Beat Box: OK Go For It
Posted on March 4, 2010
Filed Under Beat Box, Music | Leave a Comment
So you’re sick of all your music and ready for some new tunes to rock out to? Have no fear, Culturcosm is here to rescue you from your funkless funk with the latest sounds from the music scene. Listen up.
What would our world be without YouTube? The internet’s most popular user-generated video site has spawned a new kind of hit parade. Aside from the nearly unrelenting supply of adorable (but also completely unnecessary) kitty videos, musicians have found a new outlet for fan manipulation. And it’s working. Remember “Single Ladies”— the marvel that launched a thousand copycats?
OK Go, aka the band that rocked the treadmill, created a record-breaking internet sensation for us in 2006 with a catchy song and cleverly-choreographed video. As expected, they’ve only just begun to wow us. They’ve enlisted the help of Syyn Labs to commemorate their new single “This Too Shall Pass” with one of the most elaborate Rube Goldberg experiments ever. Ok, now you’ve got our attention.
—Michael
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Say It Isn’t So: Vajazzling
Posted on March 1, 2010
Filed Under Beauty/Health, Say It Isn't So | Leave a Comment
We don’t normally track celebu-trends on Culturcosm but this one merits a special mention. Sequins and metallics have been a staple in designer’s toolkits for the past two runway seasons but this is the first I’ve heard of it hitting below the belt.
So you’ve heard of bedazzling, right? Well, think of this as bedazzling for your lady region. It comes with the Jennifer Love Hewitt seal of approval. And after you’re fully adorned with Swarovski crystals, there’ll be no denying the party in your pants.
—Michael
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Beat Box: Poom, Let’s Go Back To My Room
Posted on February 26, 2010
Filed Under Beat Box, Music | Leave a Comment
So you’re sick of all your music and ready for some new tunes to rock out to? Have no fear, Culturcosm is here to rescue you from your funkless funk with the latest sounds from the music scene. Listen up.
Everyone appreciates a little nostalgia. Turning the clocks back helps us understand where we’ve been and informs where we’re going. And, if nothing else, we get a kick out of reliving our dependance on Aqua Net.
It’s no secret that we’ve had our time machines tuned to the ’60s for a while. From Mad Men-inspired capsule collections to the Oscar-nominated film “An Education,” we’ve all but resurrected the Mashed Potato. Enter “Rollercoaster,” the new single from French sensation Poom. Its playful arrangements of banjo, harmonica and keyboards combine the best of folk and electro/pop. And its video, a showcase for the best of 1960s style. Director Côme de Bouchony animated his stars into layouts from of-the-era French music magazine “Salut les copains.” Ya dig?
—Michael
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Fancy That: Gold & Citrus Jewelry
Posted on November 27, 2009
Filed Under Design, Fancy That, Fashion, Shopping | Leave a Comment
There’s nothing like your first crush. And if you’re anything like us, you crush hard and often. This is where we pay homage to all things worthy of lusting after.
Sara fancies luxurious and inventive jewelry by Gold & Citrus. Just as the name suggests, their pieces are a little sweet and a little tart with designs that combine traditional elements—gold chains, gemstones, and beads—with more daring and unusual ones—feathers, studs, and antique wooden sequins. The collection offers something for every taste from simple and elegant, to sleek and sexy, to richly textured and exotic.
Gold & Citrus is a collaboration of local artists Sara Rossbach and Richard Combs. They work together on the jewelry designs, then Sara meticulously created each piece by hand with beads, sewing machine, and metalwork, while Rich makes sure the whole experience of their jewelry is equally beautiful with his packaging and website design.
Everything in their three unique jewelry lines—We’re Golden, Body & Soul, and Everyday, Everyway—represents the brand’s philosophy that luxury does not have to be so serious. Many pieces are asymmetrical, and some, such as the scarf-like Clementine necklace shown above, are designed to be worn several ways, giving the owner a chance to have fun and be comfortable wearing an eye-catching and made-to-order piece of jewelry.
The Gold & Citrus online shop is having a holiday sale! Use coupon code GOLDEN20 at checkout to SAVE 20% on the entire site, today through Monday, Nov. 30th.
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It’s Now or Never for Gallery Heist
Posted on November 24, 2009
Filed Under Art, Tenderloin | 1 Comment
Recently Culturcosm had a chance to chat with Julianne Yates, proprietor and curator of Gallery Heist, which just opened it’s first show “Now or Never” on November 14th. In an exclusive interview, she tells us what it’s like to be a 23-year-old from Los Angeles curating art in San Francisco and opening her first gallery amidst the art explosion in the Tenderloin.
