2009 OFFICIAL COACHELLA LINE-UP RELEASED

SIKE!!!!  That would be funny shit though.  That line-up is like the failing economy hits music festival line-up.  Here’s the real one:

PRANKS // CONSTRUCTION SIGNS HACKED, ZOMBIE INVASION

Monday morning, a prankster in Austin hacked into two construction street signs, to warn morning commuters of an apparent zombie invasion. Hilarious, major props to whoever pulled this on off.  You can also find instructions on how to do this yourself via the interwebs.  For the record, we at Deviant Decorum do not recommend clicking on this LINK to find out how to DIY this funny funny prank.  It is unsafe, illegal and although funny, and we do not endorse hacking into city construction signs, eventhough it is fairly easy and again funny, do not click look at the instructions at this LINK.

via wooster collective.

PHOTO // ESTEVAN ORIOL x SURU // OPENING “THIS IS LOS ANGELES”

Yo, if you are anywhere in the vacinity of LA, even San Diego should roll to this, from February 1st through the 28th, you have to check out Estevan Oriol’s retrospective, “This is Los Angeles”.  I can’t even begin to tell you about how legit this guy is.  He was a bouncer in LA, who started hanging out with Cyrpress Hill and then became House of Pain’s tour manager, where he first picked up a camera to take pictures of all the crazy shit happening on the road.  He returned to East LA and started taking pictures of his neighborhood, portraits of the gansters who lived there and what eventually developed out of that was raw, gritty and really fucking good.  Oriol’s obvious talent exploded onto the scene where he hooked up with the iconic tattoo artist Mr. Cartoon and formed the JOKER brand.  Now, Oriol is shooting celebs, ad’s, directing video’s and film, as well as continuing to shoot photos of and in the hood.  Fucking legit, right?  If you want to see more on Estevan, I suggest watching The Run Up dvd and check his section in there.  Oriol and Mr. Cartoon hold it down in that movie like whoa. So, head over to SURU on 7622 Melrose between Farifax and La Brea, the show opens Feb. 1st and runs through the 28th.  SURU is also doing a limited edition tee, you can also cop some Estevan shirts at Upper Playground.   Don’t miss this.  Till then here’s his website and a few examples of his work:

VIDEO // HIPSTERS IN SPACE

Got this from the boys at Satchel.  Funny shit.  Love the Steve Aoki cameo.  The characters are just like the people who roam down my street every weekend asking for directions to a loft party and then pretend like they didn’t need them anyway.  Like if you go past the Bedford stop on the L train, you enter a cosmic vortex of Brooklyn where there’s no street signs and no rational.  Now you know the reason why I always wear headphones, even if there’s no music playing.

ART & FASHION // LOUIS VUITTON x STEPHEN SPROUSE x DEITCH PROJECTS

Last week was a hot one for Luis Vuitton, with it’s full on Stephen Sprouse collaboration/makeover unveiling at the SoHo flagship store.  The store went under a full makeover with neon graffiti and neon lights all paying homage to the godfather of skate/graffiti/punk rock fashion fusion.  Dietch Projects will also be running Rock on Mars (funded entirely by LV), a retrospective that turns the entire space into Sprouse’s futuristic Rock and Roll vision.  A limited edition LV x Stephen Sprouse, skateboard and trunk will be sold for 8k as well as some other limited books and shirts.  These items are available now at the SoHo store and will be available worldwide Feb 2nd.  The retrospective at Deitch Projects will run through Feb. 28th.  For all those who just read that blurb and thought that sounded way too buttoned up for this blog, there’s a sidenote below these pictures that I saved all the flavor for.

Sidenote: Before you drink that jaded streatwear haterade on this post, educate yourself.  I had it out with a sneaker head earlier about how he thought LV was a “bullshit cop-out” with the skateboard/graffiti collaboration and I had to kindly correct him.  Because, when I asked him if he knew who Stephen Sprouse was, his repsonse was …….. yup, still waiting.  Truth is, Spouse was collaborating with Luis Vuitton in 2001 doing the same thing, before this rookie even discovered limited edition anything.  “Well if they wanted to do graffiti shit, that ain’t real graffiti”, this collaboration it’s not about graffiti, it’s about a designer and artist.  Not to mention that Sprouse is hugely responsible for laying the foundation of street culture/art/fashion fusion aka “his culture” in the 80’s downtown NYC scene.  I’m just getting a little tired of this jump to hate, closed minded, street aficiando’s who bought their first dunks 6 months ago and think this culture is all about their dunks they bought 6 months ago.  So ******, go to wikipedia, look him up, formulate a response and come back like you knew who he was all along and then you can tell me it’s still bullshit, I may even agree with you.  You’ll at least be informed in your opinion while you wait for your pre-order kanye x kaws album. Same thing , different packaging.

BAY AREA // UNARMED OSCAR GRANT SHOT BY POLICE ON NEW YEARS DAY

We crack a lot of jokes on this site while bringing you content and about the content we bring, but there are times to be completely serious and this is one of those times.  Although Oakland does not have the best reputation, there is no reason for this:

When Oscar Grant, a 22 year old unarmed man is shot in the back by police while he’s lying face down in a train station and handcuffed,  a call to action is a gigantic understatement of what needs to be done.

