Cover and pages from A History of Land Transportation by Maurice Fabre, designed by Erik Nitsche, 1963.
Advertisement for the book Dynamic America, A History of General Dynamics, 1961.
I’m sad that an extensive archive of Erik Nitsche’s work has been removed from flickr due to unauthorized reproductions. One bad apple has ruined it for the rest of us. So here’s a few unauthorized scans from my personal collection. Yes, two wrongs do make a right.
I’m on vacation this week, but managed to roll out some important new features to the site. There’s a new header up top and a roll call of VIPs under “Salty Salutes” on the right. Go ahead and click those links. I’ll throw in a coupon for free wiper blades.
I’ll be rolling up my sleeves and painting a few skateboards for One Way Or Another, a fundraiser to benefit Contributor. Contributor is an organization that gives skateboards to poor kids. These custom commisioned decks are selling for $150. You buy a deck, and I paint it for you.
50 talented artists including Max Erdenberger, Todd St. John, Jordan Crane, Don Pendleton and Mike Perry will be donating their valuable sweat. The decks can be purchased here.
The Big Parade ia a 35 mile, two day stairway hike through Los Angeles.
Many people don’t realize that L.A. has a network of public stairways connecting hillside streets.
The walk is a great opportunity to see a different side of this city.
Before L.A. was saturated with automobiles, there was a robust public transit system consisting mainly of streetcars.
The stairways were built so that riders could reach the streetcars more easily from their homes in the hills.
Some of the houses were (and still are) accessible only by staircase. This is artist Paul Landacre’s cabin, now a historic cultural monument.
In the 1950s the streetcars and tracks were removed to make way for cars and busses. General Motors, Firestone and other car-related companies were involved in the business and subsequent court cases that led to their demise. Nevermind the conspiracy theories, the people of L.A. and every other city in the USA were already hooked on cars.
It’s kind of cool to imagine what L.A. would be like without cars. Looking back on it, the dismantling of a clean, electric-powered railway was probably not the best thing for this city.
Today, ridership on public transportation, bicycles and even walking, are growing. The Department of Transportation will spend record amounts this year on bike lanes and pedestrian zones. The age of the automobile may be over. Are you ready to take the stairs? I am.
See a few more shots from The Big Parade here.
Take a bike sometimes.
Remember to have fun.
Build it yourself.
Don’t do drugs.
Listen to your dad!
I really enjoyed my recent trip to SF. Only five hours from LA, it’s easy to forget how much this town has to offer.
After checking out Jeff Canham’s Woodshop studio, I headed over to General Store, where I found this terrarium designed by Katie Goldman Macdonald, who was recently featured in a popular New York Times article.
General Store is is the home base for artist Serena Mitnik-Miller. You may recognize Serena’s name from her recent collaboration with Arkitip.
The store features objects made by an incredible group of artists including these skateboards by Two Birds Fly.
Out back there’s a teaming garden with this greenhouse built by Jesse Schlesinger out of recycled window panes. I want to say thanks to Serena for giving me a tour and letting me take a few photos.
After General Store it was on to Blue Bottle Coffee, one of the original laboratory-style coffee shops. If you are a fan of places like Intelligentsia or LAMILL, it all started here.
Blue Bottle is also using the scientific method to make poached eggs. I’ve been drooling over this photo every morning since returning to LA.
Last stop, Adobe Books Backroom Gallery, where I attended the opening of Lending Library, a group show curated by Dena Beard. Adobe Books was a mainstay of the mission-school artists. Chris Johanson, Margaret Kilgallen, Barry McGee and others have had shows here.
Having got around town pretty well, I hopped on a street car back to LA. See you soon SF!
Nowness is featuring an exclusive clip from a film that I worked on, Become A Microscope 90 Statements on Sister Corita.
Become A Microscope is the second film by Aaron Rose, the follow up to the documentary Beautiful Losers.
This short film is organized around 90 statements that are made by the interviewees about our favorite radical art nun.
I created the numbers that flash on screen to denote the statements.
I used the same observational techniques that Corita taught to her students to create the numbers.
The clip is one of my favorite sections in the film, where she takes her students to a Carwash.
The editing on this was skillfully handled by my friend Lenny Mesina. The really cool ABC animation was made by Max Erdenberger. The music for the film was all written and performed by Money Mark.
Check out all of the numbers I made for the film here.
A few months ago I was invited by my friend JC to create a few wallpapers for Poolga, a site dedicated to providing quality original artwork for iPads and iPhones.
It became the perfect opportunity to point out the similarities between all the boards (planks, slates etc.) in my life. Head over to Poolga for the free download and never forget to be thankful for the board under your feet (or fingers).
