book called Horse Play tells the story of 'Streethorsing' a new extreme sport that I can only describe as a mixture of parkour (free running) and skateboarding but on Horses! The sport of riding horses through towns and cities extreme style. The book seems to be filled with unbelievable photos of people on horse back doing skateboard-like tricks off railings and over barriers.

Fake or real – I dunno? Looks good though!

Published by WESC

Found at Coolhunting.com

The ‘official’website is over at http://www.streethorsing.com
 

Kelsey is a former biochemist who attributes his raw style to an education system "that refuses to teach scientists to draw". He abandoned biochemistry because "I thought I was going to be there for a few months to get myself some money. Three years later I was left wondering if I had become what I always despised - the funny guy at the water cooler ...except not so funny. I was the confused not so funny guy at the water cooler."

Science's loss is art's gain and Kelsey's powerful canvasses attracted due attention when he showed in London for the first time at Santa's Ghetto last year. The work's potency arguably lies in the way its clash of ancient and ultra-modern references even drown out the sex and death which also features heavily.

He describes his art as "an unrefined and some would say unskilled mix of sex, comedy and animals which is derived from a true passion for all three, except not necessarily at the same time."

Go see Kelsey Brookes work at his own website www.kelseybrookes.com there are also prints available over at www.picturesonwalls.com

Go see Kelsey Brookes work at his own website www.kelseybrookes.com there are also prints available over at www.picturesonwalls.com

Architecture is not only a fascinating art in itself, it’s a wonderful subject for other visual arts. In particular the architectural structure of cities, with all of the rich detail of interlocking geometry, makes for fascinating subjects.

Lok Jansen is an architect and illustrator living in Tokyo. There is something about the amazing and unique three dimensional space and complex structures of Tokyo that has an impact on artists. Jansen’s response, as both an architect an illustrator, has been multi-fold. His site features photos, sketches, visual essays on architecture and illustrations.

The illustrations show a fascination with the city as complex architectural and sculptural forms, textured with mechanical structures like bark on a tree.

He writes: “The metropolis to me, is like an organism. Growing. The tech seems almost organic. Highways, train lines, fly-overs, aircons, ducts, wires - they’re so wild its almost like greenery.”

Read full article here

For more info goto www.lokjansen.com

The most beautiful car ever produced or a pile of over-complex automotive awfulness

In a world of similar looking cars built with similar technologies for similar road conditions, designing one car that stands out from the crowd is an achievement. For one company to have produced three such vehicles during its lifetime illustrates a particular form of corporate genius (or madness). Citroen’s Traction and 2CV are extraordinary enough. But the Citroen DS is something else entirely.

Launched in 1955 the DS redefined some of the basic principles of cars in a way that left products from other manufacturers looking positively Neanderthal in comparison. Hydropneumatic suspension, powered steering, powered clutch, self-levelling headlights, are just some of the technical innovations it introduced. And then there’s the style – aerodynamic, sweeping, head-turning, unique.

That said, even confirmed DS lovers will admit that owners of early cars suffered rather more than they would have done with a less idiosyncratic company. Citroen’s great technical leap forward left many of their dealers and mechanics scratching their heads when it came to maintaining and caring for the cars. Engine power, ventilation, heating, visibility and electrics were not strong points either. History aside, and practicality to the fore, it’s probably worth discounting the DS19 versions and concentrating on the DS20, 21 and 23 models if you’re seriously thinking of owning one.

There has probably never been a single car that has generated such extreme reaction. Some think the DS the most beautiful car ever produced. Others think that it’s a pile of over-complex automotive awfulness. It’s a question you’ll never be able to answer satisfactorily until you get behind the wheel of one. If you’re not completely fazed by innovative features such as the dash-mounted gear lever, the single spoke steering wheel, and the brake button you may well have found your driving Nirvana. Individuals of the world step forward.

