Great work from photographer Paolo Pellegrin by taking celebrity pictures…as he says…” Without hair and makeup – almost! ”

The New York TImes Magazine

See More Pictures in The New York TImes Magazine.

Dustin Cantrell crossed my radar when his interactive custom Mad*L (crossed with a Bleep Labs Thingamakit) joined the ranks of last year’s ME Mad*L show in San Francisco. While T.W.E.R.P. took third place in the juried competition.

Dustin planted the seeds for what would become the Plasma Dunny for custoMONDAY. If you’ve ever been to a hands-on science museum (or, alternatively Spencer’s Gifts at your local mall), you are aware of the fun of touching these plasma-globes and conducting the electricity within. Combine that with your love for designer toys and you’ve got Dustin Cantrell’s Plasma Dunnys. Or, more correctly: ToyCyte’s got them. Dustin made a limited run of just four metallic silver Plasma Dunnys for ToyCyte. They will offer three of them through ToyCyte’s new store later this month (stay tuned). But if you want to get one of these unique, interactive, awesome figures for free, you’ll want to enter…

The Contest

If you want to get your hands on one of Dustin’s Plasma Dunnys, tell ToyCyte your favorite gadget or piece of technology. It can be real or imaginary (from books, movies or comics). Dustin will pick a winner based on how cool/creative/interesting your gadget/tech is and how well you can back up your claim. Get your entries in by Sunday, February 15th at midnight PST. ToyCyte will announce the winner on Monday, February 16th shortly before the next custoMONDAY. The contest is open to anyone, anywhere in the world. If you have already won a custoMONDAY in 2009, please feel free to share your creativity, but you are, regrettably, not eligible for the prize.

These massive falling Tetris block sculptures might be found somewhere on the streets of Australia.

It is actually part of an outdoor art exhibition called Live Lanes – By George! which runs through January 31, 2009. The larger-than-life installation was put together by the guys over at Gaffa Gallery, 

yulia brodskaya is a russian born graphic designer / illustrator now based in london. 
she specializes in a paper art techniques to create distinctive typography.

yulia brodskaya: http://www.artyulia.com

The 2nd Thursday of every month, the galleries, museums and studios of downtown LA open to the public for a free self-guided art walk. Thousands fill the streets and there’s always something new popping up, and it continues to grow… check out the website for full details.

www.downtownartwalk.com

Thurs, Dec. 11th 7-11PM
Munky King
7308 Melrose Ave in Los Angeles / 323.938.0091
Koibito Signing and Release Party with Yoskay Yamamoto – the official release of the gold edition (500 pcs) and a MK Exclusive edition of 150 (color / details to be kept secret until day of release) – customs also available from Yoskay and more + live DJ action
(One-night only event)
www.munkyking.com

Thurs, Dec. 11th 6-10PM
Safari Sam’s
448 S. Main Street @ The Regent in Los Angeles
Huge group show of over 60 artists with featured artist Michael Pukac – presented by United Cat
www.safari-sams.com

Fri, Dec. 12th 7-10PM
Cerasoli : LeBasse Gallery
8530-B Washington Ave in Culver City / 310.558.0911
“Maritime and Mythology” featuring new works from Evan B. Harris in Gallery 1 + “Gifted” group show of small works in Gallery 2 + new works from Catherine Ryan in the project room
(On view through Dec. 20th)
http://cerasoli-lebasse.com/site/

Fri, Dec. 12th 7-10PM
L’KEG Gallery
311 Glendale Blvd in Los Angeles
“Under The Cover Of Trees” featuring new works from Zoso, Allie Peck, Jane G. Pryor, Christine Monohan and Shannon Ingraham
(On view through Jan. 9th, 2009)
www.lkeggallery.com

Fri, Dec. 12th 7-11PM
thinkspace
4210 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles / 323.913.3375
“Mostly Memory” featuring new works and an installation from ELBOW-TOE and ARMSROCK + “Life Sentence” featuring new works from Jon Todd in our project room
(Both exhibits on view through Jan. 2nd, 2009)
www.thinkspacegallery.com

Sat, Dec. 13th 7-10PM
01 Gallery
530 South Hewitt Street, Barker Block – Suite 141 in downtown Los Angeles / 213.689.0101
New works from Hans Haveron and John Park
www.01gallery.com

Sat, Dec. 13th 6-9PM
Art & Mayhem
3416 Glendale Blvd in Los Angeles / 323.666.7731
Group show honoring the power of heavy metal in art with works from Miran Kim, Ross Sewage, Chris Dodge, Dan Seagrave, Marc Rude, Don of the Dead and many more + DJ action and a live set from Lack Of Interest

Sat, Dec. 13th 7-10PM
Cerasoli : LeBasse Gallery
8530-B Washington Ave in Culver City / 310.558.0911
“Untitled Love Project” book signing from .ISM – no listing of artists available anywhere I’m afraid… it’s a crap shoot as to who will be on hand, and a great line up in the book for sure, so definitely worth swinging by if you aren’t headed out to Riverside with the rest of LA on Saturday…
http://cerasoli-lebasse.com/site/

