BTC: Grandma and Baby – Day at the Park


Buy your own giant wearable latex infant head from HYPERFLESH. Three different moods to choose from! (Via BoingBoing.)

Good morning, drugstore good morning, GOOD MOOORRRRRNING.

Plastik Wrap and Zoetica Ebb Present: GHST RDR


Photo: Allan Amato. Clothes: Plastik Wrap. Models: Zoetica Ebb and Ulorin Vex. Hair: Adriana Mireles.

via Haute Macabre:

After months of excruciating antici…pation, decease Zoetica Ebb and Plastik Wrap have released a preview of their collaborative effort.

Titled GHST RDR, health the tailored top and square skirt combo is inspired by strict riding jackets of the Victorian era, clinic Anime and the dark punk aesthetic. Classic tailoring and details such as pleats, draping and structured sleeves are vivified with modern materials and adjustable straps.

The mini collection, made entirely in Canada, will be available for custom orders at PlastikArmy.com on May 9th.

Shapeways Presents 3D Printed Strandbeests by Theo Jansen

Anybody remember this breathless 2007 Coilhouse post about Dutch kinetic artist Theo Jansen and his awe-inspiring Strandbeests? Eeee! So incredible.


Animaris Geneticus Parvus

Jansen’s kinetic creatures have evolved quite a bit since then, and as of this month, the wonderful 3D printing company Shapeways has made a small version of Animaris Geneticus Parvus, available for purchase through their site.

These wee baby Beests, born from one of Jansen’s original behemoth windwalker designs, are “printed already assembled and [work] right after birth from the machine! No other production method can do this!” (Is 3D printing technology trippy, or what?) Apparently there are more Beests in development as well.

Watch and squee:

PDF Back Issues of Coilhouse Magazine ON SALE NOW

Today’s a big day! Coilhouse’s newest media experiment is ready for your delectation and appraisal.

From now through April 21, anyone, anywhere in the world with reasonable internet bandwidth will be able purchase DRM-free, high quality PDFs from the Coilhouse web store. This is the first time back issues of the magazine have been available in a digital format. Here it is: our brand-new PDF Shop.

For $5 USD a pop, you can download And Other Curiosities (01), Beauty Is A Choice (02), The “Hold My Gold” Issue (03), Onaim, Perantes, Rasonastos (04), and Let All the Children Boogie (05) as individual digital issues, or at a discount price of twenty bucks for all five. Also, should ye be feelin’ flush and generous, you’ll have the option to pay a bit more, because this is an important fund raising push for us.

Some thoughts:

As paper gourmands who have been touting the Magazine-As-Art-Object aspects of our production from the get-go, we know there’s nothing quite as scrumptious as holding a tangible, finite paper edition of Coilhouse in your hands.  We also realize that as we’ve continued to grow and evolve from a teeny wee indie publication to a somewhat less teeny (but still wee!) indie publication, there has consistently been more demand than supply of our limited run print issues as well as other merchandise, leaving a lot of forlorn readers crying out, “What do you mean it’s sold out ALREADY?!” And we must acknowledge, with regret, that our as-of-yet limited overseas distribution, combined with high international shipping costs, has made it prohibitively expensive for much of our global readership to afford copies of the Coilhouse print issues. We’re still working out these kinks as we go along. Thank you, comrades, for your continued understanding and kind suggestions on how we can improve.

Rest assured that we remain, first and foremost, resolutely committed to producing high quality print editions. But with your feedback, we’ve ascertained that high res PDFs are the best, most affordable solution we have currently for giving an ever-increasing readership access to our past print content. Depending on the success of this trial run digital sale, we may go in any number of directions: offering perennial PDF downloads, developing multimedia applications for smartphones and iPads, maybe even creating snazzy limited edition print digests for fellow diehard bibliophiles. Full disclosure: in recent weeks, we’ve been in multiple meetings with trusted mentors, friends, and publishers, discussing all of these possibilities, and more. SO EXCITING.

All proceeds from this initial three-week PDF sale will go directly back into the Coilhouse coffer. As previously mentioned, you’ll have the choice to purchase them at five bucks a pop, twenty for all five, or more if you can afford to and would like to further support our business. Every dollar you spend on them will help ensure that our upcoming Issue Six (currently being designed) is Coilhouse’s most lustrous, densely-packed and gorgeous production yet. Please know how grateful we are for the unflagging support of our beautiful and vibrant grassroots community. We’re still here, and still growing, because of you.

