You remember that video of that chubby Indonesian kid smoking cigarrettes that went viral a little while ago? So did Belgian photographer, Frieke Janssens. The difference between us and her is that she acted on her reaction to the video and put together an incredibly kick-ass photo project titled, “Smoking Kids”. Keep in mind that no actual cigarette product or smoke was involved in the shoot.

Chillingsworth & Co.  X  24Flinching bring the beat back to the Mobb Deep streets of Queensbridge. Download and chill at will…(subscribe to the mixtape feed to stay looped)

The Uncanny Culture Initiative is gearing up to celebrate their 3rd Anniversary of growing and supporting the creative culture in North Carolina. They are doing it up properly with a 3D themed showcase featuring roughly 50 artists freaking it in the third dimension. If you are anywhere near Charlotte this Saturday you need to make like a fetus and head out to AKA Creative.

Yo sculptor Tony Cragg, you actin’ real dicey right now. Really though, the dude is sick with it. CEE-LOOOOOOO!

What the bicuspid, cuzzy?!  Tattoo-able real estate is truly limited on the human body. Since you have already thrown a few Nascars on your back, some bacon and eggs on your head, a MySpace logo on your pubic region, a bong smoking dolphin on your tricep and a Hello Kitty on your tongue - what’s left to ink? Your teeth you imbecile! For a very reasonable fee you can get your crowns sent off to a very pleasant looking young couple who offer the bizarre service of custom tattooing your teeth. Now …

The good people at Chillingsworth & Co. have teamed up with your boys at Two Four Flinching to bring you a monthly mixtape guaranteed to make your ears open wider than the mouth of Francisco Domingo Joaquim. Our maiden voyage honors Brand Nubian wordsmith Grand Puba. What’s the 411, hun?

Humans are obsessed with flight. Ask 10 people what super power they would like to have and half of them will say “flight”. This never made any damn sense to me. After two weeks this “super-power” will turn from exhilarating to just another way to get to work in the morning. Only worse because every other schmuck will be pointing their fingers, gawking at you all day and the other half will be trying to shoot your dumb-ass out of the air. Suddenly you’ll find yourself caged up in some …

Color, line and depth are some shit to comprehend when you put your mind to it. Artists leverage these three tools to create illusions when painting or drawing. By layering and playing with color and line we are able to transform a flat surface and guide the viewer into a whole new world.Carnovsky (a Milan based artist/designer duo comprised of Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla) have created a series of wall installations that tool with our ability to perceive and interact with the RGB color model. I’m a huge fan of …

What came first? Hitler or his moustache? French artist Alexandre Nicolas tries his hand at uncovering this ancient proverb with his completely captivating series of pop culture fetuses. I’d be lying if I didn’t have my fingers crossed on my daughters born day secretly wishing that a newborn Spider-Man was crowning. Oh well.

I have joined forces with the man Joe Bruno and Critical Cutz to create a series of instructional videos to teach spray painting and illustration techniques. We are finishing up the first installment showcasing a large format caricature of Biggie Smalls on a wall and the teaser video is ready to roll. Check it out yall. The Bob Ross of can control.

Graffiti was born from the voiceless demanding to be heard. Feeling small and going big. This incredible stop-motion animation flips the script a bit and shows how getting up can get real small. The unknown creator of this film who only goes by his Vimeo screen name yo man recreated a wall of fame in Munich making Mr. Rogers‘ “Neighborhood of Make-Believe” look like child’s play….. wait….

Leave it to Kidrobot to continuously make shit that I continuously want to waste my money on. Little colorful breakdancing army man dudes?! Don’t you know I’m a grown man trying to live a life that appears to look somewhat mature? Damn you all to hell Kidrobot. I’m shaking my fist right now.

German sculptor Oliver Voss has submerged an enormous nude woman into the Binnenalster lake in Hamburg, Germany. What you are seeing is art as marketing in motion. This supersized seductress is an advertisement for British beauty products company Soap & Glory to promote the “art” of bathing. She will be pruning for 10 days before she gets out of the tub allowing her frumpy 50ft husband to use the lake as a urinal.

Damn, just caught word that the King of Style Kase 2 passed away in the Bronx this weekend after a long fight with cancer. Fuck cancer man. This terrible beast has been taking down great people left and right. Cancer is an evil, nasty, ruthless monster and it scares the hell out of me.

Miami graf artist Typoe kills it on the streets both inside and outside the gallery walls. Check out this stand-out piece titled Confetti Death created from a skull and shards of plastic spray-paint caps. Absolutely incredible. I couldn’t dig up an official site for Typoe but click here for his full flickr feed. Enjoy.

