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This is just too cool to pass up:

"For years I've been saving the styrofoam packing that protects the new devices that arrive in our American household. A year ago I saw pictures of two styrofoam robots created by Michael Salter at a museum in North Carolina (before he exhibited one in San Jose this past June). They were stunning. Not only was it art from junk, but it looked easy to do. My son and I could handle this. A recycled styrobot would be the perfect geek dad project.

Check this thing out here. Thanks to Dan for the heads up.

Ever have the itch to see some of your favorite pop culture icons in cube form? Well, today is your lucky day. Behold CubeCraft - a site that allows you to download, print out and create versions of your favorites cube shaped characters. I think I'm going to print out a few of these and line my desk up with them. I need more clutter. Thanks to Chad for the find.

Nas, Talib Kweli, and that newcomer i’ve been tooting my horn about for months will be performing at the House of Blues tomorrow. Also be sure to hit the afterparty at Anatomy.

Friday, August 29th, 2008

This free, outdoor jazz concert will explode on the deck of the parking garage at The Cleveland Museum of Art. This Friday will feature swing tunes performed by the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra.



Cash bars and food stations offer beer, wine, and soft drinks; additional offerings include snack baskets, cheese boards, chips, salsa, and guacomole, and other appetizers. The Museum Café inside is open until 7:00 each evening with salads, soups and sandwiches. Tables and chairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Guests can bring their own chairs, but no outside food or beverages permitted.

6 to 10 p.m. Concerts will be cancelled for rain; call 216-707-2665 day of concert for recorded information. www.clevelandart.org

Huge props to the many artists, MCs, DJs, bboys-and-girls, organizers and 100s of real NEOans who turned out for the 7th annual City Xpressions Street Art Festival, August 23, 2008, at West 25th and Lorain, Cleveland. A perfect summer day - great happy crowd - creative vibe and entertainment - and some spectacular urban art. While there weren't as many artists as the last year I attended, what showed was diverse and often pure genius.

What could be better than a morning spent exploring at the Westside Market? (www.westsidemarket.org) This past Saturday morning a friend of mine and I enjoyed breakfast at the Market Café before heading into the hustle and bustle of the market crowd. Mimosas and Eggs Benedict (with French fries!) was a delicious treat, but did you know the café also has a large wine menu and may be a nice place to catch happy hour some evening?



After breakfast we hit the cheese stand (Mackenzie Creamery, saffron goat cheese is out of this world), the market coffee bar, the bread stand and some of the various produce vendors (for fresh cherries!) Not only is the market a place to practice your “haggling” skills it is filled with some really great graphics. As a designer I find my eye drawn to the simple, unique and visually bold works of art, who knew watermelon cartons, strawberry crates and boxes filled with cabbage and apples could be works of art unto themselves. Check it out.



So next time you wakes up early on a Saturday morning and are looking to explore a food fantasy and a untapped art gallery, take a spin down to West 25th and Lorain Ave. It is a delight for the senses. :)

I'm headed out of town, and my brain is a whirligig of things to do, but I have tried to still the madness long enough to compose this post. This weekend, you might consider :

• finding a swimming hole
  
• trying to be the most beautiful girl eating a kebab (St. George's in Tremont is having a kebab festival this weekend. Sadly, Flight of the Conchords won't be there.)
• polkaing
• getting lost in the corn
• stomp & circumstance
• reading about the perils of pebbles
  
• remembering the France of 1968 (ok, so this technically doesn't start until the 26th, but I'm so excited about it I had to mention it)

Happy weekend!

Photo from Will Govus' 'Teenage Summer' series. His portfolio is worth a perusal. I especially like this series. Can you believe he is only 17? Me neither.

I discovered his work via Apartment Therapy, of all places.

On July 4th, more than sixty buses hit the streets of Cleveland encouraging “Green Patriotism” with posters designed by native designer Michael Bierut. The posters, which are visible on buses across the city, promote the use of mass transit and valorize buses as sound for the environment as well as for the vitality of Cleveland. Interior bus ads promote the development of green jobs in the manufacturing sector.

