Last week our art editor Marina Galperina prepared for New Year’s Eve with an excellent survey of how to throw a party like various famous artists throughout history. This week, with our NYE hangovers largely conquered and our party appetites pretty much replenished, we’re revisiting the idea with a similar feature — only this time we’re focusing on the music industry, because, as pretty much everyone knows, no one throws a party like rock stars (and rappers, for that matter). From Freddie Mercury’s novel use for people under five feet tall to Richard D. James’s Miami beach nightmare, it’s all here… Or is it? Let us know if we missed anything.
This past Thursday marked the 20th anniversary of cultural icon Freddie Mercury’s death of AIDS-related pneumonia. In some ways, however, it doesn’t seem that long — the Queen frontman is still an incredible influence in art, music and fashion, and has been frequently name-checked as one of the biggest influences of many musicians, including Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, two of pop culture’s current reigning queens. Indeed, something about the Zanzibar-born Mercury (née Farrokh Bulsara) is singularly inspiring — his incredible showmanship, his forward-thinking, his unimpeachable talent both for singing and songwriting, his independent attitude, that moustache — and he continues to have a hand in many forms of art today. On the 20th anniversary of Freddie Mercury’s death, we’ve rounded up a few artworks, both large and small, that pay homage to the man, the myth, the legend. Click through to see our Freddie-art, and let us know which capture him the best in the comments. Read More »
We were sold on the work of LEGO sculptor Iain Heath the moment we spotted his Freddie Mercury portrait at Super Punch. So we were thrilled to find that he’s got an entire Flickr site full of incredible, pop-culture LEGO constructions. Although there are a few funny political caricatures (Sarah Palin, Arnold Schwarzenegger), Heath specializes in recreating the nerdiest of characters and celebrities: Stephen Hawking, Futurama, Monty Python, Star Wars, the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki. Geeks, rejoice, in the gallery of our favorite Heath sculptures after the jump, then visit him on Flickr to see much, much more. Read More »
Headline writing is an art akin to haiku: you have very little space to stylishly convey your meaning while also piquing readers’ interest. Pair that challenge with the time constraints of a 24-hour news cycle, and the result is quite a few headlines with unintentional — and often humorous — double meanings. Design You Trust points us to F*ck Yeah Headlines, a Tumblr that reinterprets these titles with hilarious illustrations. See a science story transform Freddie Mercury into a sea creature, learn Kim Jong-Il’s “bikini secrets,” and enjoy a Jennifer Aniston-fronted human centipede in a selection of our favorites from the blog after the jump.
1. Today would have been Freddie Mercury’s 65th birthday, and Google is honoring the Queen frontman with an animated Doodle tribute that took them nearly three months to create. [via Gawker]
2. It looks like The Help — which is sitting pretty at number one for the third week in a row now — will top this weekend’s holiday box office, with newcomer The Debt (that Helen Mirren thriller) trailing not too far behind. Less popular than predicted: Apollo 18 and Shark Night 3D. We’re proud of you, America. [via THR]
3. Sorry, Billy Crystal. According to Deadline, Eddie Murphy is producer Brett Ratner’s top choice to host this year’s Academy Awards. Given the fact that Murphy stars in Ratner’s fall release, Tower Heist, this news isn’t all that surprising, but it could result in a more interesting show than we’ve seen in recent years — especially if he channels ’80s Eddie.
4. Update: Steven Soderbergh’s much-discussed impending retirement (which is to coincide with his new career as a painter) has actually been blown way out of proportion. “It’s less dramatic that it sounds; it’s just a sabbatical,” he told the Observer. “I feel I need to recalibrate, so I can discover something new. I’m out of ways of telling art.” [via Vulture]
5. How old would you say is too old to be kicked off a plane for refusing to pull your pants up? Let’s ask Billie Joe Armstrong, shall we?
While AIDS cases are on the decline in many parts of the world, it’s still our most pressing global epidemic. Thirty-five million people are affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide. Last month marked the 30th anniversary of the discovery of HIV in West Hollywood.
In honor of this anniversary, we wanted to highlight MAC Cosmetics who has been doing more than their part to trim the numbers since 1994. With your help, the MAC AIDS FUND has raised $218 million exclusively through the sale of MAC’s Viva Glam Lipstick and Lipglass donating 100 percent of the funds to support people living with HIV/AIDS around the world. You can also get involved and spread awareness by going to Vivaglam.com, creating an online profile, and uploading a photo of yourself for a chance to be part of the largest fashion collaboration in history with MAC and Lady Gaga.
We were also inspired to pay tribute to 10 cultural icons who died due to AIDS-related causes. Read on for our roundup.
Here are three things we love: Xiu Xiu, cats, and Freddie Mercury. So the universe must really have been reading our mind when it arranged for Xiu Xiu main man Jamie Stewart to collaborate with artist J. Morrison on — get ready for this — a totally weird, gold-and-pink-on-black T-shirt featuring a conjoined pair of cats and the words “Freddie Mercury.”
The creation is only the first installment in a 12-month subscription series, which will entitle subscribers to 13 shirts designed by the pair, each in tribute to a different hero. You can buy either the single shirt or the entire series at Xiu Xiu’s website. Seriously, we are getting our credit card out right now.
Thanks to “Thriller,” Michael Jackson costumes have been a Halloween favorite for years. His untimely death, however, just moved the costume from parody to homage. This Halloween, you can expect a glut of glove-toting tributes — but that’s no reason to follow suit. Many other deceased musical icons deserve your hastily thrown-together attention. After the jump, our picks, from Biggie to Kurt, along with the essential-icon items that will make you sure to be recognized.
