Another week another FAM. Time to FAM it up FAM style. FAM to the MAX! FAMtacular FAMmery.

Ok, that’s enough of that. (Editors Note: Please PLEASE, stop drinking at work.)

Today we present 1979’s 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s, directed by Gary Weis of All You Need Is Cash and Saturday Night Live fame. I first found this movie three years ago and it still fascinates me. Following two gangs from the South Bronx, the Savage Skulls and the Nomads, it provides a fascinating snapshot of New York as it limped out of one of it’s worst decades. It plays much better as a time capsule, I think, then a gang documentary. If you ever wondered how anyone could come up with the aesthetics of a movie like The Warriors, here’s your answer.

“Don’t look at me that way,” detail.

Textured scaffolding made out of paper. Spun cavities, spiraling angles and floating bristol-board islands. A mysterious, solitary logo consisting of circle and the letter X, reinterpreted in dozens of different ways.

Tonight in the Bay Area, artist, photographer and Syzygryd co-designer Nicole Aptekar unveils a series called New / Exploration / Paper at the Satellite66 gallery in SOMA. Coilhouse caught up with Nicole during the hectic last day of gallery preparation to discuss these pieces and the process behind them.

“Play revolver,” detail. Photo by Nicole Aptekar

COILHOUSE: Let’s start with this logo, the circle with the letter “x” positioned inside of it. How long has it been around? What’s the story behind it?
NICOLE APTEKAR:  I came up with the symbol in the summer of 2009. I was interested in sticker art, and wanted something to tag with that was not obviously a tag. I was experimenting with a number of different logos. In some versions, the circle was very dominant. In other versions, it was the “x”. The x-heavy versions of the logo were significantly more… vicious? Aggressive? They had no meaning, yet they had this built-in aggression that I found really interesting and kind of desirable, which I thought was curious, since they were just abstract symbols.  I started putting stickers of the logo up all over San Francisco and wherever I traveled. It was fascinating to see which ones stayed and which ones didn’t.  This version with the double-x is the one that I claimed for myself as a logo. Then I started using it to label things: my laptop, my bike, etc. When I had the opportunity to make it a part of a composition, I took it, instead of just slapping a logo on top of things. One example of that is the “Clear” button on the Syzygryd controller touchscreen… yeah, I tagged my own art.

Conventionally, it’s corporations that have logos, not individual people. So why your own logo?
A big part of it is that I find stickering really fascinating. I’m a big fan of B.N.E. and AERA HAKR. I watch the streets to see all the new sticker people because, for their brief moment, they are prolific. You can’t spray-paint every street, but you can absolutely throw seven stickers down as you’re walking. But I don’t really have the attachment to a name that many in the graffiti community seem to have.  Coming up with a fake name and throwing that down is not my thing. I don’t want people to know who I am, I’m not concerned with getting my name out. I’ve always been into graphic design and typography, though. Seeing abstract symbols in the wild engages my curiosity. There’s moment of puzzlement when you see some strange symbol in some random place, like on a trash can. Like, “what could this mean?” I feel like seeing the same logo in different places gives people the opportunity to get curious and find out. With an abstract logo, it’s not necessarily as obvious as with with a name. I feel like that’s more interesting.

Laser cutter in action. Photo by Nicole Aptekar

How did you transition from making stickers to making these sculptural paper compositions?
In January, I came across Matt Shlian’s work, and I became really inspired. He made a set called The Process Series, which are blocks of stacked paper that was cut using a plotter. He was taking grids and moving them around, and I thought that was really amazing. I’d been using laser cutter for a year and a half at that point, and I thought I could do something similar with it. So I just booked the laser at Techshop to see if it would be possible to laser-cut a piece similar to ones in The Process Series. Except that, instead of using one of his shapes, I used my logo. So I cut it, glued it together – hated the process of gluing it together – and I came up with this. I liked it, but it was so entirely similar to Shlian’s concept that I was really embarrassed by it. But I didn’t want to give up on it, either. So I started to ask myself: what could I do to feature my logo in a way that exposes the depth and breaks away form the grid structure? Shlian’s thing was repeated grids: squares, triangles, etc. He had his own unique way of pulling through depth, and I wanted to see what the variations are on that. I wanted to see what kind of shapes I could compose from my logo that were definitely mine, and not reminiscent of his. I developed several concepts for how to accomplish this using my own terminology. A projected cavity is large shape swept around to make a smaller shape. A spun cavity is when I take a shape and twist it. Spars and scaffolding are beams attached to the side of the frame that hold up elements that need to float.

