Custom Bike with a Custom Tee

I was tired of taking the train everywhere so one late night, while he was asleep, I stole Tawhids bike. Painted it black, wrote Vane on it and now i dont have to take the damn MTA everywhere. Thanks Tawhid!

To match the bike, I got the Write Tee made in black and green...freshh!






And then me and Ali just started fooling around...check out the back tire, its screaming for help.....ALI!

Hasselbladin'

I just bought a Hasselblad and two lenses for it. Great medium format German camera. I'm getting back into taking some ill portraits and, in my opinion, this is the best format and camera for that. Here are two images I took on the first roll. More to come soon.

Resist the Resistance

As written in recent article in the New York Times, seven months ago, an anonymous person or a group of individuals that have now become known as The Splashers, have started defacing the work of prominent and successful street artists like Swoon [whose work I love, posted below], Faile, and Sheperd Fairey, of OBEY fame [top image].


Releasing a 16 page tabloid, the Splashers claimed "street art was 'a bourgeoisie-sponsored rebellion' that helped pave the way for gentrification, and called it 'utterly impotent politically and fantastically lucrative for everyone involved.'

Sure these doods sounds like a bunch of self-absorbed, radical neo-liberal communist cunts, but they sure as all hell raise some interesting issues, bringing to forefront the interchange between art, commerce, resistance and counterculture. The entire idea of street art is founded on the idea of artistic expression in shared public space--the reappropriation of privately-owned public spaces like billboards and store walls as the canvas. The movement was intended to present the public viewers with an alternative to commercial messages and advertisements, and reclaim shared spaces.

But what happens when this artistic dissent is appropriated back into the mainstream, and used instead to sell kicks and soda? This has been the recent trend, as artists have used the streets to gain notoriety, they attract big corporate interests and start making loot. Some calling it selling out, others see it as cashing in.

This is the problem with any countercultural movement constructed within a capitalistic framework--everything is for sale. To be a nonconformist means to conform anyways. So, a lot of people are pissed, like these Splasher guys, who feel it's now lost it's substance. In reaction, they are rebelling against a movement founded on the principles of rebellion. Anyone else see how interesting this can play out?

Me personally, I'm never one to knock on getting paid. Shit, I'm on the same damn hustle as a lot of these guys. I think that a lot of people get it twisted though, because believe me, I'm all about disrupting the status quo. But nothing is forever. The universe exists in cycles, creation and destruction can be paralleled with any movement, rebellion or otherwise. Orwell saw futility in these cycles, a la Animal Farm and 1984, that rebellions generally served to replace the status quo with a new status quo that was equally as bad. Of course he was writing about Communism, but I think that his writings are equally applicable here. But rather than seeing futility, I see simply a natural progression in these cycles. There is some GREAT art coming out of these artists, and as their styles become standardized or co-opted, something new will come, something that voices dissent in a different way. Maybe the Splashers are onto something, maybe they're fucking ass monkeys, only time will tell. I simply want to watch as this dynamic of underground/mainstream plays out, as a lot of these artists generally see the underlying irony.

The spirit of rebellion can never be completely bought, so long as there are people who hope for an alternative to the present reality.

This weather's killin me!

Today was just not my day. The weather caused trouble everywhere. If you didn’t know already, there were power outages all over New York. I been reading Ways of Seeing by John Berger and half way through it I had an incredible urge to go to the Met and be surrounded by gigantic oil paintings. I didn’t want to be inspired by them and had no urge to check out over weight nude women but just wanted to see some nice, old painting so I can relate to what Berger was talking about. 10 minutes after paying my suggested donation and walking up into the room the lights start to flicker. Ironically I was in the south asian wing and was looking at some statues of Shiva. So I’m sitting on a bench surrounded by hindu gods. After 5 minutes of pitch darkness I was contemplating asking the stoned gods for the electricity to come back. But we were escorted out by a rude middle aged man with a flashlight that kept on telling me to put that camera away.






The day doesn’t end there. On my way back to Brooklyn I got on the F and right before church ave it stopped between station for about 30 minutes before it pulled into Church ave and told us to get the fuck out cus the tracks were flooded and the F was no longer in service. Perfect, I got to stand in the rain next to this dudes feet while I got a ride the rest of the way!

iCrazyassexpensivebutsodamncool

Okay, so the cats out of the bag. The media restrictions have been lifted, and as the iPhone gets set to drop this Friday, there are product and video reviews to be found all over the internet. There has been no single piece of technology to produce such a dumb amount of hype. [Retarded] People [with entire too much time on their hands] have been camping out in line since the beginning of the week to cop the phone when it drops. Get a job. Or a life, whichever one comes first.

Anyways, the Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg provides an in-depth balanced quality look at All Things Digital, along with a video demonstration of the functions. You can find a bunch of these on youtube also.