Bierut says, “Back in the 30s and 40s, folksinger Woody Guthrie had a slogan on his guitar: ‘This machine kills fascists.’ I was looking for a similar kind of statement to turn every bus ride into a blow for the environment.”



The project was organized in conjunction with The Canary Project: Landscapes of Climate Change, an exhibition on display through 10 August at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Canary is using the project to inaugurate a nationwide program with posters from a wide range of designers. Pentagram also developed the program’s emblem, a green silhouette of a Revolutionary War Minuteman. I think its darling!

I read about this yesterday on Poppytalk, and I think it is about the the most brilliant gift idea ever. Heather Smith Jones is offering a three month art card subscription:

'Subscribers will receive an original piece of art each month, for three months. Each month will have a theme and each piece will be unique. No two will ever be the same. Yours won't be like that of any other subscriber.'

Only 15 spots available - act now!

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008

City Xpressions Street Art/Hip Hop Festival celebrates urban and street art in its dynamic and eclectic forms. Inspired by the miles of graffiti exhibited along Cleveland's public transit routes, the festival brings aerosol and other street artists out of invisibility by providing a public space for the creation of their beautiful, controversial artworks. In its seventh year, City Xpressions continues to evolve with the voices of the artists leading the way.

This annual grafitti/hip hop competion is still going strong and hosted by Cleveland Public Art. A full day of music is hosted by Q Nice and includes performances by: Forrest Getemgump, DJ Doc, Go-Live Grizzlies and more!



10am-7pm, Market Square Park (located across the street from the West Side Market), Sponsored by Scion www.clevelandpublicart.org

I discovered Amanda Hawkins through the ever-inspiring Dear Ada blog. I like this video of her working in her moleskine.

This Saturday evening you will find me, with a picnic and a blanket nestled in Lincoln Park, the central hub of Tremont for the annual complimentary dance show by Verb Ballet (www.verbballets.org).

Verb Ballets' mission is to promote and develop interest in and appreciation for contemporary dance through performance, programs that promote learning and nurture wellness, audience and community dialogue and advocacy efforts to support the art form. Verb Ballets has a steadfast mission to promote and foster emerging talent, present excellence in contemporary choreographers, and revive and honor Modern Dance classics.

Actually, if I plan my day right, I may even be able to swing by the new wine bar at Visible Voice (www.visiblevoicebooks.com) prior to the show. This independent bookstore is inviting and relaxing and would be a great place to explore while in the neighborhood.

8:00pm. Bring the Family, your Friends... Enjoy the Magic of the Arts in Tremont's Lincoln Park!

Harry Bell is a powerful urban artist, well appreciated in Cleveland and beyond. His most famous work I know is the Wall of Sorrows, recently dismantled, under controversy, and now in storage... scheduled for future re-installation. You may know his current work from cruising through Cedar and E.55th, where he is commissioned by a gas station and car dealership to create urban art on their walls, now including the work-in-progress shown above... a memorial tribute to "Houghs Angel", Fannie Lewis, rest in peace.

Thanks to Sudhir, I had the opportunity to check out the Flobots at Peabody's, Sunday night. If I'd browsed the Cleveland Scene Magazine concert preview, beforehand, I probably wouldn't have bothered going. The 100s of fans who enjoyed the show agreed that would have been a mistake.

Remember the world’s largest record collection that i blogged about back in February? Well it still hasn’t sold and all thats being asked for it is 3 million dollars… Theres an excellent video on the front page of Hypebeast today. Check it out:

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.
I can’t believe with all the rich folks out there that nobody will buy this. I certainly would if I had the money. Can’t someone turn it into a music museum or something?

