sundance

Kobi Levi’s high heels

Israeli designer Kobi Levi uses the high heel shoe as a blank canvas to transform everyday or random objects into (barely wearable) footwear. Above is his trompe l’oeil heel mimicking the (annoying) experience of stepping in chewing gum. [Via]

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake from Birmingham Hippodrome on Vimeo.

I am anxious like a school kid the night before school starts. Tonight I am seeing the ballet Swan Lake for the first time in my long, long gay life. I always wanted to see Swan Lake as a child and tonight I finally get the chance! But this ain’t your Mama’s Swan Lake. This one is gay, honey.

“Cigar Man” unmasked

The Daily Mail tracked down the cigar man at the Ryder Cup whose funny appearance went viral thanks to this amazing photo of Tiger Woods’ errant chip shot hitting a photographer’s camera lens. The cigar smoking spectator in question caught the fancy of amateur Photoshoppers on the Internet who had a lot of fun with [...]

Amazonia: art meets science to celebrate Amazon’s biodiversity

For environmentalists, scientists, and even celebrities, the Amazon rainforest has served as a vivid symbol of ecological and social degradation created by rapid global development. Artists Lucy and Jorge Orta traveled Peru in 2009 to see this environment for themselves in 2009, as well as to assist scientists in data collection. Their experience with the region’s biodiversity inspired them (of course); the Natural History Museum in London commissioned them to work with this inspiration, and is now has the resulting work on display.

When is an homage a rip-off?

La Bolleur’s latest installation at the Eindhoven city center brings two words to mind: Jeff Koons, maybe four words if you add “Balloon Dog.” Like Koons’ “Balloon Dog” series, La Bolleur’s balloon dogs are bright and playful oversized versions of the real thing. The only difference is that La Bolleur’s are soft and Koons’ are made of metal and came out 16 years ago.

UK street artist comments on Banksy’s Simpsons cameo

The Internet blew its collective mind at learning that Banksy created an opening-credit scene to a recent episode of The Simpsons. The clip has since been in a cat-and-mouse game on YouTube as it gets pulled for copyright violations, then re-uploaded by someone else. The New York Times posted an interesting interview with Al Jean, [...]

Coming Out With SNL

I could get all serious and talk about the recent gay suicides or NY Governor candidate Carl Paladino’s rant about gays. I could lament our loss earlier this year regarding Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (or celebrate yesterday’s victory). But instead, in honor of this past Monday, National Coming Out Day, I will just let you [...]

MoMA’s mystery film stills

The MoMA posted on their website ten film stills and are asking their readers to help them identify the stills’ film titles, which the museum can’t quite figure out. The pictures portray scenes taking place in kitchens where “in film as in real life, kitchens are memorable settings for scenes of coziness and chaos, sex [...]

The Animazing Stan Lee

Photo Credit: Fabrizio Fante/Sundance Channel On Saturday October 9th, comic book legend Stan Lee, creator of thousands of heroes and villains in the Marvel Comics universe, held a signing at New York’s Animazing Gallery in SoHo to benefit the Stan Lee Foundation.  Fans were able to purchase prints, original paintings, and original published comic art [...]

Organic herbs: another hotspot for green jobs?

Unemployment’s still high, jobs are scarce, and companies are holding on to their cash… that’s the narrative we’re hearing constantly. Don’t tell that to the folks at Shenandoah Growers in Harrisonburg, Virginia, though. A major supplier of organically-grown herbs to East Coast retailers, the company just opened a $3 million greenhouse for year-round production of “USDA-certified organic basil, thyme, sage, rosemary and other herbs.”

Ugly houses

I obsess of over design books and Dwell and design blogs. And there are many a site to keep this addiction occupied during the day. But I just stumbled upon this blog, Ugly House Photos, and I am even more obsessed with these images. The horror of bad interior design! I don’t like to laugh [...]

YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER

Anthony Hopkins as Alfie, with his PYT

After 2008′s VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA and 2009′s WHATEVER WORKS, Woody Allen’s latest release, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER marks a return to the classic tragicomic films about couples in flux that he’s best known for. You know the ones I’m talking about. Like HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986) or CELEBRITY (1998), YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER is a story about a man who seeks refuge from his lifeless marriage in an exciting stranger. Sally (Naomi Watts) is married to Roy (Josh Brolin), a struggling, some might say failed writer who spends his days gazing out his bedroom window at his gorgeous new neighbor, Dia (Freida Pinto). Sally is too absorbed with her new boss, Greg (Antonio Banderas), to notice her husband’s wavering attentions. Their bickering is frequently interrupted by Helena, Sally’s mother, who drops by to impart the wisdom gained from her weekly psychic readings, her only source of comfort after her husband Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) divorced her after 40 years and married Charmaine (Lucy Punch), a blonde, gum-smacking actress/call girl.

How Mr. Condom made Thailand a better place

We’ve got our TiVo hooked up to get the latest Ted Talks on our TV, so we were delighted to find Mechai Viravaidya’s presentation “How Mr. Condom Made Thailand a Better Place” in our “Now Playing” list recently. Viravaidya is an eloquent and funny speaker, which alone makes it worth watching the 14-minute talk. But [...]

It’s time for Halloween

It’s time to start thinking about all things Halloween: costumes, candy, and haunted houses. This photo shared on Reddit of people visiting a haunted house is hysterical to me. Recently I tweeted some topical Halloween costumes. 1. Partner up with a friend and be a DOUBLE RAINBOW. 2. Wear Brooklyn hoodie with BK-centric trash attached [...]

LEGO version of Sad Keanu Reeves

The Sad Keanu Reeves meme has been circulating around the Internet for awhile with no signs of it going away, and New York Magazine’s Vulture blog finally asked the actor about this meme, which he was unfamiliar with. He did seem to be a good sport about it once it was explained to him. He [...]

White House not the only public property slated for solar panels

Last week’s announcement that the White House would install solar panels and hot water systems the first residence grabbed a lot of attention in the mainstream media and green blogosphere… especially after Presidential staffers rejected a gift of one of the solar panels from the Carter presidency in September.

The Park Avenue Armory carnival

More pictures after the jump.

While waiting in line to buy tickets for the Park Avenue Armory’s carnival this past weekend, an elderly woman behind me shouted up to her friend in a thick, British accent, “This place isn’t in very good condition, is it?” She was referring to the Armory’s entrance hall, built in Renaissance Revival style between 1887 and 1881 by “the elite” Seventh Regiment. The sixteen period rooms on the first and second floor feature original gas lights and gothic chandeliers, intricate wood and iron work and even Rembrandt’s portrait of George Washington. The charm of the rooms’ peeling paint may be lost on old ladies, but it has managed to attract a number of artists and in recent years, most notably as the off-site location for the 2008 Whitney Biennial.

The main attraction is the 55,000 square-foot drilling room, which is where the carnival that kicked off the 2010-2011 season was held. Tall enough to accommodate a full-size ferris wheel, the drill room will play host to a full calendar of exhibitions and events over the next year, including Peter Greenaway’s vision of Leonardo’s “Last Supper” (Dec. 3, 2010 – Jan. 6, 2011), the Royal Shakespeare Company (July 6 – August 14, 2011) and Merce Cunningham’s Dance Company (Dec. 29 – 31, 2011).

Memoir tells of sex addiction, compulsive exploration, and hot monogamy

Affection: An Erotic Memoir by Krissy Kneen is a story of compulsive sexual exploration, sex addiction — and, ultimately, blissful, married monogamy. Australian author Kneen was raised by a group of protective and eccentric women who forbade any and every expression of sexuality… and we all know where that leads. We chatted to Kneen about her new book.

EM & LO: Your upbringing obviously had a huge impact on the way you approached sex and love. What do you think are the most important things for parents to teach their kids about sex and love?

Krissy Kneen: I think it is important that parents realize that the things they vehemently deny their kids are the things that their kids will want to do the most. I have seen friends refuse to let their kids have Barbie dolls and as a result the kid has grown up to collect Barbie dolls. Another friend denied their child sugar and as a result the now teenage girl is a sugar addict. I think it is important for parents to protect their kids, but a complete ban can lead to all kinds of problems.

