Current Movie Recommendations

***************FOUNDERS OF DIY MOVEMENT******************
Lately I've been drawn to documentaries about the 90s. One in particular is about the underground DIY movement and urban artists called Beautiful Losers. I guess since I was in high school in the mist of this movement I really appreciated many aspects of the people featured in Beautiful Losers.
Being involved with graffiti, tagging, dumpster diving and things like this are still considered subversive but what is interesting about this movie is that many of the artists are now doing ads for Pepsi and creating commercials for Apple. Somehow this comforts my sense that even these "low"brow types and styles have been completely incorporated into the mainstream.

Austin East Austin Studio Tour 2010

******STARVING ARTIST STUDIOS **********************
This year the highlights included the Starving Art Studios, which included artist such as Sue Zola whose portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Blondie's Debby Harry, and bubble gum wrappers are done completely in glitter. There were also some good mixed media done by Michelle Rahbar. The themes throughout these works speak volumes about finding a quiet space amidst a chaotic atmosphere which is all too often filled with mass media overload, hate, violence, intolerance and injustice. I especially like the one titled, This Time Baby, I'll be Bullet Proof.

I had a brief conversation with artist Alberto Shults about his silver head-dress jewelry design which was part of a collection which seemed to embody empowerment through transformation. Most of the work included glassware and silver.

********THE WONDER CRAFT**********************************************

Also, at Starving Artist was the Wonder Craft Airstream boutique. (thewondercraft.com) Inside this old Airstream was a gift shop filled to the brim with home-made crafty goodies. My favorite were buttons with embroidery, handmade felt handbags and tons of silkscreen t-shirts for all ages. Stepping into this store on wheels almost made me feel like I was experiencing being in pre-school again and my third grade teacher was going to hand me a piece of felt and some scissors.

*********ARTPOST*******************************************************************************

After a few minutes mingling and enjoying the donation-only bar outside we headed onto our bikes down to the ARTPOST #49. The first gallery we visited was Court Lurie's painting space which was filled with landscapes of dribbles, doodles, and metamorphic smears of paint. The two paintings that sprung forth from all the other abstract paintings in the room were Siren I and Siren II. I loved the energy and pulse of these works and someone else must have loved them too because they both sold.

*********CRUMLEYNEWYORK*********************************************************************************

Jewelry and metals designers always draw my attention so we went to Crumley NYs studio space next and checked out the beautiful collections ranging in metal, fabric and glass. I didn't see any prices on the pieces which is never a good sign since it usually means it will be WAY out of my price range, so I didn't even ask. I guess the ethnic trend is raging in full-force because there seemed to be plenty of people pawing the fabric pieces. I liked a jax-knot style necklace and several tassle and brass earrings which reminded me horse-saddles and bridles.

**********PAYPHONEREVIVAL*********************************************************************************

The only installation on the list to check out included the the Pay Phone Revival Project which was started and curated by Bridget Frances Quinn. The three booths I picked to visit were by the Mustache See-saw by ¡el grupo! and The Cabinet by J.P. Marquardt and Monk Parakeets featured here are by K.A. Sheehan.

Lanvin Collection for H&M

BEST DESIGNER COLLABORATION YET!
Who isn't excited about this momentous designer collaboration? Celebrity-icons like Madonna and J-Lo can't even get their hands on the collection before the launch date. This makes it seem it so much more desirable for me and I'm many others who were drooling over the fun, young, whimsical collection. The yellow one-shoulder ruffle dress seems to be a must-have item in this collection! This collection the more expensive H&M designer collections but for very good reason. Here's the ad that I love the most from the campaign. Launch Nov.20th, 2010: Select H&M Stores

Cheers~ Wallpaper Girl