Have you worked retail? You might be amused by a new book called Hello Do You Work Here?, a collection of illustrated true stories about crazy-making customers. [More]
art
Sand Art Portends Economic Apocalypse
By 4.20.10
Is the Icelandic volcano ashsplosion actually just another of the seven seals bursting before The Economic Rapture envelops us all? These guys seem to think so. I like how they say, “Thanks.” [More]
Self-Auctioning Black Box Will Set You Back At Least $6,858
By 2.28.10
Artist Caleb Larsen’s latest creation, A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter, isn’t likely to appeal to traditional art collectors, who tend to like to hold onto their purchases for a little while. That’s because Larsen’s black cube is programmed to try to re-sell itself as soon as a new owner takes posession — and buyers are contractually obligated to let it do so. [More]
Artist Transforms Target Shopping Cart Into Furniture
By 1.21.10
I haven’t been to Target in a while, but it looks like they’re starting to upgrade their shopping carts. Maybe they should convert the old ones to stylish chairs and lamps, the way this artist did, and sell them. [More]
Kids Design Cute Heinz Ketchup Packets, Learning Important Early Lessons In Mass-Market Commodification
By 10.20.09
Move Over Museum Curators, Bank Of America Wants Your Job
By 8.26.09
Cash-strapped art museums across the country are turning to an unlikely source for new exhibitions: Banks. According to a story in the New York Times, Bank of America, Chase, and a number of other global entities have put together traveling art exhibits and are offering them to museums across the country.
Laser Engraving Gone Wrong? Just Fill It In With A Sharpie
By 7.22.09
If you spent about $150 to have the case of your laptop computer laser-engraved with a cool design and something went wrong, would you expect to be told to fill in the problem areas yourself with a permanent marker? That happened to Haje. He’s sympathetic to the technical issues involved, but not happy with the end result.
Buy Tchotchkes At Yard Sale, Make Up A Story About 'Em, Sell Both On eBay
By 7.20.09
Have you ever picked up something at a yard sale and wondered where the heck it came from? Like a disturbing clown painting that the owner has a hard time parting with, or a queer Hummel knockoff. The bloggers at Significant Objects seem to have.
Fancy Fast Food Makes Your Favorite Junk Into Eye Candy
By 7.10.09
We’re really intrigued by Fancy Fast Food, which takes standard fast food items and, using only those ingredients, transforms them into something approaching haute cuisine. The recipes are available on the site if you want to try at home. (Pictured above: the Tacobellini)
Thomas Kinkade, Painter Of Crap, Must Pay $2.1 Million To Former Gallery Owners
By 6.19.09
Thomas Kinkade calls himself the “Painter of Light,” and allegedly uses his “faith” to lure in investors to his gallery business. Now two former gallery owners have won a judgment from Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that forces Kinkade to abide by a 2007 arbitration decision that awarded the former owners $860,000 in damages and more than $1.2 million in attorneys’ fees and arbitration expenses. Ouchy.
Disguised As Dishcloths Pile, Man Hides Inside IKEA
By 3.6.09
Some German’s art project is to engage in “urban camouflage” by creating three different ghillie suits made of bulk IKEA items: piles of dishcloths, boxes, and shopping bags. Then he goes and “hides” out in the open inside the IKEA, blending in with his surroundings and only disturbing shoppers when he moves. Hilarious, brilliant! Here are the videos so you get the full effect:
100 Kilos Of Gold Art Show Cancelled
By 3.6.09
100 kilos of gold bricks will not be arriving at the Gagosian Gallery in Santa Monica, California this weekend. The bricks were to have been the centerpiece of a show called One Ton One Kilo by artist Chris Burden. The gold was bought from Stanford Coins and Bullion, part of the Stanford Financial group. You know, Stanford, the mini-Madoff guy accused of bilking investors in an $8-billion ponzi scheme. Now the transfer is frozen while the SEC investigates Stanford. It appears that large-scale conceptual sculpture is but the latest unexpected casualty of the economic crisis.
Hot Topic Steals Yet Another Design And Sells It As Its Own
By 12.31.08
Once again, Hot Topic is selling someone else’s art as original work. The mallternative retail chain purchased the supposedly original design from Newbreed Girl, which has its own history of ripping off designs.
Jdimytai Damour, RIP
By 12.4.08
Artist Jeremy Scheuch made this digital image of Jdimytai Damour, the Walmart worker who was trampled to death by a crowd of Black Friday shoppers after they broke down the front doors and stormed in.
Artists To Stage Literal Meltdown Of American Economy
By 10.21.08
On October 29, the economy will melt down. Not the general economy per se, but a 5 foot tall, 15 feet wide, 1,500 pound ice sculpture of the word “ECONOMY” in Manhattan’s Foley Square, relatively near to Wall Street. Artists Ligorano/Reese say, “this sculpture metaphorically captures the results of unregulated markets on the U.S. economy.” October 29 also happens to be the 79th anniversary of Black Tuesday.
Hot Topic Likes Your Art So Much… They're Selling It!
By 9.30.08
I’m glad I’m bad at everything so I never have to worry about anyone plagiarizing my work. Sadly, this is not the case for Nina Matsumoto. Whoever is in charge of “designing” Halloween merchandise for Hot Topic is apparently a big fan of Nina’s.
See The Fortune 500 Magazine Cover That Was Too Brutally Honest To Run
Fortune magazine commissioned artist Chris Ware to design a cover for their 2010 Fortune 500 issue, so he did. Unfortunately, what he delivered was a detailed, funny, and biting commentary on the current state of our economy–with banker types dancing on the top of mega-buildings that spell out “500,” a factory in Mexico churning out big box merchandise, and a “401k cemetary.” Fortune rejected it, but hasn’t provided any comment on why. Well, okay, it’s probably self-evident why they killed it, but it’s still funny. [More]