hustler of culture

Walrus TV Artist Feature: Estevan Oriol from "The Run UP"

Charlie Rose Interview: Shepard Fairey

Forward to 23:45 minutes for Shepard's interview with Charlie Rose.

Gary Baseman Interview: You're Not An Angel Either

Humor plays a big role in award winning illustrator and artist Gary Baseman's life. Listen to him wax poetic about how the real world inspires his work in this White Canvas interview.

Knowing Gary well, I really, really enjoyed this clip. He is true blue, " Everything in my art is all very bittersweet. And the bittersweetness is pretty much a major theme in everything I do. And it's not that it makes things horrible, its just part of life. That's what life is, it's the beauty of it that makes a great song, that makes a great story. Everything isn't going to be happy. Everything's not going to be perfect. My goal is to find the human truth, to find things about the human condition and not being able to stop myself because I think I may offend somebody. My goal isn't to offend somebody, but if I do, tough."

Year of the Ox

January 26, 2009 - 9:19 p.m. - Echo Park, CA

Sinden and Danny hosted an amazing home cooked Chinese dinner to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Happy Year of the Ox, all! May the Year of the Ox bring you all that you wished for!

Eye Spy 2008

(almost) a photo a day by hustler of culture and silviothemilvio.

RELATED: Eye Spy 2007, Eye Spy 2006

Ray Eames: Notes for a Celebration Recap

December 18, 2008 - 7:24 p.m. - Santa Monica, CA

The Eames Office is hosting an exhibition "Notes for a Celebration" to celebrate the art and design of Ray Eames. She was an American designer, married to Charles Eames, who worked in furniture, graphic, and industrial design, film and architecture. What I enjoyed so much from the show were the paper doll cut outs Ray made as a child. Well, those and the incredibly beautiful hand-written notes.

Interview: Matthew B. Nelson

Matthew B. Nelson, Hustler of Stitches, 36, Arlington, VA

22-year friend. Musician. Artist. Matt has been true blue his whole life. A creative force from a young age, I remember stage diving at his high school performances and later supporting his live concerts in legit Los Angeles night clubs. Fast forward another decade and I'm falling in love with his fabric art all over again. The folk inspiration. The human touch. Matt's creative output is full of feelings. Here's some of the tenderness. And lots of the soul.

How many careers have you had?

I have quit more jobs than any person ever. Student, mail room boy, musician, barista, INS employee, student, graphic designer.

What is your current title?

Graphic designer.

What project will you be working on next?

A piece on Gil Scott Heron, "Whitey on the Moon".

Your house is burning down. What one possession (aside from human/animal life) would you grab on the way out?

My collection of Motorhead CDs. Lemmy!

When and how did we meet?

High school, but I was socially awkward.

Taxi Cab Confessions With Noel Hidalgo

Image courtesy of Noel Hidalgo

I had the pleasure of meeting Noel Hidalgo at Lift 08. He spoke about his trip around the world on other people's dimes. He seemed like quite the adventurer and someone who lived life fully. I liked that Noel seemed to be a doer, not just a talker. I guess those who seek will always find.

NPR interviewed Noel about his new job as a Manhattan taxi driver. If you want to keep track of his whereabouts, follow his taxi cab tweets or his blog/vlog, taxinyc, where he documents his road trip in becoming a New York City taxi cab driver. If you live in Manhattan, I hope you stumble into Yellow Cab (3y43) someday. I guarantee this driver will have plenty of stories to share!

Nike Considered, Explained by Jeff Staple

At The Art Directors Club for PSFK, Jeff Staple spoke about the birth of Nike Considered.

Andrew Kuo on Charlie Rose

New York artist and long time downtown collaborator, Andrew Kuo shared some insight about his work on this recent interview for Charlie Rose. It was interesting to learn that he was raised by untraditional Asian parents who encouraged and supported his love for the arts early on in life. While discussing criticism, Andrew had to say, "I'm super sensitive and if someone doesn't like my work, I get legitimately sad so I try not to find out." Awww! Congrats Andrew, on peeps noticing all your hard work!

Eye Spy 2007

A year in pictures! Almost a photo a day by Hustler of Culture and Silvio.

RELATED: Eye Spy 2006 here.

Nolan Bushnell Interview

In March of 2003, I interviewed Nolan Bushnell for Tokion Magazine, a lifestyle title. I remember being a little nervous speaking with one of the godfathers of interactive games. He immediately put me at ease when he started talking. Mr. Bushnell was affable and seemed fun. He made me wonder what it might have been like to have worked with him in the halcyon days of the video game industry.

Maybe I'll find the original transcript and reprint the whole conversation some day. Following is the text that eventually got published. Enjoy!

Nolan Bushnell changed the way we interact with our world. Founder of Atari, Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theatre and his latest venture, uWink, the father of electronic entertainment is still creating for the masses and fine-tuning the game culture he founded.

What do you see as being your contribution to video games?

Basically, I think I just made it happen a little faster than it would have otherwise. Remember, the early games were strictly in arcades and it was actually before the microprocessor was invented. We created some technology that used regular discreet chips and I believe that allowed the video game to be made about four years earlier than it would have probably on its own.

