I spoke to maverick artist Sighn, right before he embarked on a 24 hour “cut-a-thon” in the name of DIY resolve and why-the-hell-not.
Cutting 1,000,000 “ITS OK” in wooden blocks has become a lifetime preoccupation for Sighn (real name unknown to the masses) and he has already filled galleries and weirded-out friends with his ambitious project.
Can you shed light on what you’ve been doing with the ITSOK project- how & why did it start, how has it been received, and how is it going?
“I create things that I want to see in the world. If something comes to mind, and gets me excited, or moves me…I’m going to do it. Make the world you want to see. I also really enjoy a good challenge. Life can get pretty boring and mundane, so I am always coming up with ideas to push myself further.
Most of my ideas come to me while riding the bus. It’s one of the few places, where I can just sit, and think through things. I find my self laughing at ideas, sitting next to no one. Definitely one of the crazies on the bus. I quickly write things down, and if one of the notes ever surfaces again out of my bag, it’s a probably a winner.”
Glaswegian draughtsman and now ex-graffiti writer Gary Shields (better known as the guy who spray-painted “Daze” on trains and got jailed for it) had his jail sentence quashed today!
Shields’ 28-month sentence- for causing “£270,000″ worth of damage through his painting-spree- sparked debate here and abroad for being “over harsh”, and subsequent press attention no doubt helped lead to the success of his court appeal in reducing his punishment to community service and a fine.
Notable attention over the story occurred in the comments sections of the Evening Times paper (here, here & here!), in the “Free Daze” mixtape (link to free download) by Glasgow hip-hop outfit The Being, and in Variant magazine who ran the story on the cover of their summer edition (pictured, link).
Daniel Bagnon let me know about his exhibition happening in Shanghai at the moment. Exhibiting in various media (photography, painting, video and music) the subject of Face Nu is women’s faces, and features specially composed music alongside the participation of eleven women with backgrounds in art and culture.
Depending on where you’re at, Lemuria can either be a hypothetical “lost world” once situated between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, a fictional location from the Marvel Universe, or a Cybertronian ship from Transformers.
With his new album “Lemurian”, Nottingham hip-hop producer Lone is clearly pulling inspiration from abstract places, and its dirty-tropical off-beat instrumental pieces are set to raise some eyebrows and crank a few necks around the way.
Yesterday I was one of eight million people who downloaded Mozilla Firefox 3, a software release so hyped up you’d think that Steve Jobs had whipped it out of his pants.
The open-source rival to Microsoft’s loathed Internet Explorer holds runner-up spot in the browser wars, commanding roughly 18.4% of internet users round the world, compared to Microsoft’s huuuge 73.8% share.
With Firefox 3 Mozilla wanted to set a record for “most software downloaded in a 24 hour period”- but they had to fence off such adversities as blogger smugness, and a brief server-overload crashing the download site first.
By around 4am UK time last night the 24 hours were up- 8.2 million downloads meant the world record was pretty-much de facto, and the Internet Explorer team even sent them a congratulatory cake.
For Firefox users not a whole lot has changed: a dash of paint, a blitzkrieg of hype, and one sturdy, resiliant browser is replaced by another of the same ilk. Next time I won’t be getting off my seat.
INSIDE “THE BOOK OF SURFING” BY MICHAEL FORDHAM. BANTAM PRESS, ISBN: 0593060733.
It was the discovery of vintage surf mags stashed amongst copies of Playboy that drove a teenage Michael Fordham to his obsession with stalking the sea on a board, in quest of the perfect wave.
Twenty years on, his The Book of Surfing- out today on Bantam Press- tries to encapsulate the lavish tradition of surfing, “from Polynesian princes, to lantern-jawed champs and wave-riding iconoclasts.”
Filled with “iconic photography, films and graphics from the last 50 years”, the book is a must for anyone who’s ever shared Fordham’s obsession with “this most enduring and influential of subcultures”.
V-TRAILER FOR “THE BOOK OF SURFING”, NARRATED BY MICHAEL FORDHAM.
Mmm, milk! With the exception of the lactose-intolerant, who doesn’t love the white stuff? Well the folks over at Cravendale are inviting the contemporary design vanguard to submit their visions of the humble milk bottle, but for future generations; and have offered a first prize of £1000 to the designer who is selected by their assembly of design and marketing boffins as doing the best job. They write:
Rethink, Repackage, Revolutionise!
How can Cravendale packaging look and work in the future? That is the challenge presented as part of the Future Milk competition. Designers are invited to create a milk bottle for future generations.
This could be an embellishment or graphical overhaul of existing packaging, or a complete structural rethink. It’s up to you, and you should submit your ideas by 20th June for the chance to win cash (and) placements at leading creative agencies…
I know struggling artists could do with the bank-balance and career boost- for more info check out the links below.
The pioneering and ever popular “PANGEA” drum and bass night, organised by Special Ed, with Professa Fresh (also producing under Moniker and The Infekted), JZY & JEKT and MC TROUBLA (Subcity Radio’s Armed Response resident), are now making a new move.
Having started in Edinburgh in August 2004, the night progressed to The Reading Rooms in Dundee and has since October 2007 made its mark on Glasgow. The Pangea crew have now found another big slot in The Art School starting on The 6th of June. The night will consist of sets from the PANGEA residents and special guests the Soundphreakers will be on as the headliner.
Pangea is coming the first Friday of every month at the Art School, so if you miss this one get your sights set on the next.
“On the 6th of June We’re hitting The Art School with everything we’ve got, bringing Neon of Slovakias bass kings ‘The Soundphreakers’ set… rammed with exclusive dubs and guaranteed to start some serious movement in the dance!”
