Feats of Magic

A history of John Baldessari in 6 minutes, narrated by Tom Waits

Is there anything cooler?

Thanks @porksung

(Source: junk-culture.com)

Scenes from The Museum of Jurassic Technology

There is no place on earth quite like The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City, CA.  

Although hard to define, which is part of their intent, The Museum stands as an homage to the historical origins of modern museums. With few windows and only diffused light, the Museum of Jurassic Technology takes great care to shield visitors from the outside world. On display are collections of wonders and scientific oddities meant to inspire people outside of the everyday, and, as taken from The Museum’s introduction, “by their means the people may be drawn and have their minds more affected”.

Apart from the various exhibits, The Museum gift shop offers a wonderful collection of books and ephemera, the Tula Tearoom serves tea and cookies, and a newly completed rooftop garden offers guests evening music events throughout the year. 

A Micromosaic made of butterfly wing scales by Henry Harald Dalton (1829-1911), viewed through a microscope.

Rotten Luck: The Decaying Dice of Ricky Jay, Dice accompanied by an essay read by Mr. Jay, “When a Die Dies”.

A Magnetic Oracle, from Magnes, sive de Arte Magnetica, (Rome 1641). Part of the exhibition on the Life of Athanasius Kircher.

A microminiature sculpture of “Snow White and The Seven Dwarves on the eye of sewing needle, viewed through a microscope. Created by Hagop Sandaljian.

The samovar in the Tula Tearoom, where visitors may relax with a cup of tea.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is located at 9341 Venice Boulevard in Culver City, and is open Thursdays from 2:00pm to 8:00pm, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12:00pm to 6:00pm. There is a recommended donation of five dollars. For more information, visit www.mjt.org.

Exploding into Beauty: Cai Guo-Qiang’s Mystery Circle at MOCA

Director: Felipe Lima Producers: Lana Kim, Jett Steiger, Bret Nicely Cinematographer: Larkin Donley

On Saturday April 7, artist Cai Guo-Qiang marked the opening of his exhibition with Mystery Circle: Explosion Event for The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; a site-specific work created for MOCA.

Audible gasps were heard as the massive fireworks display erupted directly toward hundreds of onlookers. Cai Guo-Qiang’s explosion art events are meant to create both a dynamic personal and communal moment of hope and inspiration.

The burnt images remain emblazoned on the side of the MOCA Geffen in Little Tokyo, while the exhibition, Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder, is on display April 8th through July 30th.

All photos taken by @porksung

Friday the 13th isn’t nearly as bad as SATURDAY THE 14TH

If you think today is bad luck, just wait until tomorrow…at least according to the 1981 comedy flick - Saturday the 14th. It combined b-movie acting and horror with a less than attained Airplane comedic sensibility, which was perfect for me as a kid. I watched this countless times - probably because it was on loop (along with Clash of The Titans) on the early HBO.

Bookshelfporn.com

Books are magical and libraries are wonderlands.

Browse drool and enjoy the magic of Bookshelfporn.com in all the many shapes, sizes and dimensions books, outside of your brain, that books can inhabit.

Meet Me in Palm Springs circa 1950 

And bring Prada’s Spring 2012 collection and Mad Men in March and Pina Coladas and anything that romanticizes the warmer air due our way soon. (Thanks @porksung)

Thank You, Ice Cube

For loving Eames, and reminding us about the good corners of LA… going green…1949 style.

The Aging and Artful Fashion Muse

Ari Seth Cohen of the blog Advanced Style,and filmmaker Lina Plioplyte are celebrating the senior creatives of the fashion world. And they are indeed the most inventive, embracing the whimsical, artful nature that fashion can exude. These women create trends that influence the fashion world all the way down to the leopard print coats at Forever 21. The underlying truth in making personal style work is that there is little difference between “playing dress up” at 5 years old or at 85 -  put on the outfit that makes you smile.

Advanced Style: Age and Beautyfrom Ari Cohen on Nowness.com.

Fashion goes Halloween. Agent Provocateur in a Haunted House.

Perhaps the one haunted house you would want to stay in….

Les Fleurs du Mal, is the video celebrating the launch of Agent Provocateur’s new Soiree 2011-2012 collection. Written and directed by Justin Anderson and produced by Epoch Films.

Sexy, eerie, cool.

via@fashionista.com

Agent Provocateur Soiree 2011 from Agent Provocateur on Vimeo.

(Source: fashionista.com)