sundance

Lady Gaga dollars

“ Craig Gleason has been doctoring George in the likeness of Lady Gaga and the results are fantastic. One could say that I’m absolutely gaga over them. View more here and you can buy them at Craig’s (slightly NSFW) blog.

A photo too far?

Cristina Mortágua has just posed topless. That wouldn’t be that big a deal–except the photo also features her being embraced by her fifteen year old son. Is this toeing the line towards incest–or is it just something us prudes should get over and accept as art? [globo.com]

LEGO conference table

Dublin-based creative ad agency Boys and Girls put together this sweet conference table using LEGO bricks (22,742 total). View more photos here and check out a time lapse Making-of video after the jump.

An art lesson in a music video

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo. “70 Million”, is a song by the Franco-American band Hold Your Horses! It takes viewers on a journey through art history reconstructing famous paintings. The look and feel is similar to our own Green Porno. It will make you smile. Mark my words.

New York City wants to turn you on

Good design used to be completely unheard of in the world of sex accessories — neither function nor form was particularly paid attention to, whether it was a vibrator or a pair of latex undies. Fortunately, in the last decade or so, both form and function have improved immeasurably, and we could not be happier. Now vibrators and dildos are as likely to resemble abstract art for your coffee table as they are to resemble a penis.

America’s top hand models

Kottke shared this fascinating slideshow that puts faces to the anonymous model-perfect hands which grace countless “glossy magazine ads, in television commercials, and blown-up on billboards,” and in some cases as a stand-in hand for a particular beautiful actress’ toe-esque thumb. Although lotion and gloves are mentioned as part of the regiment of these models, [...]

Jack Pierson at Regen Projects

From Jack Pierson’s “Self Portrait” series

Jack Pierson has made a name for himself in sculpture, collage and drawings, but photography is the medium he’s best known for and keeps coming back to. His latest solo show, “Some Other Spring,” which opens at Regen Projects in LA tonight, is a collection of works on paper, sculpture and photography. The gallery hasn’t released any images, but if it’s anything his shows in years past you can expect typographically heavy sculpture and photographs of beautiful men. Or at least beautiful photographs of men and young boys, like the photo above from his early 2000 “Self Portrait” series. If you remember, none of those pictures were of himself, but of 15 different males who represented in some way 15 different pieces of himself.

RESCUE DAWN on Tastemakers

Werner Herzog is a lover of conflict. Whether it’s man vs. man, man vs. nature or man vs. himself, his films have a habit of pitting a man against the extremes. In RESCUE DAWN (2006) the man is Deiter Dengler (Christian Bale), a US Navy pilot who was shot down in Laos only 40 minutes into his very first mission in 1965 during the Vietnam War. Between surviving the crash, his Pathet Lao captors and his subsequent escape, Dengler confronted and triumphed over man, nature and himself.

On Sundance Channel’s Tastemakers Series this month. Every week, watch a different award winning film from festivals around the globe. A series of contemporary hits and timeless masterpieces that define cool and defy limits. Sundays at 10PM E/P.

Green tech finds (3/11/10)

Homes wired for electric vehicles, artificial islands, and floating power plants… here are your green tech finds for this week.

• Dell’s new Optiplex — most efficient desktop ever? According to Jaymi Heimbach at Treehugger, the new 980 model is, as it features a 90% efficient power supply, meets ENERGY STAR 5.0 standards, and has earned an EPEAT Gold rating.
  
  
• No more downcycling for plastic? That’s what researchers at IBM and Stanford claim their new development in plastic production does: the material can be continuously recycled. See the video above… (via Green Inc.)
  
  

ECOWEEK, March 13-20

The ECOWEEK logo and their cringe-inducing slogan. I was surprised to learn that ECOWEEK isn’t just a one week event, it’s the actual name of the NGO that hosts the weeklong conference as well as “eco awareness” all year long. To be honest, their mission statement is a bit naive: ECOWEEK was established because temperatures [...]

Buck Angel in gold

The Armory Show has come and gone, but one image is still very much alive in my mind. Last week I wrote about the transgendered porn star Buck Angel, showing his transexual PSA here on SUNfiltered. The above image is a stunning, solid gold, life size statue of Buck created by the British artist Marc [...]

MEMOIRS OF A SCANNER

Memoirs of a Scanner (Pillows Edition) from Damon Stea on Vimeo. USC film student Damon Stea made this funny short film MEMOIRS OF A SCANNER which depicts the antics of a typical company’s office through the lens of their scanner. This short, which picks up around the 0:25 mark, was fittingly shot entirely on a [...]

The wisdom of Corey Haim

We were too young to realize it at the time, but Corey Haim’s LUCAS (1986) showed us exactly why the band geek makes a better boyfriend than the captain of the football team. Rest in peace, Corey Haim — you may not have been the most eloquent cast member of the reality show The Two Coreys, but the wisdom of your characters continues to ring true. Here are our top ten favorite on-screen Corey moments — heavily favored toward LUCAS, of course. What can we say? That kid was a hero:

1. From LUCAS (1986)

Maggie: You know how wonderful you are?
Lucas: Yeah, but it doesn’t turn you on, does it?

2. From DREAM A LITTLE DREAM (1989)

Bobby [Corey Feldman]: Dinger! Dinger, wake up for a minute. I gotta talk to you, Buddy.
Dinger [Corey Haim]: Bobby, I’m asleep. I’m fast asleep, Bobby. I’m dreaming. Apache women. Mai-tais. Vanna White and a whip.
Bobby: I’m in love.
Dinger: That could be a problem.
Bobby: I don’t think you understand.
Dinger: No, no, I do understand. I really do. Which hand is it this week, pal?