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

Enjoy your Sunday afternoon strolling around our lovely downtown historic warehouse district at the fourth annual street festival. Enjoy, fabulous local faire, open houses of dramatic lofts and condos, an art show and things to do with the kids are some of the happenings you’ll find. One of the areas local band faves called the Spazmatics (80’s pop cover band) will be playing on one of the three entertainment stages kicking off at 5:00pm. If you want to listen to less “Duran Duran” and more “Ella,” the Northcoast Jazz Collective will be performing in front of the Hoyt Block Building from 1-4pm. Sounds like a great way to enjoy a Sunday afternoon, don’t you think?

For more details on the festival events call 216.344.3937

As we near the end of the summer here in the northern hemisphere, frugal crafters want to know: “Are any of these end-of-summer-clearance tents/canopies in the outdoor aisle of the discount store good for shows?”

The short answer is “no.”

The longer answer is “no, but with a few exceptions.” Let me explain.

A 10 x 10 foot space is the standard in the outdoor show circuit; it is rare to find anything different in midrange or high-end shows. The majority of the discount tents you find in the outdoor aisle are not 10 x 10 — or if they are 10 x 10, the canopy measures that but the legs splay out wider (thus creating a situation where you take up more than your alotted space, a particulary bad foul when the organizers lay out spaces cheek-to-jowl, and a tripping hazard besides). Or the footprint is 10 x 10 but the actual canopy is smaller, giving you less room under cover than you’ve paid for. And in most cases you don’t know what the footprint will be until you take it home and set it up.

If you aspire to do high-end shows, keep in mind that most require standard white festival tents for a uniform look. Yeah, it’s somewhat fascist and maybe even a little elitist, but that’s the norm, and you have to follow the rules to play the game. However, think about color in another way: the color of your tent affects the way your wares appear to customers. Your dark blue tent might stand out among the crowd, but it throws your items into shadow, especially when you have a few customers in there, too. A white tent acts like a giant lightbox, highlighting your goods and showing their true colors.

In four years of doing outdoor shows, I have seen countless other vendors struggle to set up discount tents. At one show this summer, I watched two people across the way take more than an hour to piece together and set up their tent. My Caravan brand tent takes less than 10 minutes to set up with two people, and although I don’t prefer to go it solo, I can put it up by myself if I have to.

The sturdiness of the tent should be a consideration, too. The worst of the discount tents come with a dozen or more poles that fit together and are held together by friction. These are generally pretty wobbly and don’t offer a good way to secure the tent to stakes or weights — and you will need stakes and/or weights. A one-piece frame is very sturdy and a good support for a quality waterproof canopy, one that won’t easily rip.

Height is important, too. Most of the discount tents are relatively short and not adjustable at all. Tall people will not come in to shop if it looks like they might bump their head or feel claustrophobic.

I personally don’t use sidewalls anymore, but lots of people like them, and they usually aren’t an option with discount tents. Sidewalls offer protection from the elements and provide a backdrop for your display. (They also block the breeze and can act as huge sails in a good wind, but I have the option if I ever want them.)

The most subjective aspect of tent selection is the impression you give your customers. As a shopper, I’m more drawn to vendors who look like they’ve put some thought into their displays and presentation, and like it or not, the tent is part of that package. While the type of tent you select won’t prevent me from buying your wares, it will affect my overall impression of your business. Fair? Probably not. But that’s how it is.

So, to sum up, here’s my shopping checklist for a show tent:

• true 10 x 10
• straight legs
• white
• easy to set up
• sturdiness/one-piece frame
• quality canopy
• tall height, adjustable even better
• sidewall options

Super-high-end tents can cost in the thousands of dollars, but there are a number of decent standard tents out there for right around $225. I bought my Caravan tent at Costco about four years ago for $200, and it came complete with four sidewalls and a rolling case. Current price is $224.95, delivery included (you have to be a Costco member, though). EZ-Up is another popular manufacturer, and if you Costco about four years ago for $200, and it came complete with four sidewalls and a rolling case. Current price is $224.95, delivery included (you have to be a Costco member, though). EZ-Up is another popular manufacturer, and if you Google “festival tent” you’ll get a bunch of other options. A plus to purchasing your own tent is that the resale value of show tents historically has stayed pretty close to original purchase price, so if you decide that doing shows is not for you, you can recoup much of your tent investment assuming you’ve taken good care of your tent. When the left side of my brain compares that with spending half that on something that will not be as nice and has little resale value once I decide to upgrade my tent or stop doing show altogether, a good tent comes out a winner every time.

