Here is an amazing opportunity to combine your love of cycling and art, in addition to getting exposure to current film stars (see the list below). Don’t wait: entries are due April 1!

Guidelines:
Submissions are now open for the Eleventh Annual Bicycle Film Festival! The BFF is looking for films with a bike-related theme. Any style is acceptable: animation, experimental, narrative, documentary and music videos are all a go. 
There is no fee to enter your film, simply download a submission form from the BFF website, and send a copy of the film to the BFF Head Office in New York.

The Bicycle Film Festival began in 2001 when Brendt Barbur, founding director of the festival was hit by a bus while riding his bike in New York City. He insisted on turning his negative experience into a positive one.  The Bicycle Film Festival is a platform to celebrate the bicycle through music, art and, of course, film.

The BFF travels to over 25 cities around the world, including Paris, London, Tokyo, New York—and Sydney. Last year, more than 225,000 people attended the festival. The BFF is not only a showcase for new films, but also, includes rock shows, street parties, art shows, dinners, bike rides and more!

The BFF over the past ten years is proud to be a platform for exposure for many independent filmmakers and artists, and to show a range of emerging filmmakers to established artists, including Albert Maysles, Spike Jonze, Mike Mills, The Neistat Brothers, Michel Gondry, and Tom Sachs.

The 2011 submission deadline is April 1.  Any inquiries please email

TAGS: Things We Like

Having started out on the walls of her own home, Supermarket Sarah now has a wall at Selfridges London, featuring hand picked goods of Super Stuff, New Designers, Vintage, and a Gallery. We wish we could be at the launch this Friday, but we are stuck here in New York! For anyone lucky enough to be in London at this time, don’t miss out on the chance to hear a special acoustic set by Gabby Young at this event.

Friday, January 28, 2011, 6:30 – 8:00pm
Selfridges
Ground Floor
Stationary department
400 Oxford Street
London W1C 1JS, United Kingdom
0800 123400

TAGS: Events, Things We Like

Photos Courtesy of EDIT

Are you more of a visual person than an aural person? Many of us are. If you’ve ever wanted to explore a musical genre but were not sure where to begin, perhaps a look at Edits by EDIT can help you out. NYC/London based EDIT, an independent creative who works on projects with galleries, musicians, and media start-ups, has collaborated with designers to create limited edition posters to represent a musical genre within the framework of using one element and one typeface that states the genre. The result is a simple, succinct and elegant style.

Care for some simple acoustic sounds? The light brown guitar indicates that folk is what you need. Feeling dark or morbid? Fold down (or in this case, cut off) your middle and ring fingers for metal. Each artist seems to have employed the most accurate visual for each musical genre. (Being a classical pianist myself, however, I hope you take the bowtie for ‘Classical’ to mean ‘swanky’ or ‘chic’ rather than ‘snobby.’) For current music lovers, this is the perfect way to represent the sounds you love without having to choose a particular band or artist. With Edits, we can express our musical favorites outside of our playlists.  Love all music? You can purchase the entire collection as well for 20% off the individual prices.

Get them here.

TAGS: Things We Like

Japantown is one of my two favorite places to hang out whenever I visit San Francisco (the other being Yerba Buena Gardens).

I always hit Japan Center to perform my yearly ritual of ordering bubble tea, browsing the Kinokuniya bookstore, and imagining what purpose each item in the stationary store can serve…so many sizes! I usually walk out with empty hands that have enjoyed touching but not coveting everything.

This past September, however, I stumbled upon a place across the way where I saw things that I actually wanted to take home, and that I wish I had picked up for Christmas presents: the thin leather pencil case, music by Japanese artists, beautiful napkins. Unfortunately I won’t be there till tomorrow, but if you’re out there and need some gifts STAT, this is the place to go.

New People is a new favorite. Striking yet not flashy, the transparent building is accented by a red-framed doorway that bears its name. New People possesses a magnetism that draws not only one’s eyes but one’s curiosity, and there really is much to explore here. In addition to housing a fabulous shop, New People is also a place to enjoy a modern cultural experience. A counterpoint to the Japan Center, the J-pop center, as it’s referred to on their website, has an entire mini-city experience to offer in three stories…get ready: a café on the ground floor, Cinema Cafe; clothing stores and a nail joint upstairs; an art gallery that holds regular openings and a cinema. With rotating exhibits, Japanese films, and random finds that are nearly impossible to find in these waters, New People lives up to its name.

New People
1746 Post St.
San Francisco, CA 94115

TAGS: Things We Like

Photos Courtesy of Jesse Hlebo

Get your culture fix from Swill Children, the brainchild of Jesse Hlebo. It is hard to say exactly what Swill Children is, although on the website it says that it is ‘an umbrella, things reside under it.’
Clearly, the group/art collective/umbrella does not define itself, but we don’t really care. We just received an email from Hlebo with updates and news, and while we may not be able to say what they are, what they do sounds pretty damn cool. Here’s what’s up:

The NY Art Book Fair Report at PS1
Swill Children has a wall installation currently on view until November 29, featuring their wall installation from Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair

Lots of new publications! To name a few:
-Art-filled issues 5 and 6, Aural Marks
-a catalog of Hlebo’s work, entitled The Thoughtful American
-9/16/10 by James Yeh, a darkly funny and semi-autobiographical story

Swill Children Print Series
A growing print series of Risograph editions in an edition of 25. Each print utilizes different paper stocks and paper techniques.

On top of that, there’s original music on their website.

Our cup runneth over. So many things to experience in one place! Swill Children inspires us to grab whatever we can get our hands on-- pen, paints, guitar--and create.

More info and photos can be found at swillchildren.org

TAGS: Things We Like

RIDE_01 from SUITMAN/YOUNG KIM on Vimeo.

Young Kim aka Suitman just sent us this. Enjoy:

Welcome to Suitnation:Our recent trip to China for 50/20 anniversary tour. Here’s clips from our journey and many more to come. This event was sponsored by DIESEL and friends.

TAGS: Things We Like

Essentially there were 6 New York based magazines - and each was given a wall in the city to customize along the theme “The Future of the City.” We gave our friend and artist Kenzo Minami a buzz since we’ve been itching to work with him for some time. We immediately clicked on an idea about the de-centralization of media - and how each person these days is essentially their own little world. Kenzo sketched it up - we presented to Smart and a few weeks later it was on the wall on one of the main streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Crazy!

You can check out more of the Future of The City here.

TAGS: Things We Like

Nujabes (Jun Seba) passed away from a traffic accident earlier this year, and with all this talk of strife in the world today - here’s a friendly reminder to make the most of right now. Happy binary day! 100110.

TAGS: Things We Like

Built to Shred - highlight reel - season 2 from 2HeadedHorse on Vimeo.

One of the only shows I watch on TV these days seems to be this: Built To Shred on Fuel TV. I LOVE this show. The premise of it is that they jimmy-rig obstacles so one can skate/bike/wake, etc on it in a creative way. If you get Fuel TV definitely check the show out. Otherwise there’s always the interwebs. 

TAGS: Things We Like

ROBOTS>>>> I Hate Summer from Tali Clarke on Vimeo.

“A documentary film about artist collective ROBOTS>>>> filmed at the build of a large interactive sculpture at Secret Garden Party festival in July 2010. I was on site for 2 weeks, also helping to build, a truly inspiring time, and I hope the film reflects this! I filmed, directed, edited the piece. My set up was a Canon 7D with an EFS 17-55mm lens, and edited on FCP 6.”

TAGS: Things We Like