Kage-e was commonly used to entertain guests at parties during 19th century Japan. The pictures comprised of two parts: a silhouette image (viewed first) that resembles an easily identifiable object, and a real image (viewed second) that reveals the silhouettes identity, provided those enjoying the pleasant intoxication of sake among family and friends with something to laugh about.
According to the manifesto on jl.incrowd’s Flickr set Vintage classical album cover graphics, “It was the pioneering graphic designer Alex Steinweiss, who first had the idea of ‘album cover art’. Prior to his efforts for Columbia Records beginning in 1939, the covers to multi-disc 78-rpm ‘album’ sets of records were fairly generic - often referred to as ‘tombstone’ covers, with just a plain square label with text. Steinweiss’ ideas and the bold visual language he created soon caught on, the idea became the norm, and eventually the sky was the limit for the manner in which the cover image on a record could be used to represent the music within.” The majority of the images contained within the set are from the ’40s and ’50s. In my opinion the colors, layouts and textures used are as inspiring today as they were innovative in the past. Some of my favorites after the jump.
Recent years have seen street art and its central figures become as mainstream as all over print tee shirts and French electronica. Today, mega-corporations are increasingly incorporating wheatpastes into their marketing mix and doing their best to cash in off the art form’s caché. Two weeks ago, the mythological Banksy, with corporate funding from Eurostar, hosted a massive stencil party dubbed “The Cans Festival” in a tunnel underneath London’s Waterloo Station. Its whereabouts was initially kept secret while A-list artists from around the world painted the walls and erected sculptures. Upon completion, the address was announced and those attending were encouraged to bring their own stencils and paint the walls with some artwork of their own. As you can imagine, this generated a huge amount of on/off-line publicity for both the involved artists and Eurostar. Several photos of what transpired can be viewed here.
The other day while walking the streets of Vancouver I came across an awesome wheatpaste of a dude with scooter handlebars sticking through his shirt where his head should have been. Initially, I was really stoked on the piece, yet became somewhat disappointed to discover that it was an advertisement for Vespa designed by Dan Bergeron aka Fauxreel for Dentsu, aimed at promoting the unique fashion stylings of people who ride the scooters. I was further surprised to learn that the advertisements were also pasted up in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary as well. Does advertising through street art compromise the art form’s integrity?
Painted in 1819 by Japanese physician Yasukazu Minagaki (1784-1825), The Kaibo Zonshinzu Anatomy Scrolls contain 83 images based on Minagaki’s analysis of over 40 bodies that were donated to science after being decapitated for committing criminal acts. As mentioned on Pink Tentacle, “Unlike European anatomical drawings of the time, which tended to depict the corpse as a living thing devoid of pain (and often in some sort of Greek pose), these realistic illustrations show blood and other fluids leaking from subjects with ghastly facial expressions”.
Barcelona is bright and beautiful. Its architecture, culture, beaches, restaurants and public spaces are world-class. Locals are warm-spirited, gentle and accommodating. Time moves slower here. Nobody cares where you work or how much money you make. It’s what you do with your life outside of work that matters. People pursue their extracurricular interests, and work to live not live to work. The cafés are brimming with artists, musicians, writers and philosophers. If you visit Barcelona, beware! Its vibe will reconfigure your DNA, scramble your brain waves and put you on creative overdrive.
Track Listing:
The Pharcyde - Ya Mama
De La Soul - Magic Number
Black Sheep - Similak Child
A Tribe Called Quest - God Lives Through
The Roots - I Remain Calm
Everybody that knows Vancouver knows it has a major drug problem. Heroin, crack, cocaine, weed, ecstasy and LSD are all openly traded and consumed on the streets. Special prescription pharmaceutical items one may desire can easily be obtained provided one has the right connections. This has resulted in colleges, high schools, and even elementary schools becoming havens of substance abuse. Anything you want is always a phone call away.
In Vancouver, GHB (the date-rape drug) is also used in abundance. At some parties, people stick it up their ass for a tranquil buzz, while others secretly pour it in an unsuspecting persons drink to obtain easier than normal access to their private parts. I’ve heard countless stories about poor unsuspecting women that have been buggered proper after falling victim to a well-mannered man that has covertly powdered their drink.
The locals in France laugh with disbelief when I tell them that Sushi restaurants in Vancouver are abundant, and that a standard 10 dollar sushi plate in Vancouver is the equivalent of a 50 euro plate in France. Disgusted by the high costs, folks in these parts don’t typically eat sushi, rather they opt out for kebabs. Unlike Vancouver donair shops that wrap your kebab in a pita, French kebabs are grilled inside panini like bread and more like a sandwich than a wrap. Stuffed with either shaved beef or chicken and lettuce, tomato, onions and fries, kebabs here are filling, cheap and very tasty. Not to mention - kebab shops in most of France also sell tallboy cans of beer for a euro a piece.
The benefits of a good public transportation system are numerous. It’s better for the environment, reduces energy dependence, and is a lot less stressful than driving during the rush hour commute. Several studies have concluded that people who take public transit are healthier than those who don’t; they walk much more between bus stops, metro stations and their homes or office.
According to Treehugger, “If just one in 10 Americans used public transportation daily, U.S. reliance on foreign oil would decrease 40 percent.” One would think a stat like that would inspire government to do whatever they could to enhance and/or develop public transportation within their centers, yet for the most part the status-quo of freeway commuting to and from work prevails.
The weather here in Bordeaux has been cold and wet the last couple of days, and the flat I am staying in isn’t much better. It’s tiny, damp, dusty, doesn’t have a television and half the room’s ceiling is less than 4 feet in height (it’s kinda like the office in Being John Malkovich). Other than guzzling pints of 1664 over games of pinball in the cafés or working on my French with local journalists, there really isn’t much to do.
To pass time in the evenings, I have been watching online movies and puttering around Flickr in search of visual amusement. Last night in the wee hours of the morning I came across this very awesome set of vintage comic book ads assembled by Neato Coolville. How I miss the days of mail-order ant farms, secret spy scopes and rifles.
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