I’m probably wildly late on this one as, contrary to popular opinion, I don’t spend that much time trawling the internet for crap unless I’m hungover. And thus it was that the morning after SteveSane’s birthday party found me idly browsing what my mum, in conflation of the various advances in communications technology that now blight our modern lives, refers to as ‘YouFace’. Anyway this popped up by mistake after I was hoodwinked by what appeared to be a video of a naked lady but was in fact an appalling rundown of the latest viral meta-memes, i.e. videos of cats dancing. Amidst the gurgling babies and skateboarding canaries, one video caught my eye and seemed worthy of further investigation to ease my troubled head.
Basically it’s a bunch of dudes who put American news clips through the auto-tune treatment (as popularised by Kanye West, leading exponent of ludicrously self-aggrandising arrogance and dressing like a space clown). Unfortunately they themselves then jump into the resulting videos, but if you can get past the occasional facetious bit there are some gems in there. I particularly like the “very thin ice” theme, and I dig the way it frequently sounds like a soup of regurgitated parts of R Kelly’s ‘Trapped in the Closet’ but with added cries of “shortayyyy” over dribbling sentimental teenage sex beats - in short, exactly like an Usher song. The other great thing is how weird the US news is, auto-tune or no auto-tune: appalling jokes, senators debating the merits of turtle fences, Michael Jackson “waking up dead” etc. T-Pain is in one of them, Gordon Brown sings in another and all the US newsreaders are hot cougars. Sorry about all this, I’m mildly hungover today too.
Late last year I was lucky enough to visit India with the charity TRAID and Ms. Erin O’Connor. She was visiting women working in the textile industry who have massively benefited from work done by TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid & International Development). Their clothing recycling banks and second-hand shops here in the UK fund projects that ensure fair wages for women working out there who are using traditional embroidery techniques on pieces that end up selling for a pittance on the high street here.
That man Mergs has done some original artwork for the launch of the Adidas Superstar 80 x Pochoir shoe (part of the 523 artist pack), to be unveiled at the Adidas Concept store tomorrow night, 6 Newburgh Street London, W1F 7RQ.
Pochoir’s kicks are part of a series of modified classic Adidas joints by artists from around the world, and Pochoir himself has handpicked Mergs alongside 6 other artists to exhibit exclusive pieces especially for the show. Below are a couple teaser images but I suggest you get yourself down to the store to get a real look at the incredible detail and craftsmanship that goes into the delicacy of Mergs artwork, plus the kicks of course!
You can check a preview of the Superstar 80 x Pochoir here.
Check out the trailer for the upcoming release of the Film ‘London to Paris’, directed by Grace La Doja, under her newly formed All Or Nothing Productions Company.
The film follows a group of 10 riders who make the journey accross the Channel to meet up with the living superman that is Lance Armstrong, and is set to premiere in New York at the end of this month. The film was made in conjunction with Nike Sportwear’s CTRS Project…
“…Over twenty renowned artists such as Kaws, Shepard Fairey and Jose Parla have donated thier time and creativitey to Express the LIVESTRONG message…” Find out more about Stages here.
This Saturday sees the return of StreetFest to east London. The last two installments of this unique live art/fashion/music event were a huge success, and Second Son have been asked to put on a fashion show this time round.
Now we’re not too well versed in the art of vogueing and Blue Steel, so we’ve put together something a little different featuring the catwalk prowess of Nash Money and Raskitt and performances from Professor Green, Session and Reeps One.
We were also invited by Adidas to create 8 pairs of Second Son kicks using their ‘mi Originals’ system, all of which will be shown for the first time on Saturday.
The fashion show will start at 7pm and we’ll also have a stall set up where you can get your hands on Second Son products including the very last of our new Spitfire and Deer Hunter button-up shirts. The event also features live art from the likes of Mergs and Secret Wars alongside music, independent film and skate demos on a 30ft vert ramp.
For all the info you need on StreetFest, visit the Facebook page or click on the thumbnail below…
