We’re both so incredibly proud.
I am completely without words, which is unusual for me. I’m sure Kim would agree.
Congrats, Barack.
OBEY the Boston ICA.
October 24, 2008 · 1 Comment
A lot can be said about Shepard Fairey. He is one of, if not the driving force in bringing graffiti and street art into the mainstream market place. He took an artform obsessed with spray paint and letters, and made stickers and wheatpasting the thing to talk about (not without help from REVS and COST of New York). He taught any interested graffiti writer the meaning of “phenomenology” and helped them to see that they were already helping to define the word themselves. In short, he helped to usher graffiti, one of the symbols of American modern art, into its very own “post-” period.
It’s well-known that Mr. Fairey began his stickering in Providence, a short drive from Boston, some time around 1989. From here, he took his sticker and wheatpasting campaign and went global, with the image of Andre the Giant and the message “OBEY” spreading across North America, Europe, and Asia. He has seen many imitators, detractors, and coat-tail-riders, but the man has persevered, evolving his work to his own tastes and reflecting the world around him. And this week, our local hero returns.
The Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston calls Mr. Fairey “one of today’s best known and most influential street artists,” and on February 6, 2009 his first solo museum show will open there, titled “Supply & Demand.” As a means of promoting the show, and as a way of breaking the typical “museum show” mold, the ICA has also organized a series of several wheatpaste installations throughout Boston’s neighborhoods, displaying Mr. Fairey’s newest motifs and imagery. The installations are a very impressive return to Boston for Mr. Fairey, who hasn’t had a show in town for a few years.
On a personal note, this reminds me of my first weeks in Boston, back in 1999; I was just starting my own tour in art school, at the Massachusetts College of Art. At this point, Shepard Fairey was a household name, if the household was that of a graffiti writer’s. I can clearly remember waiting to cross the street to class and looking down at the base of a light post to see a faded, yet untouched, Andre face stenciled in black on the shiny metal. Tags abounded all around it, but none dared to clip this stencil (a sign of true respect in the world of graffiti). It was probably close to 10-years-old even then — vintage OBEY. I would pass that stencil almost everyday while attending college, it became a friendly face. Years later, sometime after graduating, I went back to see if Andre was still there. Alas, he was not, but that is the true nature of graffiti — a lot of turn-over, going over, and overkill. But Mr. Fairey presses on, ever present in cities worldwide.
The photos included in this article are all examples of the city-wide installations that went up this week in Boston.
One more, in action:
Categories: Boston · Graffiti · art · artists · public art
Tagged: art, Boston, Graffiti, ICA, OBEY, public art, Shepard Fairey, street art, wheatpaste
COOSH headphones.
October 21, 2008 · 2 Comments
We recently opened The Function Key mailbox and found, to our pleasant surprise, a package from COOSH headsets! Inside were a pair of its iPod/mp3 player headphones, sent in some very fun packaging.
To review the sound quality of the COOSH headphones, I decided to listen to The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips. It’s long been a favorite album of mine, particularly for the band’s incredibly fun usage of stereophonic technology, so it seemed like the perfect choice for my COOSH headset test drive.
The results:
- Great promo packaging! My promo pack arrived with the left headset wrapped around an over-sized rubber ear — very funny! I’ve taken to wearing the ear to surprise Kim when she comes home from work. I’d even go as far as to compare myself with a little kid on Christmas, playing with the box the toy came in (the ear) as much as the toy itself (the headphones).
- The COOSH headphones have a nice design as well, clearly taking a page from the well known Apple headset design, while distinguishing themselves with a soft grey color and, of course, by the highly-functional “earrings.” As much as I like the headphones, I would argue that there are perhaps too many extras/doo-dads along the cord– two types of clips seem a bit excessive for the cord.
- The COOSH tagline is “Stays On. Feels Good,” and they mean it. I’ve worn them for a few hours at a time on several occasions, and I’ve had no trouble with the ear pieces staying on. If they just stayed on, that would be one thing, but they also really do feel very comfortable. I tend to stray away from earbud-style headphones — to be honest, I truly prefer a pair of large, cushy, “fighter-pilot” style of headphone, but that style isn’t too practical for riding on a crowded bus. The aforementioned “popular” brand of earbuds often leave my inner ears aching after a short listen, but due to some sort of soft-yet-firm rubber material used for the construction of the COOSH models, my ears feel no discomfort at all!
- I must say, The Soft Bulletin sounded incredible. The album has a lot of subtleties and dynamic layering, and the COOSH completely delivered. They provided encapsulating sound and noise reduction that is not usually found with other earbud-style headphones. They also had impressive bass tones for the type of headphones, and they never got too fuzzy or muddled.
- The price of these little guys is only 20 bucks. When I learned this fact, I was shocked. A little “picky consumer” voice in my brain (which I wish didn’t exist) sort of questioned such a low price — why are they so cheap? Is there a flaw? They seem to be of high quality thus far, but of course there’s no way to know how long-term use will affect the little speakers. Frankly, the price is so great that you should take the risk.
