andy, marilyn, and that crazy valerie

Andy Warhol, the famous protagonist of pop art and creator of the iconic serigraph portraits of Marilyn Monroe (below), had his share of caustic critics – and deadly enemies – during his lifetime.

One such enemy was a woman named Valerie Solanas, a radical feminist writer best known for the SCUM Manifesto (Society for Cutting Up Men), an essay on patriarchal culture which advocates the creation of an all-female society. I've attached a pic of her at the bottom, left.

She shot Warhol on June 3, 1968.

That day, she waited for him at The Factory, Warhol's New York City art studio. When he arrived, she fired three shots at him. Then she shot his companion, art critic Mario Amaya, and aimed at Warhol's manager, Fred Hughes, but her gun jammed.

Later that evening, she turned herself in to the police, confessing that Warhol had 'too much control over her life'.

Investigation revealed that Valerie had been demanding Warhol, who was also a indie filmmaker, to return her script entitled 'Up Your Ass' (about a man-hating prostitute and a panhandler) that she had shown to him in 1966 in the hope of having it produced.

Unfortunately, Andy had lost it.

And so the constant hassling and stalking began. And ended with a deadly bang.

Warhol survived the tragedy, but Valerie didn't. After her arrest and subsequent release, she moved in and out of mental institutions. On occasions, she persisted to stalk her nemesis and got arrested again. In 1988, at the age of 52, she died embittered and insane.

Yes, an enemy maybe terrifying – but I tell you, hate can the deadliest adversary of all.

(Top, right) Series 15's Andy Warhol Bearbrick (with his self-portrait on its back) is an 'Artist' bear which is hard to find. On its chest is a reproduction of his 1986 painting, 'Repent and sin no more!' Hmmm... was that intended for Valerie?

Valerie pic/info from Wikipedia & newsday.com / Marilyn serigraph painting from francifra.splinder.com

ecstasy on the dancefloor

The Be@rbrick on the right is a lookalike of Tomoyuki Tanaka (a.k.a. the Fantastic Plastic Machine), the hot & hip Japanese DJ who is a proponent of the Shibuya-Kei sound, a variety of Japanese pop music that combines bossa nova, lounge/house music with 60s movie soundtracks. His music has been featured in movies like 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me', in albums of other famous DJs like Stephane Pompougnac (Hotel Costes), and in TV commercials created by artist Takashi Murakami for Louis Vuitton.

Club DJs like Tanaka (below, at a Tokyo club) are movers of the night life and shakers of the dance floor. Like puppets, people sway, gyrate, hop, wave, bump and grind to their groove.

In my view, if the club DJ is as good as The Fantastic Plastic Machine, there'll be no need for mood-enhancing drugs. Dancing alone will be a spellbinding trance... a natural high. More ecstasy than Ecstasy. :-)

Info from Wikipedia / Pic from Tanaka's Blog at honeyee.com / Find Tanaka's music at amazon.com or thru Limewire

skeletons in the closet

Right now, I am reading the New York Times' number 2 bestseller entitled 'The Quickie', a novel by suspense writer James Patterson (with Michael Ledwidge.)

The premise is gripping. A woman catches her husband having an affair. She decides to get even by having a one night stand with a cute hunk from her office. But even before that evening is over, she witnesses her short-time lover get brutally killed – by her husband (who shows up unexpectedly)!

The twist? She is a police officer – and so is her murdered boy toy. To make matters worse, she is assigned by her boss to catch the so-called 'cop killer'.

Talk about skeletons in the closet! You'll find sex, betrayal and homicide in just one chapter! Unlike most guilt-ridden individuals with dirty secrets, this woman's shame is beyond consolation, especially when she finds out that her dead lover has a wife and 3 kids! Imagine her curse, her torment, her hell – how can she possibly hide the truth which she is entrusted to seek?

Yes, it does sound like a sordid tabloid tale, the stuff scandals are made of. Go ahead and borrow a copy – no need to buy something you'll finish in one sitting.

(Top, left) The Balzac Be@rbrick, with its signature skeleton design, is a 'secret' bear from Series 13. It was issued in collaboration with Balzac, the Japanese Horror Punk Band (left). While the group was inspired by The Misfits, it was named after the 1800s French novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac.

Info from www.misfitsrecords.com / Band pic from www.balzac308.com

stick your tongue out, be@rbrick!

The cheeky logo of the rock band Rolling Stones (left) became very famous, although the artist – not Andy Warhol, mind you – received a measly £50 for it.

His name is John Pasche, a British graphic designer and D&AD Awardee whose other works include: the poster for Roger Vadim's 'And God Created Woman'; cd designs for The Art of Noise and Sinead O'Connor; tour ads for David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who.

