Exit Through The Gift Shop - A Banksy Film

Ever I since I saw this movie I can not keep thinking about Street Art and Banksy. Street artist use's the street as their canvas, and instead of sending their message through a gallery, their message is put out on the street for public viewing. Banksy is viewed as the most renounced and famous Street Artists, and now he has just completed a documentary on street art. Below is the first 5 minutes of the film, Exit Through the Gift Shop.

The BP Oil Spill - Live

Live Oil Spill (link).

I guess mud and golfball's didn't work.

MARCUS NILSSON

I really am enjoying the work of Marcus Nilsson. He has done a great job photographing food. I especially like the juxtapose technique he does to display his subject.

Early Bird

This Robin has made a nice home outside the kitchen window. Here she is feeding her three babies a nice big worm.

Photo via Tim

NC Local Food Action Guide Released

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, North Carolinians spend about $35 billion a year on food. If individuals spent just 10 percent, or $1.05 per day, of their existing food dollars on local foods, approximately $3.5 billion would be available in the local economy. And part of that $3.5 billion would flow back to farmers and food businesses. Greater spending locally can also increase the economic activity at the regional and community level, which can translate into jobs.
For full report and more information please visit CEFS or http://growingsmallfarms.wordpress.com

AHPeele Traffic Jam on Saturday

AHPeele Traffic Jam in Raleigh this weekend!!! This is a flea market type-of-thing, where artists bring their crafts, and other cool people bring their yard sale items. I also hear there will be food and music.

Don't miss out!

The event runs this Saturday (5/15) from noon to 6pm at Ahpeele Studio (map link).

Oil Spill Imagery

Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, disaster on 1 May 2010, heading towards the US Mississippi Delta coastline.

Imagery Information:

2010/130 - 05/10 at 16 :35 UTC
Oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico
Satellite: Terra

NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team (Click to enlarge) (link)

Find Your Local Farmer's Market

Find your local Farmers' Market and farm on NC Farm Fresh.

Betty White hosting SNL

This is one of the best Saturday Night Live's I have seen in a long time (link)! With host Betty White, musical guest Jay Z, and a SNL reunion from some of the renouned female actresses, Rachel Dratch, Tine Fay, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and Molly Shannon. Skits included Sally O'Malle (I'm 50 and I like to kick), NPR with Betty's Muffin, Census door-to-door, the bronx beat and the opening Lawrence Welk's skit.

jónsi: go

Go is the debut solo album from Jónsi (of Sigur Rós). Pitchfork leads their article on Go with, Jónsi Birgisson doesn't do small (link). This album definitely matches the high expectations.

Stream Go

Eat well and be well

ADRIENNEATS - A holistic perspective on eating, cooking, & living
Adrienne is a Raleigh-based graphic designer pursing a holistic nutrition degree. She shares recipes, healthy tips, the healing properties of food on her blog, while using local and seasonal products, her nutritional education and her creative self. This is my favorite blog to figure our new recipes, learn about my seasonal food, grab tips on cooking and become inspired. Eat well and be well (Adrienneats).

Putting the Current Oil Spill into Prospective

We have now encountered the worst oil spill ever. It is estimated that 14,670,000 barrels (2,001,364 tons) of oil was spilled in the Gulf of Mexico last week by BP (http://bit.ly/InDeepWater). This is big!

To put this into prospective see diagram developed by David MacCandless on Information is Beautiful. MacCandless's In Deep Water explores this oil spill in the prospective of total spilled volume, current surface area, and wildlife recovery.

When Sea Levels Attack!

This graph is an easy way to understand the meaning of sea level rise. The data was taken from the lowest, most conservative figures I could find. Predictions vary widely. This is because there are a slew of different climate change prediction scenarios. Each one foresees a particular range of sea level rises, depending on ice-melts, temperature rises and many other factors. It's not an exact science.
via http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog

Will Allen an Urban Farmer

TIME Magazine lists the 100 people who most affect our world for 2010. Among this list of mainly the rich and famous is an urban farmer from Minneapolis, Will Allen. Will Allen, 62, is leading the local food movement with Growing Power Inc., his main 2-acre Community Food Center. This area, no larger then a supermarket, houses 20,000 plants and vegetables, thousands of fish, plus chickens, goats, ducks, rabbits and bees.

ODDSAC

Animal Collective has been known for their interesting collaboration with many other artists. One of their latest works has been with director Danny Perez to create the film ODDSAC. This Visual Album was first released at the Sun Dance Film Festival and now is on tour with the producers across the country. I was able to catch passing show and was impressed; it's a psychedelic experience.

