Friday, May 27, 2011

Top 10 May 27

This one goes out to the Sailors around the world!
Happy Fleet week and knock yourself out with these 10 bad boys!

As for the rest of you non sailor generation...
...Happy Memorial Day Weekend and you can knock yourself out with this bonus interview
by Smashbox studios on BBH Art Buyer Miranda!

Hugs and Kisses

Mr. J

1. Nicolai Howalt







BOXER
Throughout the years of 2000-03 the award-winning photographer Nicolai Howalt followed young Danish boys boxing in Denmark and abroad. The result is the book 'Boxer'. The book portrays a series of young boxers where Howalt's starting point is to capture the moment before and after the match. A sense of spirit, emotion, expectation and energy characterize the photographs.
The double portraits convey the dreams of boyhood, puberty and identity. The boxing match stages a platform for Howalt who otherwise refrains from describing the inner concerns of boxing or the competitive elements of the sport. Boxing becomes a symbol for the match between fear versus courage, dream versus reality. It is also about the age dividing a boy from being a man and to be on your own for the first time. As a teenager Howalt used to box, and as a consequence he has realized that the moments just before and after the match were the most tantalizing.
The American author Edward Bunker (Dog eat dog, Little Boy Blue) has written the preface to the book.
The book was published on the 14th October 2003.



Biography
Nicolai Howalt was born in Copenhagen and graduated from Denmark’s Photographic Art School Fatamorgana in 1992 and his work has documentary references, operating at the intersection of conceptual photography and installation.

Nicolai Howalt has had solo exhibitions at Esbjerg Kunstmuseum; Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York; Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen and Center for Fotografi, Stockholm among others. He has also exhibited at Statens Museum for Kunst, ARoS and Skagens Museum in Denmark, and in Korea, China, USA, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, France, Finland, England, Hungary and Turkey.

In 2001 Nicolai Howalt published the book 3x1 with Gyldendal Publishers. Boxer was published in 2003 by ArtPeople. He has received a series of grants from the Hasselblad Foundation, The Danish Ministry of Culture, The Danish Arts Foundation and The Danish Arts Council.

Nicolai Howalt is represented in numerous public collections, including The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; MUSAC, Spain, Maison Européenne de Photographie, France, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, USA, La Casa Encendida, Spain, Fondation Neuflize Vie, France, Art Foundation Majorca, Spain, Hiscox Art Project, USA. And in Denmark, The National Museum of Photography, The Danish Arts Foundation, Skagen Museum, Nykredit and Museet for Fotokunst, Brandts.

Nicolai Howalt also has a long-term collaboration with the Danish artist Trine Søndergaard. They have published books including How To Hunt, with ArtPeople in 2005 and Hatje Cantz in 2010, and TreeZone with Hassla Books in 2009, and exhibited together in Sweden, Germany, Spain, France, Canada, Finland, USA, China and Korea. Their collaborative works have received awards including the Special Jury Prize at Paris Photo 2006 and The Niels Wessel Bagge’s Foundation for the Arts Award in 2008.

Nicolai Howalt is a member of Kunstnersamfundet and The Danish Association of Visual Artists.
He is represented by Martin Asbæk Gallery in Copenhagen and Bruce Silverstein Gallery in New York.

See more work by Nicolai HERE

2. Lotta Nieminen




Lotta Nieminen is a multidisciplinary designer and illustrator from Helsinki, Finland. She has studied graphic design and illustration at the University of Art and Design Helsinki and the Rhode Island School of Design, and has worked as a freelancer in both fields since 2006. After working for fashion magazine Trendi in Finland and Pentagram Design in New York, Lotta is now based in NYC, working for design studio RoAndCo.

In 2010, Lotta received the Art Directors Club Young Guns 8 award and was selected by Print magazine for its annual New Visual Artists review, highlighting 20 international rising designers under the age of 30. Her work has also won honorable mentions at Vuoden Huiput (Best of Finnish advertising and graphic design) as well as in various logo competitions. She has illustrated for the likes of clients such as United Airlines, International Herald Tribune Magazine, Monocle and Bloomberg Businessweek.

As an illustrator, Lotta is represented by illustration agency Agent Pekka. 


3. Spring Break Snowboards

A few words with the artist behind a new line of handmade snowboards.
Bored with the current direction of mainstream snowboarding, artist and professional snowboarder Corey Smith decided to do something about it. The resulting line Spring Break Snowboards brings the sport back to the basics with handmade wooden snowboards meant for making beautiful powder turns and reviving a love for nature.