Although you won't catch me up in line anytime soon [have you been outside lately?], but from the preliminarily reviews, it looks like despite it's drawbacks and hefty price tag, the iPhone lives up to the hype. It seems Apple has brought us to the age of the personal pocket computer, and basically shit on the competition with their "smart" phones, which now kind of look like your retarded uncle in comparison. Now, all I am waiting for is my jetpack, flying car, and teleporter, so stop slacking and get on that shit Jobs...

Babies

So in my quest to document my trip home, I ended up with a camera full of images of....a baby. This is my baby cousin Chloe, and she is so fucking adorable it makes me want to throw up in my mouth. This is also considering that she is also not my baby, which makes her a great deal more adorable, but nonetheless, at two years-old, she is a winding, raging ball of energy and sickening child cuteness.



Everybody loves babies. Babies are amoral, in the Nietzschean sense that they really have no concept of good or evil, which gives them all the good qualities of people without any of the shitty preconceptions that we get from "socialization." Plus they have big eyes and big cheeks, like little cartoon people. So when a baby asks you for something, you do it, whether it be to fill her sipppy cup with apple juice, wipe the shit off her ass, or murder your girlfriend.



For a baby, there is no concept beyond the self, which makes a baby powerful in many respects. A baby makes the world bend around her, and she lives in her own reality. She is able to manipulate the external to satisfy the internal. Meanwhile, we're all trying to juggle flaming hula-hoops in acid rain to make the baby happy--to satisfy the baby's personal reality.

So, if we're all trying to appease the baby, and the baby is only trying to appease herself, who's really calling the shots?.....

Unforgivable

On a not so serious note, I think this dude is pretty fuckin funny

We are busy + Moving Walls

I know I know, we haven't been posting updates and you come here twice every hour to check what going on. Yes I know the disappointment you feel when you sign on to the vane site during a boring day at work and find absolutely nothing new to read, see, hate or love. The reason for this lack of posts is because we have all been real busy with preparing for the fall. We have really stepped our game up on the new collection and I'm sure you will notice it once it drops. I cant get into details but lets just say that tees and hoodies aren't the only thing you should expect.

Any way a couple of days ago we recommended going to the Moving Walls Photo Exhibi. I donno how many of you checked it out but it was pretty interesting. The diversity of the photographers and subjects was probably what kept my interest throughout the images. My favorite set was Robin Bowman's, Teenage America: Portraits of the next Generation. The following are some images I took there.

Vane Style

As you may have noticed we added a new section in the menu bar called Style. The section will highlight unique fashion, styles, outfits and people that we see on a daily basis. If you still dont get what it is, just check it out, I explain it better there!

Heaven

A certified California institution, In-N-Out has been serving up crack in the form of cheeseburgers and Double-doubles since I can remember. Actually even longer, more like 1948. Why it doesn't exist on the East coast baffles me. And makes me want to punch myself in balls when I want a great, inexpensive burger.

Come to New York In-N-Out. Please.

Killer Cali

As many of you may or may not know, I am traveling back home to the land sun, smog, surf, and silicone. You boy E here is going back like Biggie for the little brother’s graduation from high school. [sigh] You remember those days? If only I knew then what I know now…I woulda done way more shit before I turned 18. Fucking sucky how time works like that.

Since I hate diary type shit on blogs, the next few entries will be dedicated to how the trip and things on the trip has provoked some personal reflection or thought, all mostly having to do with returning home, family, California, and new stages of life.

That being said, California has already slowed down my hustle. I have already been here five days, and I am finally posting an update on my trip. Cali time, perpetually three hours behind…

We are all Vane Pendant

Just a quick note that we only have a few more pieces of the We are all Vane Pendant and Chain left. The gunmetal is sold out but we do have the Silver and Gold in stock. If you would like one now is the time to get it.

Return

a young boy leaves his childhood village
bright-eyed, idealistic, and full of dreams
he sets out to make it in the big city
he is but a lamb among a pack of wolves
nonetheless he is determined

in the city days become weeks become
months become years become a lifetime

tired, the young boy returns home
to a village unfamiliar to memory
his friends had become strangers
the landscape had become barren
the village had changed

dismayed, the boy laments his home
sitting near the lake he quietly weeps

looking into the water, the boy pauses
and suddenly he begins to smile
for thought things were different
the village had not really changed
but the had boy returned a man

Moving Walls 13

I know this is pretty last minute but this is a great show and I highly recommend checking it out.