Other options include borrowing, sharing, and renting. If you belong to a local Etsy street team or other artist group, you can put out a call to see if anyone has a tent you can borrow or rent, or see if anyone wants to go in on the purchase with you. If you opt for the latter, make sure you write up an agreement that spells out who is responsible for keeping the tent and how you will decide who gets to use it if you both want to use it on the same day. A clear agreement will help prevent disputes later. FYI, renting festival tents from commercial rental places is almost as expensive as buying one outright.

When is a discount tent a good idea? If:

• you have no ambition to do midrange or high-end shows
• your items are big and bold and the color of the tent won’t affect their look
• you are doing mostly funky little shows where the conformist look doesn’t go over well
• you really, really, really need a tent on next to no budget right this minute and have no options for borrowing or renting

Zoo York, just announced a new series of decks, in collaboration with 5 famous NYC artists, called the “Cockroach Artist Series.” The series is inspired by cockroaches, in accoridance with the promotions they were doing earlier (see video). The boards all come in different background colors, featuring custom cockroach graphics by the five artists: Greg Lamarche, Steve Nishimoto, Kyle Talbott, Stephen Halker, and Jules Kim.

Give yourself a thoughtful, beautiful, stimulating, uniquely American gift.  Visit the Westmoreland Museum in Greenburg, PA to see Painting in the United States: 1943-1949.  The exhibit runs Sunday, June 29, 2008-Sunday, October 19, 2008.

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

Throughout this summer, the folks over at University Circle Inc. have planned, presented and perfected “Wade Oval Wednesday’s.” With only a few more Wednesday’s left in the series don’t miss out.

All of the museum are open late with special reduced missions, Check out Gourmets in the Garden at the Botanical Garden where area chefs present some menus ideas and yummy samples. Listen to Cats on Holiday a “swamp pop” band, performing rain or shine! Ride your bike to the circle and take advantage of the free bike corral, secure bike parking provide by Ohio Bike Co-op.

For additional times and information about the few remaining WOW events visit www.universitycircle.org

Yesterday, we decided we needed some time in one of Ohio's other c-towns, so we hopped in the car and headed towards Columbus.

First stop: The 4th Annual Craftin' Outlaws Alternative Craft Fair at BoMA.

Nice sign, right?

It turned out that the venue was an old church that had been converted into a bar, restaurant and art gallery. Pretty rad.

Inside, there were two levels, packed with buyers and sellers. I especially liked the old movies being projected as a backdrop.


People had come from all over to attend and sell. We talked to folks from Yellow Springs, Pittsburgh, Tampa, and ... Cleveland!

Happy Cleveland crafters, represent! Kristen and Don of Buzz Buzz Designs. We had a great time chatting - I've seen Kristen's jewelry all over town (Room Service, Music Saves, MoCA) so it was a treat to finally meet. Oddball Press also had a big table set up, so the Cleve had a definite presence.

On our way out the door, laden with treasures (said treasures are the subject of another post to come) we grabbed a delicious sandwich from Benevolence a Bakery. Sean and I agreed it was the most delicious vegan thing we have ever eaten.

Still, one (meaning Sean) cannot live by hummous sandwich alone. More eating was on the horizon.

Second stop: North Market.

Ever since we discovered this place a year ago, no trip to Columbus is complete without a pilgrimage. We always get two things.

Bread:



and ice cream:



These are Jeni's macaron ice cream sandwiches and yes, it is heaven in the form of a frozen treat. As we were walking away, three people stopped and asked me what I was eating, then went to the back of a long line to get one themselves. They are that good. (Side note - you can get Jeni's ice cream at Bar Cento in the Cleve... but not the macaron.)