Photos of the Citroen DS provided by http://www.citroen.mb.ca/

For more information on the Citroen DS:

Layering is Ian’s preferred method of madness. Ian Francis’ apocalyptic pieces are texture heavy, mixing layer upon layer of paintings, drawings and photos. Inspired by the work of other renown mixed media artists, such as Dave McKean and Stanley Donwood, Ian’s work can also be viewed at “ifsra”: www.ifsra.co.uk for an interview please goto Listd.net

A girl contemplates romance/suicide (in the end, she will become one of the "Suicide Girls")

Acting #1

Paris Hilton is left behind as a war zone is evacuated (this scene is tragic)

Two people find love in a park

Girl with cat, Grozny, 2005

Runaway, Reptar - Blood Drive on Thursday

Go see loads more great Ian Francis work over at his site www.ifsra.co.uk

The Environmental Agency and the Mayor of London have launched a new website which maps pollution in Central London. The images of the capital's most polluted streets are updated hourly with news of pollution levels, allowing users to zoom in on particular areas and avoid the dirtiest streets on their route home. www.londonair.org.uk shows details of several types of pollution, including nitrogen dioxide. If the initiative proves successful, there are plans to extend it to the rest of London.

This map shows the latest pollution levels as recorded at pollution monitoring sites across Greater London.

Map showing amount of Nitrogen in air - Red = high Blue = low

These maps are of the London Air Quality Network and contain information about air quality in and around Greater London. Measurements are collected either hourly or twice daily from continuous monitoring sites, processed and checked then placed on this web site with an hourly update.

www.londonair.org.uk

He bought one of the most expensive paintings ever sold at auction—a $95 million Picasso. But no one knows who he is.

Picasso’s Dora Maar au Chat.  

On the evening of May 3, a rough-hewn man in a dark sport coat walked into the Sotheby’s auction room on York Avenue. He picked up a bidding paddle at the registration desk and was seated by the staff near the back of the room, in the faraway seats treated as Siberia in the art world’s hierarchy. In the gala atmosphere that now pervades the major evening auctions, the man seemed an odd figure. “He looked more like a KGB agent than a collector,” recalls art dealer Laszlo von Vertes, who sat ­directly behind him. “His nose looked broken, like a boxer’s. He had dyed hair and cheap shoes, like a bodyguard. If he walked into my gallery, I wouldn’t have sold him a painting.”

The crowd seemed buoyant that evening, reflecting the hot art market and the major paintings on offer. But things started slowly. Sotheby’s auctioneer Tobias Meyer launched the sale with a Vuillard still life, which failed to break its low estimate. The next, a floral Monet, did better. Then the rough-hewn man started making vigorous use of his paddle. First he won a Monet landscape for $5 million, a cool $2 million above the high estimate. But that was merely prelude.

The star work that evening was Pablo Picasso’s 1941 Dora Maar au Chat, one of the largest portraits he painted of his Parisian lover, Dora Maar. Its high estimate stood at $50 million, but the bidding quickly soared to $60 million, then $65 million—and the man at the back of the room was coming on strong. Typically, bidders are subtle with their signals to the auctioneer: an eyebrow twitch, a nod, a removal of the glasses. But for the Dora Maar, says Von Vertes, the unknown man was “waving his paddle so hard he was fanning my face.” Such intimidation tactics are not unheard of, but deploying them at these prices was extraordinary. “Usually, whenever the bidding goes above $5 million, it becomes more temperate in its rhythm,” says Meyer. “But he always came right back with the next bid.”

Read the full article by By Marc Spiegler here

Mixed Greens is thrilled to announce their second solo show with Alessandra Exposito. In this exhibition, Exposito presents large-scale paintings and an installation of animal skulls.

For the past few years, Exposito has created small sculptures using chicken skulls. While the rooster is a national symbol in Cuba, Exposito purposefully chose its female counterpart to be the subject of her work. The adorned skulls comment on the use of large, exotic game as decoration and use the hen as a vehicle to explore power, gender roles and the body.

