Not available in the gift shop, yet…

If you know my art, you know I love things in grids. A Rubik’s Cube with my images seems inevitable. I’ve seen more than a few of these art cubes in museum gift shops and yes, they are kind of kitschy. I do confess to buying a Gilbert and George cube on sale. But as their work is often in grid form, that Rubik’s Cube has my approval. And it was on sale, cheap. A few months ago I attended an art fair and where an artist had some hand-made Rubik’s Cubes. He shared his trick with me. You basically buy Rubik’s Cubes cheap and then print out your own work and replace the color squares. A certain large shipping company has great blank, adhesive labels that fit in a printer and officially are not for this purpose. And where would we be without Japantown dollar stores and knock-off Rubik’s cubes? So here it is, the 2011 Project on a Rubik’s Cube. If you’d like one, you’ll have to wait for the big Tofu museum show and always remember to exit through the gift shop.

March 8, 2011 – MUNI Transfer

For some reason, I have saved a handful of old MUNI transfers. Not surprisingly, they are all from the 17th of some month. 17 is my favorite lucky number. Today I was mostly looking for all sorts of purple bits for a collage and this transfer popped out. Like my earlier Homage to a Fast Pass, public transportation related bits of ephemera should be preserved in some form. As ticketing becomes more high tech paper will completely disappear. The last time I flew, I even noticed iPhone posers using their screens to show their boarding pass. I just don’t need to be that cool (yet). In the meantime, a bit of hoarding of paper can lead to some more art.

January 22, 2011 – Swinging London

There have been vestiges of Swinging London seeping into my world the last few weeks.

I recently happened on the trailer for Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blow-Up. The trailer is brilliant. It promised “the dazzle and madness of London today.” A friend and I tried to watch the film on DVD. Alas, I just don’t have the patience for the artsy slow bits. Maybe when people used to smoke in movie theatres, this was easier to endure.

Last night I was watching an episode of one of my guilty pleasures. Yes, I love Midsomer Murders. It’s formula, a bit corny and just plain entertaining after a long day. The episode I watched last night had a particularly glamorous, elderly actress. She was camping it up as a penniless member of the gentry living off of borrowed money. True to form, she came to an untimely end. Apparently rural England is just full of rather quaint murderers.

This morning, I was so curious that I had to see just who that actress was. It was Honor Blackman. No wonder she was so fabulous! Perhaps her most famous part was as one of the greatest Bond Girls — Pussy Galore. So, with some groovy British radio playing with a nod to Honor Blackman and somewhat influenced by Gilbert & George, I was inspired today by Swinging London