What’s good, good people. I have been on a full sprint for the past month or so. Full on, high steppin’, walk on water sprint-job. Needless to say that when you are trying to stay afloat by running on water you can’t really carry a load. All peripherals fall wayward, the blood leaves your extremities and actively supports your core. There is a strange satisfaction I get from setting goals, achieving them and starting anew. I believe that is the base currency of my happiness in life. These goals are …

My Mom posted a link to an article on CNN that was written by a Dad who detailed, “Why I’m raising my son to be a nerd“. At a glance I thought this guy had the same approach to parenting as I did which got me all giddy for a minute. The author is clearly a good Dad with a hearty conviction for celebrating good grades and academic achievement. I did however take issue with his alignment of “good grades” with “nerdiness”. Let’s get things straight here. Kids who get …

Everyone talks about how “dialed-in” we are as a culture and how increasingly difficult it is to “unplug”. As technology has evolved it is always the “next big thing” that will be the undoing of life as we know it rendering the old ways irrelevant. Each new development being demonized by the paternal attachments to the innovations that defined the generation previous. I consider myself someone who is extremely plugged-in. Between my time spent online, checking emails, social networking, text messaging, checking-in, researching, blogging, reading feeds, managing my calendar AGHHHH! …

Friendship and family are the fabric of life. So when a friend is in need I say we take that fabric and stretch a canvas.

When I was growing up we would often play in the open expanse of vacant lots (in Detroit) and lush tree-filled lots that would act as “filler” between the houses in the neighborhoods (in Philly). In the cut of these unclaimed urban areas would often be the final resting place for all sorts of wild and domestic critter. As kids we would stumble upon these often half-decayed carcasses, with skin erosion exposing weathered bone yet still clinging firm to patches of fur and stench. Each kid would deal with these …

Contemporary Art is typically digested in two ways by the common populace. Either, 1. “My kid could do that. It ain’t art” or 2. “What the fuck is that? It ain’t art”.  Both expressions of the same negative, belittling attitude attempt to neuter creative expression that difficult to categorize or quantify. As the years pass I find myself more and more attracted to the odd and contemporary. I rolled through the Philadelphia Art Museum last weekend and found myself  giddy and giggly standing next to some Warhol “Brillo Boxes” and …

Art imitates life. And your face is going to imitate a Jackson Pollock if you step to me the wrong way when I am up to my chin in Yeungling. Now I’m a peace-loving chap for the most part but there is never a time when I am not ready and willing to break out the Bud-Chucks and reprimand a party-foul!! These cement-filled 12oz cans of Bud created by Brooklyn based industrial designer Chen Chen and Kai Tsien Williams kicks ass as fast as Tango and Cash. The only thing …

Life is all about the journey, right? I talk a lot about the “path”. Finding the path, uncovering the path, looking back on the path, baby got path, pathamatics… Unfortunately the path we take is one that can only be traced back with the help from our fleeting memory. We don’t leave a tactile trail and even if we did our paths would be crissed and crossed by the millions of other paths that are left behind as people grind on making it virtually impossible to rediscover the trail. We …

Life is hard and can be incredibly unfair. Bound to the dirt of this earth by gravity, our troubles seem to drag around behind us like rusty tin cans tied to strings around our feet. No matter how fast or how far you run the rambling noise of your troubles will persevere. The only way to properly move forward is to stop, sit down and pay the proper attention to the complexities of the knots. With a delicate touch and white-knuckle focus each binding wind needs to be unwound. It …

My man Greg put me on to this abandoned mining town call Kolmanskop that was built in the middle of the southern Namibian desert. Coming from Detroit, I have a particular fascination with cities and towns that have been left to fend for themselves post-industry. Check out these gripping shots of homes and businesses that the sands of the desert have reclaimed. Amazing.

photos from Picassa user scollard.
 

One of the many things that amazes me about New York City is that the people occupy it vertically. I know it is only logical but when you allow yourself to conceptualize how strange it is that we stack up so high and dig down so deep to maximize the footprint of our occupancy, it’s odd. Similar to the many layers of our Earths crust, NYC has uniquely distinct layers in of itself buzzing with ant-like anxiety, pumping harder than the heart of Pig Pun eating all-you-can-eat brunch buffet at …

This is the kind of dollhouse that would inspire a young Jame Gumb to keep guests in a hole in the basement and take up lampshade sewing. Fantastically detailed and hauntingly manicured, these “miniatures” created by French artist Marc Giai-Miniet are hardly pint sized and demand super-sized respect. I’m pretty sure this is where Polly Pocket goes if she disobeys the commandments of her God. In a somewhat related note, I’m pretty sure I signed a lease in the mid 90′s to rent a room in one of these joints …

Stacks of money got you bored? Call up Scott Campbell and he’ll take care of that problem dumb quick. Stacking up your greenbacks, cutting them down and revealing their true complexion. Scott leverages tattoo art and smashes it with a contemporary vision creating these laser cut stacks of Washingtons.  I am all about this “subtraction” art lately.(here and here) Retraction for creative expansion. Scott Campbell is pure nasty with it.