Snacking accomplished, we decided to wander around the neighborhood. The North Market is in a neighborhood called the Short North, which is an arts and retail district. It's pretty great - all kinds of interesting boutiques and galleries line the street, and you could easily spend a day wandering around. Obviously, our lucky stars were aligned because Saturday was Short North Public Art day - a feast for the flaneur. Some snaps:




I've saved my favorite for last. Melissa Vogley Woods has created a collective urban quilting project - so far, 250 people have participated from communities all around Ohio. This was the section set up on High Street.


After we added our stitch, it was time to head home, a little bit dazzled by Columbus.

Agapito Labios (Mexican, 1898-1996) Portait of a Boy,
oil on canvas, signed lower right, h: 16 x w: 12 ins. estimates $400-600

Public Art is site specific, so designing public art for a five-mile site - a bus line - must be quite a challenge. Now, as the "Euclid Corridor" "Silver Line" "HealthLine" street improvements, light fixtures, bus stops, signage, green spaces, trees, grass and technologies are becoming apparent, I think much of what has been assembled works for most of the sites I've seen... despite basically wiping out the city, and costing over a $billion, retooling of an existing bus line. Whether the infrastructure and facilities will prove very functional, I have my doubts... we'll know after the first winter of full service. But the form of the bus station, designed by Robert P. Madison International, and light fixture shown in this picture of the East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue "Breuer Stop" works astoundingly well for this important site... one of the most important on the line. In this case, it appears the art was well conceived for the surroundings.

Joshua Gunter / The Plain Dealer Shaped like the bridge of a ship at sea, architect Robert Maschke's commands sweeping views over the West Shoreway to Lake Erie and the Cleveland skyline. The most prominent new house in Cleveland smacks...

MaryBeth Matthews writes:

[T]he average supply budget for art teachers in the Cleveland Municipal School District is $300 for the school year. Most high school teachers have five or six art classes totaling 150-170 students. Let’s do the math kids…That comes to approximately $1.76-$2.00 per student to spend on art supplies for a school year that lasts 36 weeks. And how much do you think $2.00 buys in today’s economy? At the dollar store I can buy a pack of 20 pencils and two pink erasers.

Unlike suburban schools, we cannot charge parents a materials fee, in fact, we are not even supposed to ask students to bring in their own supplies…

The district claims to support the arts, but it seems to me those claims are mostly lip service. I wish that they would finally put some money where their mouth is.
How about this idea? Hire one less consultant and double the money for art supplies. Eliminate an administrator, and triple the art supply budget. Then maybe our students could have an arts experience comparable to the kids in the suburbs.

The homey Steph Floss posted on his personal blog this interesting piece of food art. An Air Max 90 Cheeseburger… peep the laces made of cheese. Check 8081 for his blog consisting of news in the hip hop world- and don’t miss his weekly radio mix.

Braking Matter (5 kilos of modeling clay, 800cm x 350cm, 2006) by Michel de Broin.

His statement:

'The small balls (between 50mm and 5mm) are made of Plasticine modeling clay pressed tightly together. The pellets are thrown with force so that they stick to the surface of the wall, in disregard to conventional decorum for the handling work. The formal interest lies in the pure braking of moving matter - how something in spatial trajectory stops when it hits the wall. Each event creates a residual spot and the accumulated events create a free and informal whole. The projectiles assemble themselves randomly on the surface, corresponding to the vision of constellated objects moving in space. The distinct colors of the pellets create different spatial layers due to their chromatic radiation.'

Catch the Wave!  Eco-Fashion Show and Party.  Enjoy gourmet local organic eats, cash bar, and an Eco-Friendly fashion show featuring Cleveland’s green fashion entrepreneurs! $15 per person.  (free for Bioneers conference attendees)

ATTENTION ARTISTS!!

 

ArtSpace-Cleveland*, along with other artists, is forming a group to explore ownership of an affordable live/work studio in the city of Cleveland.