Jean-Michel Basquiat on "TV Party"

Confusing vintage video footage of celebrated graffiti artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat on original too-cool-for-school New York City hipster, Glenn O'Brien's cult hit cable access show, "TV Party".

"The New Grand Tour" Documentary Preview.

Deanne, Jose, Ro, and Young have recently returned from shooting the film, "The New Grand Tour: An Artist Exchange Through Shangri-La".

Mark Foster, director of the documentary had this to say about what we're eventually going to see:

"To me, "The New Grand Tour" is a place where art is the sharing ground of a cultural exchange and it's based on a trip where a handful of artists will go to a certain part of the world and be able to offer what they do and bridge the gap between local and global connectivity. travel is a lot more accessible in this day and age and it's enabling us to be face to face with other cultures and promote an exchange that would not necessarily be able to happen without the use of art. Language can be a barrier. Culture itself can be a barrier. But using art almost as the excuse. It acts as an ice breaker to engage people. You know, someone being invited into a photograph, someone would want to see somebody's painting. Curiosity has no nationality. Everybody has curiosity and I think that by using art as a medium for this sharing ground that the new grand tour is, we are embarking on a trip that really has the potential to localize many cultures."

Looking good! I especially love the dashboard shot; the lighting is beautiful. I am stoked for yet another, "family" flick! Good luck to all involved.

PSFK Conference LA Recap.

September 18, 2007 - 1:04 p.m. - Los Angeles, CA

Shepard was one of several highlights from the PSFK Conference held in Los Angeles today. Highlights from his panel "Art & Beautiful Mistakes" included admitting his limited knowledge of art prior to skateboarding existing as "cheesy seascapes," and while discussing production, he made the poignant statement that "if your budget is low, make your design fit your budget."

The PSFK Conference included panels on Los Angeles living, the future of content, the history of the suicide girls, what's next for technology and entertainment, and much, much more. Learn more about PSFK here.

Thanks Piers for the invite!

LA - PSFK Conference Los Angeles (09/18/07)

PSFK is offering HOC readers a big $100 discount (offer expires soon) on the conference ticket rate! Buy one and I'll see you there!

Néojaponisme.

Lil bro, Marxy's launched his new project, Néojaponisme. He pinged me about it and then quickly told me to put a lid on it. And I did, and totally forgot about it. Until he reminded me again via his blog, Néomarxisme.

The last time I saw Marxy was at SXSW 2007 (photo above). I was amazed by how he'd grown so wise in so little years. I remember how as an intern for Tokion, Marxy was forced to schlep dozens of packages to the ghetto post office in our hood. That didn't last long as he quickly moved up the indie publishing ladder. Six years later, it's no surprise he's still got so much to say. And if his writing's good enough for William Gibson to read, it should be good enough for you. Congrats Marxy on launching Néojaponisme!

A Meeting With the Boss.

August 30, 2007 - 1:24 p.m. - Burbank, CA

Ian Bogost on the Colbert Report.

Ian did a great job keeping Stephen Colbert in check last night. Hilarious quotes abound including my personal favorites, (on persuasive games), "Excuse me, you have a video game that takes place in a copy store? Is it designed to bore you to death?" and "So these are games for people who are not just nerdy, but they're wonky nerdy?!" Congrats on the pop culture push, Ian!

UPDATE: Straight from the developer's mouth, Ian writes about his experience on the Colbert Report here.

Interview: Robert Abeyta, Jr.

Rob Abeyta, Jr., Hustler of Living Stories, 37, Redondo Beach, CA

When I first met Rob, I discovered that we shared a lot of friends and interests in common. He showed me videos of prison riots, blogs of the underground, and other reference materials for subcultures I was fascinated by, that he lived in or knew well. It didn't take long for me to appreciate the stories Rob's life was made of. How does one paint, raise a family, and become Mister Cartoon's consigliere? Rob lays it out for this internet campfire.

How many careers have you had? What is your current title?

Not many careers, a few jobs: strawberry picker, boxer, 110th Light Infantry, printer, graphic designer, Nike art director, and painter... I should stop. Until recently I was an art director at 72 & Sunny, an ad agency here in Los Angeles. I am a now a free agent.

What project will you be working on next?

Building something new. I’m interested in building in a “non-traditional” sense. Telling deep stories through tangibles seems to be my passion. Be it creative work for a large company, creating apparel or a painting series or film. I am striving for integrity, honesty, craftsmanship in the work. To obtain those points, I try to dig deep.

Also paint, study painting and paint more. I need to finish the 65 other Tianguis painting in the series, which totals 75. I am also working on large pieces based on this theme, 6’ x 9'. These paintings have inspired a furniture designer, so he and I are collaborating on some pieces, which will appear next year. A solo show hopefully.

Making more books, some apparel collabs with our Tokyo brothers. Estevan [Oriol] and I are working with Undefeated on some documentaries. Also I have a book coming out May 2007.

Your house is burning down. What one possession (aside from human/animal life) would you grab on the way out?

I'd let it all burn. It would be a good lesson in impermanence.

When and how did we meet?

We met years ago. Was it Greg [Shewchuk]? Or through Hiroshi [Fujiwara] or Michel Gondry? Joking.I honestly can't remember. I feel lame.