In this exhibition, Exposito broadens her vocabulary and constructs a “trophy wall” of farm animals and beloved pets. She flirts with machismo stereotypes associated with the “hunter” to create a wall of skulls that appropriate and exploit trendy accoutrements of femininity. Over a dozen chicken skulls hang together with skulls of a horse, dogs, cats and mice.

Each skull’s tender decoration and meticulous detailing evokes the intimacy of a fetish object, while their large sculpted horns imply a more grandiose history. Tiny jewels are used as accents that draw attention to the marvelous intricacies of the skull with its many hollows, fragile projections, and lacy contours. The animal’s memorial portrait is painted on the skull along with its fictitious name, habitat or owner.

In the north gallery, pieces of the trophy wall are repeated in Exposito’s ambitious paintings. In each, a life-sized self-portrait floats among antlers, dead game, jewels and bullet holes on the canvas. Elements of the feminized hunt appear and surround the figure. Just as the trophy wall blurs the boundary between feminine and masculine, the entrancing figures appear to exist in an ambiguous in-between space.

"The hen has been central to the iconography of my paintings. My fascination with this animal has evolved from exploring it as a two- dimensional subject to using it as the medium itself. My bejeweled chicken skulls interplay the image of the hen and all her connotations with the rugged machismo associated with large, exotic, mounted game. In this body of work I appropriate trendy and clichéd accoutrements of femininity, exploiting the color pink and using rhinestones as accents.  In a new series, I have broadened my vocabulary to construct a “trophy wall” of farm animals and beloved pets. These larger skulls are adorned in a fashion similar to the smaller pieces. Each skull is candy-coated in hues of glossy enamel and decorated with a memorial portrait of the animal along with a fictional name, habitat or owner. Tiny rhinestones are used as accents that draw attention to the marvelous intricacies of the skulls with their many hollows, fragile projections, and lacy contours. Sculpted horns that mimic deer horns adorn each piece, large and small. Each skull’s tender decoration evokes the intimacy of a fetish object, while their large sculpted horns imply a more grandiose history." Alessandra Exposito

Examples of work from the Alessandra Exposito - Greener Pastures exhibition

Alessandra Exposito - Gigi - mixed media on chicken skull

Alessandra Exposito - Duke - mixed media on chicken skull

Alessandra Exposito - Bunny - mixed media on chicken skull

Alessandra Exposito - Easy Girl - mixed media on dog skull

Alessandra Exposito - Sugarplum - mixed media on chicken skull

Alessandra Exposito - Trixie - mixed media on chicken skull

Alessandra Exposito - Greener Pastures
Exhibition: August 24 - October 7, 2006
For more information goto www.mixedgreens.com

Design Times Square: The Urban Forest Project brings 185 banners created by the world’s most celebrated designers, artists, photographers and illustrators to New York’s Times Square. Each banner uses the form of the tree, or a metaphor for the tree, to make a powerful visual statement.

Together they create a forest of thought-provoking images at one of the world’s busiest, most energetic, and emphatically urban intersections. Following their display, (September 1–October 31, 2006) the banners will be recycled into tote bags and sold at auction, with proceeds going to scholarship and mentoring programs that benefit students of the visual arts.

Some banners embody visceral responses to pressing environmental, political and social issues. Others use the evocative power of nature to develop rich patterns and abstract forms that delight the viewer. All contain passion, thought, and energy—qualities that only emerge when the world’s finest creative minds apply themselves to a brief they truly believe in.

http://www.urbanforestproject.org/

Future Relic (FR) is the collaboration of two artists: Paul Kim (NYC) and Kenyon Bajus (Philadelphia). They met in college in 1998 where Paul studied photography and Kenyon focused on the graphic arts.

Their different styles attracted them to work with one another, and so FR was born in 2002. With the t-shirt as their medium of choice, the two began to explore the realm of cultural values and conventions, questioning their relevance and roles in the future through rousing imagery.

Soon after the release of their first set of tees in the summer of 2003, they grabbed the attention of the art/t-shirt community across the world with their provocative designs.

