Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1970 Mexican cult western, El Topo, was finally released on DVD in May, after being pulled from circulation and withheld from screenings by its producer (and influential 1960′s rock manager) Allen Klein for over 30 years. John Lennon said it was his favorite movie, and other fans include Marilyn Manson and David Lynch. Gunfights, dwarfs, and disfigured characters mixed heavily with eastern philosophy and Christian symbolism… film doesn’t get much more arty.
Art
Maya Hayuk Laptop
The ‘callabo is part of get things done in todays culture, but this has to be one of the strangest pairings I’ve ever seen. Photographer/Illustrator Maya Hayuk teamed with Sony to fancy up a Vaio laptop. Custom case, wallpapers and a pre-installed documentary about how this insanity was created. Where’s the hairy naked couple? Via Akihabara News
Graffiti Archeology
Graffiti exists as an aggressive extension of the art community, part political expression (defacing public property) part personal expression (your stupid tag). But who cares? In a city of thousands of wannabe Banksy and Futuras’, we walk the streets as if cruising the romantic comedy aisle at Blockbuster, looking for that one original piece. Well, look no more. The talented chaps at Graffiti Archaeology have monitored the streets of San Francisco, collecting photography of well used walls across town. The website documents the inevitable layers of famous graffiti spots through a slightly clunky but effective flash interface. (Not for the lightweight browsers). Hopefully Google will pick up on this.
Ryohei Yanagihara
Japanese commercial artist Ryohei Yanagihara’s (b. 1931) illustrations are symbolic of a graphic style that has sadly disappeared from today’s digitally driven aesthetics. Somewhere between Mary Blair, Alain Gee and Ed Emberley, Ryo’s drawings are simple, light hearted, yet surprisingly complex. His fascination with drawing passenger ships, like the one above, are documented and wonderfully organized on his website. Via Drawn
