3D chalk art

Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner mess with nothing but our perception of depth and perspective in creating this amazing street art.













































































I only wish these pictures would include a view from above to show how they're drawn. Further reading would suggest that this isn't just a hobby, either - last year Beever was commisioned for a beautiful cascade in Madrid for Herbal Essences. And it appears the Coca-Cola bottle was also a paid project.

Gutter art

Street drains aren't exactly conventional locations for works of art. In Brazil, though, Anderson Augusto and Leonardo Delafuente from 6emeia are using mundane urban components - namely grey sidewalks and gutters - as a canvas for refreshing splashes of colour and creativity. 'The duo's objective is to modify the means within which we all live, proposing a new way to view things by reflecting upon themes generated through creative and unusual works. Such modifications are made by painting storm drains, light posts, manhole covers and any other object which makes up the urban scenario.'

Threadless

Threadless is a community-based and community-driven t-shirt website. Ideas are submitted by users for critique and, if chosen, the designers are rewarded with $2500 and a chance for up to $10,000 more if the design is selected for print. Users can comment on t-shirt ideas whenever they want. They also have some pretty creative and interesting programs; for instance, the '12 Club' is essentially a $200 subscription to receive 1 exclusive shirt every month for a year. Whether you're just browsing tees or are a designer looking for places to submit some designs, Threadless is one of the more innovative sites that I've seen.

Banksy: the thing I hate the most about advertising...

A startingly relevant quote from Banksy. I understand where he's coming from - but does contemporary art really have to 'say' something? Or can it exist on a more shallow level, just to aesthetically please? Banksy's continued placement of messages and meaning in his work could even be considered another form of advertising in itself.

The Hype Machine

The Hype Machine is an MP3 blog aggregator created by Anthony Volodkin. It enables 'one-stop shopping' of postings from thousands of audioblogs. The music posted ranges from hard-to-find rarities that have not been issued in many years to more contemporary offerings and obscure remixes. There's also a radio service.

The site gives users the ability to 'make a MIXA', a fully tailored digital mix tape in the form of a cassette, with a USB connection and a capacity of 1GB. 'MIXA is like a little memory box for all your digital stuff that normally lays unloved and unseen on your super dull hard-drive. Make a holiday MIXA, a party MIXA, an ‘I love you’ MIXA, a last night MIXA or a ‘did I ever tell you I used to be a woman’ MIXA.' Cool.


















There's also a merch store featuring t-shirts, stickers and accessories. All in all The Hype Machine is a great resource for any music lover; my only reservation is that the ease and convenience of the site allows users to download music without taking in the entire experience of a music blog, such as its editorial content. Speaking of which, check out Drowned in Sound if you're after a good webzine.

One man's trash...

Tim Nobel and Sue Webster take piles of trash and turn them into art. But sometimes you need to look at it under a different light...








































































Reminds me of the John Lewis adverts from Christmas 2007.

Parque España Library, Colombia

Designed by Giancarlo Mazzanti, the Parque España library is located on the edge of a steep incline overlooking the city of Medellín. Inside the library is a computer room, a daycare center, an art gallery and an auditorium. I haven't had the pleasure of visiting but I'm sure you'll agree it looks to be a stunning building and location - even if the image below does suggests there to be somewhat of a lack of books...