“Don’t look at me that way” before it’s printed and cut, in Rhino 3D.

Can you describe your process for making these?
I start by designing these in CAD using Rhino 3D. In Rhino, none of these pieces are cut – it’s all one solid piece – so it’s hard to predict what kind of interplay all the individual layers will have. By the time I chop them up with the laser and lay out the pieces, I have no idea what it will all look like until it’s assembled. I’m completely unable to work on more than one of these at once. Each one leads directly onto the next; many of these contain new variations on a technique I had just learned while making the previous piece. For example with this one, I developed the notion of having the frame turn into that shape in the center, becoming part of the composition. And then with this one, which I made right after it, I did the same thing but also took that shape and twisted it. The shape of this one is basically secondary to the movement of the bar and its center point. That’s something that I never saw when I was doing it in CAD, but it looked shockingly beautiful to me when I started to put it all together. And then in the next one after that, I also had that frame and that spun cavity, but I added scaffolding at the top. In putting together this exhibition, I’ve learned a ton. Each one of these pieces represents an amount of knowledge I have gained.

One of Nicole Aptekar’s original pieces will be available at the Coilhouse Black & White & Red All Over Ball silent auction in New York this August 21st. See you there!

It’s the gloriously controversial and demented kiddie cartoon’s 20th birthday today! Hard to believe, ain’t it? Feliz cumpleaños, and many happy returns.

“I dont think your happy enough! That’s right! I’ll teach you to be happy! I’ll teach your grandmother to suck eggs!”

You may recall photos from February of this year, showing a previously uncontacted tribe in the rainforest of Brazil. Pretty amazing stuff. Tragically, it was announced earlier this week that the 200 members of this community have disappeared, under particularly terrifying circumstances. Brazilian officials are saying that the guard post meant to protect the tribe’s village was over-run by heavily armed men, thought to be drug traffickers, who now occupy the base and the area around where the village stood:

Fears are now mounting for the welfare of the Indians after workers from FUNAI (the government’s Indian Affairs Department) found one of the traffickers’ rucksacks with a broken arrow inside. A rapid survey by government officials has shown no trace of the Indians, who made worldwide headlines in February.

Police have reportedly found a package containing 20kg of cocaine nearby. It is feared the Envira River, where the post is located, has become an entry point into Brazil for cocaine smugglers from Peru.

[…]

Carlos Travassos, the head of the Brazilian government’s isolated Indians department, said today, ‘Arrows are like the identity card of uncontacted Indians. We think the Peruvians made the Indians flee. Now we have good proof. We are more worried than ever. This situation could be one of the biggest blows we have ever seen in the protection of uncontacted Indians in recent decades. It’s a catastrophe.’

Via Survival International : Gawker

GEMINI & SCORPIO Present: The Black & White & Red All Over Ball. (Flyer by Nadya & Nicole, inspired by Courtney Riot. Imagery courtesy of Helen White & Amelia Arsenic.)

For years and years and years, we’ve been talking about throwing an epic Coilhouse party in New York City. There’s a lot to celebrate: our vibrant family of East Coast-based Coilhouse contributors and compatriots, the four-year anniversary of the Coilhouse site, and, of course, the imminent release of Coilhouse Issue 06… which is gorgeous, by the way! (It’s visually unlike anything else we’ve attempted thus far. So much hard and occasionally heartrending work has been poured into this issue over the past year, by a big team of devoted staffers, contributors, interns and editors.)

