SSUR x MEDICOM TOY 100% BEARBRICK

New York’s SSUR make an appearance in MEDICOM TOY’s SERIES 20 of 100% BEARBRICKS. The design may be familiar to some as it was seen previously on a footwear collaboration with DC SHOES based on traditional Russian style art. The SSUR x MEDICOM TOY 100% BEARBRICK is set to release at the end of this month.

Via: Toybeast

Stars War x adidas Originals 2010 Fall/Winter “R2-D2 + C-3PO” Top Ten Low

First seen in the latest adidas Originals x Star Wars footage. addidas Originals will be looking to drop the “R2-D2 + C-3PO” model in September, it works with the classic Top Ten Low model and inspired by the Trilogy’s iconic droids, C-3PO and R2-D2. The collaboration represents a series that will continue well into the 2010 Fall/Winter season.

Via: Freshness

Leica Flagship Store Hong Kong

Hong Kong recently laid claim to two new Leica flagship stores in heart of two of its busiest districts. The Causeway Bay Times Square and Central IFC locations are modeled after Leica’s own German headquarters. In addition to offering up Leica’s outstanding and highly respected product, a small gallery area will provide a platform to showcase photography.

Via: THINK SILLY

Blankie's Come To Town: THE MOVIE!

Blankies Come to Town: The Movie! from aarting on Vimeo.

Our friends Gabe, Talia and Hilena from Digital Soul happened to stop by the studio the day the color samples for Blankie (our first community based toy project) arrived.

They were so inspired that they decided to create a short stop-motion animation film about the arrival!

Thanks guys!!!

Karen Blixen’s Hermès Luggage

Custom made by Hermès for the author of Out of Africa, the 2 cases below show the excellent craftsmanship of the French luxury brand. Made in 1930, when you had to be way more prepared when you traveled than these days. No 7/11, Duane Reades or airport shopping areas meant you couldn’t afford to forget anything. We could also mention the time it even took to travel back then but judging by his choice of luggage, this guy traveled well!

Bounty Hunter Skull Kun Keychain Pouch

Playing off its Skull Kun character, pioneer Japanese streetwear brand Bounty Hunter create this new keychain pouch. Using Skull Kun’s head, the pouch features embroidered detailing along with a back zipper, making room for just about anything, including cigarettes. Look for the pouch soon via Bounty Hunter.

Makr Carry Goods Farm Rucksack

American label Makr Carry Goods have produced this distinctly clean rucksack. Featuring Horween’s leather accents over a beige canvas the timeless design is available in three color options for $150.

PUMA x Kehinde Wiley 917 Lo Sacko

This Puma model has chosen to take the lo-top approach and like all other 917’s is inspired by the Porsche 917 driven by Steve McQueen in the 1971 movie “Le Mans”. Working in the same African theme as the Do-It-YourSelf Sacko ＆ Matar Slippers seen earlier, New York based painter Kehinde Wiley sees his print take on another life when applied to a pair of sneakers. Available now at select PUMA stockists.

via: hypebeast.

Delta at Jonas Kleerup Gallery

Holland born artist Boris Tellegen, better known as Delta, has a new exhibition up for display at the Jonas Kleerup Gallery in Stockholm. The exhibit entitled ‘Random Distress’ showcases his immaculate creative capabilities and fondness for the abstract. Not unlike the graffiti work for which he’s received most of his acclaim, these meticulously crafted 3D sculptures explore new dimensions and a varying degree of planes and spaces which help to accentuate his pieces many intricacies. The exhibit will be showing from June 3rd to July 4th.

Gallery Jonas Kleerup
Tegnérgatan 18
SE-11358 Stockholm
Sweden

A Bathing Ape Canvas Backpack

Falling in line with the brand’s recent spin on minimalistic designs, A Bathing Ape presents this new canvas backpack silhouette. Not solely made of canvas, the bag features a nice contrasting element with the use of leathers on the bottom and lining. Two color options were produced, including a brown and olive, both now available through BAPE stores at the price of ¥15,540 (Approx. $171 USD).

