JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

Magical Khufu : 823 was created over a period of three days.  All of the fabrication and craftsmanship was performed by our close friend, designer, fabricator and other-worldly artisan, Kristian Kluver. Our relationship with Kristian has grown and matured over the last decade in a manner that supports an exceptional level of collaboration. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s very special and we value it highly.  Working with friends can be difficult, we operate a studio comprised of three near and dear, so we know the deal.  But, the potential of working with those closest to you is spectacular, and we’ve found the outcomes tend to far outweigh the pitfalls.  In our trade ideas, concepts, and visions for a piece of art, a chair, a logomark, a typeface, a poster, an installation – countless things that could be made and shared with the world, flutter in and out of our busy little brains all day long.  Rarely does their creation, their ultimate manifestation, live up to our initial vision.  In the case of Magical Khufu : 823, Kristian far surpassed our vision and created a truly beautiful work beyond our imagination.  It’s not often in life that ones dreams, even the little ones, are realized on this sort of level.  And, when it does happen, it’s a wonderful feeling.  While our 11″ x 7″ sculptural creation pays homage to The Great Pyramid of Giza, this blog post, be it meager and simple-minded, pays homage to our friend Kristian and his spectacular abilities.  Below is a truncated visual summary of Kristian’s workflow during the making of Magical Khufu.

Snowblinded just dropped a radtastical new screen print titled Polygon 30. This 18×18″ beauty is printed on high quality 100 lb. paper, limited to 30, signed and numbered. With the print run at 30… I’d suggest gnabbing one ASAP if you dig ‘em.

Amazing work from Jennifer Maestre:

Make sure to check out her full portfolio

We’re pretty damned pleased to help announce the release of the Josh Keyes catalogue for Sprout, his exhibition at the David B. Smith Gallery this past May.  The catalogue is a work of art in and of itself.  Designed in landscape proportions of 12″ x 9.5,” the catalogue boasts 48 x 100lb velvet cover pages, an exceptional fold-out of Keyes, Burst I and a brilliantly crafted essay by George Melrod.  This hardcover edition was produced in a limited run of 1000 units.  In addition, each catalogue is packaged with a pencil signed and embossed 8″ x 10″ archival giclee on Hahnemuhle Velvet Paper.  The catalogue was printed and bound in the good ole’ U S  of A, produced by Limited Addiction Publishing and designed by cypher13.  Get yours while there’s still some left!

Gesamtkunstwerk: is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so.

In my opinion, probably one of the closest examples of someone producing a “total work of art” in contemporary times…Open Space – A Film: The Untold Stories of Mike Basich is amazing and inspiring. Reminds a quote my friend was fond of saying, “The world is run by those who show up.” Basich is in tune with life and it’s opportunities.

Huck Magazine – Interview

Adam Yauch has a cameo appearance. This is snowboarding at its best…about 30 min long.

While in Art Basel over the weekend I happened upon a number of wonderful new works by young emerging contemporary talents.  I’ll be attempting to share them here over the coming weeks.  Hidenori Ishii is one such talent.  Hidenori moved from Japan to the U.S. at the age 18 to study environmental science, but soon transitioned his focus to fine art.  Clockwise from left to right, Anchor State, Dissolved Reflection, 12 p.m.,  and 12 a.m. All of the above works were produced in 2009.

Friend of the Night - Oil & acrylic on linen - 46 x 72 in. - 2009

In regards to his work, Hidenori says this, “My work suggests integrated psychological and environmental systems that allude to a self-contained biosphere built on a lifetime of collected idiosyncrasies. Following constellations reminiscent of the realization and the submerged mind, I rigidly depict the structure of fantasy.

I believer Painting is where actuality and possibility meet with one’s intention. As a landfill utilizes the progresses of nature over a long period of time, I’m interested in the visual and symbolic dialogue of and between man’s intentions and natures inevitabilities. Using a combination of patterns both from nature and man-made, my paintings suggest transformations, erosions, and constructions of improbable environments.  Through its evident execution, my work creates a space where submerged human or natural potentials are rendered visible over time.

This created space, based on a disconnected experience of landscape, operates as an environment where I can search for clarification of self psychological articulation in the face of an ambiguous cultural identity.”

It’s a cautionary tale…

There’s still a couple days left to catch We Live in Public at the Starz Film Center last week. If you can make, do so, cause this is one of those films that everyone must see. Seen it? Then its important to get others to watch it, especially teenagers…

If you are consuming social media in any way, for either personal or professional reasons, you have a responsibility to be informed of the potential pitfalls associated with “living in public.” Trust me, you’ll rethink your approach to technology in everyday life.

Tomorrow evening when you’re making your first Friday rounds, be sure to check out the festivities at IndyInk. The Gift of Getting show touts a great lineup of local artists, contains no art over $100, and promotes the noble concept of giving local art as Christmas gifts. How can you lose?! So if you’re in the greater Denver area, get there early and get first crack. You can even take your newly purchased treasures with you. Suck on that baby Jesus.

Josh Wills bringing his typographic wizardry and south of the border corn dog inspired illustration steez to this year’s Bordo Bello skateboard art fundraiser. Extra fresh!

All the way from Minneapolis, our good pals Rob Angermuller (aka Lifter Baron) and Celeste Prevost will be contributing to this years Bordo Bello skate board show here in Denver. The show is going down at Andenken December 11 at 6PM. We’ve teamed up with KLVR for our entry – but that’s top secret for now.

Left: Lifter Baron, Right: Celeste Prevost

Mentioned the ‘We Live in Public‘ film earlier this year. It’s been making the global rounds and is finally coming to Starz Film Center next week. Film’s director, Ondi Timoner, will be in town to participate in screening.

Special DocNight Presentation Thursday, December 3 – 7pm
Exclusive Denver Engagement continues December 4 – 10

It’s going to be a good one and encourage as many folks to check it out. Very relevant and thought provoking, might even scare you some too…

This is a pool that was painted by an art collective called Nevercrew. They, and the pool, are in Lugano, Switzerland…More can be found on their blog.

All the Denver wanna be graffiti artists who keep tagging the 20th street park need to pay attention. If your going to spray, please do a better job. Most of the stuff you see these days is pretty weak…