Andrea Maestri designs--Milan

Andrea Maestri is based in Milan. This collection, a reader submission to DesignBoom, is self-produced. What I like about it is the simplicity, the playfulness, and the taboo surrounding the pieces, like with the "I love Jesus" coffee table and "Fuck You" table lamp, below. There's a "found" and "repurposed" quality in the work (although I am not certain that is what Maestri has done) I identify with and enjoy--very inspirational.
Check out more of Andrea Maestri's designs HERE.
Source: DesignBoom

Tanlines/Janet Jackson

Tanlines have recently released Mixed Emotions, and I like it for the Simon-esque qualities (Paul). It's mostly playful--or, at least, it moves a bit. Though it is not without its serious moments. A favorite cut is "All of Me." The video is nice, too. However, listening the first time to the song, I was struck by an intertextual connection between it and Janet Jackson's "Escapade." I'm not sure if it's a mood, key, or just the beats, but I feel a bond between the two works. That's what led me to watching Janet's video alongside Tanlines' song. What a marriage! The tribal qualities of Tanlines' work meshes so well with the setting of the "Escapade" video--and just wait until the dancing begins! Mute Janet and start Tanlines at about the 50second mark: then watch Janet's classic video unfold to Tanlines' catchy jangle. Yes, the official video for "All of Me" is interesting enough on its own--a sort of post-communist club reunion gone bizarre, if that's possible. But the meshing with "Escapade" brings an even bigger smile to my face. I wanna go! Enjoy!

Kita-Kore, Koenji, Tokyo, Japan

I'm a huge fan of DIY aesthetics and practices--aesthetics meaning the way you can see so much personality and individuality that is bled into many DIY projects and pieces. There has recently been a bright spark of interest in one particular DIY and fashion sector from Tokyo. Of course, I am referring to the Kita-Kore kids in Tokyo's Koenji neighborhood. This is a much older and (maybe until recently) much less touristed section of the city--hence the possibility for start-up, and younger stores/companies being able to afford their spaces (no matter how small--and many are miniscule, yet packed with flavor). The beacon of creativity in the Koenji hood is the Kita-Kore building where one can find stacks and mazes of tiny shops that cater to the most eccentric and vibrantly styled folks who seek out what is next in fashion and design. Style Bubble posted about a trip to the district back in May 2011 in which you can get a better idea about how creatively inspirational these Kita-Kore kids/stores can be.
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STYLE BUBBLE
and HERE
and a Map HERE
also from CNN 

M.I.A. "Bad Girls"

FINALLY!!++M.I.A is BACK--but for real this time!!! This is the best video thus far: 2012. Maybe MDNA had a talk with our truffle frie eatting Sri Lankan pop-raptress. This video and song is the perfect marriage. M.I.A. has taken herself out of the box of "authenticity" and has figured out how to fully realize that which she really is: a woman with a perspective that is so very needed right now. Who that woman is has been so expertly represented in this video for "Bad Girls." M.I.A. has a unique worldview and background, but she is also a pop sensation: at last (I hope I don't speak too soon) she seems to have found the best way to balance the two sides that make her such a unique force in today's Fu*k'd up world!!!! It's so rare that I can be pulled back over into a more "mainstream" music world--but M.I.A is just the woman to do it. I just want it to work this time. Let's just hope Jay-Z doesn't get his hands on this song--PLEZZZZ! she doesn't need 'em.

Yayoi Kusama with Louis Vuitton

I've posted on Yayoi Kusama in the past--I suppose I am obsessed with the obsessed (Kusama with dots). This photo I just can't get enough of. It is a still from a meeting Kusama had with Marc Jacobs of Louis Vuitton in 2006. The iconic Japanese artist will have a collaboration between herself and the brand released later this year. I am obsessing over Kusama's eyes: a noticeable spark of life, creativity, exuberance, passion--all there, and surrounded by dots. See more pics from the meeting and collaboration HERE on Tokyo Dandy. 

Catherine Hyland's Adventure in a Framework of a Fairytale

Catherine Hyland took a trip to China and filmed this enchanting scene: a fantasyland left undone. I do believe that, due to the fact that this park was abandoned before being completed, it is even more enjoyable than it might have been with with strollers, balloons, and bad food & music all over the place . The moment in the short clip in which you can see folks walking on the upper-level of the "post-apocalyptic" castle is mesmerizing.


Wonderland from catherine Hyland on Vimeo.

