Suspension of Disbelief (2007) – Taxidermied fox, fluorescent tubes, electronic balllasts with wood + perspex housing, wires. 170 x 170 x 160 cm

Steve Bishop was born in Canada but now resides in London. He studied at Kingston University and the Royal College Of Art and now has his work in the collection of Charles Saatchi, among others. You can check out some great gallery work on his site.

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John Derian creates paperweights, vases and dishes using decoupage, a technique of layering his imagery under glass. Whereas his pieces have traditionally cost quite a bit more, a line of his work will be released at Target September 7th. While not a substitute for the richness and materials of his originals, the reasonably priced line has us excited.
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Student by day, highly sought after fashion designer by night, Kira Plastinina has built an empire out of a dream all before the age 16 ( with a little help from Father, of course). With the dream of always wanting to be a fashion designer, her father, Sergei Plastinina, the multimillionaire juice-and-dairy king of Eastern Europe, took notice and like every good dad, gave his daughter just what she wanted: her own fashion label.

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We’re fanatics about film titles. So imagine our delight when we came across a site cataloging them. Art of the Title has about eighty title sequences on the site and growing. They cover TV and film and old school figures like Saul Bass to contemporaries like Thomas Cobb. Best of all there are links to high res stills and the videos (h264 – sweet) so you won’t miss a frame.

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Using compelling photography as a base Parisian artist JR takes street art to activist levels. His most interesting project Face 2 Face, pairs photos of Palestinian and Israeli citizens in direct proximity. These images are printed on a grand scale and pasted across eight Palestinian and Israeli cities as well as prominently on the partition wall dividing the two territories. Read the rest of this entry »

We always enjoy a new season of headgear coming our way. LA based Elm Company is sporting a new spring/summer 08 collection that will have you all prepped for your music video debut. If you’re into a more subdued yet classic look be sure to check out their Copeland Collection, complete with styles for guys and gals, alike.

File this in the “where the hell have you been all my life” drawer. Lushpad is a unique online buy and sell marketplace for contemporary and mid-century modern furniture and fine art. If you’re looking for that special piece but can’t seem to find it you can post a want ad here. If you are an artist or designer looking for an alternative way to sell your work, congrats, you’ve just hit the jackpot. Beware, this is totally addictive and you may end up redecorating your house. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Photo by Jason Lester
Last night Radiohead concluded their much anticipated visit to Los Angeles with a stellar performance at the Hollywood Bowl. As our readers might have guessed we are all big fans of Radiohead here at NB.

I must say I could not have anticipated the quality of the show. It’s refreshing to know that some artists are putting in tremendous effort to ensure that the audience gets their money’s worth. The use of several fixed video feeds from all over the stage gave the audience an intimate look at the band. The attention to detail in camera angle and the arrangement of the images on the screens is consistent with the promotional videos that have been released to support “In Rainbows.” But by far the most impressive element of the show were the delicate LED’s which hung like a chandelier above the band and flanked them on both sides.
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Japanese artist Noriko Ambe is featured this month in the Mei Guo (The Beau Monde) exhibition at Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai. This includes new entries into the Cutting Book Series, which has been an ongoing project for Ambe. Artists who make pieces, Artists who do books and THEN & NOW are just two of the books which Ambe has aptly modified. Ambe will be showing work in the US though the end of the year.

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Andy Gilmore has created quite a number of computational compositions which combine color and geometry to create some pretty compelling images. What is amazing is that he is also a traditional illustrator and musician. We’re willing to gamble that he’s probably good at math too.

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