Warp Records artist Flying Lotus, live from his whip.
Codak and the Gaslamp Killer threw a sick party at their pad in Mount Washington. Appearances included Dimon D (Diggin' In the Crates) and Flying Lotus, who played live from the sound system in his car. Awesome Independence Day fun!
Check the gallery.
Enjoy! ©
Los Angeles artists typically have two choices when it comes to exhibiting their work: the mainstream gallery circuit or huge group shows with 50+ other artists. For the artist that wants to show a lot of work, and is willing to pay a 50% gallery fee, the mainstream galleries are an option. For the artist that only wants to show a piece or two, the group shows might be the answer. Unfortunately, for the artist with talents in multiple disciplines, neither of these options is ideal.
I thought that there should be another option for talented LA artists to exhibit their work with just one or two other artists, and without having to inflate their prices to cover an exorbitant gallery commission. Instead of featuring artists who do one thing over and over, what if artists were hand selected specifically for their ability to do sick work in multiple styles and/or media? Such an artist-centered project would also definitely need a space that was as inspiring as its artwork.
Thus was born Sick Work, a gallery dedicated to providing LA's illest artists with a superb venue to really showcase what they do on a grand scale, and to providing collectors with the highest quality cutting-edge modern artwork available in Los Angeles, unencumbered by pretense and ridiculous gallery fees. The gallery itself is a never-before seen space with beautiful hardwood floors, red brick, and 50' vaulted ceilings that will literally make your jaw drop. This grandiose space is located in a stunning historical building 5 minutes north of downtown LA, a couple of blocks from exits coming off of the 5 and 110 freeways, and a two minute walk from the Cypress Gold Line station. I have been to dozens of galleries and group show locations over the last several years, and nothing I have seen comes close to touching how cool this space is.
So here we are:
Pesky Humans, in conjunction with Flyer Property, proudly presents the debut event at the Sick Work Gallery on Saturday, May 31st. Sick Work #1 features the work of © and Cassandra Simon. Paintings, photographs, and limited edition prints and apparel will be available. For details, pictures of the space, directions, and links to the artists' work, please visit www.sickwork.com.
Peace. ©
I was recently working on a logo and wanted to employ a dot-matrix pattern, which made me wonder if there was a way to get clean, small holes in a piece of acetate such that it could be used as a spray paint stencil. I looked around and came up with this wacky project, which includes the making of the stencil, as well as a wood block print that is made using the backing board used in the creation of the stencil. These are just two types of hand printing, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch.
I get inspiration from really unexpected places sometimes, and I hope that this inspires somebody to get their create on in some way or another. Full step-by-step instructions and lots of images after the jump.
Continue reading "How-to: dot matrix stencil / wood block print" »
This was originally a post I did for LAist last year, but I thought it appropriate to re-post for summer 2008. Enjoy! ©
Labor Day has come and gone, signaling the "end of summer". But seriously, we're in Los Angeles, so what the fuck does this arbitrary marker have anything to do with altering our almost flawless grilling weather year round? In fact, I would venture to say that it will not even be ideal outdoor entertaining weather for another month or so, and if you are anything like me, you are willing to fire up the grill, drink beer, and talk shit in LA pretty much any night of the year. Maybe you will even take a bong rip, but who am I to judge. As Angelenos, this scenario is our inalienable birthright, and one of the best things about our wonderful city. Which brings me to the recipe at hand. In Santa Maria, California, there is a long tradition of grilling beef topblock over huge open pits of oak. So-called Santa Maria BBQ is certainly the most significant historical use of a grill west of the Mississippi. While not truly barbecue, which is technically a slow cooking method using indirect heat that produces smoke, a true Santa Maria pit is full of dried raw oak and features a grill that lowers and raises above the fire using a system of pullies. Using this system, the meat gets a slightly smoky flavor from the wood, but cooks in a substantially faster time than using indirect heat. By reversing this process, you can reproduce the amazing flavors of true Santa Maria BBQ in your backyard on a much smaller scale, using a 2-3 lb. tri-tip in place of a 20 lb topblock.
Looking to watch your urbane clique revert to their primal roots, forsaking knife, fork, and plate for fingers, bulged eyes, and wide smiles? Want to see your veggie and vegan friends split into groups of people either salivating because they want a taste, or are fully repulsed at such a carnivorous feast? Want to make something awesome, with $20, and at the last minute for a group of 4-5 people? This is your answer. Full step-by-step instructions with photos after the jump.
