Hello, readers! We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve got some major site improvements planned for the next few months, and today, we’ve got some exciting news specifically for those of you who read Flavorwire on a tablet — or perhaps you’ve already noticed the prettier views. Thanks to our new partnership with OnSwipe, the way that you see and interact with Flavorwire content on your iPad or Nook will now be optimized for a much more pleasant user experience. Or at least that’s the plan, so be sure to check it out, and let us know what you think in the comments below! On a related note, if you’ve got ideas for other changes that you’d like to see around these parts, suggestions for things that we should be covering but aren’t, or you’d just like to let us know how we’re doing, you can always drop me a line directly here. We love getting feedback from you guys, and while we can’t promise to deliver you more photos of David Bowie doing normal stuff or beautiful college libraries, we can certainly try!
Andy Warhol never learned to drive, but that didn’t stop him from having a lifelong fascination with cars. The “Pope of Pop” drew his first automotive vehicle — his brother’s produce delivery truck surrounded vivacious gals — when he was just 18 years old. His next attraction to automobiles came in the 1950s, while he was making his living as a high-rolling advertisement and editorial illustrator. Turning his commercial success into an artistic career, Warhol went on to incorporate such celebrities and public figures as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, and Jacqueline Kennedy in his paintings and prints; but he never lost his interest in cars — making giant canvases of cars crashes in the ’60s, prints of Volkswagens and trucks in the ’80s, and even hand-painting an actual BMW race car in 1979 for the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. The traveling show Warhol and Cars: American Icons is currently on view at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Click through a selection of our favorite images that document the famed artist’s strange obsession.
We were definitely excited when we learned earlier this month that Mick Jagger would be hosting this year’s season finale of Saturday Night Live; as Judy Berman wrote at the time, “even if his acting skills aren’t up to snuff, you’d better believe that a man who’s been fronting one of the biggest rock bands in the world for half a century knows a thing or two about improv.” Now that we’ve had a chance to look at the first promos for the episode, we’re not really sure what to expect. It’s not Mick’s fault really; it just seems like Kristen Wiig doesn’t really know how to interact with him — like he’s her boyfriend’s wacky old dad, who she’s been tasked with trying to entertain for a few minutes. (On a side note: With that hair, he kind of looks like he could be her dad.) While we’ll admit that we found that bit at the :30 mark about sex and drugs pretty funny, we were underwhelmed by the spots as a whole, which is never a good sign. If Lorne Michaels was set on booking a rock icon for hosting duties, why couldn’t he have gone with David Bowie instead? Sigh. Watch and let us know what you think the comments.
“Many things in the world have not been named; and many things, even if they have been named, have never been described. One of these is the sensibility — unmistakably modern, a variant of sophistication but hardly identical with it — that goes by the cult name of ‘Camp.’”
- Susan Sontag, Notes on Camp
The 57th annual Eurovision Song Contest kicks off later this month, and it’s no a secret that a lot of participating nations aspire toward a little American coverage of their perennially campy offerings. But America’s always had a contentious relationship with camp. It’s unfortunate, really, that despite living in a nation where the president now openly endorses gay marriage — albeit with a few caveats — our cultural consciousness remains so camp-ophobic. We are, after all, the people who failed to give Mean Girls an Oscar, John Waters the big budgets of Jerry Bruckheimer, and B*witched a chance at a career here that spanned more than one single.
Perhaps that’s where Eurovision steps in as our forbidden fruit. It’s distant enough that American audiences needn’t feel debased by (or risk identifying with) the camp, but simultaneously, it satisfies our curiosity. It’s not that we have no appetite for camp — it’s that our pop consciousness needs to be tricked into appreciating it. (Hello there, Lady Gaga.) Eurovision, then, is a delightful, drawn-out yet comfortingly foreign opportunity to revel in camp.
