KAWS born to bend

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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I’ve spent quite a bit of time hanging around Philadelphia’s awesome Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (mainly because my very talented wife went to art school at the historic institution). I never expected to see the eye-popping Born to Bend solo exhibition by former Jersey street artist KAWS at the august, staid museum, which is better known for its 19th century art collection and association with Thomas Eakin. The show, featuring sixty paintings and sculptural pieces—both indoors and outside—from the Brooklyn-based KAWS (aka Brian Donnelly) runs until January 5, 2014. It’s well worth a visit, even if you just want to see PAFA’s fantastic Frank Furness-designed Historic Landmark Building. But the juxtaposition of KAWS and the wonderful 19th & 20th century American art work is amazing.

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Dracula’s Irish Bloodline

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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Earlier this year the Dublin Film Festival commissioned this fun chart (see below)  of Dracula‘s bloodline through pop media over the last century to celebrate the film Stoker. The graphic, created by illustrator Matthew Griffin, has been resurrected this week by the tourist office folks at VisitDublin to mark this year’s popular Bram Stoker Festival .

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Haunted Hotels

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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In keeping with this week’s apparent Halloween theme, here’s a peek at Booking.com’s very timely new “Haunted Hotels” ad campaign. Created by advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy (Amsterdam), the creepy ads are cleverly designed to look like classic horror film posters. I’ve never stayed at any of these particular lodgings and the campaign is not encouraging me to book any time soon.

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Wild Europe

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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Halloween is precisely one week away, and I know how difficult it can be to find inspiration for that truly original costume for the work party. French photographer Charles Fréger has provided encouragement to get traditional this year with some ideas from his photo-essay “Wilder Mann”.

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The ingenious series is based on Fréger’s travels through nineteen European countries to capture costumes from pagan rituals still in use today in many communities. Pretty spooky stuff.

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Adventure is Calling

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

If adventure calls, will you answer? Well, Ohio photographer Shane Black answered his call and along the way he created this awesome timelapse video. Black’s epic journey took him through thirty-two American states and thirteen national parks (where most of the jaw-dropping footage was shot).

Adventure is Calling is well worth five minutes out of your day. Really, you’ll thank me.

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Jilted Books

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

I rarely give up on a book once I’ve started reading.; it seems so unfair to the author. In fact, I will usually finish a book even if I dislike it just to try and discover something redeemable about it, or at least to figure out why the book didn’t work for me. This is especially true when a work has had glowing reviews. For example, this week I slogged through Tao Lin‘s much praised Taipei even though it struck me that it seemed not so much a novel as a poorly disguised journal.

Goodreads has created an interesting infographic called “The Psychology of Abandonment” that features reasons why readers abandon books in mid-read.

What’s your view on book rejection? Do you ever just give up on a book? How often do you ditch a read?

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Are They TSA Approved

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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Starting this month, Air France will be introducing new cutlery on all flights. Barcelona-based industrial designer Eugeni Quitlett created the set of spoon, fork, knife and wings that can be assembled to form a little model airplane. Beyond  the cute factor, the new cutlery sets will reduce raw material use by 30% and save 40 thousand tons annually on Air France’s 14 million annual meals. And, yes it is TSA approved.

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Grand Hotel Budapest

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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I’m a huge fan of Wes Anderson‘s quirky, sentimental and witty films, and of an equally committed fan of all things Budapest related. So, of course, I’m already smitten by the prospect of Anderson’s upcoming film The Grand Budapest Hotel . The movie won’t be released until March 2014, but you can watch the irresistible trailer below.

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Reading Halloween

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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Way back in 2011, Nebraska-based Fantasy author Sabrina Zbasnik created a wonderful series of Halloween/horror-themed posters designed to encourage children to read. The original set of posters were based on iconic horror flicks drawn from classic novels like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Zbasnik updated the series in 2012 and is at it again this Halloween season with a new series. If you’d like to see more, and check out her books, please visit her website here. By the way, she encourages free use of the posters.

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Taking It To The Bank(sy)

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

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I’ve certainly been reveling in street artist Banksy‘s month-long Better In Than Out project in New York City. Who doesn’t love a battered, old slaughterhouse truck packed with screaming, animatronic stuffed animals. So I really relished the secretive street art collective TrustoCorp‘s  Citibank/Bank of America-themed signs spoofing Banksy that have popped-up in Brooklyn. Hopefully, we will be seeing some more CitiBanksy signs real soon.

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