Sophie Calle's Address Book Published For the First Time

Never before published in its entirety in English, The Address Book is a key and controversial work in Sophie Calle’s oeuvre. Having found a lost address book on the street in Paris, Calle copied the pages before returning it anonymously to its owner. She then embarked on a search to come to know this stranger by contacting listed individuals—in essence, following him through the map of his acquaintances. Her written accounts of these encounters with friends, family and colleagues—juxtaposed with Calle’s photographs—originally appeared as serial in the newspaper Libération over the course of one month in 1983. As the entries accumulate, so do the vivid impressions of the address book’s owner, Pierre D., while also suggesting ever more complicated stories as information is gifted, parsed, and withheld by the people she encounters.hen Pierre D. learned about the work and its appearance in the newspaper, he threatened to sue (and demanded that Libérationpublish nude photographs of Calle as a reciprocal invasion of privacy). Calle agreed not to republish the work until after his death. Part conceptual art, part character study, part confession, part essay, The Address Book is, above all, a prism through which desire and the elusory, persona and identity, the private and the public, knowledge and the unknown are refracted in luminous and provocative ways. The Address Book can be purchased here. 

Can't Buy Me Love, Or Can You?

You probably haven't heard the one about the artist and the Russian millionaire sitting at a bar, right? No, you probably haven't. If you happen to be in New York City please kindly check your wallet – any recent single dollar bills you might have received as change might be a collectable piece of artwork worth up to $2,000. Artist Skye Nicolas' curious new series, featuring a small heart with the words "Buy Some Love" stamped on a U.S. dollar bill, is currently circulating through Manhattan. These specially marked dollar bills are being collected and swooped up by the likes of art collectors and notable fashion personalities. So, the one about the artist and the Russian – an allegory on Nicolas' website describes a little more about the series: "An artist and a wealthy Russian art collector were having drinks at a hotel bar after having attended an art auction earlier that evening. Upon paying for their beverages, an unusual dollar bill slips out of the artist’s wallet that catches the ever curious eye of the wealthy art collector. 'What’s this?' he inquired, picking up the crisp dollar bill. 'New work' said the artist smiling. The back of the fresh note had been embellished with a small red heart, ink-stamped right at the center of the U.S. dollar note. It simply read 'Buy some Love', rendered in a pleasing greeting-card-like font. The art collector paused to relish this playful little piece of art that he now carefully held with the tip of his fingers at the edges. It began to tickle his impulsive art buying senses, activating a familiar excitement that stimulated his voracity and passion for art collecting. 'I love it!' he declared. 'It’s simple, incredibly witty, and says so many things on so many levels. How much?', he asked the artist as he sifted through his luxurious but slightly tacky calf skin leather wallet. 'I have… five hundred, fifty-three dollars! Please, I must have this.'' "Buy Some Love" is a unique statement on the reassignment of monetary value and a deafening critique of the current world of art collecting and how not impervious the super wealthy are to the mysterious charm of trendy modern art. Skye Nicolas, who was born in Manila in 1974 and lives and works in New York, wonders further: "If a dollar bill was purchased for five hundred dollars as a work of art, would a hundred dollar bill stamped with the same little red heart be worth five thousand?" A word to New Yorkers: if you happen to find one these dollar bills hold on to it! A word to wealthy art collectors in New York City – Skye Nicolas might have taken your wallet. Text by Oliver Maxwell Kupper for Pas Un Autre

Sensual Harassment "Disco Heart"

Slutever's Karley Sciortino stars in Brooklyn based Sensual Harassment's new music video for the track Disco Heart. Above is an uncensored erotic outtake featuring the track with Sciortino. The music video is a trip, following an alien, flight attendant drug dealer as she travels to Earth on a mission to feed mysterious pills to the attendees of a Brooklyn warehouse party.

