I Heart Cereal

If you know me well, you'll know that I love cereal!  I am not overly picky... I love most cereals.  So take my infatuation with cereal and then add in vintage artwork and that just puts a big smile on my face.  This is an unbelievable collection of vintage cereal boxes and I just can't get enough.  Why can't they bring these back into the stores?!  

Lori's Vintage Cereal Box Superlatives:

Favorite box (for design): The original Froot Loops

Favorite name: Sir Grapefellow (but there are so many other amazing ones!)

Creepiest box: Sugar Rice Krinkles (clown version)

Most undesirable name: Crunchy Loggs

Most hilarious name: (Be a) Mister Muscle

Oddest name: Grins & Smiles & Giggles & Laughs (huh??)

Favorite character: Corn Flake Banana-man

Most unlikely to succeed: Fruity Freakies

Thanks to The Dieline for this amazing find!

Yarn Bombing

So, it's been a month and a half since my last post, but I'm keeping with the street art theme.  This time though... its Yarn Bombing!  Yarn bombing (also called yarnbombing, yarnstorming, guerrilla knitting, or graffiti knitting) is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted cloth rather than paint or chalk.  Yarn bombers target anything from parking meters and trees to statues, cars and buses and like most street artists, these knitters often do their work in the middle of the night. Some artists , like "The Ladies Fancywork Society", hide themselves behind crocheted masks while they work, and although it is technically illegal, there are yet to be any known arrests.  This colorful street art has become such a global phenomenon, that it even has its own day now.  June 11, 2011 was the first annual International Yarnbombing Day.  This is a movement I could get behind!

A knit bike in Brooklyn. Image by Steve Faust.  Imagine having to undue this before your ride home.

This amazing leg warmer on a Parisian statue is a piece by the Knitta Please founder and the mother of yarn bombing, Magda Sayeg.

This Parisian pothole was decorated by activist Juliana Santacruz Herrera.  For more of her work, check this out!

Agata Oleksiak's (Olek) homage to Banksy as seen in The NY Times article, "Graffiti's Cozy, Feminine Side."

This yarn bombed army tank is shown in the book, Yarn Bombing, featuring artists from Yarnbombing.com.
This is definitely one of my favorites because it takes something so tough and destructive and makes it cute and harmless looking.  The little ball of yarn coming out of the gun is amazing!

A colorful picnic by Knitta Please.

And yet another amazing piece by Knitta Please.

Now I just need to see an awesome yarn bomb in person!
Thanks to Apartment Therapy for the info!

Tape up street art

Mark Jenkins, an artist living in Washington DC, makes art from packing tape.  Jenkins then places his art in odd public spaces that can either bring frustration, confusion or laughter to the lucky people who come across it! 

Jenkins explains his process: “The process is really simple: wrap the object and/or person (perhaps yourself), and then cover it using the plastic film. Then wrap this figure in packing tape. Take a pair of scissors or a knife and cut one end. Take the cast out from inside and then seal the hole. Your model is now ready.”

Here are some of my favorites!

Street Fair

Nature's Carousel

Sweet Parking Meters

Overgrown Phone

Bring It Down

An Afternoon Swim

Baby Tricks

“Interfacing street sculpture in public space creates an installation environment that turns regular space into art space. Signs and people and everything around a street sculpture—they all become part of it. A two-dimensional work, being confined to surfaces, doesn’t have as much of a capacity.”

Thanks to my colleague Justin for the cool find.

For more on Mark Jenkins, check out his website or Twisted Sifter.

Savage Beauty

From May 4–August 7, 2011, Alexander McQueen's Savage Beauty is on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  A friend of mine went to see it and said it brought her to tears.  I would love to get the chance to see it before it comes down.

In the meantime, The MET has a great blog up about the show with videos, commentary, photos, explanations and words from models, friends, designers and McQueen himself.

Separated into 6 different galleries,  the exhibition includes approximately one hundred ensembles and seventy accessories from McQueen’s prolific nineteen-year career.

While I have included a selection of some of my favorite pieces shown on the blog, I highly suggest taking a trip through the pages and videos yourself.  You won't be disappointed.

Ensemble, No. 13, spring/summer 1999

White cotton muslin spray-painted black and yellow with underskirt of white synthetic tulle.

 

This dress was created live with 2 robots spraying a white dress while model Shalom Harlow spun like a music box dancer.... A must watch video!

Ensemble, It's Only a Game, spring/summer 2005

Dress and obi-style sash of lilac and silver brocade; jacket of lilac silk faille embroidered with silk thread; top of nude synthetic net embroidered with silk thread.

Inspired by Peter Weir’s film Picnic at Hanging Rock, the collection itself was staged as a live chess game (see video), and the inspiration for the chess game came from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.









I love how the the mannequin in this particular dress has a helmet of hair covering her face. Most of the other pieces have armor or fabric covering the mannequin's face.

Dress, Sarabande, spring/summer 2007
Nude silk organza embroidered with silk flowers and fresh flowers

“Jellyfish” Ensemble 
Plato’s Atlantis, spring/summer 2010
Dress, leggings, and “Armadillo” boots embroidered with iridescent enamel paillettes.