The logo first appeared in 1971, on the inner sleeve of the Rolling Stones album, Sticky Fingers.
Two years later, Pasche supposedly received £200 more, in recognition of the logo's great success. Of course, the band earned millions from it.

Well, they got the money but the honor belonged to Pasche. For him, I photographed my 2nd Rolling Stone Be@rbrick against the pages of Rolling Stone Magazine (above, right).

I love this logo, and how it has come a long way from 'racy t-shirt graphic' to 'classic pop icon'. It's solid proof that irreverence can earn you respect.

(Related Blog Entry: Be@rbrick was a Rolling Stone!)

(Info/logo: www.johnpasche.com, IP Review, Wikipedia)

the curse of the black kitty

I scare you.

Whenever I cross
your dull daily trail,
your stride slowly stops
and your face turns pale.

In your mind, you surmise
all bad luck will ensue
'coz of this little puss
with the darkest of hue.

In your eyes, I will see
faith weakening so,
courage a-crumblin',
spunk sinking so low.

But I say, 'Why is that?'
'cause all that I've been
is a cat with a coat
of mysterious sheen.

Life's unfair, don't you think
when you're judged by your look;
You're seen more as the cover
and not as the book.

Meowwww!

Darker and rarer, the black Hello Kitty Be@rbrick (top, right) has only 1.5% availability. It's one of six 'Secret' Be@rbricks from Series 13. 'Secret' Be@rbricks are hard-to-get designs that aren't included on the series' publicized list. If you find one, consider yourself very lucky.

(Cat pic from Wikipedia)

bear as black as soot

This semi-transparent Be@rbrick with a billowy black pattern was designed by a Brooklyn-based artist known in the designer toy community as West One. A rare bear with only 1.08% availability, it was released two years ago as part of Series 10.

I decided to feature it now because I recently saw the paintings of my other artist friend, Popo San Pascual, and they reminded me so much of this bear. They were called the Wig Series, which Popo said were inspired by the swirling lines of curly hair.

When I looked closely at one painting, I noticed that the strokes were far too smooth to have been made by a brush. The artist later revealed to me that it was a 'candle soot' painting.

Picture this: He fastened his canvas onto the ceiling, lit a paraffin candle, and slowly moved the burning wick across the blank surface, creating soft circular strokes of black soot.

"Wouldn't that fade?" I asked him. He answered, "I've sprayed it with varnish..."

Personally, I liked the stark color scheme, and the fact that it was mainly black. Like red, it's a color that almost never fails to make a strong – and lasting – impression.

be@rbrick from sin city

Sin City is a tag name for an urban area that caters to various vices like sex, gambling and drug use. (Uhmm...Las Vegas?)

Frank Miller's film noir-like series of graphic novels with the same title is based on such a setting. One of the protagonists, Marv (below), is a 7-foot tall man with a heavily scarred face and a flattop buzzcut. Always dressed in a trench coat, leather pants and boots, Marv spends his time on the streets doing odd jobs for various people. He suffers from a mental condition that causes him to "get confused",

which is believed to involve short-term memory loss and possibly hallucination. His parole officer supplies him with medication to control his condition, but does nothing that could possibly curb his violent nature. Marv's personal code of honor dictates the repayment of debts and a sort of chivalry towards women. A classic example of a noir anti-hero.

The Sin City bear (above right) is based on the Marv's extremely tough and violent character. (And you thought Be@rbricks were cute and sweet, didn't you?)

(Marv pic and info from Wikipedia)

boo!brick

Jack Skellington, that lovable Pumpkin Prince in Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' finds his macabre spirit resurrected in this newly released Be@rbrick. Dressed up in pinstripes, with a bat bowtie and embalmer- sewn lips, this spooky Be@rbrick is available in two sizes: 100% (2.6 inches) and 400% (24 inches). So just how big a scare do you want?

bear bear bling bling

Rapper Li'l Wayne probably didn't realize how much the phrase "bling bling" would impact on the entire hiphop culture when he first used it in his 1998 track 'Millionaire Dream'. Now, it has even crossed over to the hip toy culture. Featured in the picture is Series 13's 'Skull' Be@rbrick, wearing a crown from a Bangkok bling vendor and real South African diamonds around its neck.

Bling bling
Every time I come around your city
Bling bling
Pinky ring worth about fifty
Bling bling
Every time I buy a new ride
Bling bling
Lorinsers on Yokahama tires
Bling bling

–Li'l Wayne (the dude on the right)
from the B.G. song 'Bling Bling'