In keeping with the distinct color scheme of Issue 06, and with a cheery nod to the slapdash, seat-o-the-pants times Coilhouse currently finds itself in, we’re calling our Coilbash The Black & White & Red All Over Ball. We are striving to make it the fanciest, most weird and wonderful costume ball of our career thus far. And, quite frankly, we’re not only hoping for, but counting on a healthy turnout, in spite of the short notice-ness. We really hope to see you there. It’s not just about the Benjamins. Honestly, we’re aching for a proper Big Apple shindig. We dearly want to meet and greet and hug the stuffing out of all our East Coast lovelies, and then maybe dance the night away, if that’s all right with you? We feel like it’s way past due.

With a little (actually a LOT) of help from our friends, we’ve been getting the word out, and lining up an incredible array of art and performance. Two dozen fabulous silent auction items have been donated by Coihouse featured artists, friends and contributors. We’ve locked down a lavish venue, and we’re ready to rock your socks off. HOLY SHIT. GUYS. LET’S DO THIS.

Please do read further for more details.

Our beautiful venue, the Red Lotus Room.

First of all, check out the space! We shall be getting our boogie on in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, at the sumptuous, sprawling, velvety Red Lotus Room, home of the legendary Shanghai Mermaid speakeasy. When Mer first sent out a big “CALLING ALL CARS” email to her NYC crew, several people recommended we get in touch with the lovely Juliette, who runs both the space and the speakeasy. Juliette is a kindred spirit for sure, deeply committed to DIY community and the arts. Asian lanterns and chandeliers, exposed wood beam ceilings, red velvet-draped walls… oh my!

Upon arrival at the Red Lotus Room, revelers will enter a secret, lush cabaret universe to an extravaganza of live music, dance and circus performances. Aerialists… fire… projec​tions… Dadaist spectacle… surprises galore. Dance to rollicking sets from DJ luminaries. Bid on silent auction items donated by longtime supporters and featured Coilhouse artists: a splendid array of autographed prints and books, and one-of-a-kind art objects. (PS: we’re working to see if we can’t arrange for this to be an international auction, to make things more interesting!) Mix and mingle with Coilhouse staff and family of longtime East Coast contributors, including Molly Crabapple, Clayton James Cubitt, and Jeff Wengrofsky. Angeliska Polacheck is even flying in from Austin for this! Plus, partygoers will get the first glimpse of Coilhouse Issue Six, and an opportunity to pre-order it at a discount. There will be tea ceremony, there will be booze, there will be belly dancers and cabaret, flaming poi and flying trapeze. Most of all, there will be a whole lotta love in the dang room, because the night of August 21st is all about Coilhouse celebrating its birthday, and most importantly, its community.

So, yes. As you can see, the space is amazing. Then there’s the phenomenal party production team, Gemini & Scorpio, who are presenting the evening’s festivities. G&S have stepped up in the most gobsmackingly incredible way to help us to list, promote, organize, cat-herd and co-curate this shindig.  Run by “two artsy New York City gals and creators of G&S’ Fabulous Guide to Online Dating (old, but useful!)” our cherished and generous G&S team are: “Smart, creative, funky and different, just like the people we are here to meet. Our email list spreads the word on underground happenings in NYC you’d otherwise never hear about, and our own–sometimes unbelievable–parties bring our thousands-strong creatives’ community offline.” Holy macaroni, they’re badass.

With their help, combined with the counsel and kindness of our dear friend Shien Lee of Dances of Vice (be sure to scroll down and take note of the DoV/Coilbash two-event deal!), and the wisdom of the aforementioned Juliette and Shanghai Mermaid, we have been able to reach further and deeper into the NYC underground than we ever could on our own from way over here in sunny Cali. Our lionhearted comrade and champion, Molly Crabapple, has also been helping out tremendously with backline support. In the midst of all of this last-minute chaos, whenever we take a brief moment to catch our breath, we feel like we’re swooning in the outpouring of love, support and advice we’ve received from all of these women, their extended networks, and beyond. (Thank you, lovely ladies. THANK you, thank you, thank you. We can never say it enough. We are so darn grateful to all of you.)

With their help, and in cahoots with countless other members of da ‘Haus’s own extensive tribe in NYC (who will undoubtedly be getting a ton of blog shout-outs and love over the next few weeks), we’ve been able to confirm a lot of fantastic talent over the past couple of days, with more acts to be added over the next week. Here’s the current roster:

Kim Boekbinder. Photo by Marianne Bijou.

