Free Your Mind at the Imaginary Foundation

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     Cabaret Voltair, DADA, Dadaism, Duchamp, Ernst, Hugo Ball, ImaginaryFoundation.com, Magritte, Surrealism, T-Shirts, Terry Gilliam, Tristan Tzara, art shirts, imaginary foundation, surreal shirts

ImaginaryFoundation.com‘s concepts rock, a lot of them remind me of my own work at college. In the 90′s, at arts school, I was heavily influenced by the Dada movement, we didn’t just paint, make videos, installations, print etc., we also had to read (at least a few shelves of art history literature and a couple of boxes of art critique on the side). I was always into photo-montage, I started at school, at the time it was almost unheard of in South East England’s suburbia. Still, it grabbed me an ‘O’ and an ‘A’ level so I must’ve been doing something right. I have a suspicion they’re using sublimated (heat press) printing which can do wonders in the right hands, but in my heart of hearts I’d always prefer a screen printed tee (it’s merely the texture of the ink on a t-shirt that influences me). Asides that I’m rather bowled over by their incredible collection.

The greatest coup in the t-shirt world is hidden away at IF’s site, if you read their ‘about page‘ you’ll find the briefest mention of their mysterious “Director”, a 70 something √ºber intellectual, supposedly the son of the founder of the Dadaist movement. Now without a name it’s quite tricky working out exactly who they mean, there’s still some debate about that. Checking it up at the UK’s Online Tate Gallery Archive and I quote “The founder of Dada was a writer, Hugo Ball. In 1916 he started a satirical night-club in Z√ºrich, the Cabaret Voltaire, and a magazine which, wrote Ball, ‘will bear the name ‘Dada’. Dada, Dada, Dada, Dada.’ This was the first of many Dada publications. Dada became an international movement and eventually formed the basis of Surrealism in Paris after the war.” He did also create the Dada Manifesto. So I’m guessing it’s Mr. Ball they’re referring to. read more

Option-G and Cole Gerst – T-Shirts to Perfect Life’s Imperfections.

admin    T-Shirt Reviews     DADA, Duchamp, Hollywood, Jasper Johns, LA designer, LaLa Land, MySpace, Surrealism, T-Shirts, Warhol, YouTube, music posters, outsider art, retro, urban

Option-G Apparel is an extension of the design firm Option-G based in Los Angeles and headed by artist extraordinaire Cole Gerst. You may have heard of him already, or seen one of his many designs on posters, paintings or prints. He has been particularly successful in the music world, where you’ll most likely recognize his works. Gerst even produces his own monthly comic strip in the LA Weekly called “LaLa Land” which features his two dogs roaming the streets of Hollywood.

Gerst has a prestigious arts background with a string of successful art shows behind him, having shown his work across had shows all over the USA as well as a retrospective show in Glasgow, Scotland of his rock posters. The t-shirt line was started as a mere sideline, simply another medium to explore his unique view of the world, and experiment with different ideas, whilst having fun with his audience. The instant feedback provided by t-shirt fans helps many creative minds in their quest to hone their skills and find perfection in their art. Option-G’s started selling to the public 4 years and since expanded into a variety of products, even wallpaper would you believe? Cole has a truly unique style, I’d describe him as the Jasper Johns of the T-Shirt World, take this design as a clear example:-

Ghetto Signage

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