MOBA showcases a rotating collection of 400 bad artworks, all within the confines of the museum’s galleries — two Massachusetts basements.

I have to admit, I really like a lot of the collection’s pieces. This portrait of Peter the Kitty by Mrs. Jackson is fantastic — the hole in the middle of the canvas just adds to the appeal.

MOBA

Labels: fine art, humor, Museum of Bad Art, museums

Well, it’s time once again for me to venture off into the holidays, and as a parting-gift, I offer this drawing and informational text from Kris, who appears to have an advanced degree in Zoology with a focus in Ornithology, specifically, the Snowy Owl...

The snowy owl is white with brown spots. Its scientific name is Nyctea scandiaca. It lives in the northen tundra where it blends in well with its surroundings. The snowy owl only visits Pennsylvania in the winter. The snowy owl’s favorite food is lemmings. Lemmings are little mammals that look like mice. The unusual thing about the snowy owl is that its feathers cover its feet. Its enemies are the wolves and the artic fox. -Kris

Winter Bird Goodness

Labels: holiday, humor, Snowy Owl

Please note that studiotwentysix2 does not advocate criminal activities, including, but not limited to: breaking and entering, grand theft auto, finding a penny and picking it up, kicking, biting, extreme pillow fighting and public intoxication and/or urination.

That being said, if you happen to be arrested for such conduct, I reserve the right to giggle at your expense — especially if you are a large man equipped with udders.

The Smoking Gun

Labels: humor, mug shot, The Smoking Gun

Carnegie Mellon University has a nice archive of Swiss poster design from 1971 through the present.

The collection is categorized by subject and style, and contains a good variety of works that utilize a traditional grid-oriented approach, as well as contemporary postmodern techniques.

I like the overall collection, but the site has two negatives. First, the layout is pretty bad. Why present some of the most interesting, well-designed posters of the past 40 years in such an uninspiring manner? And second, the images are quite small — at their current size, it’s difficult to appreciate all of the detailed work. Despite these flaws however, it’s a nice resource, and certainly bookmark-worthy.

Swiss posters

Labels: Carnegie Mellon University, graphic design, Swiss design

I recently came across this article from the St. Petersburg Times, which attempts to broach the questions of “what is art?” and “what distinguishes naked from nude?”

The focus of the article is the 1993 Michel Comte photograph of model Carla Bruni. The author seems to jump around a bit trying to define art and nakedness, sourcing several art historical references. While that is all fine and well, it seems to me the larger issue is not the naked vs. nude debate at all, but rather the importance of an image of a well-known model, who, since the time of its creation, has become the First Lady of France.

The author seems somewhat shocked that a photograph estimated to be valued at $4,000, sold for approximately $91,000. The selling price was not due to the pose or photographer, but almost certainly because it is an image with potential cultural and historical value — depending of course upon the outcome of the Sarkosy reign. While the purchase price might be viewed as a risk, the future potential payoff could be phenomenal, as I couldn't imagine the cost of a similar image of Eva Perón or Jackie Kennedy.

I liked that the article touched-on several major philosophical art questions, I’m just not convinced that it fully addresses any of them.

Naked vs. nude

Labels: article, Carla Bruni, fine art, Michel Comte, photography

And by ungood, I mean seriously security flawed. Sure it’s easy to pick on IE because it’s not Mac friendly, visually outdated and is as cool as the cuffed jeans in my high school pictures — but aside from all of that, if you continue to use IE, your passwords may become compromised. Of course you don’t have to take my word for it...

Major Flaw revealed in Internet Explorer

Labels: article, Internet Explorer, mug shot

I apologize for my recent absence, but my services were requested on short notice for an out-of-town business meeting. I realize I can’t make up for lost time, but I have a feeling that the stylings of Thor ~ Erics may brighten your day — and as my friend so eloquently stated upon seeing Thor, “Top right dude is who I’d want to party with.”

Amen, brother. Amen.

Labels: humor, Thor ~ Erics, update

Here is an interesting article from the current issue of Prospect Magazine about the rise of Contemporary Art prices in recent years, and the subsequent deflation of the contemporary market.

Above is the work of Zhang Xiaogang, a well-known Chinese artist who saw his work appreciate from $1000 in 1999, to $6,000,000 in 2008 — which is great for him, but a crazy 6000% increase over a ten year period.

A Second Tulip Mania

Labels: article, fine art, Zhang Xiaogang

I haven’t spent much time posting about furniture design, but this chair was too beautiful to ignore. Industrial designer Patrick Messier created this rocking chair to look like a ribbon suspended in space, and is made from a single piece of fiberglass with a high gloss urethane finish.

If you like the design, you might want to save your pennies, as the price tag runs about 6K.

MAMMA

Labels: artist, industrial design, MAMMA Rocking Chair, Patrick Messier

This literally and figuratively puts an unexpected damper on the peanut butter & jelly sandwich I was just about to eat — provocative work nonetheless.

Bread Heads

Labels: fine art, Kittiwat Unarrom

Hello there, do you mind if I sit down?

I’ve never seen you here before, are you new to the area?

Do you enjoy gazing at my mustache?

Mother won’t be home for hours, and Gammy is playing bingo at the senior center. How would you feel about a nice room temperature Pabst Blue Ribbon massage?

Flash Face

Labels: interactive design, Ultimate Flash Face

If you haven’t visited Imaginary Forces in awhile, their site has been updated with some excellent new work, including the recently released Christina Aguilera commercial for Target.

Most of their work is fantastic, but I really liked the short film they put together for Paul Rand’s posthumous induction into The One Club’s Hall of Fame. It’s an interesting combination of a Rand interview with original animation.

Paul Rand

Labels: Christina Aguilera, Imaginary Forces, interactive design, Paul Rand, site design, Target