Franz Nicolay. Photo by Konstantin Sergeyev.

Brian Viglione. Photo by Ethan Miller.

The Fishtank Ensemble (Promo photo.)

MUSIC: Kim Boekbinder (Vermillion Lies) Our beloved genre-defying songstress of murderous waltzes and epic pop ballads will woo us with voice, guitar, looping pedal and a bag full of mystery. In Coilhouse’s review of her album The Impossible Girl, Mer described her as  “a bravely vulnerable, electrifying lightning rod of a woman.” She is all that and more. The wondrous Fishtank Ensemble (fellow Californians who just happen to be in NYC this week) will give us a blissful, heartmelting, booty-shakin’ dose of their signature blend of Roma, Serbian, flamenco, manouche, Turkish and Greek music, plus original compositions! Franz Nicolay (World Inferno, Hold Steady, Guignol) is a dashing moutsachioed multi-instrumentalist, composer, and the hardest working boho-accordionist in NYC. Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls, World Inferno, Gentlemen & Assassins), who will be providing us with an assortment of unfettered, theatrical DRUM SOLOS throughout the evening, is an energetic, expressive, percussive powerhouse. Thomas Negovan, bless his beautiful heart, is flying all the way from Chicago to give us a delicious taste of occult-tinged, erotic, 1920s cabaret songcraft. Kelvin Daly, builder of unique musical instruments, will favor us with mysterious and elegant performances. Theremina (yes, that’s Mer’s stage name, shhh!) will humbly provide a wee bit of wistful, theremin-drenched ambient music to sway and swoon to. Ooo, and then there are the DJs! Wengrofsky – Scrappy and eclectic vinyl wizardry. PUREVILE! – Sets of new wave, dark glam, new romantic from the co-founder of DISKO NOUVEAUX.

Sarah Hassan

Sky Claudette. Photo by Jeffrey Grossman.

Our ringmaster, SF SLIM. Photo by Jacob Appelbaum.

DANCE/CABARET: Our darling, delicious blog contributor, Sarah Hassan, will be taking the stage as a Bellow Dancer & Bedouin Showgirl. Paige & Ahnika (recently ‘Haused here) will provide a set of electrifying, emotive, empowering belly dance. LeRoi Prince is bringing us a bit of Weimar drag/burlesque genderfuckery with swagger and class. Liron & Daly, a bewitching husband and wife team, will give us aerials performed to live musical accompaniment. Eros Fyre – Sky & Vlad will perform feats of fire magick. Ian Baker of Interpretive Arson will be bringing out the fire rope dart. Our Master of Ceremonies is the one and only SF SLIM. Slim’s been a friend of ours for years; he’s a charming collaborative culture evangelist and a nattily-dressed Joy-Facilitator who “eats concepts and makes things”. We’re overjoyed that he’s agreed to be our ringmaster, in addition to helping out behind the scenes.

Muffinhead! Photo by Gabi Porter.

Some of Empire S.N.A.F.U.’s unsettling art.

PUREVILE!

MISCELLANEOUS SPECTACLE & ODDITY: Some sort of gorgeously unsettling, as-of-yet-determined “art incident” courtesy of EMPIRE S.N.A.F.U will occur. S.N.A.F.U. is “a feverish visual and theatrical mélange of dystopian technology, sexual obsolescence, and implied religion,” painstakingly assembled from a vast and unsettling assortment of found materials. Muffinhead – Lavishly costumed, colorful performance absurdist; a spectacular cartoon imaginary made real. The PUREVILE! girls – Exquisite living dolls unearthed from some great-great-auntie’s steamer trunk, bedecked in bespoke post-apocalyptic Victorian finery. Three-minute theremin lessons from Mer, if you’re game to make some woo-woo noises. AND! Last but not least, a Black & White & Red All Over Photo Booth.

