Hi everyone…
So, it’s been a while since the last posting…and, that’s because we’ve been up to a few things…like, attending the New York Art Director’s Club Portfolio Review, settin up shop at the Academy of Art University’s Spring Show (a special thanks for everyone who came out), and most importantly, finally graduated grad school!!! Woooowoooo…so, now what? Well, that’s what we’ve been working on. Keep posted for more to come, cuz you know it will;)
In the meantime, we have been getting a ton responses from wonderful people who want to get involved, so, if you, too, wanna get down, send us an email at WhatsUp@TheSoftSpot.org, and we’ll be sure to get in touch.
Just wanted to thank everyone for coming out for the WHAT THE *#&! IS SOCIAL DESIGN opening reception on March 12th! It was a fabulous evening filled with inquiring minds, design enthusiasts, and soft serve ice cream cones. We absolutely enjoyed every moment of the night and got to meet some fantastic new softys. You can check out some photos and some short videos from the event on the softy crew facebook page. As the exhibition comes to a close this upcoming Saturday (March 28th) we hope that those of you who didn’t make it to the opening can check it out before its finale.
You can also catch up on a bunch of fabulous softy stories and blog postings about the exhibition…
Thank you so much everyone for being a huge part of the project, we/I/all of us couldn’t have done without the help and devotion from each of you/us!
Thanks for being a softy!
Hi everyone! Welcome back from a much needed holiday vacation. Hope everybody had their fair share of cookies, wine, christmas trees, family, and good times. The Softys are back in effect, and will be bloggin in the new year. Keep visiting, as the SoftSpot exhibition is approaching quite fast and we will have a ton of info to fill you in on as time grows near. Until then…
“It’s time to take our power away from the oil companies and the car companies and the greedheads who run them. We’re going to get smart and say no. Now is the time for a whole movement that says no. No gas. No foreign oil. No cars. No paint. No gears. No logos. No lycra. No bullshit.”
The Nada Revolution has begun, and the SoftSpot has joined. Nada bikes are a fresh take on the cycling culture coming from Project M and Maverick founder, John Bielenberg. An unpainted steel single-speed bike frame was donated to build up and custy out. Now, all you fixie enthusiasts can catch a glimpse of how Nada gets down…here’s a lil bit of my process thus far…
We designed a technique for hanging the bike frame so that we could work on it. (wooden dowel and 2 chairs=good design.) That’s Jonny washing the frame.
That’s me burnishing on some custom transfers.
Close up of custy transfers. I really need a mani.
I decided to keep the frame in it’s raw state and put a few coats of clear acrylic paint to keep it in good condition.
Jonny acting like spray paint is a deadly weapon.
A lil R&R in between paint coats.
After the long hard day of work, the frame looks great and now it’s off to get even more hooked up. Nice guy Ethan at Refried Cycles is helping me with putting the pieces together so that this thing can roll. Hopefully, by the end of the week…
Now enjoy this video…
“‘What does one call the use of random non-alphabet characters to indicate cursing? It’s a universally understood device, and is applied in both graphic and textual settings. It is such a commonly accepted staple that I assumed it must already be defined and described — but apparently it’s not.’
But it is! The term is grawlix, and it looks to have been coined by Beetle Bailey cartoonist Mort Walker around 1964. Though it’s yet to gain admission to the Oxford English Dictionary, OED Editor-at-Large Jesse Sheidlower describes it as ‘undeniably useful, certainly a word, and one that I’d love to see used more.’ As the author of the grawlixy compendium The F-Word, Sheidlower’s perspective is unique — and unassailable, if you’re wise, since he and his cronies have the power to immortalize naysayers as expletives themselves. (Don’t laugh: such was the fate of philistine Thomas Bowdler, miser Charles Boycott, and jingoist Nicolas Chauvin, to say nothing of famous typeface designer James W. Scumbag.)
Until its OED entry is solemnized, we’ll have to settle for this definition on Wiktionary: ‘grawlix, n. A string of typographical symbols used (especially in comic strips) to represent an obscenity or swear word.’ I don’t think I’ll ever look at a character set quite the same way again.” —JH from Hoefler and Frere-Jones.
FYI…
The SoftSpot’s WHAT THE *#&! IS SOCIAL DESIGN exhibit runs from March 9-31, 209 at 79 Gallery at 79 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco. Opening reception is at 5:30 on Thursday March 11, 2009. Hope to see you all there!
On recent postings on Design Observer and Design*Sponge, there has been some uproar about the fact that jury panels for most design competitions have been mostly made up of white males. I found this to be of interest considering I have worked on two well respected design competitions in the past two years. And, in my experience, the jury panels have considerably been well rounded and diverse. But, what I did find more interesting was that there is a list of “hundreds of women available for speaking at your conference”. Just incase.
Went to check out the Beautiful Losers documentary yesterday at Lumiere Theater in SF, and just would like to say that it is extremely inspirational and really gives you that extra jumpstart you really need sometimes to feel good about yourself. The artists featured in the film truly are heroes in our time, and each portray the vision of our culture to the max.
BEAUTIFUL LOSERS celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential cultural moments of a generation. In the early 1990’s a loose-knit group of likeminded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the “establishment” art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from, have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.
Starring a selection of artists who are considered leaders within this culture, Beautiful Losers focuses on the telling of personal stories. It speaks to themes of what happens when the outside becomes ‘in’ as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today’s youth. (excerpt from the official website)
Also, if you have some free time this weekend, which seems to be running low these days, there are some fabulous things going on in the city…
I have been working at 5024SF since May, and this has been the best show since I have been here, by far. The artist exhibiting is Hera and she is one part of Herakut, a symbiosis of the aliases Hera and Akut, two graffiti artists from Frankfurt and Erfurt, Germany. Their collaboration started when they first met in 2004. The show at the gallery is a Hera solo show and she really brings it. I had the opportunity to meet and hang with her as she prepared for the show during her two week stay at the Upper Playground artist studio space, where she talked about her first time going out to paint trains, being the only girl in a group of all guys, wearing a skirt while jumping fences and landing in dogsh*t. Hera’s artwork which is mostly painted on cardboard boxes also spawned a big discussion over the homeless issue in San Francisco. Hera’s artwork is expressively fluid, emotional, and narrative, and completely utilizes the gallery space to its fullest extent. Hera maintains as much freedom as possible for intuition and spontaneity in a painting.