Raleigh Institute of Contemporary Art

The Raleigh Institute of Contemporary Art (RICA) is modeled after the Arts Students League of New York, which is based on an atelier school concept: art is taught and skills developed through immersion in the practices of drawing, painting and other arts. Our instructors are prominent working artists, whose methods of instruction emphasize visual thinking and building artistic skills. The RICA class format allows students to learn at their own pace, incorporating their own ideas and goals. During each six week session, the students will create their own art project under instructor’s guidance and assistance. We strongly believe in learning through the process of making art.
via RICA homepage

Eyjafjallajökull Volcano

Nature's phenomenons are inconveniencing the world. The news of the volcano explosion on Iceland has spured interest with researchers and artists, and has also infuriated the airline industry and inconvenienced travelers. I personally think the media has done a poor job covering this story, by focusing on prolonged trips of travelers and the losses of the airline companies. I am interested in the Iceland community and geological activity.

The images I have seen have been powerful and unbelievable.
Check out The Big Picture (www.boston.com) for a photo collection of the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano (Iceland's disruptive volcano)

Future Islands new EP, 'In the Fall'

This awesome new EP by Future Islands is definitely making its mark on today's music scene. The Song In the Fall is a beautiful song that will unite all romantics.

In the Fall 12" EP Limited to 1000, on translucent blue vinyl.
Tin Man (extended version) /
Virgo Distracts /
In the Fall (featuring Katrina Ford) /
Awake & Dreaming
You can purchase In the Fall digitally through Fina.
OUT NOW! Order online at THRILL JOCKEY /// http://www.thrilljockey.com/.

I now can't wait for 'In Evening Air' to come out! May 3rd (Europe) and May 4th (US)

Raleigh State Capitol, Circa 1880's

Found this on Smithshady's Flickr. Mike Smith writes "This was the second of two shots I attempted for the Raleigh Group's recent photo challenge, and likely the start of a new personal project for me. This is a look into Raleigh's past, back to the late 1880's. The original photo, Capitol from the West with Ox Cart in Front came fromt the Albert Barden Collection which is part of the North Carolina State Archives."

Thank you MillyHart for directing me to these awesome photographs, comparing the new Raliegh to the old Raleigh.

Javelin

Picked up this awesome new mix tape by Javelin, when they passed through this week with Yeasayer. This bright yellow tape, labeled 'Soca Object Jon', is full of dance beats and mixes. This impressive band provides clever sounds and a unique art quality to every record cover, and every tape played.

Can't go without thanking Tim, who bought me this tape and works hard to improve the sounds coming from tape-deck.

Spring Greens

I've got more mixed salad greens then
you can shake a stick out! Now, I am
going to explore salad dressings.

HOPSCOTCH MUSIC FESTIVAL

HOPSCOTCH MUSIC FESTIVAL BRINGS 120 BANDS TO DOWNTOWN RALEIGH SEPT. 9-11, 2010
Headlining bands include Public Enemy, Panda Bear, and Broken Social Scene!!!!!
Follow the story at http://www.indyweek.com

Big Ears Festival

Knoxville Tennessee was the happening place to be this weekend, with the second annual Big Ears Music Festival. Truly, this was an amazing festival with an awesome lineup. My favorites include the poetic Joanna Newsom, the elegant DJ rupture, the drunken Matt Berninger (The National), the motherly Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamonds), and the stunning XX.

Grayson Currin and Tim Kiernan, with Pitchfork, do a great job documenting this festival (link).

Radical Cartography

AGRICULTURE
Bill Rankin, 2005, 2009

download:
crops (2000x1500 .PNG)
animals (2000x1500 .PNG)
value (2000x1500 .PNG)

The geography of U.S. agriculture is not a smooth space of overlapping local conditions; it is instead a disjointed and lumpy space of specialization. With the exception of some crops in the Midwest, there are few areas where different commodities are grown side by side, and while cattle are distributed relatively evenly throughout the country, the production of all other animals is quite concentrated.

These maps suggest that we need to rethink our commonplace ideas of localism and the virtues of local farming. While local food is often more healthful or sustainable, the idea that the US could become a nation of locavores is absurd. No major city could ever source all of its food from local farms – not even those close to major agricultural areas.

Data source: Agricultural Census of the US.

These maps are version 2.0, revised and updated to 2007 data.


Check out Radicalcartography, for more awesome Maps and Graphs from an arrange of Genres and Problematic.

/AN APOLOGY/ from 521studies on Vimeo.
Future Islands at Nightlight on 03/06/2010, Playing a song called, "An Apology" off their new record which comes out soon. Tim Kiernan filmed this video with a Canon 7D, Nikon 50mm1.2
To see more work by Artist Tim Kiernan, please check out his website http://521studies.blogspot.com/
Future Islands can be found at http://www.myspace.com/futureislands

Artist Aaron Koblin

Aaron Koblin is an artist specializing in data visualization. His work takes social and infrastructural data and uses it to depict cultural trends and emergent patterns. I think Koblin has taken art, statistics and geography to a whole new level. Check out his website for his work: http://www.aaronkoblin.com/