SILENT AUCTION. Items will include art donated by Diamanda Galas, Molly Crabapple, Jessica Joslin, Paul Komoda, Jason Levesque & Xeni Jardin, Century Guild, Disinfo, PUREVILE!, Kate O’Brien, Nicole Aptekar, and Asha Beta. There will also be a full set of the out-of-print, highly collectible back-issues of Coilhouse (Issues 1-5).

COSTUME SUGGESTIONS: Sharp curves in black and white and red, in keeping with the German Expressionist/Bauhau​s/Constructivist color palette of the upcoming Coilhouse print issue. Think decadent Weimar, 1920s Soviet Union, Klaus Nomi, origami-inspired, architectural, Metropolis, or De Stijl fashion. Polar Bear & Penguin? Nun in red fishnets! Valentine’s Day Zebra. Vampire and Midnight Snack. Anything in the color scheme goes, as long as you GO FOR IT.

VIP TICKETS: Donations over $30 will grant patrons 5 pm admission for an East-meets-West tea service, and first access to the silent auction. The tea service will be from 5-7. Enjoy live acoustic music and crackling wax-cylinder ambiance, private salon performances, and cozy conversation with Coilhouse co-founding editors Nadya Lev and Meredith Yayanos. Depending on donation level, there are many goodies to be had! VIP pricing structure is as follows:

• $30 Coilhouse buttons + stickers + baubles
• $50 Coilhouse buttons + stickers + Coilhouse I/I/I coffee mug
• $75 Coilhouse buttons + stickers + plus codes for DRM-free, high res PDF downloads of Coilhouse out-of-print back issues 1-5 + Coilhouse laptop vinyl.
• $100 All of the above + limited edition “Interstellar Vanguard” print by Zoetica Ebb. (Print exclusive to this tier.)
• $150 Everything in $75 gift bag + free pre-order of upcoming Issue Six print mag + a signed one-of-a-kind magazine proof from a past issue of Coilhouse.
• $200 All of the above + second printer’s proof + a trip to the COILBOX to pick out a final “mystery merch” item worth $30 – $50
• $300 All of the above + acknowledgment in print Issue 07 as a Coilhouse Print Patron + personalized thank-you card from Nadya Lev and Meredith Yayanos.

GENERAL ADMISSION. The main event starts at 7:00 and goes until midnight. Entrance is $15.

Admission to the main party event is included with all VIP tea service and salon tickets.

SPECIAL DEAL FOR DANCES OF VICE ATTENDEES! The DoV Enchantment Under the Sea Dance is happening on Saturday, August 20th. Why not make a cross-pollinating, bohemian art and culture blow-out of the whole weekend? We’ve teamed up with Shien and Co. to offer a special ticket to those who attend both events. For $25, you can be a guest at both parties. This will gain you general admission entrance to both events.

LOCATION. Red Lotus Room. 893 Bergen (between Classon and Franklin). It’s a wee bit off the beaten path, but hey, aren’t we all?! There is a subway stop close by, and we’re arranging to have some clear (and possibly quite entertaining) signposts up for all folks coming by public transit from the train station to the venue.

WHAT NOW? All that’s left is for you to buy tickets and RSVP! See you there, loves.

• Buy Tickets Here
• RSVP on Facebook

Is there anything in this short documentary on lingerie institution Frederick’s of Hollywood that is not perfectly attune with the brand? The narrator, his voice, rich and oily, spoken through a half grin? No. The models, clothed in I Dream of Jeannie harem garb or their underwear packed with strategically placed rubber? No. Maybe that last image of Frederick Mellinger, founder, designer, inventor of the push up bra, and “America’s quintessential dirty old man” hovering over the alabaster bosom of a lithe young blond, using a straw to inflate the air bladders secreted away inside her brassier, almost appearing to be quaffing from some profane and illicit juice box? No, there is nothing out of place here; nothing but perfection to be seen. Everything here most certainly cries “Frederick’s of Hollywood”.

Via Dangerous Minds

Coilhouse party! It’s happening! In New York! On Sunday, August 21st! Full announcement coming very shortly. For now, allow me to entertain you with a couple of book reviews snippets from Amazon.

