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DEVO light switch plate made of LEGO pieces
07.10.2013
11:53 am
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BrickShtick makes these handmade DEVO light switch plates from LEGO pieces and “elements that are either new or gently used.”

I could see this totally working in a child’s bedroom. A cool child.

It’s $36.00 + shipping here.

Posted by Tara McGinley
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07.10.2013
11:53 am
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Denture jewelry will soon be a ‘thing’
07.09.2013
11:14 am
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Etsy shop Concave Oblivion designs and creates these lovely handmade denture jewelry pieces from dental acrylic which are then hand-polished to a high shine!


 

 
Via Boing Boing

Posted by Tara McGinley
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07.09.2013
11:14 am
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THE NATURE OF YOUR OPPRESSION IS THE AESTHETIC OF OUR ANGER: The Art of Crass
06.18.2013
01:18 pm
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I’m not sure what to make of seeing a young person with the Crass logo painted on the back of their leather jacket. I mean these days. What does it mean to them?

Of course I knew what it meant and what it stood for back in the day. I lived in south London squats in 1983 and 84 and many of my er, squatmates were classic scruffy cliched Crass punks. As a result, I regularly went to see anarcho punk gigs at places like The Ambulance Station on the Old Kent Road. Poison Girls. Chumbawamba. Flux of Pink Indians. Annie Anxiety. Flowers in the Dustbin. Rubella Ballet. I saw a lot of Crass-associated punk bands back then. (When Chumbawamba released “Everything You Know Is Wrong” in 2004, I was chuffed to bits.)

I even saw one of the final Crass gigs, a miner’s strike benefit at the Islington Bingo Hall. Between bands they let me show a little video that I’d cobbled together from particularly gruesome WWII footage set to a soundtrack of Frank Sinatra’s “Polka-dots and Moonbeams.” Although I personally was not a Crass punk per se, I definitely had a foot in that tribe and Crass had a major effect on me and the way I see the world to this very day. Something that I am very grateful for.

When the band was actually together, the idea of what Crass offered was greater than the sum of its parts as well as something, frankly, that was significantly based more on the militant anarchist-vegan-anti-vivisection-pacifist-anti-religious pro-environmental stances they took, than the music itself. Crass were many things—many important things—to many people, but listenable wasn’t really one of them (I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s amusing to think about how many of the Crass punk anarchist squatter types who I knew in Brixton were also into early UB40. Not shitting you. That’s what they listened to, not Stations of The Crass!)

A big part of the appeal, like I say, were the ideas, the leafleting and sloganeering, but there was also Gee Vaucher’s brilliant graphic art and and Dave King’s iconic logo that went along with the Crass mystique. This is what their tribe rallied around. It wasn’t about them as people—most fans probably had no idea what they looked like (I didn’t) and they quite literally shunned the spotlight, performing in near darkness—it was about the fact that because of Crass’s orbit and the gravitational pull of their example and lifestyle that you could meet other people who thought they same way that you did. That aspect of Crass fandom was the glue that held that entire scene together, that you could, as Timothy Leary once said, “Find the Others.”

I think this is why young people today still want to wear the Crass logo across their backs. It may seem somewhat anachronistic—like hippie tie-die does—but the romantic notion of what that scene was all about, is, what I think, motivates kids to sport that symbol in 2013. It will never happen again quite like that, but its a testament to how influential Crass truly were that kids who weren’t even born then continue to be interested in the ideas they espoused, some of which have wormed their way far further into the culture than could have been imagined 30 years ago. Widespread veganism is merely one of the triumphs of Crass that can be seen in today’s landscape and you’d better believe they had a lot to do with it. The concept of veganism seemed so far out in the early 1980s in a way that is almost impossible to convey to someone who wasn’t around back then. People were offended by the very concept of it! Although I was already pretty much already a vegan by 1983, I had never in my life met, until falling into the anarcho punk circles orbiting around Crass’s sun, other people who had the same diet. That was a big deal with me.

Which brings me to the second installment of MOCAtv‘s “The Art of Punk” video series and its exploration of the art and iconography of Crass:

We head up to the Anarchist Book Fair in San Francisco to meet up with Gee Vaucher, and founding Crass member, writer, and activist, Penny Rimbaud. We discuss the art and the lifestyle stemming from the infamous Dial House, where they have lived, worked, and created their own brand of anarchistic beauty, for more than 3 decades. We have a sit down with artist Scott Campbell, at his own New York tattoo shop, and talk about how the art of Crass, and one single t-shirt created a fork in his own road of life. Owen Thornton talks some shit. Finally we hang out with British graphic designer Dave King - the creator of the infamous snake and cross symbol, and discuss post war England, hippies, punk, graphic design, and more, that led him to the creation of the symbol made legendary by Crass.

Next up in this series, The Dead Kennedys. Directed by Bryan Ray Turcotte and Bo Bushnell.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
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06.18.2013
01:18 pm
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The Art of Punk: Watch great new doc on Black Flag and Raymond Pettibon’s iconic collaboration
06.11.2013
01:30 pm
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Bryan Ray Turcotte, author the classic chronicle of punk rock handbills and posters, Fucked Up + Photocopied, has one of the largest private collections of punk rock-related ephemera in the world—he’s a one-man Smithsonian Institute of the counterculture, truly a maven’s maven.

