RAIDERS OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
October 22, 2009
by JASON MOJICA
Americana
Jeff Krulik has been making the kind of videos the Internet was made for long before Al Gore got around to inventing it. Best known for his iconic short film, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, Krulik has spent much of the past 20-odd years digging up some of the most awkward and/or dynamic people in America: King of Porn documents the after-hours hobby of a long-time Library of Congress employee; Ernest Borgnine on the Bus documents the star of The Poseidon Adventure driving his luxury coach, the “Sunbum,” around the country; and Hitler’s Hat tells the tale of how the Führer’s top-hat became the centerpiece of a Jewish GI’s magic routine.
THE DEATH OF MARVEL COMICS
August 31, 2009
by NICHOLAS GAZIN
It’s come to my attention that Disney just bought Marvel Comics, the whole company and the characters and everything. I am sure that many folks are freaking out because they think Marvel will change. “Oh no”, dumbasses everywhere are probably crying, “Oh no, they’re going to dumb down the Punisher. There’s a sophistication to a psycho with a skull on his shirt, running around and killing people who he doesn’t like! And Wolverine, oh Wolverine, he’s an unstoppable rage-filled asshole who murders people with razors that pop out of his hands. There’s a delicate poetry to him. On the one hand he wants to kill people and on the other hand he does kill people.”
THIS MOVIE WILL MAKE YOU CUM
August 27, 2009
by JUAN CARLOS & VICTOR PIÑEIRO ESCORIAZA
Motherboard
This week marks the release of Second Skin, a documentary about virtual worlds and the gamers who live in them and probably the single best movie of this year. It’s gotten a bunch of rave reviews and a lot of press so far, but I think the public at large are blind to the colossal, Brobdingnagian implications this movie brings to the table.
LANCE BANGS MEETS FAMILY LA'S EXTENDED LA FAMILY
August 17, 2009
by VBS Staff
Bangs
Hey, starting tomorrow “Lance Bangs”: returns to the VBS fold with a two-part series on the Family bookstore in LA.
We agree that watching a documentary about a store sounds only a tad more captivating than shaving your balls on muscle relaxants, but what Lance does is he uses Family as a launchpad to talk with all the artists and musicians who like to hang out there and play in-stores, then he follows them to their spaces (like the Smell and Ooga Booga and Sam Harkham’s silent theater) and talks to all the people hanging out there and before you know it you’ve sat through an epic Fassbinder-esque account of the entire Los Angeles scene at this specific moment of time.
Anyways, even if it was strictly about Family, we bet it would still be a better watch than most of the crap coming out these days. Far be it from us to tell you what’s awesome, but where else are you going to find a copy of Soiled Matress & the Springs first album, a Harmony Korine zine anthology, and an oversized print by comics insaniac Victor Cayro while watching a show while hanging out with all your best buds and a bunch of Southern Californian creative types? Oh, the internet? I’ll internet you, you damn wiseass.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON ENDURANCE CHALLENGE
August 14, 2009
by LEROY GUMPTION
Wow, this 10 Commandments site is either the work of some Donnie Davies-level satirist or the most unfortunately-voiced Christian since L’il Markie. Not sure if it’s the way the guy pronounces ‘muh-ther,’ the way the guy pronounces everything in general, or a combination of the voice with the waggling Terry Gilliam finger but I cannot make it past Commandment V without completely losing my shit, and I’ve been at this for over an hour. How long can you hold out?
PS: We will give you $10 if you can take several reasonably large hits of weed and make it all the way to the end without cracking a smile, but you’ve got to film the whole process. Also, you have to be paying close attention to it. Preferably with headphones. It can’t just ‘be on.’
PPS: If the finger of god isn’t doing it for you, maybe it’s time for a trip down memory lane with Australia’s Most Eaten Tasty Cheese.
PPPS: Oh shit, now I’ve got them both going at the same time. This day is done.
HELP SAVE AMY'S ARM
August 12, 2009
by VBS Staff
The Cute Show
Amy Kellner, the lady responsible for bringing you The Cute Show, has one of the greatest tattoos adorning any person dead or currently living. It is a lascivious-tongued kitty-kat on her right shoulder beneath which is a ribbon containing the cursive word “Pussy.” Simple and magnificent.
2009: THE YEAR JUGGALO BROKE
August 04, 2009
by BABY BALLS
Americana
Right now there are thousands of smirky, middle-class dipshits chomping at the bit to sink their fangs into this week’s Gathering of the Juggalos. Of the hundred-odd ’That’s it, I’m going’s that have been cropping up on message boards and comment threads since Tom Scharpling blew the lid off the whole deal a couple weeks ago, I’m guessing maybe 10-15 of these will actually make the three-hour drive to Cave-In-Rock from the nearest airport, from which maybe 4-5 mean-spirited articles and ‘blog stories’ will result. Nevertheless, the scab’s been opened. Next year there’ll be more gawking smuggalos with cameras, and more the year after that until eventually the whole thing looks like the crowd of a Vampire Weekend concert, only with everyone falling over themselves to capture something they can laugh at with their friends back on the coast versus jerk off to in the bathroom.
PLEASE SAVE TIME FOR MEXICO'S MOST OBNOXIOUS ARTIST
July 31, 2009
by VBS Staff
Art Talk
We know you’ve probably got plans for tomorrow, but please be a dude and set aside a few minutes for the new episode of Art Talk! with one of the Mexico City art world’s most love/hated figures, Miki Guadamur. Miki first scorched his goofy face into our radar when one of our video editors sent us the above video. Not since the early days of a young man named Adam Goren have annoyedness and adoration conspired to twist such a tangled knot in our heartstrings.
Look, we’re not going to waste a bunch of blog-words trying to sell you on Miki’s genius, just watch the episode, check out his flickr, and maybe take a gander at this article on insane bootleg jean labels he did for us a few months ago. But know in your heart of hearts that if this business isn’t for you, it’s because you are an irredeemable failure of a human being. Have a great weekend!
THE BEST PIECE OF ART IN NEW YORK/THE WORLD/THE DECADE
July 30, 2009
by JOHN MCSWAIN
Art Talk
My first run-in with Justin Lowe and Jonah Freeman’s collaborative efforts was in Miami at Art Basel 2008. Their installation “Hello Meth Lab With a View”—a reinterpretation of the original "Hello Meth Lab in the Sun (with Alexandre Singh)—was hands-down the best work shown that week. No offense to Friends With You, Adam McEwen, and some of the pieces shown at A-ron’s fantastic O.H.W.O.W. space but I’m a sucker for large-scale installations involving meth, astrology, house fires, and terrariums, and “Hello Meth Lab” had me giggling like a tween Harry Potter fanatic in line to see Equus. Luckily, as the Giant would say, it is happening again! Currently showing at Deitch Projects NYC is BLACK ACID CO-OP, the third installation by the duo and a mega mind-melting three-story project that completely transforms 18 Wooster Street into an unrecognizable freakout space.
ADDENDUM
July 27, 2009
by VBS Staff
Art Talk
For the record, Andy Kaufman did not hate public transportation. Quite the contrary. Then again, as Sebastian mentioned, you can never be too sure with that guy. PS: Here’s part two of My Breakfast with Blassie if you get sucked into the thing.
Most commented
this week
- 11 GRAND OLD BRITISH CONFLICTS
- 8 WOMAN BLOCKS LHC
- 8 DRUG BUSTS
- 8 REAL VAMPIRES OF FLORIDA
- 7 LAWS OF THE INTERNET
