sundance

Old Keith Haring profile

From the annals of street and graffiti art history is this old 8-minute video profile of artist Keith Haring during his pop culture ascendancy, including interviews with the artist and his dealer Tony Shafrazi (along with representing countless other artists, he also incidentally gained infamy for once spray painting in an act of protest “Kill [...]

Love letters to VS Naipaul

A few weeks ago we apprised you of the ridiculous and offensive comments made by Nobel laureate and jackass VS Naipaul — basically that all women writers are ‘sentimental’ and ‘unequal to me’. There have been some great reactions to that old-fashioned fart’s blatant sexism. The latest is writer Joanne Elizabeth Valin’s new blog, Love Letters to VS Naipaul: “On the occasion of his declaration that no woman writer is, has been, or ever could be his equal.” She’s currently collecting and curating “intelligent letters with intelligent content. Be they spiked with vitriol, awash with sentiment, amused to the point of disbelief, or simply bored with the same old argument, your love letters should both inform and entertain.” The first just went up by author Edie Meidav (whose new novel Lola, California we’ll be excerpting here in the next few weeks) and more will be added soon. We asked Valin to elaborate on the criteria for submissions that will make the cut:

How to make indie films less cliched

We adore independent films here—duh—but surely there are ways to guarantee that they don’t fall into various traps that could make them become the very kind of clichéd fare they’re supposed to be a reaction against.

Before that even has a chance of happening, here are my ultra sane suggestions for keeping the indie spirit alive rather than letting it become as hackneyed as some of the see-it-coming-a-mile-away stuff Hollywood spits out on a regular basis.

THE TRIP

Last year a show aired on British television called “The Trip,” starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, who survey the haute cuisine scene of Northern England. The six episode series ran a combined total of 180 minutes, footage that was then edited down to 107 minutes for the theatrical release of THE TRIP, making the story available to a worldwide audience not as intimately familiar with Coogan and Brydon as British viewers are – something Coogan attributes to the fact that he doesn’t work with directors, he works with auteurs. Of course, this is according to the Coogan playing the fictionalized, exaggerated version of himself, the unrepentant egomaniac audiences loved in TRISTRAM SHANDY, a shtick made popular stateside by Larry David in “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and in the UK by Ricky Gervais in “Extras.” How true to self Coogan and Brydon’s performances really are is up for debate, but I hardly think it matters. We get as much pleasure from watching their quips and comebacks and theatrical indulgences as they evidently get in making them.

STOVEMAN: Bringing clean cook stoves to the developing world

Episode 1: Woodwalk from The Paradigm Project on Vimeo.

You may consider cooking a necessity, or maybe even a hobby… but probably not a health risk. For over two billion people in the developing world that still cook over open fires, though, cooking is hazardous: not only is it responsible for millions of deaths from lower respiratory disease, but it’s also a contributor to deforestation (and subsequent degradation of land quality). Additionally, in wood-poor regions, it’s a practice that requires a lot of time… women may spend most of one day collecting cooking wood that will last for only two days.

Jigsaw puzzle mural

Gerhard Mayer delicately pieces together and layers sections of various jigsaw puzzles to create fantastical large murals. The artist also applies the same technique using different mediums, such as postcards. His large scale wood installation is impressive as well. [Via]

Study shows infidelity gender gap may be closing

Studies have long shown than men cheat more than women — and not just in politics, either. As recently as the ’90s, research showed that 10-15% of women reported being unfaithful. But new research out of Indiana University in Bloomington (home to the esteemed Kinsey Institute) finds that this gender gap may be closing: in a study of 900 men and women, 19% of women and 23% of men reported cheating.

Naked News: Botox makes it hard to feel for others

• A study finds that Botox may rob you of the ability to empathize. (Then again, perhaps people most likely to get Botox are the least empathetic among us…)
  
  
• How the same-sex marriage deal in New York nearly collapsed.
  
  

Recreated covers of romance novels

With the assistance of photographer Oli Kellett behind the lens and her boyfriend Ross as a model, Alex Holder recreated a series of real life portraitures imitating the saccharine covers of romance novels published by Mills & Boon. I’m sure her boyfriend was absolutely thrilled to partake in her project. It reminds me a bit [...]

Awesome directors hanging out together

From Awesome People Hanging Out Together, one of my current favorite Tumblrs, is this gem of a picture of Akira Kurosawa and Francis Ford Coppola. And in case you were wondering, Kurosawa will always look cooler than you: look at that suit and those shades!

We heart NY, Gay Marriage & the Empire State Building

One state at a time! Last Friday evening New York passed a marriage equality bill, allowing gay couples to finally legally marry in the state. Within hours the Empire State building was lit up in a rainbow of colors — woohoo! The pics of the building went Twitterrific all weekend. The most plausible explanation we’ve heard is [...]

The Acacia Project: Agroforestry as a weapon again desertification, poverty

The growth of deserts, mainly through deforestation, increased animal grazing, and climate change, has created greater food insecurity for some of the world’s most impoverished people. In Senegal, an innovative program funded by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is using native acacia trees as a weapon against expanding deserts and drylands… while also creating agricultural and economic opportunities.

The super produced, super bad SUPER 8

SUPER 8: All production value and no heart.

It’s been almost twenty years since Steven Spielberg directed E.T., probably about the same length of time that J.J. Abrams, who was sixteen at the time, has been a fan. Now, with a decade of directing experience under his belt beginning with “Felicity” in 1999 and including a few stabs at Spielberg-esqueness like MISSON IMPOSSIBLE III and STAR TREK, Abrams finally got his chance to make a direct Spielberg homage – with Spielberg’s blessing (and a producer credit), no less. Like E.T, SUPER 8 stars a young boy growing up in a small town who gets involved with an alien stuck on Earth against his will, trying desperately to get home. Unlike E.T., it lacks all the heart and tales of love, bonding and friendship at the core of Spielberg’s best work, no matter how Hollywood they may be.