Continue reading "The Best and Easiest Grilling Recipe Ever - Santa Maria Tri-Tip" »
A recurring urban combat weapon in Wu-Tang Clan lyrics is the spiked bat. Paired with the fabled bludgeoning power of a normal bat, steel spikes add an additional aspect of lethality that send a clear message - do not fuck with the guy wielding the spiked bat.
The spiked bat has also taken on a secondary meaning as part of a metaphor for hardcore hip-hop among some of my musically inclined friends. So much so, in fact, that it is difficult to hear something like Brooklyn Zoo or Triumph without picturing myself in a goose bomber, lumbering through a cramped hallway or under a bridge, and lugging a spiked bat - a scene reminiscent of many early Wu videos.
My dad returned from a business trip to Louisville with a personalized Louisville Slugger for me. This was a very cool gift that has now taken on another dimension, as the basis for a real Wu-Tang spiked bat.
Gallery with more pictures here.
Enjoy! ©
I just uploaded a bunch of photos of the constantly changing graffiti wall in my studio. I am also including work done on the vertical notepad going forward. Here is one of my favorite new additions.
Enjoy! ©
I have been doing a lot of work lately. Here is a selection of pieces currently in the house.
Enjoy! ©
My freakishly talented girlfriend has been using really old porno pictures as source material for some killer paintings. Inspired by this idea, I decided to do some close-up portraits based on porn, zooming in on the one body part that doesn't really get as much attention as, well, the other body parts. Galleries are here and here.
Enjoy! ©
This table was created by my father, and has since become the most loved and destroyed piece of furniture in my home. I have taken this table apart and re-assembled it more times than I care to count. Fred says I can pour gasoline on this table and then dance on it.
I believe him.
Although I have never completed its intended mission, I have painted, stood on, and covered this table with every possible art material known to modern man.
Palleting a roller on this table produced an unintentional Bob Ross-esque "happy little mountain". This is probably the most accurate representative painting I have ever made, and it was totally on accident. More pics here.
Enjoy! ©
I love shooting macro photos, especially involving things that don't move. It really allows you to leave the shutter open for a while and get some crazy detail on very small objects. For me, it takes a lot of things that people would find mundane and turns them into objects of beauty.
I took a failed trip to McLogan's this morning, not knowing that they would be closed on Friday. As the foremost supplier to the screen printing and sign-making industries in LA, it seemed like a place that would be open, but it wasn't. As I made my way back to the freeway, I noticed a Starbucks, with open street parking, smack dab in the middle of downtown LA. Seeing a leprechaun would have been more reasonable. To stave off my hallucinations, I thought I would avail myself of the opportunity to enjoy a pleasant and rare Starbuck's beverage.
The lady who took my drink order mentioned when she gave me change that this one particular dime kept turning up in the store, such that it always ended up in the tip jar or part of the till. Thinking that our hero had some amazing ability to track ordinary coins, the barista cleared things up when she held up this dime.
Be baffled by my overactive imagination and access to a 50 mm macro lens after the jump.
Inspired by a busted dime, this thread on Bombing Science, and waiting for paint to dry - no shit, I decided to take some pictures of some of the most common tools and paints I use to do work these days.
More photos after the jump.
Squarepusher: Hard Normal Daddy
This record blew my mind the first time I heard it, and continues to kill me with each successive listen. I think this is the most accessible Squarepusher album and highlights the best of his skills, from micro-surgical beat programs to superhuman bass guitar riffs. Squarepusher's ability to make very emotional music with abstract sounds and programming makes him a member of a very select group of modern composers. (*****)
Ice Cube: Death Certificate
A lot of heads say that Amerikkka's Most Wanted is Ice Cube's finest moment, but even though that is no doubt a dope record, Death Certificate is Cube's masterpiece. The combination of DJ Pooh's gritty 8-bit samples and Cube's prophetic lyrical stylings paint a poignant picture of early 90s Los Angeles. Ice Cube somehow managed, at this point in his career, to be both informative and funny at the same time - a major feat considering that most of the MCs of the time were going in the direction of either being very serious or totally goofy. This album hits hard from start to finish - the perfect soundtrack to a summer day in LA. (*****)
Wu-Tang Clan: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
No doubt one of the most influential hip-hop albums of all time, 36 Chambers established the Wu-Tang Clan as living legends in the game. Never before had so many talented MCs combined to form one group. More importantly, when a lot of hip-hop was heading in the direction of commercial crossover, the Wu-Tang Clan threw the rule book out the window and created an urban soundscape that pulled no punches. With each new verse on this record, the Wu blasts you with an uncompro
