Designer Profile: The Heads of State (+ some Leon Redbone)

Chicago poster. Five color serigraph measuring 14″ × 24″. First edition of 100.

I ran across designers The Heads of State a couple of days ago, and I'm really digging their work. This Chicago poster is retro and snazzy (part of a larger, multi-city series).

(website)

The Heads of State is design duo Jason Kernevich and Dustin Summers, who both graduated from Philadelphia's Temple University Tyler School of Art in 2001. Kernevich is now Brooklyn-based, and Summers is Seattle-based, but they still manage to come up with really amazing design work, illustrations, and posters.

Some of their book cover designs are here at the Book Cover Archive, and here is a blurb about them from AIGA NY. Also, weirdly enough, you can see some business cards here, printed by Studio On Fire (a classy design and letterpress workspace in Minneapolis, MN)!



Check out a handful of the neat work they do below (all images from the Heads of State website).




I'll leave you with the raspy croon of Leon Redbone, singing "Sugar" and "Lazy Bones".

The Opportunity Shop v.2 (Opening Tonight!)

Julia V. Hendrickson
Hey, pretty lady! Look at me (2010)
Photopolymer etchings with found paper collage
9.5 x 15"

If you're free tonight, come down to the newest incarnation of The Op Shop (v.2) in Hyde Park (1530 East 53rd Street), opening tonight, 5:00-9:00pm.

I've been working on Hey, pretty lady! Look at me. (above) for this version of the Op Shop, which is located in what was most recently an old Hollywood video store.

From the press release:

Op Shop announces the grand opening of Adhocity: an evolving city within a city, a site available for experimentation and sharing. With an ad-hoc view of the future and an aim at presenting an ad-hoc portrait of Hyde Park, Op Shop has transformed the historic building at 53rd and Lake Park into a site for the ad hoc production and exhibition of art; for the exchange of homespun, ad-hoc indoor and outdoor gardening materials (dirt, seeds, trellises, houseplants, &c.); the exchange of immaterial support (storytelling, dialogue, advice, performance); the exchange of inanimate pleasures (collectibles, books, zines); and the ad-hoc development of alternative economies.

Each wall of Adhocity will be available to the community in a distinct way. Op Shop will present "Walls of Wonder/2nd life" an ad-hoc month long yard sale including novelties, art objects, exquisite things, curiosities, souvenirs, memorabilia of all kinds and more available for sale. On Saturdays, the United Church of Hyde Park will present "Market Days" an ever evolving array of treasures for your enjoyment, perusal and purchase.

Op Shop invites artists to install original artworks (one per artist, not to exceed 24" X 30") in one of the most original ad-hoc traditions: the Potluck. Beginning on the 27th of March and running through May 1st, the Potluck Art exhibit will function as a self-selecting salon.

Within the walls of Adhocity, various groups present various ad-hoc performances and installations. With press letters and sewing machines donated by the Resource Center, Op Shop will host a variety of free-for-all creative opportunities: Single Sock Sundays, Flag, Sign and Banner!, Fixin' Things and Mobile Animation Station. Paul Durica and Zach Abubeker present a recorded and evolving oral history of the site. Participants are invited to share memories, real or imagined, of the abandoned site. Cream Co. (Chicago) introduces General Economy, Exquisite Exchange (GEEE), a gardeners’ exchange inspired by private exchanges between neighbors. GEEE has, available for sale or trade, for gardeners and plant enthusiasts: seeds (tomatoes, basil and arugula), seedlings, April flowers, houseplants, compost, gardening books, ad-hoc tomato and lettuce trellises, and vases.

Strange video KICK!

That's what I'm on. Here are a few more gems I've been chuckling over during the last week.


Hot Chip - I Feel Better

Hot Chip | MySpace Music Videos
"I Feel Better" by Hot Chip. It gets better, and better, and better. Smirks will never be the same.


POOM - ROLLERCOASTER
Uploaded by POOM_BAND. - Arts and animation videos.
Oh, so retro "Rollercoaster" by the French band Poom. Found on Michael Moreau's neat Bay-area arts and culture blog Culturcosm.

Liars "Scissor" from A Bruntel on Vimeo.

"Scissor" by Liars. I watched this a while ago, and I'm still haunted.

Homegrown from Nina Schwanse on Vimeo.

"Homegrown" by Nina Schwanse (2009), found on PBS' Art 21 blog here. That bonnet kills me!


And, finally, this one's not strange, just clever and silly, but it's directed by my favorite Keith Schofield. I like pretty much every video he does.

Justice / Lenny Kravitz "Let Love Rule" from Alanedit on Vimeo.

"Let Love Rule" by Lenny Kravitz and dance group Justice (weird combo!) The joke starts at around 1:42.

New and newer!

So henceforth I will regale you with a handful of new things:

A.) New website! Check it out at www.JuliaVHendrickson.com ! After far too long of puttering around, not updating the old thing, I finally gave in and redid it!

B.) New Print! Here's a glimpse of a new print, a social message poster I created for Printervention (part of Chicago's Version Festival 2010).

Once I get the festival edition printed, I'll have more for sale in my new Etsy shop (see below)!

THINK IN PRINT: read books // write letters // fight digital // get physical.

Photopolymer print in grey-blue ink on off-white French paper, image size is 5x7"

C.) New Etsy shop! Check it out here. I'm finally selling my prints online, and also selling personalized, fine art, hand-made prints from photographs that you send to me!


Need a last-minute birthday gift for your best friend or loved one? Ever thought of reminding someone of the great memories you share? Want to show a family member how much you treasure their place in your life? Forgot about Mother’s Day? Do you simply have NO idea what kind of gift to give? Let me create something for you!

Find your favorite photograph of the gift recipient (Mom, Dad, Grandma, or even the family pet), or a personal photograph you know they would love, and have it transformed into a stunning piece of artwork. More attractive and classy than a simple glossy image on photo paper, my personalized hand-made prints are a unique way to show someone how much you care!

H O W : You email me a digital file or digital photograph-- an image that you own that you would like to have turned a fine art print—and I’ll do the rest!

C O S T:

3.5x5 image - $30.00 for first print, $15 for each subsequent print (up to 10 prints total)

5x7 image - $35.00 for first print, $20 for each subsequent print (up to 10 prints total)

8x10 image - $40.00 for first print, $25 for each subsequent print (up to 10 prints total)

Weird and weirder!

Oh, Joanna-Miranda... I can't get a straight answer from anywhere about what/ who/ why the heck this is, but I like it, regardless. It starts weird, and stays weirder!

And this one...



Well, you know.

From user pipertakespictures, via Flickr here.

In the news: working on a buncha new stuff (art/ writing/ projects), including a new website, coming very soon! And prints for sale! Details in the mix (it had better be weird!)