Not far from where I used to live in Venice is an eclectic antique store and gallery named Obsolete. What a great name for an antique store. But don't go looking for old pictures of sailboats or a fifties dish set, your grandmother would probably not recognized anything on display here. Seemingly from an undetermined era, the carefully curated collection of unique objects, art, and furnishings on display are so cool and offbeat I would say they lean more towards trendsetting than obsolete! The store also doubles as a gallery and regularly features equally unusual artists. Each new artist is always a pleasant discovery but the one showing this month really hit home for me, since I love miniature installations. The artist reception for Tom Haney's mechanical sculptures, Undaunted, was Saturday November 13. I went the next morning and had the chance to take several pictures while the store was quiet and the sculptures were resting after an undoubtedly busy opening night.

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RGTV Tiny Inventions Trailer by Red Giant Software Last month I saw posted on motiongrapher a cool short feature animation called Something Left, Something Taken. Twelve minutes of creative bliss. The story is original and so is the animation process developed by the duo Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter from Tiny Inventions. The characters and the sets are all made by hand with found materials, then photographed and taken into the computer for compositing and animation. As if the film itself was not enough, the authors are very open to sharing their unique process and techniques. Above is a trailer for the making of video produced by Red Giant Software. See the full video just released on their website and vimeo. I think I said before how much I love making of's...

RGTV Tiny Inventions Trailer by Red Giant Software

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Last week at the Renegade Craft Fair I met the artists from Sérigraphie Cinq Un Quatre, a Montreal studio that bears the name of its area code, 514. I was browsing through the pile of posters displayed in their booth when I overhead one of the artist, Jason Cantoro, saying he and his studio partner, Alice Jarry, were from Montreal.

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Last weekend was the Renegade Craft Fair, for the second time in Los Angeles, but for me it was my first experience. It took place outside in a large park north of Chinatown, apparently known as "the cornfield". Events of all kinds easily go unnoticed in a large city like L.A., and I don't remember how I learned about this one, but I'm glad I went, it was quite a huge event with over 200 artists!

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This is Where We Live by 4th Estate on Vimeo This short film is so beautiful I couldn't resist posting it here, even though it's been out for a while already. The other reason is that it resonates nicely with my current state of mind: enjoying the leisure activities of summer (at the expense of my blog). The music, warm tones, and fun little characters all contribute to the summery feeling of this unique miniature world made of books. To me it's a wink to those many summers of my childhood spent devouring as many stories as I could. A clever idea produced by Apt Studio and Asylum Films to celebrate the 4th Estate publishers' 25th anniversary. Check also the film's site for production stills and time-lapse videos.

This is Where We Live by 4th Estate on Vimeo

Today I went to my old neighborhood of Venice to walk along my favorite stretch of the beach, from Rose ave to the little bay of rocks where surfers ride the waves and skateboarders ride concrete in the park by the boardwalk. Much everything was the same: people smiling everywhere, walking along the water, getting buried in the sand or sitting quietly on the shore, kids playing in the waves.. but something was different.

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SALVAGED: Aaron Kramer and the Secret Life Of Objects Opening by Craft and Folk Art Museum Here is an inspiring artist, Aaron Kramer. This guy can turn discarded objects into beautiful and intriguing art pieces. His motto: "Trash is the failure of imagination". I wish everyone had this much imagination... but mostly, I'd love to know where he finds such nice trash! See his work at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, the show runs until September 12.

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Today was free admission at LACMA in honor of memorial day. Great incentive to visit my favorite museum and look for inspiration. I came home with a few snapshots and discovered funny similarities between the few pieces I randomly decided to photograph. Ha! There must something at work in my subconscious...

(download)

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side-by-side-modern-art-at-lacma-bbFtzgFkbwIbfHtBIjAf.zip (428 KB)

Harlequin by Pablo Picasso and Le Boulevardier by Elie Nadelman

Untitled (Dancing Man) by Joel Shapiro and Evening Dress by Alexandra Exter

I would have never thought of plasticine as a tool for illustrations or how beautiful the results could be. But look at these incredible images from the spanish artist Irma Gruenholz. I just love the poetry of her work. It's a gem I found buried in an article from smashing magazine. Makes me want to run to the closest art store and grab some clay!

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The Small House exhibit by Czech architects A1Architects, 1:1 installation for one concept Isn't there a maxim that says "the best things come in small packages ?" I think it's true most of the time. Small things are more manageable, we can manipulate them, we can observe every sides and corners, it brings out the kid inside. Imagine if the mini cooper was the size of an SUV, would it be this much fun, huh? Since mini things are so great, I've decided to make a weekly post about something mini. This week, I want to share a cool article I saw in this month's issue of dwell, big ideas for... small spaces, about an exhibit called The Small House by Czech architects A1Architects.

Exhibit The Small House by A1Architects, installation 1:1 for one of the  concepts

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