Not only do these wooden beasts look like a blast to ride, Smith hand shapes and paints each for a one-of-a-kind board worthy of hanging on a wall. The "business model" is unconventional too; rather than buy a board, Smith asks interested parties to donate to Spring Break to replenish materials and otherwise keep the company alive. Five hundred bucks gets you a board of your choice from the "collective" quiver, but existing and future work will sell at to-be-announced Spring Break art shows next fall.

Smith, current Art Director of COMUNE clothing, has always been a strong presence in the evolution of style and individuality in snowboarding (pioneering today's "tight pants" movement), and may very well spark another trend with his newest venture. We recently caught up with the mastermind behind Spring Break Snowboards to learn more. 


What made you grab a hunk of wood and carve a snowboard?

I was in Tahoe for most of the winter filming for the upcoming COMUNE snowboard video. It didn't snow for the month of January and I was getting cabin fever, just dreaming about riding fresh powder. I thought, "Why not see if I can make some handmade boards?" Once I had a few boards built and realized they were functional I decided to start a fake snowboard company as an art project. .

What inspires the look?

I was reading a book about this surfer in the '70s named Bunker Spreckels and how he shaped really unique boards. It really inspired me to think differently about contemporary snowboard design. Many of the shapes come from conversations with friends and just thinking about what kind of wild shapes we can come up with. The pill shape seems to work really well. I was surprised how well the powder holes in the back worked. They really allowed the tail to sink in the deep snow just like a swallow tail board.

Is the process closer to shaping a surfboard or snowboard?

Well, I've never shaped a surfboard. I grew up in Portland, OR skateboarding and snowboarding so surf culture is pretty foreign to me. I am really interested in learning more about surf history and board development though, since snowboarding and skateboarding were born from that.

What materials and techniques do you use in the production process?

I really just use wood, fiberglass, polyurethane and the t-bolts for the bindings. I'm embarrassed to even let people know the redneck technique I use to bend the shape into the boards haha! It's really just been trial and error learning how to make a functional snowboard by hand.

Where are you based?

I live in Los Angeles in the summer and Lake Tahoe in the winter. I'd really like to build more boards this summer so I have a bunch for all my friends next winter when I hope to return to Tahoe.

Why are Spring Break Snowboards worth checking out?

It makes deep fresh powder accessible to anyone. Since the boards float so well in powder you can ride mellow, relatively avalanche safe terrain. If you ride a traditional board in deep snow you can only move on steeper terrain. With these boards you can just hike stuff off the side of the road, you don't need a helicopter, snowmobile or even a lift ticket.

Thanks to Comune and Kevin Castanheira for helping make my vision a reality and documenting it.

Photos by Kealan Shilling

(stolen)

Thursday, May 26, 2011

4. Mason London






All work on this post is done by Mason London.

Email wearemasonlondon @ gmail .com
Twitter twitter.com/masonlondon

5. Britt Sanders is Super Secret Pow Wow




Super Secret Pow Wow is Britt Sanders.

Britt Sanders is really good at drawing your girlfriend.

Attended Art Center College of Design 
& graduated with a BFA in Illustration.

Please contact for commissions & friendship:
(909)286-0878
supersecretpowwow@yahoo.com


See more Pow Wow HERE

6. Breakfast Interrupted


Amazing video from Bruton Stroube Studios. Shot primarily with the Phantom HD Gold at 1000fps, the piece is designed to showcase food in a beautiful and unusual way.

Check out the Behind The Scenes video:

7. Sven Jacobsen








See more work by Sven HERE

8. Fionn McCabe



Fionn studied printmaking at the Massachusetts college of Art and Design. 
He co-founded Oh Nancy with Nate Wellman in 2005 and is currently one of the projects three directors. 
Fionn lives and works in Los Angeles California with his wife, where he draws, writes and
listens to many audio books. 


See more work by Fionn HERE

9. Aaron Fuhrman - Joplin Missouri Tornado Damage





Self-taught photographer Aaron Fuhrman and his brother-in-law Lee Myers drove to Joplin after the tornado hit on Sunday, reaching the stricken town a couple of hours before dawn. Aaron’s dramatic photographs are displayed side by side here with Google Streetview images of the same locations. The contrast is striking, and brings home the tragedy of what has taken place in Joplin. If you are moved by this story, you can find out how to help Joplin in a video at the end of the piece.

See all ofAaron's Tornado images HERE

10. Andre Maciel - Corinthians Popular Republic Posters for Nike




Corinthians is one of the biggest soccer teams in Brazil, with more than 30 million fans all over the country. To celebrate its 100 th anniversary, Nike created more than just an ad campaign. They created a country.
For each player, the coach and directors, was made ​​a poster.

To learn more, see this video

See more work by Andre HERE