Sat, Dec. 13th 8-11:30PM
Copro Nason Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave, Space T-5 at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica / 310.398.2643
“Good Samaritan’s Group Show” to benefit Dog & Pony Show + “Like Giving A Kid A Loaded Gun” featuring new works from Matthew Bone in gallery 2
(On view through Jan. 3rd, 2009)
www.copronason.com

Sat, Dec. 13th 7-10PM
Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Blvd in Culver City / 310.287.2340
“These Predicaments” featuring new works from David Stoupakis
www.coreyhelfordgallery.com

Sat, Dec. 13th 6:30-10PM
GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd in Los Angeles / 310.445.9276
“Post-It Show 3” featuring works on Post-It notes from a vast array of artists including the likes of APAK!, Gary Baseman, Bigfoot, Tim Biskup, Buff Monster, Jen Corace, Evah Fan, Korin Faught, Matt Furie, Susie Ghahremani, David Horvath, Travis Lampe, LeMerde, Daniel Lim, Jacob McGraw, Brendan Monroe, Mark Murphy, Tom Neely, Martha Rich, Souther Salazar, Keith Shore, Bwana Spoons, Aiyana Udesen, Megan Whitmarsh and many more
(On view through Jan. 14th, 2009)
www.gr2.net

Sat, Dec. 13th 7-10PM
Han Cholo
1549 Echo Park Ave in Los Angeles / 213.482.9180
“Also Known As…” featuring original works on bandanas from Gaia, Shepard Fairey, Ron English, and many more

Sat, Dec. 13th 7-11PM
New Image Art Gallery
7908 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood / 323.654.2192
“The Cat House” featuring new works and an installation from The Date Farmers
www.newimageartgallery.com

Sat, Dec. 13th 6-11PM ($5 admission)
Nomad Studios
1993 Blake Ave., Los Angeles
“Peel Here ‘08” curated by Sticky Ricks – adhesive art showcase
www.stickyricks.net

Sat, Dec. 13th 6-8PM
Regen Projects
9016 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles
“Cutting Room Floor – Part Two” featuring works from Raymond Pettibon
(On view through Jan. 24th, 2009)
http://www.regenprojects.com/

Sat, Dec. 13th 7-9PM
Riverside Art Museum
3425 Mission Drive in Riverside / 951.684.7111
“Turning In Circles” featuring new works and an installation from Jeff Soto
(On view through Feb. 21st, 2009)
www.riversideartmuseum.org

Sat, Dec. 13th 7-10PM
Billy Shire Fine Arts
5790 Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles / 323.297.0600
“Anatomy of Sorrow” featuring new works from Daniel Martin Diaz + “Rolling Vengeance” featuring new works from Morgan Slade
(On view through Jan. 3rd, 2009)
www.billyshirefinearts.com

Sat, Dec. 13th 8-11PM
Subliminal Projects
1331 W. Sunset Blvd in the Echo Park region of Los Angeles
“Idealist Propaganda: Major Retrospective” featuring the works of Glen E. Friedman
(On view through Jan. 9th, 2009)
www.subliminalprojects.com

Sat, Dec. 13th 7-10PM
SURU
7662 Melrose Ave in Los Angeles / 323.655.0770
“I Dream, Therefore I Am” featuring new works from The Imaginary Foundation
www.suru-la.com

Sat, Dec. 13th 4-6PM
thinkspace
4210 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles / 323.913.3375
“All My Friends Are Made Of Paper” book signing with ARMSROCK plus artist Q&A with ELBOW-TOE and ARMSROCK
www.thinkspacegallery.com

Sat, Dec. 13th 7-11PM
Track 16 Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue, C1 at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica / 310.264.4678
“Twenty – Six” featuring new works from RISK
(On view through Dec. 20th)
www.track16.com

Watch ” Colours “

A superb HD video around the color and painting in water, by the artist Charlie McCarthy. On the music of The Cinematic Orchestra to discover in the future.

Here’s director Kareem Thompson of Blackbelt Kids on the new video for friends and fellow Torontonians Ten Kens: “It was an idea pitched to the band. We were pretty free after that to do as we pleased. Working for the band was the easy part… getting a lot done in a short time, was tough. We all work full time jobs so there was a lot of after hours work and weekends – we started in mid June and it took about two and a half months. There has been discussion about pushing the main character into a longer format, so keep your eyes peeled.” Label:
Fat Cat Records.
Watch Ten Kens “Spanish Fly”

Pasadena painters Rob and Christian Clayton, otherwise known as the Clayton Brothers, add their own twisty vision of sub-urban decay to Fuel TV’s ongoing Signature Series of broadcast IDs. “A lot of our work addresses the feeling of bliss, and the moment when everything seems perfectly sound. The Signature Series is refreshing because art and action sports have always gone hand-in-hand. Art is one element that separates action sports from other mainstream sports. As youngsters, we were passionate about skateboarding, BMX, and punk rock.” Direction/production by SALT in Culver City, California. Music: Daniel Johnston. Sound design: Polar Empire, Darrin Wiener
Watch “The Clayton Brothers FUEL TV Signature Series ID”

A very good example of ambient-marketing for the console Sony Playstation PSP. A concept posters by the collective Skizo in 4 different versions and adapted in several situations. More images in the future.