Immersed Senses Diving Helmet

Designed by Adam Wendel, this new scuba diving system allows divers to breath more naturally and have much better views. It is also equipped with a camera, flashlight and an OLED display which will help you identify any mysterious sea life you might encounter if you’re still alive. Jacques Cousteau or Steve Zissou would have been proud! Much more info here

Via Lostateminor

Graffiti Analysis

Graffiti Analysis 2.0: Digital Blackbook from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

The brains behind the daringly clever TSA Communicator project, iconoclastic technology artist Evan Roth is now spearheading an equally compelling software project, Graffiti Analysis.

Roth and his co-collaborators have developed an open source application that works with iPhones and others to capture the movements of graffiti artists and digitize the motion-rich styles into programming language that can be stored, swapped and recreated.

"The project aims to build the world's largest archive of graffiti motion, and bring together two seemingly disparate communities that share an interest hacking systems, whether found in code or in the city," Roth states.

There are several videos demonstrating how the software captures the oft-unseen motion of the artist. The information is uploaded to a open database and is freely accessible, allowing artists from around the world to analyze each other's techniques and build a community across continents.

via: coolhunting.

Aquariva by Marc Newson

Equally as exciting as our trip to the Riva boatyard is Marc Newson's new speedboat for the iconic Italian brand, a high-tech take on nautical design. The Aquariva—first created in 2001—receives an innovative yet simplified makeover, with phenolic composite (an extremely durable wood-like laminate) covering the deck area instead of traditional mahogany and anodized aluminum used in place of stainless steel for an overall sleeker aesthetic.

Heralding the classic glamor of the Aquariva's predecessor, the Aquarama, Newson infused identifiable Riva attributes while keeping within his own signature style. A streamlined instrument panel, a wrap-around laminated glass windshield, separated driver and passenger seats, handles and hooks that disappear when not in use, a re-imagined stern and state-of-the-art transmission all bring the boat to new standards without compromising its history as an opulent pleasure vessel.

A limited edition of 22, Newson's Aquariva will debut in September 2010 and will be available worldwide through NYC's Gagosian Gallery.

Mike Kelley ‘Arenas,’ Skarstedt Gallery through June 25th, 2010

Mike Kelley’s current exhibition at the Skarstedt Gallery features seven works from his Arena sculpture series. Using found objects, both handmade and machine fabricated, and stuffed animals, Kelley creates “arenas,” scenes crafted to evoke curiosity from his observers. Kelley works on the floor, as a playing child might, with afghans and blankets of varying styles and motifs. Kelley explores the commodification of toys and their relevant emotions, removing them from a typical, nostalgic setting to create arenas that highlight both consumeristic natures and artistic projections.

Teddy bears, monkeys, bunnies, and other toys, specifically stuffed animals, have been fundamental to Kelley’s work for decades. He looks at these playthings as gifts, man-made objects that are in themselves intents, detached from childish ownership. In a 1992 interview with John Miller, Kelley said, “Basically, gift giving is like indentured slavery or something. There’s no price, so you don’t know how much you owe. The commodity is emotion. What’s being bought and sold is emotion.”

By displaying these playthings antiseptically and discretely from actual usage, Kelley transforms these gifts from toys to museum objects. However, by creating floor-bound, childlike arenas, he challenges the quintessential immaculateness of a gallery. At once, he calls into question both the emotionality of toys and gifts and the concept of stainless museum pieces.

This exhibition is necessarily reflexive. By working with man-made crafts, both Kelley and the observers of his sculptures are forced to anthropomorphize the positions and maneuvers of the stuffed animals. The jettisoned playthings serve as ready templates for the viewers’ projections regarding childhood remembrance, consumerism, and the concept of the exhibition of art. Kelley lives and works in Los Angeles, California, and has been exhibited at the Louvre, the Tate, the Whitney, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

via: artobserved.

James Bond’s 1964 Aston Martin DB5

CRAZY!!!! This DB5 was driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger and Thunderbolt. The car is equipped with machine guns, bullet-proof shield, revolving number plates, tracking device, removable roof panel, oil slick sprayer, nail spreader and smoke screen, all controlled from factory installed toggles and switches hidden in the center arm-rest. Oh, and by the way, it’s expected to fetch $5 Million, happy bidding…

via: bbc.

Gallery 1950 x OriginalFake T-shirt

OriginalFake’s 4th anniversary has seen the multi-faceted toy and fashion brand procure a number of collaborations within the last few weeks. Next up is a t-shirt with Japanese design-centric brand, Gallery 1950 who’s products span everything from fashion to common household items. The logo-based tee features GNF in an OriginalFake-esque font. The t-shirt will release on Friday, June 4th at OriginalFake Aoyama.

