summer in pictures.

{all images from square america}

margate memories.

in keeping with the beach theme today, this post is about margate, the old sea side resort town in kent, england. my junior year of college i received a scholarship to travel and do "research" for my senior thesis, which was on 'the lives of the individual within a youth culture' aka mods {art school is weird}. so i traveled to london by myself and wandered around for two weeks. i visited carnaby street and talked with tailors on saville row. i saw two movies every day at the british film institute's british sixties film fest and just generally tried to soak it all up. one of the big reasons that i went was to attend an all-nighter in the town of margate, which is basically 48 continuous hours of soul dancing, scooter rallies and soccer matches. i got to see the creation play, pick up some 45s and cute dresses, gape at the scooters and since i was alone i got sort of adopted by some 30 something scottish guys who showed me around the town. when i marveled at how beautiful i thought the place was i was told that "it was complete shite now" and that it had gotten really run down. it's true that in it's heyday it was a destination for the rich {and a spot for clashes between the mods and the rockers ala brighton beach} but as i found on the margate architecture blog there are people in the town trying hard to keep the old england feel while also revitalizing the area with new shops and museums. i think that's great because someday i'd really like to go back there and see how it's changed. hopefully next time i'll remember to book a room and won't end up sleeping on a bench in the train station wearing a short white a-line with hot pink tights. yikes.

{photos via margate arch and modculture}

sand art.

this weekend i'm going to the beach! i'm so excited to get some sand under my feet.

there are some really neat pictures on discover's website of close ups of different grains of sand and what beaches they are from and what they are composed of: minerals, remnants of sea life, even marble. it's pretty cool although i don't know if i'd want to know what new jersey beaches are made of. ick.

aviatrix.

wow. i think that amelia earhart is my style icon.

tropycal_super_maryo_grunge_rock_duo.

now i'm not really one for neon or insanity, but i really think that hooliganship is a wonderful thing. they are a live performance / animation duo who probably came from outer-space...to party. ever since i saw their dvd cartune xprez a few years ago, i think about escaping into a pizza fort at least once a month. here is a little snippet.

hank's shop.

a big congrats to katie henry, who just opened her new etsy shop!! madebyhank is all the creation of one great lady who loves to sew & sew. she mixes textures and patterns to create beautiful, durable, and unique items. the materials used are primarily vintage and thrift store finds, mixed with bits of canvas and vintage belts and such for added toughness. each sewn drawing starts as a drawing on paper and is then sewn freehand on a regular old sewing machine! check out her bags, they are amazing.

hah&hah.

{via ydnar ala experimental jet set}

at home with tippi & togare.

tippi hendren and her daughter melanie griffith at home with togare, a lion that belonged to anton lavey. what a surreal combination.

{via pantherhouse}

edna.

it's unfortunate when you find out about an artist only after their passing. edna andrade was a philadelphia painter and a member of the op-art movement who continued painting until her death this year at the age of 91. i have the feeling that i will look to her work for inspiration in the future.

a brief history.

i really like monica nelson's zine, a brief history of the past 10 years. it details the first things that came to mind when thinking about the last ten years of her life. she's made a lot of really nice stuff. you can read the whole thing here.

maki maniac.

i had sushi for dinner yesterday. and the day before. and in about 3 hours i'm going to have it for lunch. i can't stop! all i want to eat is sushi, it's so delicious. asparagus, avocado and cucumber roll with brown rice please.

{photo via seattle roll}

barry's bike.

i like bikes, i like my bike, and i like looking at cool bikes, but i don't really know too much about them. what i do know is that the pretty ones tend to cost a lot. and i know that there are going to be a lot of pretty and expensive bikes at the upcoming "pressure" art exhibition put on by cinelli bikes and RVCA. the first frame being released is by barry mcgee, with other designs following by ashley macomber, clare rojas, c.r. stecyk III, dan murphy, DMOTE, jesse geller, josh lazcano, KAWS, madsaki, phil frost, pm tenore and stephen powers. each set is limited to 50 with 25 complete bikes at $3,700 and 25 frame-only kits at $2,100. yikes. i'm really excited to see clare rojas' contribution because i really like her work.

{via hypebeast}

all is falling.

falling 2 by bas jan ader. one of my favorite artists. if you're not familiar with his work please read up.

frees photography.

there's this little candy shop around the corner from cris' house and we were in there the other day looking at all the weird gummy candies for sale. they also sold other sundries like these little books by harry whittier frees of real dogs cats and rabbits dressed up in little clothes acting out scenes. i was both enthused and appalled! i was convinced that all the poor lil guys were dead and stuffed.

however, after doing some research i discovered that mr. frees used his own cats, as well as the pets of his friends and neighbors. using specially designed outfits sewn by his mother to hold the animals in standing poses, frees simply had to wait patiently for the shot he wanted. in his own words, "these unusual photographs of real animals were made possible only by patient, unfailing kindness on the part of the photographer at all times."

apparently the kitten is the most versatile animal actor, and "possesses the greatest variety of appeal". a kitten's attention is best held through the sense of sight, while that of a puppy is most influenced by sound, and equally readily distracted by it. due to his wiggly subjects exposures were taken at 1/5th of a second and two-thirds of the negatives had to be discarded.

i'm just so relieved that the animals were alive that i think i might go and purchase one of the books and actually be able to enjoy it knowing that the animals didn't go through too much trouble.

{found via one more river}

green scene.

pamoyo is a dutch/swedish fashion label run out of berlin. each article is hand-sewn out of vintage fabrics and organic cotton. two euros from each purchase are donated to ecological and social projects. that's two euros from reasonably affordable prices ranging from 25 to 49 euros for shirts and dresses in 8 styles. they are part of the grass roots project and the first fashion label under creative commons license. hmm, a cute, afforable, sustainable, collaborative and customizable clothing line that donates money to charities???? amazing! also, i'm in love with their models blonde 'do!

{via tree hugger}