FUTURESTATES

On Monday, ITVS (the Independent Television Service) launched a new online series titled FUTURESTATES, eleven short films imagining a contemporary American issue thrust in to the future. Full disclosure: I’ve got a piece in the series. But it’s worth a plug here: it’s the first time to my knowledge that a major funder (ITVS, supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting) has invested this heartily in a web series, and almost most importantly, put significant marketing muscle behind it. In the press release, Executive Producer Sally Jo Fifer (haven’t you seen that name dozens of times on television docs?) says: “FUTURESTATES is an opportunity to reach new audiences that are younger and more diverse by combining online viewing with a shorter-format and edgy content with a sci-fi twist that inspire, entertain, and inform. Our end goal is to make FUTURESTATES available for public television broadcast down the road bringing along the new online audiences we gain.”

Brit Insurance Designs of the Year

The Brit Insurance Designs of the Year is the Design Museum’s assessment of a year’s worth of good design in 7 separate categories: architecture, fashion, furniture, graphics, interactive, product and transport. One winner is selected in each group out of roughly 100 nominations, all of which are currently on exhibition at the museum. Among the winners is Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2010 collection. The futuristic fantasy printed dresses are some his most brilliant work yet, though sadly his last. The Interactive award goes to another futuristic design, The Eyewriter, essentially a pair of sunglasses that allow people who suffer from paralysis as a result of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to draw using only their eyes.

New crazy-awesome video from Ok Go

Ok Go is an indie band that has mastered viral marketing with clever, innovative one-shot vids for their songs. First there was “A Million Ways,” in which they did an awesome little dance routine in someone’s backyard. Then they upped the ante with a choreographed number on a set of treadmills for “Here I Go Again.” Then came “WTF?” — its psychedonkulous colors and patterns made you go WTF when you watch it (here’s how they did that one). Now, for the song “This Too Shall Pass” from their new album “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky,” they’ve done it again — even better! It’s a giant Rube Goldberg machine in a two-story warehouse that moves along in perfect freakin’ synch with the song, all captured in one glorious take (after more than 60s tries over two days). You can read all about how they did it in this Wired article. Or, after the jump, check out the four video installments of “The Making of TTSP“:

Sean Hayes comes out, d’oh!

One of the gayest actors of all time (Sean Hayes), who starred as one of the gayest characters of all times (Jack), on one of the gayest TV shows of all time (Will & Grace), has come out of the closet. You know, many years after his TV show has gone off the air.

Google Maps launches bicycling directions today

While more American cities are including bicycling in transportation planning, and even shooting for status as “bicycle friendly communities,” it can still be tough to get around on a bike. Today, during the opening sessions of the National Bike Summit 2010 in Washington, D.C., Google will be announcing its contribution to making biking easier: a bicycling directions option in Google Maps.

Books as fonts and more!

As a bibliophile and typeface-ophile, I’m quite fond or, excuse the pun, “font” of photographer and self-described storyteller Paul Octavious’s “Book Collection” in which the artist has been creating whimsical fonts and other creations using just artfully piled stacks of books. What a creative way of making order from disorder.

FULL FRONTAL FASHION highlights Oscars edition

2010 Oscars red carpet Were the Oscars a star-studded snoozefest? Who the hell was the woman in the mohawk? Or the mysterious white-haired hippie man?  Read more here. SUNfiltered’s Bradford Shellhammer admires Molly Ringwald – all grown up and in purple. Photos!  We’ve put together some of the highlights from the red carpet here in our [...]

A statement from Johnny Weir

Johnny with coach Galina Zmievskaya. I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support during the recent Olympic Games. The 2010 Olympics will be a memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I feel that I skated two of the best performances of my career, making my coaches, [...]

Recycled jeans for insulation drive: green or greenwash?

Got some old jeans you don’t wear any more? The Gap’s currently running a recycling drive for used denim in partnership with Cotton, Inc.’s “Cotton. From Blue to Green” campaign. Through March 14th, you can donate those old jeans at participating Gap, GapKids, or babyGap locations, get a discount for a new pair, and know that the old ones will be recycled into “UltraTouch Natural Fiber Insulation for communities in need.” This program has collected tens of thousands of pairs of old jeans since its 2006 inception, and used them for insulating homes in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Epic 2010 Armory Show photo recap

Last week fellow SUNfiltered blogger Perrin Drumm did a nice write up on The Armory Show, “one of the most important fine art fairs in the world” which ended this past Sunday. I went with a friend over the weekend and while roaming through the various galleries booths and enjoying my (nine dollar!) Coors Light, I took photos of the pieces that caught our eyes. A lot of today’s contemporary art simultaneously frustrates and stimulates me, because some seem so heavy handed and derivative, especially trompe l’oeil sculptures and Jenny Holzer-esque pieces, and yet it is these that I’m most drawn towards and excited by. This annual art fair is where these contradicting emotions most manifest (See last year’s photo recap here – Part 1 and 2).

View (Warning: A LOT) more photos after the jump (I’d like to caveat that pictures don’t do justice for most of the art there).

Honest Oscar movie titles

Now that the self-love fest known as The Academy Awards is over many are rushing to Amazon, Netflix, and the local cinema to see the movies honored. I tried to see as many nominees as possible prior to the show, but I still have a few on my list to check out. But I might not have to go through all that work. These posters, and the rest of the collection seen here, definitely show truth in advertising. They made me laugh a little. Why can’t more movie poster get to the point?

Chris Rubino for the Distrikt Hotel

The word is getting out. Opening up a hip hotel in the city? Hire Chris Rubino. Last year the NY-based artist was commissioned to do a series of canvases for the recently opened Ace Hotel, a 12-story boutique hotel in a renovated historical building in Midtown Manhattan.

The Distrikt Hotel, Rubino’s latest venture, is also located in Midtown but has a distinctly different feel.