Moving Walls 13: A Group Photography Exhibition

opening reception on

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

6:00-8:30 pm

Open Society Institute

400 West 59^th Street

(between 9^th and 10^th Avenues)

New York, NY 10019

RSVP to Yukiko Yamagata at
docphoto@sorosny.org

Moving Walls 13 features the work of:

Robin Bowman
Teenage America: Portraits of the Next Generation

Edward Burtynsky
China

Friends of Island Academy & the International Center of Photography
I Am: Self Portraits by Young Women in Transition

Margot Herster
Guantánamo: Pictures from Home

Olivier Jobard
From Cameroon to France: Travel Journal of a Clandestine Immigrant

Carl De Keyzer
Mongolia: The New El Dorado

The exhibition will be on view through February 29, 2008.

Photoboothin'

I want one of these machines in my house

Good times at the Gallery Photobooth

Scourge

Showing at 8pm tonight, Friday June 8th, and tomorrow, Saturday June 9th, Scourge, by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, is a "powerful, political and revolutionary look at Haiti in its 200th year as a sovereign nation." Co-written by our girl Chinaka Hodge, one of the illest and most gifted poet and writer that I have had the pleasure of knowing, the performance "adeptly fuses Hip-Hop, poetry and live music to explore the narrow space between history, myth, and speculation."

So, if you're in the area and looking for something fresh and interesting, show some love and check it out. Full details and link below.

Scourge by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
with Chinaka Hodge and Dahlak Brathwaite

Friday June 8 & Saturday June 9, 2007 :: 8 PM

Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts
One University Place, Long Island University
Brooklyn, NY

Tickets: $20 regular / $15 students w/ID
www.kumbletheater.tix.com / 718 488 1624

Hygiene

As the humidity and mercury rises with the onset of summer, guys sometimes like to remove some unwanted hairs as both a courtesy to the ladies and to keep the jewels a little cooler. Understandable, and I applaud your dedication to hygiene and the opposite sex.

Note: Use a different razor. You know who I'm talking to.

That's just wrong.

Work Lies

If the following sounds slightly bitter, it's probably because it is. After a full year post-graduation, it dawned on me how much of a sham American work culture is. To spend 5 days a week living for the other 2 simply doesn't add up to me. I'm not a numbers guy, but that shit is dumb stupid. In a short-bus kind of way.

My whole beef starts with the school system. Education is good, don't get me wrong. I'm not retarded, and that's more than likely attributed to my education which culminated, so unceremoniously, with an undergraduate degree. But in effect, most kids leave a system that teaches them how to memorize shit and follow instructions, having little encouragement for independent thought or reward for nontraditional modes of thinking. In essence, we were indoctrinated into work culture the minute we sat down at the round table with our lunch boxes and trapper notebooks. [Which I dearly miss having].

When I talk to 90% of my friends about work, I invariably hear the same response, "I hate my job." Now I can already hear some of you people saying, "well duhhhh, captain fucking obvious." But wait, do the math. Figure people work anywhere between 40 to 60 hours [and some of you real lucky bastards will damn near hit triple digits]. There are 120 hours, Monday through Friday, and figure if you sleep a bare minimum 5 hours a night, that leaves you with 95 hours. Basically, people are spending anywhere from half to all of their time at work.

And somehow, it has become self-evident in this country to hate your job. Looking at simply the numbers, it's clear that work becomes your life. So to say "I hate my job" isn't really as axiomatic as it seems. Or at least it shouldn't be, because in essence, people are saying they hate their lives, as most of the adult life is lived in the workplace. Congratulations on graduating, here's your

Yes, i realize that work, in any sense of the word, does not mean fun. Nor should it. But the slew of adjectives that I hear should also not be synonymous with work either. Terms like "mind-numbing" or "soul-sucking" or "whatevers" are generally the ones I hear tossed around.

What are we all working for? Why do we spend so much time at the office? Is it loans? Or maybe saving to buy a house? Do you need to take care of the family?

All common and very respectable answers. I am all for that shit. Money is good, and so is productivity. It lets you buy cool shit like Vane Gear. And lasers. But what happens, after the 20 or so years that it takes to amass this wealth? What happens when the loans are paid, the house is in escrow, and the 'rents are retired down in Florida?



Well, we get not only amazing comedies like Office Space and The Office, but the phenomenon known as The Mid-Life Crisis. You look back and realize that you spent your best years building some small measure of personal wealth, but ultimately it was spent generating a shit ton of money for someone other than yourself.

So, take this time. Own it, and enjoy it. If you hate your job, examine why, and if you would be happier doing something else. If you can work for yourself, then shit, even better. Generate your own money. You will be ultimately happier, I promise. Do what you gotta do to survive and pay the bills, believe me I ain't knocking the hustle. Just realize that we ain't getting younger, and that no matter how you cut it, promotions and vacations are no substitute for life.

Photos in May and June

Been so busy the past couple of days that I didnt get a chance to throw up some images. Just added the June Gallery and uploaded some more images in the May Gallery. Enjoy...