Penny Skateboards

these are so colorful that i couldn’t resist a post.  real life, super retro 70s style skateboards in a huge pile of cool color combinations.  there is even a glow in the dark version! check out the full lineup at www.pennyskateboards.com.  apparently these are really strong.  see video below.

i bet if andy warhol were still around he would collect these.

Mike Slobot presents Transporter-2

This is a new Slobot commission created by Mike Slobot.  Transporter-2 is approximately 15" tall, includes many glow in the dark parts, as well as a removable figure.  This commission was created for a client who is a wheel chair user.  He is interested in human-robot interaction and how robots might be a valuable, meaningful part of our lives in the future - a vision after Mike's own heart.

slobots get a write up in Japanese Mag “Mono”

There’s been some press for the Kaiju Comrades II show that the slobots participated in.  the show took place at Tokyo’s Design Festa Gallery in the Harajuku district.  the roster of artists was huge, and the slobots were fortunate to get some great coverage in the Japanese magazine “Mono” – thanks to Mark Nagata for including us in the show, and for sending along images of the magazine!  Bigger pic of the mag below…. since we don’t speak Japanese, we can only assume that its good, since the “Abominable Slobot” got such great placement!

By, the way, you can buy the Abominable Slobot <here>

More pics from the show and the magazine below….

Craig Kaufman - 1960s plastic art goodness

I watched the PBS documentary "the Cool School" a few months ago, and then picked it up again the other night.  My wife (http://blog.hippiecouture.com) and I are fascinated with the 60s, and the documentary shows some extra cool art as it emerged in LA during the 1950s and 60s at the Ferus Gallery.  I am particularly taken with the work by Craig Kaufman, as, if you know me at all, I have a deep fascination with shiny plastic.  Plastic is a motivating factor in the creation of my slobots, and Kaufman uses it in a masterful way.  The pieces I am highlighting here are from a series of work from the 60s that is created in vacuum formed acrylic plastic.  You can read some more about Kaufman on wikipedia...

The Ferus Gang (Group Portrait of Artists from the Ferus Gallery), 1962.
(Left to Right: John Altoon, Craig Kauffman, Allen Lynch, Ed Kienholz, Ed Moses, Robert Irwin, Billy Al Bengston). Photo by Patricia Faure.