This is not a shooting.  It is a murder by those with badges.  There is no justification for lethal force when a man is face down and pinned by two police officers.  None.  Why haven’t you heard of this yet?  Because the national media still has yet to bring light to this tragedy and local Oakland authorities are trying to keep it under wraps.  Fortunately, the incident was caught on two separate cameras and have been spreading like wildfire on the internet.  Watch both videos, so you can feel this in your gut and take five minutes to forward this on to a friend and make some calls and send some emails and get the word out about this before it’s swept under the carpet, again. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” -MLK Jr.

Here are a few things you can do right now from Racewire.com:

1. Digg the story so that the national media can pick up on it. Here’s a link: http://digg.com/world_news/Oakland_Police_Officer_Shoots_Unarmed_Man_Handcuffed_Man

2. Contact BART Director Carole Ward Allen and demand that 1) the officers involved be taken off duty without pay and charged and fully prosecuted; 2) there be an independent investigation of the shooting that includes a review of training and hiring practices; and 3) BART establish an independent residents’ review board for the police Call her at 510-464-6095 or email the BART Directors at BoardofDirectors@bart.gov

3. Call the BART police to complain about the officers’ conduct and demand immediate action: Internal Affairs: Sergeant David Chlebowski 510.464.7029,dchlebo@bart.gov; Chief of Police: Gary Gee 510.464.7022, ggee@bart.gov

4. Talk it up on your blogs, networks and talk radio shows.  Forward this to people you know.  Spread the word.

ART & POLITICS // THE SHEPARD FAIREY UPDATE HOUR

Some of this you may know and some may not, but Shep has been busy for the last couple of months, so we thought we’d bring you up to date on what’s going on.  Maybe each month we’ll have a Shepard Fairey update hour, where we’ll all sit around on a carpet with snacks and speak of wheat pastes and politics.  But for now….away we go.  First off, you saw the Time cover he did right?  Yup, Time Magazine tapped Shepard to design an image of this historic campaign to grace their cover for their Person of the Year issue.

Second, the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian has acquired the above piece to be a part of their permanent collection.  Can you believe that shit?  The Smithsonian caught some street art as the first image of the new president in their collection.  Shep is going to have to buy a bow tie and one of the jackets with leather elbow pads to fit in with the new crew.

Nope.  Fuck the elbow pads and bow tie’s and get this man bottle service and fresh kicks.  Why?  Oh, did I forget to mention that GQ magazine also named Shepard Fairey one of the Men of The Year?  Yeah that too.  The picture from the article is above and you can read GQ’s blurb on him here.

And if that wasn’t enough, the President Elect himself called upon Shepard Fairey to design a poster for Inaguration Day (above).  The poster is for sale online for a cool $100 here.  So that wraps up the official Shepard Fairey update hour.  If it took you an hour to go through this, you’re tired, get some rest.  All I have to say is that when you have Time Magazine, The Smithsonian and the President calling up a street artist for their work…times are certaintly changing and these are definite milestones in underground art.  Whether or not it turns out to be good a thing, we can only wait and see.  But for right now…Thanks Shep, for opening some eyes and making some waves.

LA // VANDAL MOVIE SPOILER FOR “MARLEY”

The new Owen/Anniston film “Marley” hit theater’s on Christmas and a vandal in LA decided to give the heads up to would be movie goer’s about the “plot twist” in this family feel good comedy by painting “The Dog Dies”, on billboard and street level advertisements.  Maybe it was Angelina Jolie with a spray can and a little bit of vengeance for ol’ Jennifer Anniston.  Whoever it was, I hope they do that Will Smith movie “7 Pounds” next, because there is no way I want to spend $12, to sit and wait an hour and a half to just find out why he is helping people.

PHILOSOPHICAL ENLIGHTENMENT FROM GREAT SCHOLERS FOR THE NEW YEAR

As you can see from the example below, great philosophers have been pondering the same puzzle of what it is to be and as time goes on they go deeper by simplifying the great questions first posed by the Greeks.  So in the New Year, keep this in mind:

Happy New Year from Deviant Decorum

VIDEO // THUNDERCATS MOVIE TRAILER, GIVE ME SIGHT BEYOND SIGHT

Check out this awesome fan made trailer of the Thundercats.  For fans of the show, like myself this is not real, hence fanmade, but there is rumor of a live action movie that could be ready for release in 2010.  Nevertheless, for being a fan video, this is pretty epic.  All the effects were done frame by frame in Photoshop. The footage was edited in Adobe Premiere. Can you spot where the clips they used are from?  There a couple Chronicles of Riddick’s and some from Troy.  If you can spot others let me know in the comments.  Casting is a s follows:

– Brad Pitt as Lion-O
– Vin Diesel as Panthro
– Gigi Edgley as Cheetara
– Hugh Jackman as Tygra