ART SAKE : COOL TAKES BASEL WITH #TheSELFIE

Interactive Art Exhibition Shows Us 

the Two Faces of #TheSelfie

The interactive art exhibition took place in the heart of Wynwood at the Lab Miami, known as the hub of the tech movement in Miami. Guests were greeted by hosts then directed to the interactive fine art pieces featuring some of Miami’s influencers in music, fitness, fashion, art and entrepreneurship. Selfie subjects include: Cuchi Of Afrobeta, Tony Smurphio Of Afrobeta, Johanne Wilson, Julz Goodard, Terrance Wilson, Sheyla Beaujin, Rosie Pradel, Ramses Principe, Annie Vasquez, and Charles Reynolds. “It is an honor to collaborate with COOL Creative on this project,“ says photographer Adrian Ruiz of Uneeq Productions.

Each work of art features a black and white portrait one of the influencers surrounded by a vibrant custom graphic pattern inspired by their personality. The portraits are “faceless” as they are covered by a smartphone to similate the way we look as we take selfies in the real world. As they visit each piece, people are invited to scan digital codes to see the other side of each selfie, without the phone covering the face. #TheSELFIE explores the relationships between the real and digital world, the duality of selfies, and stories behind the selfies. “I took a selfie in a dressing room and when I looked at it, I realized that my entire face was covered up” explains artist, Johanne Wilson.  ”At that moment, I was inspired to do this project. It’s about the duality of our lives in the digital and real world.”

The art exhibition continued to the back of the building where artist, Terrance Wilson was completing his monumental mural that explored the relationship of nature and technology. “It’s a representation of the past, present and future,” says the artist. It is one of Wynwood’s only free-hand murals. The artist did not create a pencil drawing to trace or project the image onto the wall, “I just let my hand flow,” says the artist. The black and white mural can be seen from 25th street between 4th and 5th avenue.

Guests enjoyed art, great vibes provided by DJ Legato, and the most artful sangria by Sangria Lolea. Lance Bass of NSYNC even showed up, spent time and enjoyed the exhibition. “When he asked me to sign the prints he purchased I almost passed out,” recounts the artist. The exhibition was very thoughtful, well organized and engaging.  “This is one of the only events I’ve been to that had a great melange of art and event,” boasted Juan Carlos Arcacia of Pure Etiquette. “This is a celebration of our inaugural appearance at Art Basel. It’s only going to get bigger and more creative,” says Johanne Wilson.

To purchase prints and original pieces visit the shop: https://squareup.com/market/cool-creative-inc

Recap video can be viewed here:

To purchase prints and orginal pieces visit the shop: https://squareup.com/market/cool-creative-inc

See more COOL here.

ART SAKE : WU TANG TO SELL JUST ONE COPY OF THEIR SECRET ALBUM

Somewhere hidden in Marrakech, Morocco, inside a vault housed beneath the shadow of the Atlas Mountains, there sits an masterfully engraved silver-and-nickel box. Inside... the Wu-Tang Clan’s NEW double-album The Wu – Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, (recorded in secret over the past few years). British-Moroccan artist Yahya, whose works have been commissioned by royal families and business leaders around the world, created the one-of-a-kind work of art. The preciously crafted container took three months to make.   

WuTang will make and sell just one copy of the album. According to RZA, 1 million pounds has already been offered to the legendary hip hop group. “We’re about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before,” says Robert “RZA” Diggs, the first Wu-Tang member to speak on record about Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, in an exclusive interview with FORBES (source http://www.forbes.com). “We’re about to put out a piece of art like nobody else has done in the history of [modern] music.  We’re making a single-sale collector’s item. This is like somebody having the scepter of an Egyptian king.” 

In a recent interview with Wendy Williams, RZA explained that music has become devalued.

This is his attempt to elevate and reclaim music as true artform. The plan is to the album on a museum and gallery tour. The approach is similar to the way a priceless piece of fine art is exhibited and toured. Visitors will be able to view and listen to the 31 songs on headphones. There will be extreme measures taken to ensure that a single note doesn't gets leaked.

After the tour, the bidding war will begin.

The album produced by Tarik “Cilvaringz” Azzougarh has an air of the vintage Wu-Tang sound that made the group famous. As Cilvaringnz worked on the masterpiece, he had a lot of time to think about the shelf life of his work. “It took a long time,” says Cilvaringz. “After five years, I’m sitting here and I’m like, ‘Am I really going to release this record and see it die after a week?" (source http://www.forbes.com). That was the beginning of the "one copy" concept.

Cilvaringz hope is to inspire a shift, appreciation and renaissance of the art of sound. There's even talk of the idea this reviving the practice of commissioning private music. Everything about this is jaw-dropping and exiting! This is like a new, organic, remixed, titanium-covered Save the Music campaign and we think its #CertifiedCOOL.

This certainly a way to keep their "WuTang Forever" mantra alive.

TREND TALK: ADOBE CC, PROJECT MIGHTY & NAPOLEON

We've been watching the Adobe Max Creativity Conference online all day and there are some very COOL projects in the works.

READ THIS:

Adobe teases experimental hardware initiatives: ‘Project Mighty,’ 

a cloud-based pen and the ‘Napoleon’ ruler

http://thenextweb.com/2013/05/06/adobe-announces-experimental-hardware-initiative-dubbed-project-mighty-a-cloud-based-pen/#af009a_2

Go here to watch the Adobe Max Conference online with us:

http://max.adobe.com/sessions/online.html?sdid=KEXHG

See more cool here.

TREND TALK : TYPE TAKEOVER

As a designer, I work with typography every day. Typography is the art and technique of arranging letters to make language visible. How well a designer works with typography is the difference between a great designer and a not-so-good one. Needless to say, I love typography. That's the reason my heart skips a beat when I see the use of typography in surprising ways.

We're noticing that the use of typography is popping up in unconventional places like in fashion, industrial and interior design. Letters are so graphic and have such a wide array of forms that make it virtually impossible to ignore the wonderful opportunities to make objects, furniture, clothing, wall treatments and more.

I've selected a series of COOL uses of typography in design including: The Dharma Lounge Chair by Palette Industries; This Will Destroy You shoe by Anastasia Radevich; The AAKKOSET Shelf by the amazing Ugandan designer Lincoln Kayiwa; Font Tables by Alessandro Canepa and Andrea Paulicell; and Little Factory's laser cut scarf.

Type nerds rejoice!!!

See more COOL features on our blog THAT'S COOL. Just click and scroll down.