Schwarz
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vanilla pop
He might not have been a punk but the man had attitude to spare Django Reinhart could play some guitar and here's the video's to prove it---
more awesome shit from record brother
The creative period of New York graffiti art lasted for about a decade, beginning with the appearance all over Upper West Side walls and sidewalks of "TAKI 183" in 1971 and culminating, around 1980, in the realization of spectacular works by individual masters that covered the sides of subway cars. The artists called themselves "writers," and their primary works were alphanumeric signatures, or "tags," executed in fonts of singular originality, occasionally illuminated with vernacular images poached from comics or from recent art history. I suppose the closest analogy would be the creation of intricate capital letters by Celtic scribes in such works as the Book of Kells. Seldom has a movement gone so far so fast. The illustrations in a book like The Faith of Graffiti, published in 1974, show tags that have evolved well beyond TAKI 183, but scarcely prepare one for the baroque splendor of those in Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant's 1984 edited collection Subway Art, most of which were executed around 1980. Subway Art ends with an inscribed rap epitaph by the writer Lee Quinones in relatively straightforward lettering: "There was once a time when the Lexington was a beautiful line/When children of the ghetto expressed with art, not with crime...."
The centrality of the signature is easily grasped, since the primary goal of graffiti was "getting fame," and the subway car--or "burner"--offered a billboard-size surface with the added advantage of mobility. Glory consisted in the abrupt emergence of one's freshly painted tag from a tunnel's darkness onto a viaduct, like the one across 125th Street. The primary audience consisted of other writers, who knew one's identity, appreciated the dangers involved in "getting up" and admired the artistry and originality of one's achievement. In a recent letter, Tony Silver--who made a wonderful documentary with Chalfant, Style Wars--wrote, "I liked the idea that the transgressive writers with no consciousness of the art world had taken over public space as vandals with their tags and burners, and discovered they could be artists, creating their own canon."
When I asked Silver why Jean-Michel Basquiat, who was something of a graffitero in the early 1980s, was not included among the writers in his film, he said that he could not fit him in. Despite the fact that Basquiat worked as a street artist for a time and even had a tag--SAMO--he viewed himself, from the outset, as a fine artist, and the unprecedented art world of the 1980s rightly accepted him on his own terms, though the outlaw aura of graffiti probably abetted his meteoric ascent. By 1984 some of the writers were trying to cross over into the gallery scene, but it proved impossible to sustain the energy that had made them underground stars. Basquiat, however, flourished in the downtown art world. In May of that same year, he had his first one-person show at Mary Boone, one of the hottest galleries of that moment, and was included in "An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture," with which the Museum of Modern Art inaugurated its 1984 reopening. He had re-created on canvas the visceral excitement other writers achieved only in the rail yards of the MTA.
just to top it off i went over to apartment therapy to see whats happening there. some important news on spring home furnishings and linen sales. heady stuff. did these people completely miss the whole barbara kruger thing ?(when the going gets tough the though shop sales?!) t-shirts available at regular price from the ICP.
Spring Sales...
Area
Sample Sale - below wholesale! - on all modern bedding and table linens
When: May 4-5
Where: 180 Varick Street #936 (212.924.7084)
Versace
"Decadent" home furnishings are 60% to 75% off
When: April 28-29
Where: 645 Fifth Ave., 12th fl. (212.317.0224)
[...]
Lorimer Loser: Stop This L Train, I Wanna Get Offyep, folks this is really what bkln realestate blogs are talking about
A picture is worth a thousand words on this one. A million bucks for three stories of charmless, 1970s-era interiors in second-stop Williamsburg. Puhleeze! Perhaps there's some way to rationalize this as an investment property, but we just can't imagine anyone paying this kind of dough to live here. (We doubt even the die-hard modernists on the blog will defend this one.)
from brownstoner
in defense of rezoning williamsburg from curbed, one of my favorite right wing nyc realestate blogs
schwarz omitted from design*sponge list of favorites:
maybe it's the sun outside, maybe it's the fact that i'm going home to VA on thursday, maybe it's ac's new job, but for some reason, i'm just happy today. and i thought, while i was thinking about all the things i'm happy about, why not share my love for my fellow design bloggers?
there are so many wonderful blogs out there that share my passion for design and have made this wonderful design community what it is, so i just wanted to send a little d*s virtual love note to each and every one of them. today is about celebrating you guys- you're amazing, you keep me up to date on all the wonderful things about there and i'm so lucky to be involved in a community full of great people like you guys. keep up the great work! (and if you haven't seen some of these sites, please check them out!)
to apartment therapy: you are the lifeblood of this community. thank you so, so much for your heart and all your dedication to making our apartments as wonderful as they can be.
to land+living: i just love you guys. you have just a nice, positive vibe on your site and you review really thoughtful projects that i wouldn't have heard about anywhere else. keep up the great work guys!
to josh rubin: you're the coolest of cool, josh. i don't know what we'd do without your insights on fashion, design and everything else that makes our lives just a little bit hipper. thanks so much for your eye and your dedication to finding the best of the best.
to core77: you guys are great. coroflot is a wonderful resource that i couldn't live without. you feature wonderful technological advancements in design and i'm always amazed by some of the stuff i see up there.
to unbeige: thanks for always investigating issues i wouldn't think to delve deeper into- your insights are thoughtful and timely- i really enjoy your site.
to treehugger: you know i love you guys- you're the greatest. putting out such wonderful, earth-friendly designs, you guys are in a class of your own. keep up the great work!
to id fuel: dom and crew, you guys rock. nuff said.
to not cot: welcome! you've got some really great stuff up there! i always love seeing what you've discovered!
to josh spear: we're in the young club together- don't know what i'd do without your insight on all things cool and buzz worthy.
to mocoloco: the classic, the ultimate- you consistently provide us with the best in european and american design, thank you for your commitment to excellence in design.