Some of the world’s most wonderfully strange works of art aren’t hanging on gallery walls — they’re stuck to the refrigerators of proud parents. Artist Dave DeVries knew this when he launched The Monster Engine, in which he creates realistic paintings based on children’s drawings. But actual kids will probably be more excited about Sunny Little Studio, a company run by a pair of friends that transforms their sketches into plush toys and pillows, which we discovered via Doodlers Anonymous. Their 3D reinterpretations of everything from penguins to smiling hot dogs capture the messy exuberance of the source material, resulting in toys that are charmingly childlike. See a selection of Sunny Little Studio’s creations after the jump, then visit their website to learn more about the company — or, you know, order us one of those purple robots.
We love the virtual world as much as the next guy, but we have to admit, the sights, sounds, and feel good tactile fun of good ol’ fashioned reality often have us questioning the ungodly amount of time we spend online. Just last week the Singapore-based global conversation agency, we are social, posted a fascinating infographic reporting that collectively the world spends 35 billion minutes per month online. If that staggering statistic has you racing to book an unplugged retreat in a yurt on California’s Central Coast, then consider this us flipping the doom and gloom of an extravagant virtual existence on it’s head with a playful look at some of the best things that the online world has that the offline world doesn’t.
If you’ve ever found yourself wanting to “Like” something you saw on the street or wishing that super helpful red Google map marker would just magically pop up over the hot new back alley speakeasy that you can’t find to save your life, then consider this our gift to your overactive, virtually-obsessed imagination. From real world error boxes to an offline file sharing treasure hunt to statement stickers that let you share your opinion about stuff you see on the streets ala your favorite Facebook action, click through to check out our roundup of the street art movement’s answer to your plugged in prayers.
Well, this is an interesting choice: Superbad director Greg Mottola, who also wrote and directed Adventureland, is in talks to adapt Jeffrey Eugenides’ most recent, marriage plot-dissecting novel, The Marriage Plot. While Mottola wouldn’t be our first choice for this novel about academia, philosophy, love, and mental illness, we can’t deny that there’s something exciting about seeing producer Scott Rudin court Mottola. He certainly has a way with coming-of-age stories, and his films are subtler and sweeter than your standard Judd Apatow fare. We’d especially welcome an adaptation of The Marriage Plot that doesn’t get so bogged down in its big, serious themes that it shortchanges the many comedic elements.
Of course, none of this changes the fact that, in our humble opinion, there is only one perfect writer-director for this screenplay: Whit Stillman, whose facility with talky, wealthy, over-educated young characters remains unparalleled. The adaptation might take him a decade or so, but it would totally be worth the wait. [via Collider]
When photographer Natalie Gruppuso began shooting this project in 2007, Massachusetts was the only state in the US that allowed same-sex couples to marry. Since then, after several incrimental legal victories and losses, more than 16,000 couples wed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC. The touching and simple Love and Equality: The Faces of Same-Sex Marriage series of portraits is one of those projects that we wish didn’t have to exist. Let us explain.
“These portraits show same-sex couples living their lives just as opposite-sex couples do, in their own homes with their children and pets,” Gruppuso writes on Kickstarter. “My hope is that getting to know these couples through these intimate portraits will illustrate that same-sex marriage poses no threat to traditional marriage and that marriage equality is a right worth fighting for.” So, yes. Please send this along to the “opposite-marriage only” person in your life so they can see the faces of these happy, loving couples that are somehow threatening their marriage, and help support Guppouso’s efforts to turn her beautiful body of work into a book by visiting Kickstarter.
Welcome to Flavorpill’s streaming movie guide, in which we help you sift through the scores of movies streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and other services to find the best of the recently available, freshly relevant, or soon to expire. This week, we’ve got films from Ryan Gosling, Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, Mel Brooks, Bill Murray, Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Robin Williams, plus new documentaries and an ‘80s classic. Check them all out after the jump, and follow the title links to watch them right now.
The new Beach House record is out this week, and while we’ve always thought the band’s name was more wry irony than genuine summeriness — Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally’s music evokes the atmosphere of boarded-up resorts and empty beaches, as far as we’re concerned — we’ve got no doubt that Bloom is gonna be the soundtrack to many, many people’s summers. And, indeed, every summer needs a good soundtrack, so we thought we’d take this opportunity to take a look at some of our favorite indie summer anthems — songs that celebrate the sun, or just do a fine job of capturing the atmosphere of the season in all its complex, sweaty glory.
