Artist Justin Shull's currently touring "porta hedge," a portable artificial hedge made from recycled artificial Christmas trees, is an exercise in mobile subterfuge. The outside resembles a neatly manicured hedge while concealing a fun interior space.
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I'm such a sucker for time lapse videos, so I enjoyed this neat time lapse recording from 2006 of 100 hot air balloons being inflated and bouncing around in the air at the annual Great Reno Balloon Race, the largest such gathering in the country. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyyCcjbrWOM&fmt=18]
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This is some sad news: Due to the economy and an endowment cut by nearly a third, despite high attendance numbers, RISD's museum is closing for the month of August. Located just a few blocks from my alma mater Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design or RISD is considered among the best if not the highest ranked fine arts and design college in the country.
German Dirk Auer took a lap around a roller coaster wearing just custom in-line skates at Trips Drill theme park in Stuttgart.
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Artist Paul McCarthy's "Michael Jackson Fucked Up (Big Head)" is his critique of Jeff Koons' disturbing "Michael Jackson and Bubbles."
An homage as much as a literal critique, McCarthy metabolizes the iconic work by Jeff Koons, of Michael Jackson holding his pet chimpanzee Bubbles, and excretes it as his own. Altering the original material of fragile porcelain, McCarthy has executed his version of the fallen pop star in bronze. Countering the refined connotations of the metal, the undifferentiated features of the faces differentiate McCarthy's portraiture from the excess of the baroque rendering of its inspiration. The oversized head of Michael appears as it might topple over like a statue of a deposed monarch, yet is propped up with a shim. The rough hewn texture leaves the evidence of its making intact, directing our attention to the performative quality of all art making.
McCarthy's Michael Jackson piece is estimated to be worth between 2 to 3 million dollars.
Tap your inner Wolfgang Puck and Phil Collings with these drum stick kitchen spoons. Your roommates won't hate you. Nooo.
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A visual pun to aid binge drinking in the form of bomb shaped shot glasses. I'll drink to that in moderation.
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Homer is a pet French bulldog that hangs out at his owner's 360SEE art gallery in Chicago where he often draws the admiring camera lens of strangers who often stop to take photos of him. The owner decided to take photos of people taking photos of his (admittedly cute) dog and post them at Photos of People Taking Photos of My Dog.
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Brooklyn-born and self-proclaimed "social ecologist" Ethan Shoshan latest project "Porn Star" features origami stars made from porn magazines. I'm also amused by his performance piece "Eating Jenny Holtzer."
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Not that I'm knowledgeable in the area of pottery, but I do know that I really, really like this fusion of two very familiar images--the classic pottery vase shape with the iconic red Coca Cola logo--in Beijing-born Ai Weiwei's Coca Cola Vase. It's wei cool.
He's currently exhibiting at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan from July 25 through November 9.
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As Boing Boing points out: "Another advantage of front wheel drive." Although increasingly like many "viral" videos, this appears to either be a fake or an ad. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wptRenRWRQw]
Frankly this old video of an apparitional Michael Jackson (RIP) and Brett Ratner getting down to R Kelly's "Ignition" is one of the more bizarre things I've seen in my life time--and believe you me I've seen some strange things clogging the tubes on the Internet. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcxbOnCZnOk&fmt=18]
Harry Potter and Voldemort settle things the way us Brooklynites handle beef: a freestyle rap battle. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTHn5oFPmi8&fmt=18]
Don't you hate days where you feel like this?
Werner Reiterer, "Beginning of Space Travel."
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Drew Carey comes face to face with his doppleganger on Price is Right. They proceed to try and eat one another. Okay, maybe not. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALaqGjx8M5I&fmt=18]
Photographer Greg De Stefano tackles the subject of video game characters in his gritty series "Brawl."
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- Adam Newman
This is the craziest thing I've seen all week. It's a segment from some TV reality show centered around a repo man and his job. In this clip he tries to reclaim a Delorean (!!!), yes that car from Back to the Future. The owner freaks out and throws a tantrum while incorporating and mimicking Michael Jackson dance moves. It starts off a bit slow, but wait for the part where he does a little King of Pop shake and then pops the repo man with a kick. A+ video. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_rmQDC_vZg&fmt=18]