When I got advance notice that one of the world’s most prominent archivists and historians on the matter of punk rock’s graphic design had made (with Bo Bushnell) a film about Black Flag and Raymond Pettibon , I was expecting something pretty great and… it’s excellent!

It went live this morning. I got the link a little while ago and promptly sat down and watched the whole thing:

On the first episode of “The Art of Punk” we dissect the art of the legendary Black Flag. From the iconic four bars symbols, to the many coveted and collected gig flyers, singles, and band t-shirts, all depicting the distinctive Indian ink drawn image and text by artist Raymond Pettibon. We start off in Los Angeles talking to two founding members, singer Keith Morris and bass player Chuck Dukowski, about what the scene was like in 1976 - setting the stage for the band’s formation, as well as the bands name, and the creation of the iconic four bars symbol. Raymond Pettibon talks with us from his New York art studio. Back in LA we meet with Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, about how the art, the music, and that early LA scene impacted his own life and career. To wrap it all up we sit and talk at length, with Henry Rollins, at MOCA Grand Ave in Los Angeles, about all of the above and more.

What’s so compelling about this piece is how filmmakers Turcotte and Bushnell tell you a story that you haven’t already heard a gazillion times before by focusing in on the graphics and how important an iconic logo was back then for outsider kids to rally around, wear on their chests or have etched into their flesh.

In the film, Flea makes, I thought, an especially valuable contribution, because he was young enough then (like Rollins himself was, of course) to have been in the audience and he speaks to how seeing a group like Black Flag could change your direction in life. From what I have heard from a number of people, Flea’s supposed to have an absolutely first rate modern art collection. He’s really inspired when he speaks here.

A production of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. New MOCAtv  episodes exploring the visual identities of Dead Kennedys and Crass will debut soon at the MOCAtv YouTube channel
 

Above, Flea in his Pettibon-festooned bathroom
 

 
Thank you Tim NoPlace!

Posted by Richard Metzger
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06.11.2013
01:30 pm
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Lovely vein-shaped wine carafes
06.05.2013
01:41 pm
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Perhaps not for someone who suffers from hemophobia, these lovely vein-shaped carafes by sculptor Etienne Meneau would make an interesting conversation piece at your next dinner party.

I dig ‘em.

You can see more of Meneau’s designs at Strange Carafes.


 

 
Via Boing Boing

Posted by Tara McGinley
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06.05.2013
01:41 pm
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Who needs a Nirvana blanket?
05.29.2013
11:10 am
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Images of burned Nirvana CD’s (with “art” by Sharpie) printed on an over-sized woven cotton blanket by artist Peter Sutherland.

The longer I ponder this one, the funnier it becomes. The Nirvana Blanket can be yours for $250 at Refinery 29.

Via The World’s Best Ever

Posted by Tara McGinley
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05.29.2013
11:10 am
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‘Just Another IKEA Catalog’: IKEA furniture in amateur porn Tumblr (NSFW)
05.28.2013
10:55 am
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Just Another IKEA Catalog is a refreshing Tumblr dedicated to “Scandinavian modern style furniture and accessories in amateur pornography.”

As you can probably guess by the title, it’s totally NSFW.


 
Via Nerdcore

Posted by Tara McGinley
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05.28.2013
10:55 am
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19th Century Fire Escape
05.21.2013
02:01 pm
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This fire escape from the 19th century is such a simple design, I wonder why it never caught on? Perhaps, it was not possible to maintain the structural integrity in high temperatures, and people would be unable to slide down to safety without being cooked. Mind you, fire escapes aside, this would be a fun way to leave work on a Friday.
 
Via Paraphilia Magazine
 

 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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05.21.2013
02:01 pm
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Iggy Pop clock complete with peanut butter!
05.17.2013
03:43 pm
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An Iggy pop clock made by artist and designer Ron Winnick. I like the creative touch as Iggy’s arms move around he smears peanut butter on himself. That’s absolutely brilliant.

Below, this incredible live footage of The Stooges comes from the Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival of 1970 (AKA Midsummer Rock Festival) and features the infamous peanut butter smearing incident.

Note the announcer’s reaction: “That’s… peanut butter!” Years later Stiv Bators of The Dead Boys took credit for bringing the tub of peanut butter from his home in Dayton and putting it into the Iggster’s hands.
 

Posted by Tara McGinley
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05.17.2013
03:43 pm
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‘Doctor Who Magazine’: As a supermarket tabloid
05.15.2013
04:46 am
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The Zygons’ cellulite Hell. The Cyber-shock secret—Botox! Vajazzle the Alien way. And the shame of Doctor, who? Are the headlines to a supermarket tabloid version of Doctor Who Magazine, as imagined by the talented Red Scharlach, who writes:

To commemorate the supposedly surprise-filled season finale of Doctor Who, I thought I’d give Doctor Who Magazine a scandalmongering makeover. But I can’t decide whether I’d like to read this version or would simply be too scared to open the cover

I’d certainly be more happy to read Red Sharlach‘s wonderfully made-over mag than watch the increasingly smug and irrelevant TV series.
 
Via Red Scharlach
 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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05.15.2013
04:46 am
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