If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

Street Artist RETNA Gets Some Tail As He Hand Paints A $60 Million Vista Jet.

As part of a partnership with VistaJet & Bombardier Aerospace, 31 year old Los Angeles street artist RETNA has hand-painted a unique artwork on the tail of a VistaJet Global Express XRS as part of his Hallelujah World Tour.

Those familiar with RETNA's work will recognize the iconic styled heiroglyphics which he uses in much of his art, as shown in the multiple examples of his work below:

This $60,000,000 luxury aircraft will be the star of VistaJet’s fleet of 31 private jets. Drawing from a wide array of influences including the Old English style of gang graffiti writings, Asian calligraphy, Incan & Egyptian hieroglyphics, Hebrew and Arabic, RETNA’s vision manifests as an international visual language all his own.

At EBACE 2011, the premier aviation show in Geneva, May 17 - 19, RETNA will officially launch his artistic vocabulary over 50,000 feet above ground.

VistaJet and RETNA is a new partnership that begun with VistaJet’s and Bombardier’s sponsorship of RETNA’s “Hallelujah World Tour,” presented by Andy Valmorbida and Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, which launched in New York in February and will continue throughout the year in cities including London and Hong Kong.

Retna, whose real name is Marquis Lewis, comes from a graffiti background. The nom de plume – derived from a Raekwon song – was originally given to a friend. “I gave him a sketch, and he went and battled some dude and he lost,” Retna said previously in an interview with Upper Playground. “He wasn’t even supposed to battle anyone anyway with my sketch that I gave him. And on top of that he lost, so that really pissed me off, so I took the name back.”

Over the past few years, Retna has been known less for his graffiti pieces than a unique written language derived from various ancient scripts.

“It draws on Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Mayan glyphs, as well as Mexican and pre-Columbian heritage,” Jeffrey Deitch, director of MoCA in Los Angeles, said. “He filters those traditions through the tradition of tagging and graffiti that has been seen in Los Angeles since the 1970s. Within these traditions, he has come up with something entirely his own.”

The New York exhibition, The Hallelujah World Tour (Venice and London are the two other stops) is Retna’s biggest show to date.

Images courtesy of Bombardier and RETNA

Newsworthy Nails. How To Give Yourself A Newspaper Transfer Manicure.

You know how when you read a traditional newspaper, the ink tends to get all over your fingers? Well, here's a way to take stylish advantage of that text transfer... turn it into a manicure!

How to do it:
You'll need scissors, nail polish base coat, a pale nail polish color, any newspaper, alcohol (such as vodka or other clear spirits) and a top coat.

Applying a base coat and two coats of color varnish.
Pour the alcohol in a glass.
Cut small pieces of newspaper large enough to cover your nails.
When your nails are dry, soak them in the alcohol.

Cover your nails with small pieces of newspaper.
Remove small pieces of newsprint slowly. The ink will be left on the nail surface.
Let dry and apply a layer of top coat.
And Voila!

Thanks to Zuzu at Passion Nail Art for the info and images (where the same information can be found in French)

The Beauty of Table Tennis. Literally and Figuratively. Meet Sooyeon Lee.

Filmmaker and photographer Matthew Donaldson filmed model/actress and professional Korean Table Tennis champ Sooyeon Lee in a slow motion homage to both sport and fashion. The skilled and sexy Sooyeon is wearing fashions by Versace, Jil Sander, Christopher Kane, Mark Fast, and Christian Louboutin as she skillfully demonstrates her Ping Pong prowess in the one minute and 48 second film created for Nowness.

Designer Geraldine Chevrolet was commissioned by stylist Katie Shillingford to create the bespoke fringed tights, gloves and hat that are paired with the couture.

Tennis Table champ Sooyeon Lee serves as an Ambassador for actress Susan Sarandon's SPiN, a chain of ping-pong clubs which counts Lee as its ambassador and has locations in New York, Toronto and Hollywood. "It's become very trendy," Lee observes. "It's sociable, you don't need to be super athletic and it's good for the brain."

A clip of Sooyeon Lee from the Killerspin championships:

And a few of her modeling photos:

Nowness
Sooyeon Lee

New Modern Concrete House in Madrid Resembles A Bunker. But What A Bunker!

One of the most popular posts ever featured on this blog was that of a large concrete home in Poland by kwk promes, whose sliding walls and ominous exterior resembled a modern fortress.

This recent project, Concrete House II, from Spain's architecture firm, Joaquin Torres' A-Cero, gives that sanctuary a run for its money with its wild bunker-like appearance. The modern residential home features giant angular planes inside and out.

Lladro Atelier unveiled their latest collection of decorative porcelain at the 2011 maison et objet show. The architecturally inspired pieces, created under the guidance of designer Jaime Hayon, include vases, lamps, planters, mirrors and boxes that together form a city.

The modern and futuristic pieces are rendered in matte porcelain and modern colors (light and dark yellow, light and dark green, light and dark grey, anthracite and white) whose detailed textures are reminiscent of embroidery. Although the exteriors are bisque, the interiors are glazed so that they are watertight.

images courtesy of Lladro Atelier
The individual pieces range from $215 to $600 and can be purchased here

The following images from Maison et Objet are courtesy of Designboom:

Lladro Atelier

Steph Mantis Uses Both Ends Of Mini Animals For Home Decor.

Mini plastic animal heads become whimsical wall racks and/or jewelry holders when mounted on black walnut, white oak or long leaf yellow pine planks salvaged from cabinetry shops and old warehouses. Handmade in Brooklyn, New York by designer Steph Mantis.