Alphabets

Thanks to my cousin, the Swiss Army Librarian, for the video link to the alphabet pop-up book — very cool find.

The second video reminds me of something I might have received as a professor — from a student who likes beer and herb way more than they like work and effort. It made me laugh, but he still would have a gotten a C- at best.

My Little Pony

I thought this series of customized My Little Ponies by Mari Kasurinen was fantastically clever; and in most cases, very well done. The idea of taking an 80s pop cultural toy, and customizing it to represent other fictional characters of pop significance is just too funny. My Little Catwoman, Alien and Stormtrooper are my favorites.

Mari Kasurinen

ART 513

I’ve been meaning to mention this for a while now, but Sara Pearce, the arts editor for the Cincinnati Enquirer, has taken early retirement and started her own blog titled ART 513. If you’re interested in following the Cincinnati art scene, she’s one of the most informed and hardest working people out there.

Sara Pearce

Pepsi Redesign

The above image is a leaked rendering of Pepsi’s substantial new brand redesign — and by substantial, I mean financially.

Advertising Age states:

PepsiCo today said it will pour some $1.2 billion over three years into a push that will include sweeping changes to its brands, including what Chairman-CEO Indra Nooyi characterized as a revamp of “every aspect of the brand proposition for our key [carbonated soft drink] brands. How they look, how they’re packaged, how they will be merchandised on the shelves, and how they connect with consumers”.

It seems that changes will be made across all the major PepsiCo brands, including: Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade and Tropicana.

Brand New, Pepsi

Bansky in New York

British street artist Bansky has his first official New York exhibition, “pet shop.”

The link is to a BBC video profile of the exhibition, which really helps to showcase the underlying theme and also gives the viewer a better understanding of the overall “shop” setting. I have to admit, the hot dog and chicken nugget works are fantastic.

Bansky on BBC

Mario Paint Composer

Maybe it has to do with my age, or possibly just nostalgia, but I love the trend of using Mario Paint Composer to arrange well-known music. It’s great because the program is simple yet capable of complexity, fun to watch, and just so darn campy. The music system was originally created for Mario Paint on the Super NES, however contemporary remakes have found their way onto the internet, including this downloadable version by unFun Games. Enjoy.

Featured Art : 10/15 – 10/22

I’m sure I was missed during my recent hiatus; I took some time to go visit the parents, and when I returned, needed to catch-up on some missed work.

Last week I was unable to post a Featured Art work, as I chose to go to a political rally instead and hear one of the Presidential candidates speak in person — it was too rare an opportunity to pass-up.

This week’s Featured Art has been uploaded on the studiotwentysix2 site. To learn more about the print Multiple Portraits, visit the link below.

Featured Art : October 15

Shoes for the Avant-Garde

I’ve been meaning to post a link to the very creative Virtual Shoe Museum for a while now, but they seem pretty pissy about bloggers using their images, even to promote the museum site.

I’m too lazy and/or indifferent to request their permission, and I dislike posting without an accompanying image, so here’s an image of an advertisement from The Washington Shoe Manufacturing Company, Seattle, U.S.A., posted by the folks at Vintage Seattle.

By the way, this image and the museum have absolutely nothing in common, other than shoes. Which I guess is actually a lot in common...hmmm, just visit the site and you’ll see what I mean.

Virtual Shoe Museum

Thank You For Smoking

I came across this interesting article written by film critic Roger Ebert. “Thank You For Smoking” discusses the recently released Bette Davis postage stamp that features a well-known portrait of Davis — except that the U.S. government had her cigarette edited out.

I like the article for two reasons, one it makes for an interesting debate about current societal values versus fair historical representation; and two, I wonder if there was any hesitation on the part of the artist, Michael Deas, in altering the portrait.

Regardless of your stance on smoking, it’s a good read.

Roger Ebert

Audrey Corregan

I totally dig the site for French-born photographer Audrey Corregan. It’s ultra-minimal which is always difficult to pull-off; however, the buttons are fun and are a great navigation idea that doesn’t visually detract from the work.

Audrey Corregan

Featured Art : 10/02 – 10/08

This week’s Featured Art has been uploaded on the studiotwentysix2 site. To learn more about the graphite drawing Introverted Reed (1974), visit the link below.

Featured Art : October 02