The year is 1718 and you have just celebrated your 23rd birthday on the main deck of Queen Anne’s Revenge. You have been living in your parents clay hovel rent-free with the agreement that you would help fix the thatched roof over the summer. Needless to say you spent the majority of your days recovering from long nights drinking ginger beer and imported bourbon while your nights were choc-full-o karaoke night at the local tavern singing “Soldier, Soldier Will You Marry Me“. Before you knew it, your folks have thrown …

When government censorship reigns supreme and art studios are reduced to rubble it seems only logical that the creative community would form a retreat and prioritize their safety over their freedom of expression. In an act of artistic brilliance Chinese artist Liu Bolin has managed to take cover through an act of harmonious aesthetic execution. A truly creative act of social resistance by painting yourself invisible. Wow. With the help from a few assistants Mr. Bolin is painted to seamlessly blend in to the setting in which he stands motionless. …

The countless cultures of our planet produce equally immeasurable expressions of the unique creative paths our ancestry has socially negotiated. Sometimes the by-products of these ethnological paths criss-cross and beautiful things happen. Check out the cultural merger of impeccable Indian wood carving with the urban Western aesthetic of the skateboard. This is the goods right here. German curator Tobias Megerle collected twelve Mahim woodcarvers and let them loose on a skateboard, the worldwide symbol of urban expression that stands fairly unknown in Mumbai. What is known in Mumbai? Woodworking. …

Hello family, friends and fans….. and any mix therein. Good to link with you as always. So, I am doing something crazy this Saturday. I have decided to fly out to beautiful Napa Valley with members of my old crew from West Philly to run a half-marathon. Now, I’m not a super-fit guy…. and let’s be real, I’m not even a regular-fit guy. Irregardless I have committed and am doing the damn thing. Some may say, “Sean, shouldn’t you be able to run 10 – 13 miles before you fly …

You ever wonder who the guy is that spritzes beads of hydration onto the slice of tomato and carefully arranges each piece of lettuce and onion on the Whopper in the print and tv advertisements? Meet Nir Adar. Ever wonder what he does with his downtime? …Giant shrimp balls. You see, when your official title is “Food Stylist” you know there are probably a few screws loose and certainly a few balls of compacted lamb shank laying around the crib.

We are what we eat….and we eat planets. Wait, is that right? Doesn’t matter.  Check out these photos of frying pans from photographer Christopher Jonassen. Cosmically flipping our perception of the bottom of a frying pan quicker than I can stack up Sunday flapjacks. So the next time you are getting ready to set a searing flame under that frying pan remember to listen closely. If it happened to Horton, it can happen to you. While your frying your chicken, you might be frying a who.

Check out his book detailing …

The inaugural “Wrong Side” event was such a fun and positive event that we decided to roll out another. We are proud to announce the urban, gritty artwork of Durhams own Vanilla Gorilla will be featured throughout the month of March with an opening on First Friday, March 4th from 7pm to 10pm at The Union Tavern.

The City of Raleigh Arts Commission organizes a public art project called “Art-on-the-Move” that places a curated collection of artwork directly onto the side panel of Raleigh city buses. So yea, my original steps entering into the art world through the gateway of graffiti has now come full circle. I am actually being commissioned by the city to put artwork on panels of public transportation. Crazy world.

As I drive around my city I always keep a keen eye out for construction sites and the dumpsters that always accompany them. You can be certain there are a handful of quality pieces of wood that can be used as a canvas, frame or structure for a future sculpture. I enjoy utilizing pieces of life that are on the brink of destruction, salvaging them, reinventing their purpose and breathing a new life into them. A solid piece of oak that served loyally holding a row of books in a …

Anyone coming up in the graffiti scene was always packing a bag of paint, pocket full of markers and a blackbook. Before the internet entered into the picture, blackbooks were critical in sharing skills and building community. Artists would mail books from Brooklyn to San Francisco and vice versa all around the country. These books would sit around writers apartments and any other writer passing through would light it up. After a month or so the books would be sent back to the original owner and gold would be struck. …

Well, “the man” isn’t quite the proper nomenclature considering the husband and wife France-based graffiti crew featuring Scien and Klor have been cold-crushing kids with 123klan since 1992. The remaining members, Dean, Sper, Skam, Meric, and Reso1 combine graffiti and graphic design while meshing street knowledge and technology. Sharp angles, hard to handle, cold to hold, these guys can’t/won’t stop. You will be hardpressed to find another crew that took a more successful path from street-rep to commercial integration without loosing their focus or integrity. Check out their new video …

I am fascinated by art and the various ways it is leveraged to communicate. Often times I find myself attempting to find the common strings between music and visual art. Both utilize elements of deep and shallow, high and low, light and shadow to weave us into a feeling or a series of feelings. I am unable to play a musical instrument at a level that could even remotely communicate anything outside of uncomfortable confusion or rudimentary self-fulfillment. This has left me with a creative void that systematically plucks at …