So, on the last day of my ode to magazines week, I’ve decided not to feature a magazine. I know… crazy! Instead I’m going to make day 5 all about the art that exists because of magazines. A little snip-snip of the scissors, a bit of glue, maybe a splash of paint, and voilà… these old LIFE magazines, sexy/glossy fashion magazines, and good old National Geographics are transformed into something entirely new. From one kind of art form, into another. Sigh. So, so inspiring. In fact, maybe I’ll go and grab my scissors right now! Oh, but I promise I won’t cut up any of the publications I featured this week… well, not yet anyway.

{1. One of the forefathers of pop culture collage, Richard Hamilton 2. Ciara Phelan 3. Chad Kouri 4. Natalie Perkins 5. Stina Persson 6. Joe Ryckebosch 7. Jesse Draxler 8. Abigail Reynolds… ok well, this final piece actually uses book pages, not magazine pages… but, hey, it’s my blog, so I’m putting it in anyway!}

I’m not sure how many Brooklynites I’ve written about {I’m gonna guess 53}, but if you want the real skinny on the art community there, then I suggest you pick up a copy of Working Class Magazine. Why? Well, I’ll let them tell you in their own words:

“Working Class represents a community of local artists in New York… writers, photographers, poets, illustrators, models, small business owners, actors, musicians. We all work and live in this big city, and know the struggles of things like bad tippers, overpriced rents, and disagreeable weather. Working Class taps the pulse of the underground art world, and discusses why we all stick around.”

Sigh. So cool. Ok, it’s official, I’m jealous... and thinking about moving to New York, despite the overpriced rent.

{Working Class is a quarterly zine available in print or online, so pick up a copy, or grab your laptop, and get yourself down to a hip little coffee shop… oh, and don’t forget to tip!}

I wrote about the ridiculously creative, San Francisco based artist Lisa Congdon and her blog, A Collection a Day, way back on day 10 of this 365 day project. Well, here we are with less than 100 days to go, and she’s still finding stuff to photograph every single day! Actually, Lisa has inspired me to start my own little collection… reasons for being jealous of this lovely project:

First of all, the idea is fantastic. Then of course, there’s the fact that she actually owns cupboards full of this weird & wonderful stuff {I especially love those doll hands!}. And finally, the most exciting development… this smart/simple little blog of hers is being turned into a book by Uppercase Gallery. It’s going to be beautiful, and it will definitely be added to another little collection of mine… art books that make me jealous!

Here’s a little quiz for you on a Tuesday morning. These photographs, titled Totems, by Paris based artist Alain Delorme are:

a. a true documentation of the unbelievable towers of stuff, that are moved around the streets of Shanghai by some very skilled bicyclists,

b. beautifully staged sculptures,

c. unbelievable Photoshop work, or

d. I have absolutely no idea, but I love them anyway!

That’s right… The answer is d. Gold star for you!

{If you happen to be in Paris, I’m very jealous of you… oh, and also, you can see this show on at the Galerie Magda Danysz until Saturday September 25th}

To say that I’m a huge fan of reality TV would be a slight understatement, but when I came across a reality show about art, I have to say… I was pretty skeptical. How were they going to do this? Great art can’t happen in twelve hours… can it?! Well, regardless of my initial doubts, one episode, and a big bowl of ice cream later, I was hooked! In the first few seconds of Work of Art, I was thrilled to see that Peregrine Honig was one of the 14 participating artists. I wrote about her last November, so obviously she was my early pick as the winner! Well, she came close. She was second, but as far as I’m concerned she should have won. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy for 23-year-old Abdi Farah who won the title, a whole bunch of cash, and a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum {on now until Oct 17th}, but I really, really, really loved Peregrine’s final show {…a sweet, yet dark carnival theme, complete with cotton candy spun by Peregrine herself!} There is an innocence, a beauty, and a sadness to every single piece. The image that gives me a physical reaction every time I see it is the photograph above, titled The Twin Fawns. Under glass in Peregrine’s studio, these taxidermied baby deer are still huddled together. They were found in this position in their mother’s womb, who died just before they were born. See? Such innocence, beauty, and for me, overwhelming sadness. What an amazing collection of work. Congratulations Peregrine!

