Awesome news!! THING just got word that we have been selected to participate in the Anti-Design-Festival in London from September 19-26. Read more about it on the D&AD blog here. I will be coming out just in time to catch the last few days of the show.

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2010
by Jean Nouvel
10 July – 17 October 2010
Now open

Now through October 17th, you can visit London’s Kensington Gardens to see French architect Jean Nouvel’s design of the Serpentine Gallery’s 10th commission for their annual summer pavilion. Aside from being red and amazing to look at, there’s a crop of fun inside, including bar stools with bicycle pedals, ping-pong tables, chess and backgammon sets, and plenty of lounge areas. This year also marks the Serpentine’s 40th Anniversary. Admission to the Pavilion is free.

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UP THERE, a film directed by Malcom Murray

Watch the full 10 minute movie HERE

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Sure we all see large format advertising on side of buildings made of vinyl banners and drive past them without giving it a second thought, but there are a few people out there, that still hand paint large ads with the utmost detail. This film shows us the love and passion these artists have for their craft, which unfortunately, is on the verge of extinction with today’s technology. At the end of the short film, they show a 20 X 50 foot stop-frame animation created by the same artists, which took over 3 weeks of painting for ‘The Ritual Project.’ It is a MUST SEE!!

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We are happy to announce that THING will be participating in this years Renegade Craft Fair, which will be held at the Los Angeles State Historic Park in late July. We have been working on some pretty awesome side projects and are super excited to soon finish and share with all of our THING peeps. We will be showcasing alongside some great indie designers and craft talented folks.  More details soon, but in the meantime don’t forget to wear SPF 40, drink water, and enjoy the beautiful summer days!

A friend took me to the Haunch of Venison last week to see beautiful work by Rina Banerjee. If you haven’t been to this gallery in West London, it’s massive and worth the visit.

All images courtesy of Haunch of Venison

We went to the movies on Friday to check this movie out. Supposedly about Banksy, but actually about Mr.Brainwash, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is a movie about street art and the man that started documenting Shepard Fairey, Banksy, and his cousin, Space Invader. Funny, interesting, and worth watching.

These pretty awesome postcards are made by Franco Brambilla , who is an Italian illustrator devoted to sci-fi. He takes vintage postcards and adds his touch of sci-fi action creating an almost realistic image of aliens and Star Wars characters coexisting on earth.

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For those of you who blasted Sonic Youth into your ears really loud like I did, you will be excited to read that fresh from the March release of “Performing/Guzzling” (Rizzoli), a book featuring watercolors based on her experiences performing, Kim is putting out another piece- “Kim Gordon: The Noise Paintings,” that opened yesterday at the John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz Gallery in Manhattan. Here is the interview featured by WWD.

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For those of you who aren’t familiar with Barnaby Barford, he is a magical artist who makes the most beautiful porcelain sculptures I have ever seen. He graduated from the Royal College of Art in London and has worked with prestigious companies including Nymphenburg as well as creating his one-off pieces. (shown here)

“Damaged Goods was commissioned by Animate Projects and shown on Channel 4 in 2008. It explores notions of forbidden love, materialism and class divisions with an unexpected twist. For David Gill Galleries, Barford has re-created nine scenes from the film. “I have taken these characters from conception through the journey of making the film and finally back into being static, stand alone characters,” he says.” -W*

See more of his work here—> David Gill Galleries.