So now I’ve switched over to my new, soft-grey COOSH headphones, and we here at The Function Key recommend that you pick up a pair, too.
Categories: design · technology
Tagged: comfortable earbud headphones, COOSH headphone review, COOSH Headphones, COOSH headset, earbud headphones, headphone reviews, headphones that stay on
Thank God my pores produce diamonds
August 19, 2008 · No Comments
Categories: fashion
Tagged: Deven Green, fashion, parody, Welcome to my Face
Mr. Lee’s Cat-Cam
July 24, 2008 · 1 Comment
Growing up, my family always had outdoor cats. Often, our cats would be gone for the majority of the day, or overnight, leaving my sister and I to wonder excitedly about our cats’ whereabouts. Occassionally they would return to our house with clues of adventure: burrs, mud, a scratch here and there, etc., furthering our fanstastic speculation of their feline meandering.
If you’ve ever wondered where your outdoor cat wanders off to, I encourage you to visit this site: Mr. Lee’s Cat Cam, where Mr. Lee, a lovely cat from Denmark, has been outfitted with his very own collar-cam.
Below, I have included some of my favorite photo’s from Mr. Lee’s daily travels:
Categories: animals · technology
Tagged: animals, follow your pet, Mr. Lee's Cat Cam, pet cam, technology, the secret lives of cats
Got a quarter for a cap?
July 21, 2008 · No Comments
It happens all the time: you’re out, and you’ve “come across” some paint, but you’ve got no fat caps. What can you do? Well, if you’re lucky, the pizzeria or bar you’re currently wasting time in has one of these vending machines, courtesy of the Smart Crew:
Each fat cap also comes with a fortune! More vending machines with other caps (pink dots, german outline caps, etc.) will be appearing around NYC later this summer at various locations.
If you’re interested in hosting a Smart Crew vending machine at your place of business, contact the boys at smartcrewusa@gmail.com
Categories: Graffiti · Street Culture
Tagged: DCEVE, fat cap vending machines, Graffiti, MARTY, NY fat cap, rusto fat cap, SINATRA, Smart Crew, Street Culture, vending machines
Just a kid growing up, in the U.S.A.
July 4, 2008 · 2 Comments
SANE grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood of NYC, a veritable pressure cooker of population. Surrounded by the subway graffiti of the day, he and his brother SMITH found inspiration that would take them to the heights of graffiti in New York. Sadly, it wouldn’t be long before SANE, an individual with troubles unknown to anyone, would tragically take his own life. To this day, SMITH continues to keep his brother’s name alive and well, in the streets of New York, and on freight cars rolling all over the US.
I would like to share some examples of SANE’s work, all commemorating Independence Day, and this great nation:
Painted in honor of the many men and women who for years lived in virtual secrecy beneath the city of New York.
“Picture us coolin’ out on the 4th of July, and if you heard we were celebratin’, that’s a worldwide lie!“
Categories: Graffiti · holidays
Tagged: 4th of July, Freedom Tunnel, Graffiti, holidays, New York, SANE, SANE SMITH, SMITH
Asos Cassette Tape Watch.
June 27, 2008 · 1 Comment
Not only does this over-sized chrome watch conjure memories of my father in the 80’s, or of some science teachers I had in grade school, but of hours and hours spent leaning over a tape-to-tape boombox, with a dozen or so of my favorite cassettes splayed out on the floor, jockeying for position on the mixtape I am lovingly making.
For £35.00, this stainless steel beauty can be yours from UK-based Internet retailer asos. I especially love how the cassette reels have become the separate hour and minute displays on the analog clock. A closer look:
Categories: design · jewelry
Tagged: asos, cassette tape watch, over sized watch
KRINK meets Ferrari.
June 27, 2008 · 1 Comment
I’ve long supported KRINK for their extremely high-quality inks and tools, and their consistently envelope-pushing innovation. I’m a loyal customer and I’ve written about the company a couple of times in previous blog posts. Most importantly, I’ve often been impressed with their variety of collaborative projects with other designers, but I really never expected to see KRINK contribute to a project like this:
Behold: KRINK’s new chrome Ferrari 599 GTB!
Craig Costello, my hat is off. I guess the ink biz pays a lot better than I thought… Crazy!
Categories: Graffiti · Street Culture · design
Tagged: ink, Craig Costello, graffiti supplies, KR, Krink, KRINK x Ferrari, KRINK Ferrari collaboration, chrome Ferrari, Ferrari 599 GTB
Sergio Rossi paint pumps.
June 24, 2008 · No Comments
Not much to say about these shoes, other than that they are some very alluring pumps. To me, they are a great example of just how sexy graffiti can be. Yum!
Categories: Graffiti · fashion
Tagged: Sergio Rossi paint pumps, drips, graffiti in fashion