{She is currently selling prints of ‘The Twin Fawns’ which you can purchase here, and if you’d like to see her latest work in person, she’s having a solo show with Dwight Hackett Projects, opening October 9th in Santa Fe.}

Hm. This is the exact opposite of yesterday’s post… well, either way, American artist Megan Charland has found the way to my heart. A little fresh cut grass, perfect blue skies, and a bunch of suburban houses… well, a bunch of holes where suburban houses used to be. Here is her description of this recent series titled, Land (ab)Use:

“Native grasses form the backdrop or canvas to my work. By literally cutting away from the landscape I create a void in composition which questions the very issue of land use. These pseudo silhouettes formed act as both an avoidance of the subject while also interrupting the overall viewing experience. The viewer is then forced to leave the work experiencing a sense of loss and discontent.”

Ok, I need a magnifying glass… ooh, or better yet, I need to get myself to a show featuring the work of Brooklyn based artist Matthew Northridge. He carefully cuts, and then relocates, architecture from aerial photographs, onto blank pieces of 11″x14″  paper in order to create these beautiful landscape-free landscapes. Very tiny, and oh so brilliant.

{The images above : 1) Arctic Settlement, North West Territories  2) Potato Farm, Maine  3) Ice Houses, Lake Champlain  4) Lakeside Town, Maine}

{Thanks Megan… you’re up tomorrow!}

Mom… please send me to Phoot Camp! All of the cool kids are going!!! Pleeeeaaaasssse! Sigh. Sadly I’m not a photographer, nor have I been invited, so I guess there will be no Phoot Camp for me this summer. Here’s what was happening in the hills just outside of LA, during the first weekend of August:

Phoot Camp is an invite-only camping trip and photography workshop hosted by Laura Brunow Miner, former editor in chief of JPG Magazine. Picture forty-eight hours of photo walks, scavenger hunts, portrait challenges, s’more making, and other creative collaboration.

Ok, who isn’t jealous?! Yep, that’s what I thought.

{all images above can be found on Flickr… 1) danielslee 2) aqui-ali 3) aqui-ali 4) sgoralnick}

I have always had a thing for suburban houses, but these little gems are taking my love to a whole new level. In fact, I’m tempted to pack my bags and head for Palm Springs with nothing more than a bikini, a garden gnome, and a fresh can of paint for the front lawn. I’ll have to be sure to invite American photographer Jeffrey Milstein over for a cocktail in the driveway.

{via Working Class Magazine}

I was so excited when American photographer Mikael Kennedy said he’d stop by for the weekend! I’m not sure how many times I’ve written about him – maybe four or five – needless to say, I am super jealous of his work, but even more importantly, the passion he has for his work. And when I say ‘passion‘, I’m talking about the ‘sell your own blood in order to buy more film, and keep travelling‘ kind of passion… seriously… he did that. So, anyway,  just when I thought I couldn’t be any more inspired, Mikael sent this through. Another amazing photographer using old Polaroid film to capture America… one freight car at a time:

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I’m jealous of Mike Brodie

Sometime around 2003, I got a letter from a kid who called himself ‘the polaroid kidd‘: he had seen Mandy Lamb‘s & my Polaroids and wanted to come hang out with us in Boston, he said he was riding a freight up from Florida and should be in sometime in the next few days, he was scamming copies at kinko’s and was making little collections of Polaroid artists he met while he travelled, at the time he was shooting only SX70 Time Zero film that he shoplifted as he travelled. I said “well, alright”, and met him one night in a parking lot of a 7-Eleven. What I’m jealous of isn’t mike’s photography, don’t get me wrong, I think it’s absolutely beautiful, he captured the last of America’s wildness of a fading art of freight hopping. But more it’s the life he chose that I admire. As I always said, it’s the life that’s important, not the art.. The utter abandon with which he and his friends live. To me these kids are the wild west, and yes they are still kids, seem to always be, a thousand dirty Peter Pans riding the rails. Talk about a life of adventure, that’s all there is, sometimes it’s a short run, but at least it’s a run. I haven’t heard from Mike in years, last I heard his pop was getting out and coming home, then I heard Mike was out in Texas on the trains, I heard he stopped shooting for awhile, who knows. What I do know is that there is something to be said for this decision to make life one long adventure with not thought of the future, it’s not an act, it’s just wild pure and simple. America is his (and their) playground, every city and freight yard an adventure. Talk about living life to it’s fullest even if for many it’s a short run, nothing really matters so we might as well take a walk.

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So good. So, so good. Thanks so much Mikael… and happy travels!