Parade Redux

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Of course I missed the actual broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade last week (good excuse: I was cooking for 15), so I was amazed to find that former street artist and fellow Jersey boy KAWS had a balloon in the parade. The Brookly-based artist, who is known as Brian Donnelly at home, is famous for his clever reworking of comic cultural icons and his subversive toys and sculpture. His surprising entry into the pantheon of beloved parade balloons was his curiously moving figure called “Companion”.

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Book Building

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Eco-Artware, a retailer dedicated to “green” gifts, has posted a series of impressive projects created with recycled or discarded books. Some are prize-winning installations by artist Job Koelewijn, but the remainder are simply ingeneous efforts from bookstores and museums.

Job Koelewijn

Brunswick Bound, Brunswick, Australia

Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah Georgia

Delft University Library

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Art in the Metro

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Many visitors to Amsterdam never ride the city’s limited Metro system; in fact many don’t even know that it exists. But the GVB’s clever campaign to refurbish the Zilbermeeuwen metro cars may encourage art-loving tourists to take a ride.

When the 30 year-old passenger cars began to show their age, the GVB partnered with the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts to start the “Art in the Metro” project. Local artists have already brightened 44 metro cars with original paintings.

The photos indicate the name of the artist and the metro car number.

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Be Safe Around Trains

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Most public transit safety advertising tends to be dull, unimaginative or even browbeating, so it was a treat to see the entertaining approach taken by Melbourne Metro in Australia. Animator Julian frost created this kooky little film called Dumb Ways To Die that doesn’t even mention public transportation until the very end of the film. But be aware that the musical ditty, also called Dumb Ways To Die, may make your head explode.

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Happy Thanksgiving Day

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Like most every kid growing up in the United States, each Thanksgiving Day holiday morning I was glued to the television in anticipation of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade broadcast from New York City. It’s been quite a while since I’ve actually seen the parade in person, but I always try and catch a few minutes of this idiosyncratic American spectacle each year.

These vintage photographs from the early 1930s through the late 1970s are just a sample of the wacky, weird and sometimes freaky balloons that glide through Manhattan each Thanksgiving Day.

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Biellmann or Flutz in Paris This Season

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Built in 1900 for the Paris Universal exhibition, Le Grand Palais is one of the most extravagant buildings in a city of extraordinary architecture. Today, it houses the marvelous Galerie Nationale and the de la Decouverte science museum under its enormous glass-roofed halls.

But for the first time in its history it will become the Grand Palais des Glaces when it is transformed into the largest skating rink in Europe for the winter holiday season. The magestic venue will be open daily for skaters of all ages and skill levels during December and January. And while you’re there be sure th catch the amazing Edward Hopper exhibition (til January 28th).

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Go The Extra Mile

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The Extra Mile is a brilliant start-up charitable organization with a very straightforward mission: they collect frequent flyer miles from all those folks who never use them and then provide access to the miles to people who need to travel to visit terminally ill loved ones.

Recently founded by Matt Dimmer following his own experience dealing with his father’s illness, The Extra Mile has partnered with the Hirshberg Foundation and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. You can find out more about the cause and about donating those unused frequent flyer miles right here.

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Every Book Is A Surprise

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The Monkey’s Paw is Toronto’s self-described “most idiosyncratic secondhand bookshop”. So it’s not surprising that owner Stephen Fowler commissioned the creation of the Biblio-mat random book dispenser. The automat for books arbitrarily metes out improbably diverse titles that would normally be found on a seconhand bookshop’s discount rack, and all for the low price of $2. Here’s how the project works:

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No Trees, No Fjords

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

This summer, Irish painter Conor Harrington visited the doleful Norwegian port town of Vardø on the chilly Barents Sea and created some marvelous murals around the desolate town for the Komafest street art festival. Lucky for us, filmmaker Andrew Telling documented it all in this poignant video titled “Old Norse”.

The compelling soundtrack music was composed and performed by Lucinda Chua.

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Serendipity Now

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Launched last month, Wanderous is a diverting free travel navigation app that creates serendipitous urban routes that are optimized for adventurous journeys. Users just enter a destination into Wanderous and it will offer a convoluted route suggesting local sites, landmarks, entertaining detours, historic places, recreation opportunities and attractions.

The psychogeography-focused app selects visit-worthy locations in a city using a super-secret algorithm developed by Adam Wolf and the clever folks at Flairify. While the free app is only for U.S. destinations for now, they have big plans for international coverage.

You can download the app here.

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