“Do it yourself” doodler project

David Jablow received a novelty “draw in the blank” doodle pad from the 1960s. It came with 38 blank pages featuring this woman and Jablow decided to draw in all of them and share the amusing results with the Internet. His style reminds me a bit of R. Crumb’s comics. See all 38 “doodles” on [...]

Criterion releases THE DARJEELING LIMITED

When Wes Anderson’s fifth film, THE DARJEELING LIMITED, came out in 2007, it was called a “precious…flawed, but nonetheless beautiful handmade object as apt to win affection as to provoke annoyance” (The New York Times). Critic A.O. Scott was talking about Anderson’s meticulously orchestrated compositions, a trademark that has steadily grown in complexity over the span of his career, just compare any shot of the train in India to the motel scenes in BOTTLE ROCKET. Every color, every piece of fabric, every accessory is exactly in its place. This obsessive attention to detail is what led many critics, like Scott, to doubt whether Anderson had a real story to tell, or whether the story was too weighed down by the trappings of an overactive art department. “Humanism lies either beyond his grasp or outside the range of his interests.”

A Strange Fruit – Joey Arias

Joey Arias is a rare bird. A strange fruit. And they don’t exist like this anymore. They broke the mold many, many years ago. Joey’s had a storied career. He ran around town with Warhol. Lived with Klaus Nomi. Performed with David Bowie on SNL. And then he embraced drag and started channeling Billie Holiday. [...]

European beard and moustache championship

To bookend Kultur Kritik’s post on the cigar and mustache man is this year’s European Beard and Moustache Championships held in Leogang in the Austrian Alps. 150 contestants ‘competed in 17 eccentric categories, including “Freestyle Beard,” “Natural Moustache” and “Verdi,” with the winner of the last category bearing a style akin to the famous 19th [...]

The Multinauts

THE MULTINAUTS- Episode One “Flashback” from Multinauts on Vimeo. My pal, the designer David Mason, of the gay fetish line Slick It Up, sent me the above video, what he describes as a kid’s show. A kid’s show? WTF? Please meet The Multinauts! I love the internet. And I love SUNfiltered because it is this [...]

CATFISH

I saw the nonfiction film CATFISH last week and it was the first time in a good long while that when the lights came up, I looked around … and I said out loud, “I loved it.”

Cinema, cinema, cinema. AO Scott said the movie looks like crap and is ethically suspect, and guess what? He’s wrong. New York Magazine said it’s a scam and guess what? Who cares! It’s an incredibly compelling story, real or imagined. And isn’t that the point? Our real and our imagined selves, due to media saturation, are getting closer and closer together; they’re overlapping, so that lives are part performance, part “time off” (that’s the “real”). We perform for Facebook; we perform because someone in the room just turned on a video camera. We perform. That’s not news; we humans have been doing this forever. It’s simply more prominent now that social networking provides the 24 hour stage. THAT’s the point, not where the film falls on the scale of “real.” But I digress.

The unstill life of Julie Blackmon

New work by Julie Blackmon. More images after the jump.

As the oldest of nine children and the mother of three, domesticity is a prevalent factor in photographer Julie Blackmon‘s work as well as in her daily life. Her latest exhibition, “Julie Blackmon: Line-Up,” at the Robert Mann Gallery, is a study of classic art historical motifs reinterpreted with scenes from her own childhood. Those who have never experienced the frenetic environment of a house full of children can get a glimpse of that world from Blackmon’s chaotic mash-up of crawling babies, running toddlers and scattered toys. To children, everything is a potential plaything, be it a bookcase, a chandelier or the new family car. The children in Blackmon’s work (actually her own children, nieces and nephews), take over the entire photograph, invading all four corners of the frame. Even in some of the quieter compositions, that sense of playfulness juxtaposed with impending disaster is immediate. But what strikes you first about these photographs is the impossibly perfect compositions. They’re so perfect, in fact, that it comes as no surprise that the final product is a digitally compiled series of individual shots. It’s precisely this aesthetic that got Blackmon a spot on PDN’s list of “30 New and Emerging Photographers” and why she was named American Photo’s “Emerging Photographer of 2008.”