Part of the Romantic Naturalism gallery, Plato's Atlantis was the last fully realized collection the designer presented before his death in February 2010. Inspired by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859), it presented a narrative that centered not on the evolution of humankind but on its devolution.

This outfit in particular was almost the exact outfit Lady Gaga wore in her Bad Romance video.

Ensemble, No. 13, spring/summer 1999
Prosthetic legs of carved elm wood.

Part of a beautiful ensemble that included, a brown leather corset and cream silk lace skirt, these gorgeous prosthetic legs were carved specifically for Aimee Mullins. Mullins is a world-class Paralympic athlete, and she actually modeled the boots for his 1999 show.  Most people viewing the show assumed they were wooden boots, but in reality, they were the model's legs!

Shaun Leane for Alexander McQueen
“Coiled” Corset- The Overlook, autumn/winter 1999–2000
Aluminum

The “Coiled” Corset was created by casting the model’s torso in concrete to get an exact form, and then literally formed coil by coil, front and back.  The model was placed into the corset, and then it’s screwed all along the side, and up the arms, and beside the neck. There are tiny, little bolts, so the model’s actually screwed into the piece.

Inspired by the coiled necklaces of the Ndebele people of southern Africa, McQueen gave jeweler Shaun Leane the daunting task of transforming the necklace into a corset, pushing the boundaries of how jewelry should be perceived and how it should be worn.

“You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s what I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition.”

—Alexander McQueen

Munday on a Monday

Oliver Munday is a graphic designer that co-founded “Piece”, a socially based design collaborative, with Bernard Canniffe and Mike Weikert. Piece believes that designers can play a significant role in positive change and social justice.  In 2010 Munday was named one of PRINT magazine's “20 under 30,” in the new visual artists review.

He created this slightly disturbing, yet amazing 3-D alphabet created from melted and molded plastic green army men and unbelievably detailed hand-drawn jacket using a Sharpie!

For more information about Munday and his work, go to ArtNectar
or his website.
























 

Pickle Things

Clearly food is important to me since I have multiple posts that involve it in some form.  And here is yet another!  I love these little handmade recycled felt toys by Pickle Things!  They are cute as decoration or for playing.  Check out all of their styles on Etsy.

IKEA.

Back in the summer of 2001, IKEA teamed with Absolut Vodka to create this amazing 3D ad of a NYC studio apartment.  Well before I was shopping at IKEA, I remember seeing this billboard while I was in the city one day.  I used to love Absolut ads so I photographed it to add to my collection.  If I had the patience, I would attempt to search through my old photo albums to find it!  
For now, I'll just post this one I found on the internet.
 

I never saw this IKEA Tetris ad in person but wish I had!  Such a fun, creative way to sell their furniture.  
 
And if I wasn't tempted to re-decorate my entire house every time I walked into an IKEA, I would probably go shopping there more often!
 

Banana-Fana-Fo-Fana

Resin?  No.  Marble?  No.  Bananas?  Oh yeah!
Japanese artist y_yamaden creates these cool, extremely detailed sculptures from ripe bananas.
Thanks to Laughing Squid for the find.

The (more-than-a) Bike Shelf

While visiting his friends small apartments, Chris Brigham noticed how bikes always got in the way.  So, he designed the solution. The Bike Shelf.  Made from solid wood and suspended by a steel square rod mount, the shelf not only holds most bikes, it serves as a book shelf as well.  It's a great space saver and conversation starter at the same time!  See more at Knife & Saw.

RISD Senior Textile Show

I went to check out the RISD Senior Textile Show yesterday and here are some of my favorite/memorable pieces.

Kathryn Cox

"Farm Raised" (Jacquard, Polyester, Rayon, Cotton)

 

Detail of intricate newspaper print pattern.

I couldn't find an artist/title for this one.  

It was created by overlaying two printed transparent silk layers to create a blurry, seemingly Bjork inspired pattern,

 

Detailed view.

 

 

 Brittany Gwen Bennet 

"Mumbled German Fables IV" (Jacquard, Woven Mohair, Cotton & Rayon)

This was a very cool structured, geometric jacket.

 

Front view.

 

 Amy Yuen Jung Yang

"Untitled III" (Wood & Paper)

 

Oona Brangam Snell

"Midnight Snack" (Jacquard, Woven Polyester & Cotton).

Not one of my favorites but I was just intrigued by the meat and tic-tac-toe.

 

Nora Macleod

"Untitled" (Jacquard, Wool, Silk, Rayon, Olefin)

This one had a great 3D feel. 

 

Kayla Mattes

This one was so odd, I just had to show it.  They were creatively named, from left to right:

"Smiley Naomi," "Slimed Cindy," "Windows Claudia," and "Galactic Tyra...

yeah, I'm not sure about this one! 

 

Eunie Kim

"Shawl" (Fabric Collage/Knit)

I liked how this fabric had the visual effect of a plastic/vinyl but was actually a soft and silky.

 

Audrey Pondek

"Quarry Wall" (Digitally Printed Silk)

Very dimensional with a lot of details when you looked closer. 

 

Elsinore Carabetta

"Felt, Fur & Braids"

Sweater: Alpaca Wool (painstakingly looped into this textural sweater) 

Necklaces: Wood & Linen

 

Detailed view.