What brought you from L.A. to San Francisco and what has kept you here?
At the time I was in a musical—my background down there was acting—and I was doing PR for a tri-annual fashion, music, and art event called Project Ethos, which is a really good vehicle and advocate for youth and the arts. Then all the projects I was working on in Orange County came to a natural end and I had an opportunity to move up here, just for the summer, and I took it. I ended up meeting an art consultant named Debbie Green who was working with Hyde Street Gallery. When I was about to move back to L.A. because I couldn’t find any work at all, I got a call from her asking if I would like to come work at the gallery.
How did Gallery Heist and your first show here become a reality?
I had this list of artists who I’d been watching for two years while I worked at Hyde Street, and was totally inspired by their work. One of the artists, Brett Amory, who I showed with at Hyde Street has been a huge inspiration to open the gallery and stay in San Francisco. He introduced me to pretty much everybody that I know in this art scene.
I was invited to sit and draw at a Sketch Tuesdays [at 111 Minna], one of the events that I’d watched for about a year and a half. When I finally went, I thought ‘this is amazing, why didn’t I come sooner?’ I met the curator, Brad [Alder], who knew that I was curating at Hyde Street and that I’d worked with Brett, so he invited me to co-curate Sketch Tuesdays. So I started rounding up artists, and then I met Gabe [Scott], who was the main curator for the Minna gallery. I told him I was opening a new gallery and asked him if he wanted to co-curate the first show with me.
I went to high school with [photographer Zach Lewis] and then caught up with him up here and he turned me on to Mike Giant. I was doing a fundraiser for Heist Gallery called Artcycle SF, and I contacted Mike to see if Rebel8 and The Skullz Press would be interested in sponsoring the alleycat [bike race] around the city.
What has been the most challenging or exciting thing about curating?
I don’t hang until I get all the artwork in here and then I lay it all out and then sit with it. My favorite part is hanging the shows. It’s almost like painting, you have this canvas and that’s the blank wall, and then all of your colors are all the different pieces. It’s just like how artists sometimes explain painting as building up and taking down. It’s like communicating with a piece—it will tell you when it’s done. [Hanging a show] is the same thing, in my eyes, it’s an art form that I enjoy.
How do you choose the artwork you want to show?
To me, art is language in common. You don’t have to speak the same language to understand what’s happening in a painting. I like it when the pieces are saying something, when they’re thought provoking and make you think something deeper. I love artwork that challenges whatever’s happening in the world or society. Like with Adam Caldwell’s pieces—he has the technical training and ability, but then he has these ideas that he’s able to execute, these socially challenging conceptual pieces that are backed with mad skill.
You had a great turnout for your first opening, how did it compare to your expectations?
I didn’t really have any expectations. Obviously you hope for the best, but I think I was so focused on making sure everything was hung and ready to go that I didn’t really think about the turnout. I had promoted as much as I could and there were people helping me out promoting, and I’m thankful to all those people. I guess I couldn’t have asked for a better turnout and I sold some work and so that’s awesome on top of everything.
How can a small gallery hope to be successful in this economy?
I think the key is lower price points, smaller works, more volume, less margin. In this show there were 51 pieces from 21 different artists, all the prices range from $50 prints from Mike Giant, to Kevin Taylor’s piece, which is $4,900. I want to be able to have that range, so if someone can’t afford the art, they can buy it on a T-shirt, and experience the art, support and promote it, and be a part of it. I’m not going to only cater to people who can afford $3,000 paintings.
How does your own work fit into your plans for Heist?
I’ve always considered myself a writer. I don’t have anything published yet, but I plan to. I definitely want to tie that aspect into the gallery, with open mic events and publishing books, eventually getting my own publishing company, publishing my work and the work of others. I’m talking to The Beat Museum about starting that sort of endeavor. Acting will always be a part of my life and hopefully, I believe this will lead me back into that. And photography—I’m always continuing to build on that.
What about the long-term plans for the gallery?
Ideally, the long-term goal for Gallery Heist would be to open up a location in Los Angeles so I could get back there, and definitely in New York. I’m really hopeful. I believe in the art here and the artists, and I see it taking off. Just look what’s happening on Geary Street with me and Kokoro [Studio], and Ever Gold, and Public. White Walls definitely paved the road for conscious art and provided the groundwork for us to be here, along with Fecal Face and Ratio 3.