Once more, repeated for emphasis: this initial foray into PDF sales is a limited-time fund raising effort, so if you’re interested, don’t delay! GO GIT ‘EM.

Special thanks to art star Courtney Riot for designing the new shop, and Nicole, Ian, Jacquie, Whittles, Nyx, Steph, Slim and Audrey for countless hours of testing/support.

Paul Komoda’s King Thalidomidas

Artist Paul Komoda – whose Elephant Man sculpture, Syphilis lady bust, and ‘Blind Love’ illustration were previously featured on Coilhouse – recently sculpted King Thalidomidas, a new model resin kit available from Artist Proof Studio. King Thalidomidas is available for purchase, or you can enter in a contest to win this sculpture, or one of their many other gorgeously grotesque pieces, simply by commenting on the the Artist Proof blog. Details here.

Support Our (Full Page) Advertisers!

Last week, we blogged about our wonderful Small-Business Advertisers. Today, we’d like to honor and give thanks to our five full-page advertisers from Issue 05. Thank you to Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs, Fluevog Shoes, Frenzy Universe, Swatch and Zivity. Two learn more about the businesses that support us, and receive some discounts for Coilhouse readers, venture beyond the cut!

Indulge, Explore, Support Our Advertisers!

In this post, we’d like to introduce and honor the companies and artists participating in our Small-Business Advertising Program as of Issue 05. We’re not doing this because it’s part of the ad deal; in fact, our FAQ plainly states that advertising and editorial do not mix. We’re doing this because we’re genuinely awed and inspired by the incredible mix of people who’ve come forth to advertise in this magazine, and think you will be, too.

Through this program, we’ve discovered phenomenal new places to shop, found new places in our cities to explore, and even made new friends. Our list of advertisers has always been very eclectic, but as of Issue 05, with the help of our ad managers Samantha and Allie, this list exceeded anything we ever imagined.

We invite you to explore beyond the cut, where a wondrous array of music, art, clothing, literature, graphic design, technology and sculpture await. There are absinthe cocktail recipes, a glitter-covered worm, skull jewelry for cats, weird paintings of cats, corsets, spats, photographs, magazines, records, dolls, monsters… and much, much more.

Support our advertisers this holiday season if you can, leave an encouraging comment about something you saw here that you liked, and spread the word. Without you guys, none of this would be possible. Thank you!

Gender Subversion Poster

Via Slim –who says he was reminded of it when he read this piece by a mother defending her five-year-old son’s Daphne costume– comes this awesome sauce:

This poster can be purchased on the cheap, or downloaded for free at the Crimethinc site as part of their “Gender Subversion Kit”.

“Part poster, part zine, and made to be deployed in an endless number of environments, the Gender Subversion Kit is a 22″x14” two-color poster on the outside and a line art illustrated gender-fuck coloring book road map for both kids and adults on the inside. Inspired by and adapted from the boys will be girls will be boys . . . coloring book by JT and Irit, we took the parts we loved the most, made a few small changes, and mass produced it on the cheap.”

Giant Gummy Worm: Ribbed For Your Pleasure

What’s 26 inches long, weighs three pounds, and would be immensely fun to lube up and brandish menacingly at pumpkin-smashing, house-egging Halloween vandals, preferably while wearing a bloodstained chicken suit? Why, the World’s Largest Gummy Worm, that’s what!

The precocious online shop Vat19 is currently sold out of all five dual flavors of this 4000 calorie candy, but never fear– they’ll be back in stock very soon. Meantime, there’s always The World’s Largest Gummy Bear.

Merch Sale Ends This Wednesday, Midnight PST

Last week, we announced a new line of fund-raising merchandise: a poster, a scarf, a mug, and an array of buttons. Even Issue 05 and our Inform Inspire Infect hoodie are back by popular demand, all to help us make Issue 06 a worthy successor to the bling-a-licious 05. A big THANK YOU to everyone who’s pillaged our store so far. The sale ends this Wednesday at midnight PST, so if you plan to load up on Coil-goods, dally not!