Namaiki Home Base in Kamakura, Japan

Every once in a while we check in on our friends at Namaiki, an organic group of creatives spearheaded by David Duval Smith and Michael Frank, just to hear about the wonderful things they’re up to. It seems like they’re really finding traction on their green graffiti projects as well as installation work for various museums and exhibitions. Here’s an excerpt of our iChat conversation this morning:

T: Hey D, all good with you?
DDS: very well. lots of interesting things. studying beekeeping.
T: super cool
DDS: japanese bees are really interesting . wild . the honey is 5times the price (of imported honey). we are making a wildflower herb sanctuary to keep heaps of hives in. We’ve got a couple of acres now (to work on).
T: How many people working with you?
DDS: Varies. sometimes alone in the garden , sometimes a big team in the bamboo forest.
T: What other stuff have you been working on?
DDS: Here’s a pic of the installation we did at the national museum of jogjakarta , indonesia
T: wow.
DDS: 200 species of useful food plant and herb jungles as sculpture. It’s a permanent installation. Free food forever.
T: wow.

Free Food Permanent Installation

DDS: Here’s a pic of the project Mike just finished at the Nam June Paik museum in Korea.

Nam June Paik Museum

Check out more of Namaiki’s work here. Spread the good word people!

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Meet Margaret and Helen, bloggers

“My name is Helen Philpot. I am 82 years old.  My grandson taught me how to do this so that I could “blog” with my best friend Margaret Schmechtman who I met in college almost 60 years ago.  I have three children with my husband Harold.  Margaret has three dogs with her husband Howard.  I live in Texas and Margaret lives in Maine.”

Well worth a read! http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/

Here’s an excerpt.

Well, I thought it was a good debate.  My hats off to Bob Shieffer… and my blouse too if he plays his cards right.  (Just don’t tell my husband.) But who the hell is Joe the Plumber?  Seriously.  What the hell was that all about?  Joe the Plumber?  Joe Six Pack?  The new McCain strategy seems to be banking on a lot of guys named Joe with a beer in one hand and a pipe wrench in the other.  Is this a political campaign or a dating service for the Palin women?

Meet Margaret and Helen, bloggers

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Dan Funderberg’s Obamabike

Dan Funderburgh is a Brooklyn based artist and printmaker, and is one of the most energetic people we know. He is channeling some of that frenetic energy into some new projects that will benefit the Obama campaign.

This bike was a collaboration between Dan and Geekhouse Bikes founder Marty Walsh - it’s a one of a kind track bike with some amazing components, including: a Thomson stem and seat post, an SDG Saddle, a Tioga Headset, Sugino Messenger Cranks/Ring, MKS Sylvan Track Pedals/Clips and Continental Tires. He’s put it up for auction on ebay with all proceeds being donated to the Obama campaign.

Go here, bid high, and bid now! Think of it as donating money to Obama, but then Dan gives you a bike in exchange!

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The Eyeball Challenge

Here’s a cool game for you if you want to look like you’re working but still want to do something mindless.

“The game works by showing you a series of geometries that need to be adjusted a little bit to make them right. A square highlights the point that needs to be moved or adjusted. Use the mouse to drag the blue square or arrowhead where you feel it is ‘right’. Once you let go of the mouse, the computer evaluates your move, so don’t let up on the mouse button until you are sure. The ‘correct’ geometry is also shown in green. To avoid the need for extra mouse clicks, a mouse button up counts as the move being finished, so be careful.

You will be presented with each challenge three times. The table to the right shows how you did on each challenge each time.”

http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/index.html

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This is on the pier at Brighton Beach. A sculpture piece was installed on the pier which looks like a real live vending machine - with two vending options: Heroin and Cocaine. It didn’t actually dispense either, but the reactions to the piece are hilarious.

Imbue also got press recently for his Sexy Snow White piece, where he snuck into the Disney store and filled some of the racks with doctored boudoir pics of Snow White. Not quite Banksy, but funny none the less.

Imbue - Not So White - The funniest bloopers are right here

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aliza lelah

We’ve been seeing the revival in the needle arts for awhile, and recently were introduced to Stitch Spectacular - an exhibit celebrating new frontiers in hand embroidery. You can check out more stitch artwork and details about upcoming events on their website, here.

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From woostercollective.com

Untitled from mudlevel on Vimeo.

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Chanel’s quilted 2.55 bag is a legendary icon on the arms of socialites and inside closets of fashionables everywhere. Now the design house is making it the focus of their latest venture: “Chanel Mobile Art”—an entire exhibit housed inside a collapsible pod that serves as a traveling museum. The futuristic-looking structure, called the Art Container, was personally commissioned by Karl Lagerfeld and designed by architect Zaha Hadid. The fashion-art-architecture event will be showcasing the creative interpretations of the symbolic Chanel bag through twenty cutting-edge artists from around the globe. With a talent roster that includes Yoko Ono, Lee Bul, and Russian collective Blue Noses, artistic interpretations are said to vary tremendously. Preparation for the project involved an intimate tour of Coco Chanel’s apartment in Paris and the workshops in Verneil where the bags are handmade. Taking Stephen Shore’s photographs portraying these workshops in the style of American landscape painting and pairing that with Sylvie Fleury’s leather-lined room—suddenly you feel like you’re walking inside a handbag. “Chanel Mobile Art” will be touring worldwide until 2010, making a stop this fall in New York City. The installation will be on view in Central Park at the Rumsey Playfield, a week from today, October 20th through November 9th.

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Dysemevas in Hong Kong will be featuring in their first pop up shop; innovative design talent from China. November 11th to December 21st, each week the theme of the exhibitions, along with the set up and artists will change. The themes highlighted in this years first show are beauteous, imaginarium, shine a light, freestyle, girl’s gone wild and chaotica. The artist’s work featured range from ceramics to denim to acessories and graphic art.Matthias Woo will be creating the gallery space and also the ajoining playroom; which will have activites according to each weeks theme.

266 Hollywood Road
Hong Kong
November 11th to December 21st 2008

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Scion’s L.A. gallery space will be home to a new show called TOKYO NONSENSE; featuring works by: artist group ChimPom, Iichiro Endo, Ai Kato (ai madonna), Sachiko Kazama and Taro Izumi.

This exhibition will contain performance, video, installation, drawing, painting and woodblock printing. The work of the artists represent the city itself in it’s delirious dynamic and it vibrant popular culture.

We are excited to see what Gabriel Ritter has to offer in his third independent curatorial project!

If you are in the neighborhood on October 4th, please stop by and check it out.

TAGS: Events, Things We Like