What makes the art you’re showing and the galleries in the Tenderloin important?
Our history is being documented by with these artists. These are the people who are saying something about our society, and taking the risk to be protestors and advocates of conscious art. I think the future is beginning. It’s DIY and it’s just cool. It’s so fun to see these young people saying ‘this is the art that we want to see’ and being able to have the courage and passion to open up a spot and rough it out, and really do it. It’s places like this that are making the movement. It’s finding more alternative spaces like this that are going to put San Francisco on the map, I think, as an International scene. People want it. There are so many young people here in San Francisco, and here is art by young people for young people, and for everybody. There’s a sense of belonging and community here, which I think is important.
You’re 23—some people might be surprised at someone taking on such an ambitious endeavor at your age. What would you say to them?
When am I ever going to do this in my life again? It still hasn’t really set in—what I’m doing, I just know that it feels right. This is happening, this is life, this is what it’s all about. I’ll write about this in twenty years and it’ll be a cool story, once it takes off.
Gallery Heist is located at 679 Geary St. at Leavenworth in San Francisco.
Stop in to say hello and check out “Now or Never,” Tuesdays-Saturdays, noon-midnight, Sundays, noon-6pm.
—Sara
Photos courtesy of Greg Jacobs.
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Fancy That: The Brixton Pound
Posted on November 20, 2009
Filed Under Design, Fancy That | Leave a Comment
There’s nothing like your first crush. And if you’re anything like us, you crush hard and often. This is where we pay homage to all things worthy of lusting after.
Michael fancies the movement towards local currencies. The streets of London may be regulated by the pound sterling, but one neighborhood is fueling its success with a different type of capital— the Brixton Pound.
Think of it as a bold, new experiment to boost the economy by investing your money where it counts— in local commerce. Global trade may be becoming more and more the norm, but independent business owners and fiscally-conscious locavores are finding that grassroots efforts like the Brixton Pound (B£) are key to building a resilient economy. Acting as a catalyst for civic pride and building community awareness, local currencies encourage a mutual support system that, through keeping money in their neighborhood, continues to sustain itself. And with vibrantly-designed denominations like these, who wouldn’t be encouraged to spend?
The B£ follows the successful introduction of the Totnes Pound in Devon, Lewes Pound in Sussex and Stroud Pound in Gloucestershire. Could district-controlled monetary systems be the wave of the future? Is encouraging a more cash-based society the answer to the credit crisis? It’s no government bailout, but it’s definitely a plan you can take to the bank.
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Fancy That: Artwork by Hilary Williams
Posted on November 13, 2009
Filed Under Art, Fancy That, Nob Hill | Leave a Comment
There’s nothing like your first crush. And if you’re anything like us, you crush hard and often. This is where we pay homage to all things worthy of lusting after.
Sara fancies the colorful and imaginative works of local artist Hilary Williams. Her limited edition screen prints incorporate layers of photography, stencils, paintings, and drawings to express wistfully charming moments in and around San Francisco. Much of her work explores the juxtaposition of the urban and natural elements of life here, capturing both the soothing beauty of the City, and its prickly underlying energy.
“My works deals with a variety of emotions about the coexistence of our urban landscape, nature and humanity… I desire to create a surreal vision of reality that incorporates the past, present, and future of our worlds, landscapes, and characters, causing reflections on where we are today”
Hilary also plays with her methods of combined media and layered materials to create textural paintings that defy the bounds of a frame, and wonderfully engaging fabric sculptures that seem to invite you into a secret magical world.
Take a peek at Hilary’s work in person, including her new “Petite Prints,” at her solo show opening tomorrow at Tedda Hughes gallery boutique. While you’re there you can peruse the works of other talented local clothing and jewelry designers including those of the proprietor herself. You can also visit Hilary in her studio every Wednesday, 4-7pm, and learn all about her creative process.
Opening reception is Saturday, Nov. 14th, 7-10pm. Tedda Hughes is located at 1623 Polk St., between Sacramento and Clay in San Francisco. Open Wed., Thurs., Sun., noon-7:30pm; Fri. and Sat., noon-9:30pm.
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Fancy That: This Table Will Self-Destruct
Posted on November 13, 2009
Filed Under Fancy That | Leave a Comment
There’s nothing like your first crush. And if you’re anything like us, you crush hard and often. This is where we pay homage to all things worthy of lusting after.
