Chinese Heavy Metal

China's youth are really starting to rebel hard against the system with bands like VoodooKungFu leading the way. Their blend of Chinese traditional musical instruments, heavy guitar riffs and screaming in Mandarin creates a very progressive sound and pushes the envelope of 'Metal' even further. It's so interesting to see how a generation gap between parents and kids can be so far removed from each other. Anyone who is 40 yrs old and above would have been brought up with a mix of Communist and Confucian education, whereas the kids now have the internet as a tool of education.






Go HERE to see an excerpt from the recently released documentary, Global Metal. This clip focuses on China and how its Metal roots were sowed. A very interesting 14 min.
Thanks to the beautiful Veggie Heart for all the info and metal inspiration!

Kress Seventh Day Project

Japanese writer, Kress is one of my fave writers from Japan. He represents the SCA crew from the East and MSK from the West. I love his use of typography in his pieces, both large-scale to skateboards...The vid above is when he painted for the Seventh Day Project in LA.




Check out him and his crews excellent work HERE & HERE.

Shok1 25th Anniversary Prints

"Urban Decay" (red gold)

Original silkscreen hand printed by SHOK-1 on heavyweight fine art paper*
20 x 27 inches
signed and numbered limited edition of 15
*315gsm Heritage acid-free printmaking paper

Received an email from Shok-1:
"To mark the occasion of my 25th year of art, I'm launching a special series of silkscreen prints based on some of my favourite works from the past.

The first print "Urban Decay" is based on a piece from 2001. I've printed them myself from scratch and I'm very pleased with the quality."

See his 'making of' set of pics up on his FLICKR ACCT.

Katsu BTM Fire Extinguisher

[VIA]

8-Bit trip With Lego

15 hours and a gazillion stop frames later, you have an 8-bit trip. This has been floating around the web for a while now and I completely forgot to post it....here it is for your HD weekend pleasure!

Local River Concept

Local River is a home storage unit for fish and greens, designed by Matthieu Lehanneur.

The Locavores appeared in San Francisco in 2005 and define themselves as ‘a group of culinary adventurers who eat foods produced in a radius of 100 miles (160 km) around their city’. By doing so they aim to reduce impact on the environment inherent to the transport of foodstuffs, while ensuring their traceability.


Local River anticipates the growing influence of this group (the word ‘locavore’ made its first appearance in an American dictionary in 2007) by proposing a home storage unit for live freshwater fish combined with a mini vegetable patch. This DIY fish-farm-cum-kitchen-garden is based on the principle of aquaponics coupled with the exchange and interdependence of two living organisms - plants and fish.


The plants extract nutrients from the nitrate-rich dejecta of the fish. In doing so they act as a natural filter that purifies the water and maintains a vital balance for the eco-system in which the fish live. The same technique is used on large-scale pioneer aquaponics/fish-farms, which raise tilapia (a food fish from the Far East) and lettuce planted in trays floating on the surface of ponds.


Local River aims to replace the decorative ‘TV aquarium’ by an equally decorative but also functional ‘refrigerator-aquarium’. In this scenario, fish and greens cohabit for a short time in a home storage unit before being eaten by their keepers, the end-players in an exchange cycle within a controlled ecosystem.
[VIA]

Cartoon Alien Photos

ESPVisuals in IdN's 15th Anniversary hard-cover Book

In 2007 ESPVisuals were invited by IdN to submit some content for their 15th Anniversary special edition hard-cover coffee table book and accompanying DVD. Featuring around 450 artists the book is a phenomenal insight into the creativity of many of the World's top designers and we were ecstatic being asked to be involved!

IdN's only request for the submitted work was that it forecast a particular area of design 15 years from now.

Our contribution comes in the form of a short trailer for a fictional video-game called "Anonymous", where your identity isn't what it appears, and you strive to find out who you really are.



We wanted to show what we thought the future of gaming might hold; a blend between films and video-games where the user not only controls the plot of the film, but is a character within it. In creating a new user experience we thought up the idea of a gaming pod in which a panoramic screen and built in surround sound would enhance gameplay and immerse you deep within the plot.

The book is a real collectors piece and we recommend you take a look for yourselves!

Check out a preview of the book here.

Buy the book here.

Asbestos X Absolut Video

Charlie Inman recently sent me the link to his new video he created of artist, Asbestos printing for the upcoming Absolut show in Dublin. Great job mate! The printing process looked really fun!

Scratch Perverts X Foreign Beggars

The Scratch Perverts and Foreign Beggars have teamed up to produce a new project called Neurosonics Audiomedical. Their music video was created and directed by edgy filmmaker, Chris Cairns. (See an interview we did with him HERE.)
Science and turntablism at its best!!

Check out the website to see alot more!
[VIA]

Montana Can X Mr Cartoon

Upper Playground have teamed up with Montana Colors to do some limited edition artist can series. The first being a collab effort with artist, Mr Cartoon. His design depicts a stylized vision of LA, complete with downtown storefronts and the Virgin de Guadalupe.