Today is my last day as guest editor of Coudal’s Fresh Signals. It’s been a fun ride and I want to say thanks to everyone at Coudal Partners for putting up with my endless 80’s references, skateboarding and car-themed shenanigans. Below you’ll find a few of my best links from the month:
French artist Nils Guadagnin creates a working replica of the hoverboard from Back to the Future Part 2.
Missing that old Trapper Keeper? Get your 80’s geometric shape fix with these cool sweatshirts from Teenagers in Love.
Ural in Russia makes a nice olive-drab sidecar-equipped motorcycle.
Coming soon to the Whitney: highly modified Olivetti typewriters by Tauba Auerbach.
Two guys from Wisconsin made one of the most creative skate videos I’ve seen in years.
“Sweep the leg. No mercy.” Uncomfortable bully moments from every ’80s coming of age movie worth watching.
“Everything I touch turns to mold.” Incredible provocative sweaters by Lisa Anne Auerbach.
A Public Service Announcement from Yee Haw Industries: Danger Zombies Run.
A shopping guide for re-living your childhood, as seen in the movie Stand By Me.
A sweet short film about California’s empty pool surplus.
Sculptor Andrew Lewicki brings us The Oreo Manhole Cover, and a few other ideas that advertising agencies wish they had thought of.
Charles De Mar or George Calamari? This infographic compares the four films that make up the peak of John Cusack’s 80’s career.
Peel back a few layers of animal anatomy with Belgian street artist ROA.
“It literally feels like you are in the cockpit of a blue flying angel.” Man posses as yo-yo champion, fooling multiple morning news shows across the country.
In Herb we trust. In 1968, Herb Lubalin asked his friends to re-design the One-Dollar bill for Avant Garde.
“It was funny because everybody brought 40s and no one really drunk 40s back then. We had to make it look like we drank some so we just opened them up and poured a little bit out.” Members of N.W.A. describe what was going on in the cover photo on their first album, N.W.A. and the Posse.
Space-age illustrator Matthew Lyons has been looking at this Nation Geographic article on the 1965 World’s Fair for inspiration.
A brilliant graphic design solution helps a cigarette company break numerous laws preventing them from advertising on F1 cars in Europe. Via The Scout
“Many of us have had the American flags in front of our houses stolen and replaced with much larger flags that we do not recognize.” U2 guitarist The Edge answers questions about his new home development in Malibu.
A list of 132 Criterion Collection films that are available to watch instantly on Netflix. Via @ztf.
How to wash George Harrison’s car, and spread a “nice film of muck” on Paul’s.
First Person Tetris is best played on a full stomach.
Today on The Street Use Blog, homemade cameras, prison crafted weapons and a chicken coupe built from a discarded washing machine.
“If you look at Mozart, who had this strict classical framework, you see that within that formula, he got results he might never have gotten if he had all the options in the world.” A visit to the studio of Irving Harper, the designer behind many of George Nelson’s iconic works for Herman Miller, including the Marshmallow Sofa and Starburst Clock.
Don’t jump! Ace photo contest gives us the best images yet of Antony Gormley’s Event Horizon installations.
One black olive? designer James Reynolds shows us what a last meal looks like.
A cool film from an EXPO past: Impresssions of EXPO ‘67.
Brazilian graffiti duo Os Gemeos have a new blog. It means “the twins” in Portuguese. Via Aaron Rose.
I’m walking the streets of San Francisco this week meeting all my recent collaborators, heroes and friends.
My first stop is Woodshop, the collaborative studio of Jeff Canham, Luke Bartels, Danny Hess and Josh Duthie.
These four artists share a love of natural materials and working with their hands.
Jeff Canham’s room is a fully-functioning sign painter’s studio that he designed and built with the help of his studiomates.
Here’s a test sign that Jeff painted while we were talking so I could see exactly how the process works.
In about 3 minutes, the sign was drawn, transferred and painted. This made me want to put my Adobe Creative Suite discs through a wood chipper.
The brushes are kept soaking in automatic transmission fluid, which never dries. I’ve got some in the garage, which I will be pouring over all two of my brushes as soon as I get home.
Here’s the signs he made for the GOOD Neighborhoods Issue. They are much bigger in person than I thought they would be. They looked so cool.
Downstairs where Luke and Josh work there’s is a giant sign and a nice collection of hard-to-source reclaimed wood.
The highlight of being here was getting to see the birdhouses that Luke and Jeff have been making. These are the ones that haven’t sold yet. I’m sure they won’t be on the market for long.
I want to say thanks to Jeff, Luke, Danny and Josh for letting me poke around their space and ask a million questions. It was a truly inspiring visit!
