shift

Rarely in today’s celebrity-obsessed, reality-driven mass culture are any record labels pushing the boundaries and producing new music. The majority of big labels busy themselves playing it safe, recycling sure things and randomly plucking fresh faces from an over-saturated sea of mediocre talent. Very seldom is music the point at all.

SourHarvest.com and Cannibal Flower Breed Contemporary Art Blossom Thinkspace Gallery, and Plant the Seed for Progressive Gallerists

Artists have historically dictated the ebb and flow of movements.

A movement toward commercialism… a movement toward minimalism… a movement toward post-modernism; they seem to shift like dark flocks of sparrows darting in unison through the late-afternoon sky. While you can never tell which one took the first lean to the right, they all manage to swell with the same synchronized motion. That is until Thinkspace departed from its nest in the haze of Los Angeles, when Andrew Hosner and L. Croskey set their vision for the contemporary art industry free.

Those of us with a lucid memory of growing up in the 1980’s have fond memories of old-school videogames. “Tetris”, “Pac-Man”, “Strawberry Shortcake Musical Match-Ups” (my parents hoped to shelter me from the “violence” of “Frogger”)—whatever it was, most of us retain such strong memories of our old favorites that, if called on today, we could play and still kick the neighborhood kid’s ass.

EAST HAMPTON— Scope Hamptons transformed its new 20,000 square-foot location, the East Hampton Studios, into a world-class art fair, bringing emerging international contemporary artists and international collector’s together in the relaxed summer playground of the Hamptons, NY. With brisk sales and triple the attendance from last year, Scope organizers were able to donate over $30,000 to local arts and non-profit institutions.

Somewhere in the woods of Michigan, a man by the name of Davy Rothbart is hiking up a trail. He suddenly receives a mystery call. Unfortunately, bad cell phone service is a problem that often accompanies hikes through the woods, and he is unable to hear anything except for noise. But not a problem. Davy is a smart guy and after my second failed call, he devises a plan, or should I say code. One sound means “yes”, and two sounds mean “no”. And so the detective goes to work...

Davy: Are you at the bottom of the
ocean?
Me: No, No
Davy: Okay, that’s a no. Is this an
emergency, should I call 911?
Me: No, No
Davy: Well that’s good. Are you an
astronaut?
Me: No... I mean, No No... I mean—
What?

Imagine a creature, half speaker enclosure, half canine, and picture this creature traveling all across the world. The expression on his face is always somewhat blank, and oddly enough, he always seems to be facing the same way. He has been captured atop clouds, next to technicolored horticulture, and on the face of the hundred-dollar bill itself.

If you commissioned Justin Bua to paint you a picture of mainstream hip hop in 2006, you should not expect to see any sign of admiration or sincerity present in the piece. Instead, expect to see him turn out “a gigantic gold plated diamond rock sitting on the front seat of an Escalade being caressed by 4000 video hos, floating in a swimming pool full of Courvoisier”.

Daryll Peirce is a 27-year-old Reno, Nevada native who absconded to California after college. While his artwork reflects the pervasive alienation of modernity, his entrepreneurial drive has resulted in the formation of two companies—Artderailed & Indivisual—and collaboration in a number of collectives. Only at the beginning of his career, Daryll’s work in front of canvases and behind desks is one of pure potential.

Located in San Jose today, Daryll’s grand unifier seems to be the elimination of boundaries, exemplified by both his numerous collaborations with other artists and his dedication to mixed media.

Some art is centered on the basic level; a picture and in it the point of its creation displayed openly for the viewer to absorb. Then there’s the Black Maria. The new gallery, which celebrated its one-year anniversary in May, engages its viewers with open environment and thought provoking images.

Pacman’s baby squid family mingles with ethereal pirate heads, preserved in invisible bags of patchouli scented ether. Angry clouds rain on graffiti left in the wake of invertebrate skeletons and mutated fists. And everything ends with a dodecahedron-breasted octapaterpillar.