According to Mr Cartoon, "Upper Playground understands the mind frame of an artist; they have good taste and they are very picky about who they choose to work with. They represent a true voice for artists and they are responsible for showcasing great street artists with all different styles. It felt good to finally do a collaboration with an artist-inspired clothing brand that showcases my favorite artists."

Cept New Show And New Gallery

CEPT presents "A Frozen Explosion"
Opening Private View September 3rd 2009
4 September - 25 September Thu - Sat 1:30 - 6:00pm

Apparatus: Painting, Video, Audio

Method: Site specific constellation of paintings. Wall painting, recycled film and audio overload

Result: A glimpse into the world of an alter ego's work in progress.
Process paid

Conclusion: You'll be witness to what I have discovered, may you be the jury. But your verdict will be one of self-conviction.
I know what I have witnessed; now it is your turn, prepare yourself for a journey into a world where each new step may give you a better understanding of your own reality.
Discover a circle that forever repeats itself. The end of the beginning, the beginning of the end. Forget the world around you and the people around you

Consider time as officially ended, we work on the other side of time
Your story is history My story is mystery

The Writers Bench
Open Thursday to Friday 1:30 to 6:00

26 Argyle Square X Argyle Walk
London, Kings Cross WC1H 8AP
United Kingdom
info@thewrite rsbench .org


Launching The Writers Bench Gallery in Kings Cross

See our INTERVIEW with Cept for our August Update HERE!

Word To Mother At Fame Festival

While we are all preparing in the UK for the Autumn weather, Word To Mother is living it up at the Fame festival, in the South of Italy, near Bari. Judging from the sites blog. The artists down there are having the time of their lives, painting away on scorching hot days...makes me kinda sad, cos I was just in that area one month ago and I really do know what it's like around there...

Art Shows Thursday 27th August & More

Lunartik will be finally releasing his first vinyl figure – Lunartik in a Cup of Tea!

He will be doing a custom tour with a fantastic line up from some of the top artists in the scene including, Phil Corbett, Triclops, Kenn Munk, Jon Burgerman, Okkle, Doktor A, Mr Scruff, TADO and Pete Fowler!

The first leg of the tour will be in London’s Forbidden Planet Mega Store! With set up on the 28th and opening on the 29th. It will then stay there for 10 days before moving on to it’s next location in Amsterdam, so be sure to come along and check it out!
Toys Available 29th August

Artist Toy Signing 5th September

Decked is a show at Stolenspace Gallery which focuses on the art found on skateboards with a mad mix of Decked 50-odd illustrators, designers, tattoo artists and street artists' styles! Those that collaborated on the above image were: Mr Penfold, Simon Mills, Ventzah, Leticia Credidio, SNUB, Lisa Humphreys, Lisa Hassell, Skaffa, David Shillinglaw, Aaron Petz, Jenny Dubet, Vicky Newman, Dave Bain, Dan Frye

Thursday 27th August
Stolenspace Gallery
Dray Walk
Truman Brewery
Brick Lane


On Sunday 30 August, it’s finally time for UK, after Japan and USA, to celebrate 55DSL’s Fifteen Fuckin Years and what better way to celebrate than an end of summer party, welcoming back both YoYo and the It’s Bigger Than crew?

The party will be at the William IV pub, for the full 12 hours of party mayhem. With Leo The Rave, G The P and Cutmaster Max of It’s Bigger Than, Skream (with a surprise MC), Ms Dynamite and the rest of an astonishing lineup, Japanese artist Dragon76 flying in especially to create a live birthday master piece, a back-to-‘94 prop room available for your dressing up pleasure, Notting Hill carnival on the doorstep and last but not least a free bar till it lasts, well… you’ve got yourself a party not to be missed!
RSVP only. No wristband no entry!

Food Tattoos

Joshua Smith Design

Hydro74 aka Joshua Smith, is an Orlando-based designer. His work is dark and his client list is extensive. From Burton, Dragon, Ezekiel, Osiris, Tribal Gear & Vans; to LucasFilms, Smashing Pumpkins, Myspace & GQ.


"The soul purpose of my career is to push the boundries in doing what I feel is relevant to the market as well as extract various elements and trends to be able to offer them up in my own personal work. But let’s be honest. I do what I love because I love it. Not because I have to do it, nor am forced to do it, but rather passionate about doing what I do. I firmly believe in having set style tones, yet a sense of diversity to make any various project unique to the demands that are set forth."

Vice Mag X Levis Art Project

VICE are looking for one artist who's work they can showcase on three large outdoor spaces across London.

"Levi's and Vice have come together to find the UK's most talented painters, illustrators, designers, sculptures, artists, whatever to have their work displayed on large sites throughout London. (Shoreditch, Camden & Soho)"

Visit the Site & submit your artwork HERE

La Machine Giant Robot Spider

Artists & hardcore engineers, La Machine have collaborated on yet another mad idea. First it was robotic giant elephants walking down the street and now it's 50ft tall mecha spiders!


Video of the spider in action in Yokohama, Japan


Here's two of them in test mode...


Thanks to Alex Fakso for giving me the heads up on these mad contraptions!

Elvis Presley Barbie Toys

Elvis Presley Barbie Toys

Elvis Presley Barbie Toys

Elvis Presley Barbie Toys