Some lovely new work from Parisian Creative Director Théo Gènnitsakis.

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Tesla officially unveiled it’s new Model S electric luxury sedan yesterday and it has all the makings of a winner. This new model scheduled to be released in 2011 is set to compete against hybrid and EV offerings from Mercedes Benz and BMW with an MSRP of $49,900 after a $7,500 tax credit. The Model S is slated to be available with 160, 220, and 300 mile battery packs, but still no word on how pricing varies between options.

Provided this edition is actually released as scheduled and is widely available (a problem for Tesla’s ground breaking Roadster) the model S is certainly competitive. The Model S gets high marks for looks and seeing as it’s coming down the line from the Roadster we would expect it to handle well.
Where we think the Model S may shine most brightly is the “Environmentalist Status Symbol” area. While driving a Prius announces to your friends “I’m putting my money where my mouth is when it comes to saving the planet”, it looks like you’re doing it in your mom’s car. If the Prius didn’t have a hybrid engine, it would just be a slightly more sophisticated Yaris.

Honda has experienced the flip side of this problem with the Accord hybrid, because it looks just like a regular Accord. With out the status symbol value it’s hard to justify the extra cost (which currently out weighs the gas savings) unless you just like the personal satisfaction of saving the planet anonymously.

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Fri, March 27th 5-10PM
Ronin Gallery
1924 Echo Park Ave in Los Angeles
New works from 2H
www.theroningallery.com

Sat, March 28th 9PM-1AM ($8 admission / $5 as walking art)
Cannibal Flower
NEW location: 2323 East Olympic Blvd in downtown Los Angeles
With featured artist Rebecca Hahn and beats curated by Mr. NumberOnederful & X-Point and live painting / art / music / dancing / performance art + a huge group show – check site for full details – don’t miss it!
(One-night only special event)
www.cannibalflower.com

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Want to pretty up your place but really could do without wallpaper? The pasting, the smoothing out, the shouting match between you and your significant other…it’s ok. We understand. That’s why we’re all excited about the mountable laminate panels that B&N Industries has produced. The Iconic Panels are way cooler than any wood paneling we remember from childhood and come in designs named Carnaby, Hitchcock, and even, Helvetica (guess what that one looks like!). The sixteen textured designs encompass a range of styles from pleasing curvy designs to wildly drawn lines that would give us vertigo if we had to eat breakfast near them.

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Dave Kinsey vs Giant: MEGA
BLK/MRKT Editions
4-color screenprint on 100% cotton rag, Edition: 150
Size: 24 x 18 inches / 61 x 45.7 cm, signed/numbered/stamped, $75
via Hustler of Culture

Bad Brains Collaboration Print
Shepard Fairey x Glen E Friedman x Bad Brains
24 x 18, 3 Color Screen Print, Edition of 425, $120
Signed by Shepard, Glen E Friedman, and all the original members of Bad Brains
ON SALE 3/26/09
Limited 1 print per person/household

Bad Brains are one of my favorite punk/hardcore groups of all time. If you don’t have their self titled debut, “Rock For Light”, “I Agaist I”, or “Quickness”, they are all essential. I first heard Bad Brains at the beginning of 1984 when my friend lent me the brilliantly curated and titled Alternative Tentacles compilation “Let Then Eat Jellybeans”(A Reagan dessert favorite update to the Marie Antoinette slogan “Let them eat cake”). The Bad Brains song “Pay to Cum” from their first album was on the comp along with songs by Black Flag, The Dead Kennedys, The Circle Jerks, Flipper, etc.. I then went out to find full length records by all those bands. I soon discovered Minor Threat as well, and learned that Bad Brains had influenced their vocalist Ian MacKaye and Black flag vocalist Henry Rollins who were from Washington DC where Bad Brains had started as well. The Bad Brains were also a huge influence for the Beastie Boys. This collaboration ties into almost all of the bands I mentioned because they were almost all iconically shot at various times by photographer Glen E. Friedman. Glen shot a lot of great photos of Bad Brains and a few different shots were spliced together as the reference for this poster illustration. If you don’t know Glen’s work, go to burningflags.com. This poster is signed by Glen, me, and all the original members of Bad Brains. Keep that PMA.

-Shepard Fairey

via Hustler of Culture

Spanish illustrator Raquel Aparicio blows us away time and time again with her delicate drawings and rich, but not overwhelming, color palette. Unlike other artists who have a single, trademark style, Aparicio uses a variety of techniques and styles that makes her work appear to be created by many different hands. For instance, in the series “Russian Fairy Tales,” some pieces are painted in what appears to be the Japanese style, while in others she makes her own twist on traditional folk art.

Though at first glance Aparicio’s work appears wholly sweet, you’ll notice when you look deeper that there is an almost sinister-like quality to many of of her images. Scissors with teeth, women strumming roaches like violins, and insane Cookie Monsters are just a few examples of the darker side of the images created by this woman who also, at times, illustrates children’s books and items for the New York Times.

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Photography duo Jessica + Clark met their first day of orientation at Art Center and the rest was history. In the following years they’ve put together a very impressive book with work for clients like Spin, W Magazine, and The New York Times Style Magazine.
If you’d like to pick up one of their prints for your very own you can check out their up coming show at the new Annenberg Space for Photography, see details below-

Annenberg Space for Photography
Date: April 9, 2009
Time: 7-9pm
Location: 2000 Ave of the Stars #10
Los Angeles, Ca. 90067
Free Event
Parking: $1.00 with validation in visitors parking lot

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In would could be a step forward on a road to a greener future Better Place is looking to get electric cars out on the road sooner rather than later, and according to NY Times columnist David Pogue, it’s a plan that might be just crazy enough to work.
If you want the low down, Better Place want to sell you a car, and lease you a battery that you can charge up at home or trade out at charging station. The idea is you own your car, but but your pay for the miles like you’d buy minutes on a cell phone plan. According to Better Place CEO Shai Agassi in fact, the company will subsidize the price of the car if you buy enough miles in the same way that cell phone companies subsidize handsets.
So far the company has signed on it’s home country of Isreal, as well as Denmark, Ontario CA, and Hawaii, with San Francisco CA and a few other Bay Area counties on the way. The company has it’s share of critics as you can read on Tree Hugger and the Huffington Post. We think that while this may not be the answer it is an answer to the myriad of problems with both how we use energy, and how we move from one place to another.
As we have mentioned before, cars haven’t changed to tremedously since Henry Ford released the Model T, and we applaud anyone doing anything to re-think how a works or what a car is. As for the would we buy one question goes, we think there are three big issues to address in no particular order.

1. Is the price of the car and the miles more, less, or roughly equivalent compared to a gas powered model?

2. What happens if I forget to charge it and I run out of power? Will AAA come bring me a battery to swap?

3. What’s the quality of the car like? Is it reliable? Is it fun to drive? Aside from the feel good factor of saving the planet, will I love this car?