X-Large became one of the select shops to carry the Future Relic line in their flagship store in Los Angeles, and so the FR-XL connection was made.

Future Relic jumped at the chance to collaborate with one of the pioneers in urban street wear and look forward to working side by side with more people in the community.

To find out more about what Paul and Kenyon are up to and to view the Future Relic collection, go to http://www.futurerelic.com

Celebrating color, customization and personal expression, adidas presents adicolor Podcasts, an inspired collection of short films conceived specifically for iPod, PSP or online viewing from seven of the most exciting and culturally relevant directors working today.

Roman Coppola & Andy Bruntel, Neill Blomkamp, PSYOP, TRONIC, Saiman Chow, Charlie White, and HAPPY were each assigned one of seven colors – Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Pink, Black or White. A simple, open-ended brief asked each director to create a viral film based on their emotional and creative response to that color. The resulting shorts are a color-coded collection of innovative film aesthetics and contemporary creative sensibilities, a truly post-modern mix of genre, style and technique.

adicolor Podcasts will be released individually over a two month period, available for free download from sites such as iTunes and Google Video. In addition, Paris-based adicolor Consortium partner, Colette, will offer on-sight free downloads of the Podcasts. 

White:	www.r255g255b255.net
Green:	www.r006g146b071.net
Pink:	www.r243g197b208.net
Blue:	www.r023g075b158.net
Red:	www.r213g037b053.net
Black:	www.r000g000b000.net

In a semi-promotional experimental collaboration, Getty Images teams up with 5 renown designers and agencies (Sumona, The Barbarian Group, Tomato, Less Rain and Great Works) to create 10 exploratory interactive pieces.

The firms conceptualized and developed some interesting hybrids of playful interaction and visual experimentations that focus on and around photographs from Getty's huge archive of stock imagery. And each module has its own interesting aspects, but the two by Sumona (the only designer without an established web presence) - especially one called "information" - are just not to be missed.

www.interact10ways.com

YouTube, the popular online home video site, has an unexpected star -- a septuagenarian British widower -- whose soft-spoken, humble manner has won the hearts of users of the youth dominated Web site.

Peter posted his first video on YouTube about a week ago, under the user name geriatric1927 which refers to the year of his birth. He called it "first try."

In the clip, which starts with "geriatric gripes and grumbles" and some blues music, Peter tells how he became addicted to YouTube.

"It's a fascinating place to go to see all the wonderful videos that you young people have produced so I thought I would have a go at doing one myself," he says, sitting against a backdrop of floral wallpaper and family photographs.

"What I hope I will be able to do is to just to bitch and grumble about life in general from the perspective of an old person who has been there and done that and hopefully you will respond in some way by your comments."

Go see for yourself www.youtube.com/profile?user=geriatric1927

Jeremy Fish is an illustrator / painter / stuff maker who lives by the beach in san francisco. He uses a library of characters and symbols to tell simple stories. Jeremy is the co-owner and art director of the mildly successful "the unbelievers" skateboard brand. He is also the leader of the worlds meanest gang, "the silly pink bunnies".

Jeremy has done illustration for such clients as microsoft, adidas, upperplayground, numerous periodicals and skateboard brands, and has a signature shoe with nike due out next year. Jeremy's first book "im with stupid" was released this year with fifty24sf books.

Dead Rapper Skateboard Deck Series

San Francisco - Think Skateboard Designs

To see more of his work check out: www.sillypinkbunnies.com

Michael Sieben, originally from Seguin, Texas, is a painter made famous for his work with skate company Toy Machine, bmx company Terrible One and Thrasher Magazine. In 1999 he graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in fine arts then started both the now defunct Camp Fig and Okay Mountain art spaces for local artists, as well as the zine Programmed from India. He is now designing graphics for Bueno Skateboards.

He currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife Allison and his two cats Nathan and Josie. He's interested in: children’s books, storytelling, malaise, repetitive actions, ski vests, masks, boats, secret identities, and n