Photo series: Switcheroos

I’m really liking Vancouver based photographer Hana’s ongoing photo series “Switcheroos” that juxtaposes identically posed photos of two people after they’ve swapped each other’s clothing. There’s a subtext here that seems to touch upon or critique issues of normative expectations of gender lines, but really I can’t get over how hilarious the dude looks in [...]

Animated mash-up GIF “music” video

Ani Up – Animated Gif Mashup from Evan Roth on Vimeo. Evan Roth created this bizarre, but brilliant video mashing up a few items from the “low brow” pop-culture menu. He incorporates the popularity of animated GIFs typically used as avatars on message boards with a robotic 8-bit re-voicing of MOP’s song “Ante Up.” The [...]

People of Walmart song

It surpassed 2.5 million views on YouTube last week. Jessica Frech‘s original song and video set to images from PeopleOfWalmart.com is a prime lesson in successful self-promotion: take an Internet site that thrives on our love of laughing at people and pair it with a seriously catchy tune (seriously, don’t listen to it more than once if you don’t want to wake up singing it tomorrow) and voila: Internet meme! Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Frech is a talented musician with an ethereal voice (and a ukulele!) — but her mastery of grass-roots internet marketing is what will propel her to fame.

Pipe organ ATM

Duo Allora & Calzadilla created this interactive installation, which has been very popular at this year’s Venice Biennale. It’s a working ATM embedded within a pipe organ that is programmed to play a unique tune for each user: “Theories have even been circulating that the bigger someone’s balance, the more elaborate and longer the composition, [...]

Stefan Sagmeister talks about what inspires him

If there’s one name aspiring young designers think of when it comes to inspiration, it’s Stefan Sagmeister. The inimitable Austrian designer has put his mark on everything from advertising to film, art installations and furniture. He hardly needs an introduction at all. It only seems fitting, then, for theinspiration.com to conduct an interview with Sagmeister about what inspires him, a question he broke down into three parts.

Hey London! What are you listening to?

Inspired by the previous New York version (mentioned here), here’s the London edition of random pedestrians being asked what they are listening to on their headphones.

Allen’s MIDNIGHT IN PARIS and the Mysterious Floating Master

In my own filmmaking education, the term ‘floating master’ was floated my way during one fine day of learning, uttered by an esteemed and respected editing teacher. I remember sitting in the classroom thinking … “Huh?” It sounded more Buddha-on-a-lily-pad than technical film coverage term. I believe she referenced the phrase – which is really ‘floating master shot’ in the same breath as the name Woody Allen, and as I watched MIDNIGHT IN PARIS this week, I harkened back to this particular method of working and its effects on narrative. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, by the way, is a finely charming narrative indeed. And Woody Allen does, by gum, utilize the floating master over and over and over.

Upcycling a billboard into a bag: Relan

Vinyl, aka PVC, is everywhere… and, as we’ve noted before (and as the film BLUE VINYL argued), it’s pretty nasty stuff. The best thing we could do is to stop making and using it, and substitute more environmentally benign materials. Second best… make use of all that vinyl that often goes to landfills.

Green tech finds

eople-powered gyms, transmitting from turtles in Illinois, and combining flies and poop for good use… your green tech finds for the week.

• The open-source solar concentrator: Designer Eerik Wissenz claims that his Solar Fire open source solar concentrator concept can harvest power at ten times cheaper than photovoltaics. Check it out in the video above… (via Earth Techling)
• New university trend — the human-powered gym: Powering exercise and recreation facilities with energy harvested from workout equipment is catching on at universities… the Sustainable Cities Collective takes a closer look at Drexel University’s approach.
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Comments: Posted by: Jeff McIntire-Strasburg
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Tags: climate change / endangered species / green building / human power / organic waste / shipping containers / solar / wind power / wineries

Survey shows Philly residents do it the least and enjoy it the most

We’re often asked what’s “normal” when it comes to sex frequency, and we always decline to answer — we hate to use the word “normal” when it comes to sex, period. That’s something that you’ve got to figure out on your own time, and we refuse to judge you (unless you like to do it while listening to Mariah Carey). But if you’d like to know what the average American is doing — at least, according to Trojan, and we admit that it might be in their interest to exaggerate our sexual activity to get us keeping up with the Joneses — then a new survey will enlighten you. It’s the Trojan 2010 U.S. Sex Census.

Warm Up all summer long at MoMA/P.S.1

It’s been four months since we announced the winner of P.S.1/MoMA’s Young Architects Program. Now that summer is officially upon us, the museum has opened up its courtyard and unveiled Interboro Partner’s winning design, “Holding Pattern,” which will play host to the annual Warm Up party series. One of the first things you notice when you enter the space, aside from the fact that it seems to be undergoing some last minute construction, are the bright yellow tags on nearly every item in the courtyard (pictured below). They read “Hold For” and are stuck to the chairs, benches, planters, trees, chess boards and ping pong tables. The tags are marked with the names of local businesses and organizations who will receive the tagged item after Warm Up closes in September. When Interboro Partners was conducting their initial research they went out into the neighborhood and asked people, “Is there something you need that we could design and use in the courtyard and then donate in the Fall?” The community seems to have answered eclectically. In addition to seating, there’s a sandbox, foosball table, lifeguard chair and even a self-misting modular stage for breakdancing performances.

Behind-the-scenes from famous movies

It was practically impossible for me to decide which single photo to feature in this post from this gallery of behind-the-scene photographs from famous and iconic movies, because they are all so fantastic. Since you are all classy, informed, and educated, I figured you would most appreciate the one above from the seminal film METROPOLIS.