Source: Medicom Toy

colette x DC Comics x Pierre Hardy Collection

Making up part of the collaboration between colette and DC Comics, this is the first set of releases in an impressive collection that sees fashion icons work with legendary DC characters. The range will include: Alexis Mabille for The Joker, Balmain and Lanvin for Batman, Karl Lagerfeld for The Green Lantern, Sonia Rykiel and Maison Michel for Wonderwoman, Pierre Hardy and Julien David for Superman, Thierry Lasry for Plastic Man, Repetto for Flash, and Roger Vivier for Catwoman.

This debut release sees Pierre Hardy work with a Superman theme to design this bag and a briefcase. Naturally sporting the iconic Superman logo and colors, each piece is individually numbered, a touch that will cement its status as a collectable. Check out the rest of the collection over at colette.

Puma's chalkboard ping-pong table

Designed for the "after-hours athlete," the Chalk ping-pong table by studio Aruliden for Puma puts a seriously social spin on the game. A chalkboard surface allows players to keep track of the score, claim the next game or provoke opponents with a little written banter, and the convenient compartment underneath safely stores beverages and party favors for the ultimate in casual recreation.

Each handmade table features solid ash legs and a steel chain-link net—a major step up from the oft-crude tables tucked away in garages or basements.

Chalk hits The Conran Shop NYC on 3 June 2010, where celebrity table-tennis star Susan Sarandon will battle champions Marty Reisman and Franck "Spin" Raharinosy for its launch. The table will also sell online for $3,900.

via: coolhunting.

Louise Bourgeois Dies at age 98 in New York

Louise Bourgeois, one of the world’s most celebrated sculptors, passed away today at the age of 98. The news was announced by an Italian foundation preparing an exhibition of the artist’s work in Venice, and was confirmed by Wendy Williams, the managing director of the Louise Bourgeois Studio. The cause of death was heart attack, and occurred at the Beth Israel Medical Center. Bourgeois was a leader of feminist art, and is known most recently for her large-scale metal spider sculptures, as well as psychologically-charged roughly-textured depictions of sex organs.

Highly influenced by painful childhood experiences, her work explores human forms and emotions. “All my inspiration comes from my childhood, from my education, from France at a certain moment in my life,” the artist once said. The subject of her works expresses namely the betrayal and jealousy she felt as a cause of her father’s affair with the family’s governess.

Born in Paris in 1911, Bourgeois studied at the Ecole du Louvre and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. After marrying American art historian Robert Goldwater, she moved to the US and became a citizen in 1951. She completed her studies at the Art Students League of New York. Although she began with engraving and painting, she worked mostly in sculpture. In 1997 she received the National Medal of Arts, and in 2008 she was presented with the French Legion of Honor medal by French President Nicolas Sakozy. Bourgeois represented America in the Venice Biennale of 1993. In 2000 she created a work for the Tate Modern’s inauguration of Turbine Hall; in 2007 the Tate organized a retrospective of her work which later travelled to the Centre George Pompidou in Paris, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Hirschorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC.

Until two days ago, she was actively involved in preparations for the exhibition “Louise Bourgeois: The Fabric Works.” Curated in by Germano Celant in collaboration with Jerry Gorovoy of the Louise Bourgeois Studio, the exhibition is presented by the Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova. It is to feature little-known works in cloth and sketches from 2002 – 2008, shared foundation president Alfredo Bianchini.

Early in her career, she worked as an assistant in the atelier of legendary French artist Fernand Léger. She was revered by many contemporary artists, including Antony Gormley and Tracey Emin. Artist Jenny Holzer stated today that she “orbited Bourgeois” and that “my artist friends and I are crying today.” She is survived by her two sons, Alain and Jean-Louis, of Brooklyn and New York; she was widowed in 1973 and her son Michael died in 1990.

via: artobserved.

Jay-Z Writes Intro to Rolling Stone’s “500 Great Songs of All Time” Issue

As a man of multiple talents Jay-Z has now landed an editorial stint for famed Rolling Stones Magazine. The mogul was appointed to pen the introduction of the magazine’s ambitious “500 Great Songs of All Time”-issue. You can check out Jay-Z’s journalistic foray after the jump.