Kay fancies the self-destructing wood and concrete coffee table from Studio 1 a.m. Etched with the warning, “This Table Will Self-Destruct,” every piece is crafted as a series of concrete pixels. Each time the studio produces a new table, the design team removes one pixel from the design. Part eye-catching sculpture, part social commentary on mass production, the idea is that every new table presents a universal pattern of self-degradation, becoming more intricate and multidimensional as it diminishes until, ultimately, it is no longer useful.
One cannot help but embrace the irony that, when placed adjacent to a person’s preferred at-home seating arrangement, it’s a pedestal for serving all things self-destructive. We’ll leave the rest for your imagination to construct.
Studio 1 a.m. is the brainchild of Chicago-based design partners Donna Piacenza and Jody Work. The duo specialize in creating cerebral yet functional objects for home and for you.
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Anime Vérité
Posted on November 11, 2009
Filed Under Film | Leave a Comment
Revivals are part of our cultural tapestry. It’s common and even respected for today’s crop of artists to look to the past for inspiration or to pay well-deserved homage to our imaginative forebearers. Fine art, design, fashion, architecture, music, theater and especially film reap the benefits of the cyclical nature of fads and genre, made modern through visionary hands and cutting-edge technology. Planet of the Apes, notwithstanding.
Animation has long been one of the most time-honored forms of filmmaking. From the earliest of line-drawn shorts to the proliferation of world-class studios like Disney and Pixar, animated storytelling has propelled audiences into the surreal kaleidoscope of our imaginations. And as we continue to realize new styles and reinvent the old, our animated fantasies are surprisingly appearing more and more real.
Today kicks off San Francisco’s 4th Annual International Animation Festival, a 5-day showcase of the newest offerings in both commercial and independent animation at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema. Opening the festival this year is the long-awaited adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic Fantastic Mr. Fox [above]. Director Wes Anderson brings together the voice talents of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Willem Dafoe and Anderson-regulars Owen Wilson and Bill Murray in an impassioned play to rekindle our childhood memories.
The festival spotlight seems to shine brightest, however, on the contributions from abroad. Mamoru Oshii, whose credits include Ghost in the Shell and scripting Blood: The Last Vampire, brings Japan Edo period to life with Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai, the story of the origins of the Niten Ichi-ryu, a legendary form of Japanese sword-fighting.
My pick is Sweden’s Metropia, a haunting vision of a future rife with corporate domination and self-induced paranoia. The hyper-realistic animation, steadily becoming the favored style choice among Hollywood animators, is only part of the draw here. Director Tarik Saleh weaves a socially conscious story of a carefully-controlled society in a world running dangerously low on oil. Just keep telling yourself, it’s only a movie.
—Michael
Check the San Francisco International Animation Festival homepage for a schedule of events and showtimes. Festival screenings at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema.
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Fancy That: Ateliers Ruby Helmets
Posted on November 6, 2009
Filed Under Design, Fancy That, Fashion, Rockridge, Walnut Creek | Leave a Comment
There’s nothing like your first crush. And if you’re anything like us, you crush hard and often. This is where we pay homage to all things worthy of lusting after.
Michael fancies the lux line of jet helmets from Les Ateliers Ruby. Their sleek carbon fiber shell and crimson nappa lambskin lining bring together the best in material science and retro styling. The result— the ultimate status symbol for, as Ruby puts it, “everyday heroes and heroines.”
The Pavillon is Ruby’s flagship, open-faced model and is currently offered in three distinct colorways— Shibuya (peppermint), Concorde (black) and St. Honore (white). The Belvedere model builds on the classic form with the added feature benefit of a full-face visor, showing a clear homage to American and Japanese science fiction.
It’s no surprise that founder Jerome Coste drew his inspiration from the legendary speed racer himself Steve McQueen. It doesn’t get much cooler than that.
Ateliers Ruby helmets are available in the Bay Area at either Vespa of Walnut Creek (2780 Camino Diablo) or Rockridge Two Wheels in Oakland (5291 College Avenue).
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Culturcosm is your online authority on the climate of trend throughout the Bay Area. Your roving reporters are taking to the streets and chasing down the real story. Be it stormy or serene, torrid or just plain tragic, we will break it down before you hit it up. Stay tuned. There's a new trend breaking every minute.
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Kay, founder / contributing editorkay@culturcosm.com
Sara, trendcaster / managing editorsara@culturcosm.com
Heather, social commentatorheather@culturcosm.com
Taylor, music trendcastertaylor@culturcosm.com
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