SOURCE: ZEPHYR

Todd Selby films Artist, Christine Sun Kim

Todd Selby made a film featuring the artist Christine Sun Kim at work, "reclaiming sound" as her own. As she puts it, her art is her voice. Watch the film below. It is featured on NOWNESS along with more background on the project and Christine's art made with sound--the piece made in blue, via nail, paint, and sub-woofer, is brilliant.  You can also read a mini interview with Christine HERE



Todd Selby x Christine Sun Kim on Nowness.com.

Palladium: Tokyo Rising

Palladium (boots) wants to take us everywhere. In a recent collaboration--with Pharrell William serving as host--we are taken to post-Fukushima/tsunami/earthquake Tokyo, Japan. As the city that holds a special place in my heart and mind, as it does for so many, I was very excited to see this project happen. Pharrell doesn't have much to say, which is fine by me, as it allows for the city and it's people to do the talking--even a trippple nippples diva makes an appearance. One of the most interesting segments is in video 4 in which Japanese "REMIX" culture is discussed. Check it out HERE and learn some about what makes Tokyo such a phenomenal place. 
 

Yolanda Dominguez and "Livings"

Yolanda Dominguez is a Spanish artist who orchestrates "livings" wherein she insights social commentary and participation with acts of art that find their place within everyday, lived, experience. The video below showcases Dominguez's work to bring to life the poses struck by models in magazines into the three-dimensional lived spaces of society--the outcome provokes some humor and underlines the true strangeness of haute couture fueled poses. See more of Yolanda Dominguez HERE on her site.
Source: See Like Me

Balloon Air Swimmers

This is one of those items that simply bring a smile to your face--at least mine--while being very cool. I want to be the first one of my friends to have one as it would be perfect at a party being both interactive and visually charming. I only wonder how you store it when it's time for the fishy to cease its aerobatic swimming feats. This is a very cool balloon and the video below is fun just to view. Oh, the child in us all...
Source: Freshbump and Everyguyed

Moshi Moshi Handset for Mobiles from Juno Design Shop

I do believe that many people might find the "retro" version of a phone receiver to be more comfortable for use during longer calls. Many people might also find a thrill in the act of holding the slightly curved object in their hands or--as is probably most widely the case in use--wedged between the side of their heads and their shoulder (particularly during a longer conversation that takes place while in the act of multitasking). For those of us who have known such experiences in communication, the Moshi Moshi retro handset for mobiles offers a creative and surprising refresher in the old land-line phone-call dance. This device also decreases the possibility of cell-phone fueled cancers. I'm enjoying the Moshi Moshi idea--one that bridges the past with the present/old with new--old becoming new again. The Moshi Moshi handset is reasonably priced (with ore without a base) and can be used with a computer as well as your smartphone. See more and read more HERE.
Source: Ozon

VeneriDesign

VeneriDesign (LONDON) offers very creative pieces including this "nuke" lamp--which makes quiet a statement as well as looking rather intriguing and illuminating. A piece I enjoy, as a book lover, is the "bookoral" shelving that is structured in a tree-like formation. See more from VeneriDesign HERE.
See more of the "nuke" lamp HERE on Selectism

Noisey feat. Trippple Nippples

I love this photo taken by Alex Singh for Vice at a Trippple Nippples show--the guy's expression is one of awe and ecstatic thrill.  The Trippple Nippples put on crazy shows with full on electro energy. I enjoy Vice Media's Noisey site: on it you can see and listen to bands around the world at live shows and in interveiws. This video is "Meet Trippple Nippples." I enjoy the song "Tokyo City." The band is currently in Japan, but I hope they make stateside appearances soon--would love to experience a TN affair. In this mini-doc, the band throw a electro feather fueled bash in a Tokyo karaoke bar.

Protest in Greece: New Resistance Culture

With so much talk going on about the finances, here in the US, but also--and perhaps even more so--in Greece, I can't help but think that I wish I could be in Greece myself in order to protest the recent gov't austerity measures passed. The point has been met wherein THE PEOPLE are being subjected to the will of BANKS--contemptible dealers of mythical monies. What would truly happen if Greece, and so many other nations did, indeed, default on their loans from these "BANKS?" People would still be capable of work and life would go on. I know it isn't so simple, but the time has come for us to question these institutions and the elected officials who bend toward the whim of FINANCIAL engineers at the cost of THE PEOPLE. The film below, directed by Michael Oswald and produced by John-Paul Pryor, is presented by DazedDigital and sheds light on some of these issues. I wish peaceful protest to those in Greece, THE PEOPLE, standing up for their rights.

Is Tropical "The Greeks"

So, kids playing "war" with guns, etc.--harmless, right? This video made for Is Tropical's track "The Greeks" uses some intense animation to render just what it truly is that these little brats are playing at. Brilliant.
Source: DazedDigital HERE