RAND Corporation published “A Million Random Digits” in 1955, before it was easy for computers to generate random numbers. It was an important work in the field of statistics and cryptography. Amazon readers of today note:

“Such a terrific reference work! But with so many terrific random digits, it’s a shame they didn’t sort them, to make it easier to find the one you’re looking for.”

“The book is a promising reference concept, but the execution is somewhat sloppy. Whatever algorithm they used was not fully tested. The bulk of each page seems random enough. However at the lower left and lower right of alternate pages, the number is found to increment directly.”

“I took a class in statistics in college. I used this book to help me select random phone numbers for a poll I was conducting for my class project. (The most popular household cleanser in the greater Siouxland area is Bon Ami, by the way.) One of those phone calls was answered by the woman who is now my wife. We’ve been happily married for ten years! Thank you, RAND.”

“If you like this book, I highly recommend that you read it in the original binary. As with most translations, conversion from binary to decimal frequently causes a loss of information and, unfortunately, it’s the most significant digits that are lost in the conversion.”

More reviews here. [via @raindrift]

Monty Python era Terry Gilliam gives a lesson in the cut out animation he was so well known for. Watching this, site I was struck by how inventive Gilliam was in playing with perspective and appropriating images as well as how maddeningly fiddly the entire process seems. Even with the help of tape I would be terrified that a stray gust of air or a sneeze would take everything away with it. Stop motion animators have nerves of steel and more patience than I shall ever possess.

Via Drawn

I know everyone’s waiting with bated breath for more news about Coilhouse’s Black & White & Red All Over Ball in New York. We’d been working on the announcement all weekend, but with more art and performers still being confirmed, and some other details to iron out, we’ve decided to wait just one more day to spill the beans. In the meantime, check out these lovely new creations from Miyu Decay, the jewelry and adornments company of artist Stephanie Inagaki (previously on Coilhouse). Shot beautifully by Allan Amato, the images feature models Lacy Soto, Alexandra Matthews, Jill Evyn, and Yellow Strange. All these items can be purchased at Miyu Decay’s Etsy store.

Later this month, Stephanie and the other artists involved in this shoot will be throwing a very special fundraising event in LA in honor of James Ribiat, Stephanie’s fiancee, who died of a heart attack nearly two years ago. We met Stephanie and James when they became impromptu bartenders at the Coilhouse launch party three years ago, and James’ passing was a shock for everyone on the staff. Stephanie writes:

James always encouraged me to be creative, to continuously do better and was my biggest critic.

Our family established an arts endowment in his honor, which will be used to give scholarships to local students who want to pursue the arts.  James was an ardent supporter, always donating to museums and the LA Philharmonic. We had received generous donations from friends to initially start up the endowment but it is necessary to raise more funds in order to give back to the community.  An endowment works similarily like a savings account, where you can only take off of what the interest makes.

I am organizing a memorial benefit show to raise more funds. It will be held on Friday, August 26th from 7pm-12am at Sancho Gallery in Echo Park. I am in the process of hopefully attaining an Alcoholic Beverage Control One Day License as well because everyone knows booze brings in the most cash! The entrance fee will include one raffle ticket, which I think will be about $10.  There will also be an option to buy more raffle tickets as well!

The event will feature performances by Daniel Ribiat of Cinema Strange and Colin Ambulance, as well as a raffle for artwork donations from Zoetica, Tas Limur, Yume Ninja, Paul Koudounaris, and many other artists. See the full details on at the event page here.

You may have heard rumblings, rumors of a splendid event in New York. You may have even seen a Facebook Event about it.

It’s true. Coilhouse is coming to New York! We’re throwing an extravagant party on Sunday, August 21st: The Black & White & Red All Over Ball. With the help of our friends at Gemini & Scorpio and Dances of Vice, we’re organizing this event to mark two very special milestones: our fourth birthday, and the upcoming release of Coilhouse Issue Six. Held at a lush cabaret room deep in the heart of Brooklyn, the event will feature live music, circus, art, projections, dadaist spectacle and surprises galore.

We have so much more to tell you, dear readers. Tune in on Monday for a full announcement. For now, mark your calendars. New York, New Jersey, Philly, Boston, Bawlmer, DC folks and beyond, save this date. Check back on Monday for some very exciting news!