The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz

In December 2010, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington made headlines when it responded to protests from the Catholic League by voluntarily censoring an excerpt of David Wojnarowicz's A Fire in My Belly from its show on American portraiture. Why a work of art could stir such emotions is at the heart of Cynthia Carr's Fire in the Belly: The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz, the first biography of a beleaguered art-world figure who became one of the most important voices of his generation. Wojnarowicz emerged from a Dickensian childhood that included orphanages, abusive and absent parents, and a life of hustling on the street. He first found acclaim in New York's East Village, a neighborhood noted in the 1970s and '80s for its abandoned buildings, junkies, and burgeoning art scene. Along with Keith Haring, Nan Goldin, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Wojnarowicz helped redefine art for the times. As uptown art collectors looked downtown for the next big thing, this community of cultural outsiders was suddenly thrust into the national spotlight. The ensuing culture war, the neighborhood's gentrification, and the AIDS crisis then devastated the East Village scene. Wojnarowicz died of AIDS in 1992 at the age of thirty-seven. Carr's brilliant biography traces the untold story of a controversial and seminal figure at a pivotal moment in American culture. Available now.

Monroe by Norman Mailer and Bert Stern

On the anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death – August 25th – Taschen will release a hardcover version of Norman Mailer/Bert Stern: Marilyn Monroe. Taschen has paired Norman Mailer’s original text with Bert Stern’s photographs from the legendary Last Sitting—widely considered the most intimate photographs of Monroe ever taken—to create a fitting tribute to the woman who, at the time of her death in 1962, was the world’s most famous, a symbol of glamour and eroticism for an entire generation. But though she was feted and adored by her public, her private life was that of a little girl lost, desperate to find love and security. Mailer’s Marilyn is beautiful, tragic, and complex. As Mailer reflects upon her life—from her bleak childhood through to the mysterious circumstances of her death—she emerges as a symbol of the bizarre decade during which she reigned as Hollywood’s greatest female star.

TEEN "ELECTRIC"

Teen unveil the their new video for Electric from the forthcoming debut full-length, In Limbo – due out on Carpark Records on August 28. Sam Fleischner and Megha Barnabas directed the video. Fleischner said that "some ideas that nurtured this video were sisterhood, modern-day ritual, and stage magic. We were interested in the idea of forced initiation - something that would allow for entrance into another "Electric" realm. We were also seeing movement as a process or a form of communication rather than something celebratory. As Teeny, the lead singer, put it when we were first hashing out concepts, 'this is not a happy song - it is about death and people kicking you when you are down.' The video is about strength in the face of that - a combination of fuck off and flower power - having a sense of humor and playfulness when things get ugly. 

L'Enfant Terrible Adam Cullen Dead at 46

L'Enfant terrible Australian artist Adam Cullen is dead at 46.  He had stated that he had painted to the music of punk bands such as the Meat Puppets, Black Flag and the Butthole Surfers. Cullen painted such things as dead cats, 'bloodied' kangaroos, headless women and punk men, many of which represent what he termed "Loserville".

[Next] Visitor

Lucas_Gianello_visitor_kyle_gibson

Aussie born, London based, electro-rock-pop duo Kyle Gibson and Lucas Gianello – otherwise known under the moniker Visitor – produce electrifying, soaring tracks that are reminiscent of the soundtrack of some 1980s teen flick or even today's M83. Visitor are set to release an EP COMING HOME // RNB on the 10th of September, and will feature a string of very exciting remixes, all to be made available in the coming weeks. And pre-orders will be available soon. If our intuition is right we'll be hearing a lot of from Visitor in the future.

Oscar Niemeyer in 3D

Visionaire (the limited-edition multi-format art and fashion publication) and Paddle8 (the online art market) have together commissioned ten 3D photographs of legendary Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer most iconic work -- built from the 1940s through 90s in Sao Paolo, Brasilia and Rio -- that will be released in September 2012 (coinciding with the opening of the Sao Paolo Biennial) as a limited-edition slide portfolio designed to accompany the new Visionaire 62 RIO issue, which comes packaged with a stereoscope in a lenticular case. The idea is to experience these iconic buildings via sophisticated 3-D photography, as never before seen. The slide portfolio, produced in an edition of 200, will be available for pre-order exclusively at Paddle8.com beginning today. Also on this date, Paddle8.com will release a web-only exhibition featuring the 3D photos as well as a rare, exclusive audio interview with the 104-year-old architect and archival materials from his studio like blueprints and family photos.