Where does one live if one is interested in the life of the mind? Do you hole up in a rural area or head to the city, where you can hope to meet like-minded aesthetes at gin-filled parties? If you prefer the latter, then we have a list of cities for your wandering, writerly craft to thrive. We’ve included a few writers famous for living in the cities below, as well as recommended reading for each place. As always, let us know what places or which authors we’ve missed in the comments section below.
Since we’re fairly well known to love all things typographic, most things minimalist, and many things relating to the cities we adore, perhaps it’s not surprising that we’re totally into these classy minimal typographic transit maps, which we spotted over at Colossal. Simple and sleek (and effective as functional art, if you already have a basic understanding of where things are in your city), we think they would fit nicely in any modern home, whether you prefer the Boston, Chicago, London, New York, San Francisco or Washington D.C. varieties. Click through to see a few of the designs, and head over to TRNSPRTNATION to buy one for yourself.
Today is the first day that same-sex marriage is officially legal in New York state. Accordingly, we can now celebrate our first legally married same-sex couple, Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd, who were married in Niagra Falls just after the 12th toll of their town bell. It was, impossibly, 12 years to the day since their first date. “I may be the first person standing here in history,” Ms. Lambert told the New York Times, “but I’m just an ordinary grandma.” She added, “This is one of the most incredible moments of my personal life, but it’s also an incredible moment for New York.” We’ll drink to that. [via NYT]
Graffiti may have been around for decades, but thanks to artists like Banksy and Swoon, street art has achieved new cultural significance — which means that, for many of us, some of the most stunning works of modern art are just around the corner. Of course, the city is a big place, so unless you spend your days wandering the back-roads and alleys, it’s easy to miss some of your local street-art masterpieces. That’s why we’ve teamed with Havaianas to create an extremely handy guide to a selection of the amazing artwork in NYC, LA, and Miami that doesn’t need a museum to shine — inspired by the brand’s new limited-edition Graffiti sandals. Check out a gallery of images from the guide here, then click through for the whole thing, including printable maps.
Ross Ching’s newly refurbished ‘Running on Empty’ video, a time-lapse fabrication of an LA with no cars, has gotten a lot of hype in the past few days in conjunction with the whole ’Carmageddon’ fiasco in LA. Even though Carmageddon turned out to be a dud, Ching’s video is a beautiful ode to Los Angeles, worth watching no matter where you live. To our minds, the time-lapse video is something akin to watching a city fly by in a cab — it can feel removed and relaxing, touching and surprising, and is a pretty, easy way to experience something huge. To that end, ‘Running on Empty’ inspired us to gather a collection of other lovely time-lapse-based odes to the world’s most fascinating cities, from Berlin to Seoul to Abu Dhabi to New York. Sit back, relax and immerse yourself in somewhere else.
Hooray! As most of you probably already know, last night New York State senators voted 33-29 to legalize gay marriage, and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law. New York is the sixth state to pass marriage equality legislation, and by far the most populous one to do so. ”This vote today will send a message across the country,” Governor Cuomo said. “This is the way to go, the time to do it is now, and it is achievable; it’s no longer a dream or an aspiration. I think you’re going to see a rapid evolution… We reached a new level of social justice.” Needless to say, many New Yorkers agree. [Photo via BoingBoing]
If you thought your project was ambitious, think again. James Gulliver Hancock, an Australian illustrator living in Brooklyn, has set out to draw every single building in Manhattan. His drawings are whimsical and charmingly imperfect, creating a vision of New York that is lovely, welcoming, and just a little twee. The quality of his illustrations aside, it’s super fun to pick out places you’ve been on one of his drawn blocks. Click through for images of his work and a short video about him.
A collaborative of Brooklyn-based multimedia artists, FAILE has been creating art with a mix of found visual imagery and cultural iconography for over a decade.
In Bedtime Stories, their first New York gallery show in three years, Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller present 12 new works assembled from printed wooden blocks arranged into what look like patchwork paintings. Initially inspired by the process of quilt-making, the playful mix of pin-up girls, cryptic text fragments, and pop-culture icons like the Tin Man and Mao Zedong makes for frenetic eye candy with a strong narrative — like fragments of a vivid dream.
A few months ago, the wonderful folks behind the Twitter account @FakeMTA brought us the world’s first hipster-friendly subway map of New York. Now they’re back with a map that might convince those denizens of Bushwick not to leave Brooklyn until 2011. It’s the Holiday Tourism Map! You’ll find Al Roker and Large Tree at Rockefeller Center; over at Times Square is where you’ll find your fine dining options: Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and who could forget Bubba Gump Shrimp? While the Upper West Side is where you’ll go to visit Seinfeld landmarks, the kids will journey to the Upper East, a.k.a. Gossip Girl-land. Be sure to visit the East Village for your Matted and Framed John Lennon Photo, but you’ll only want to venture to Brooklyn to check out Huxtable territory — otherwise, Whatevs. Click here for the full-size image.
Ever wonder what it was like to ride over the Brooklyn Bridge in the 19th century? Jason Kottke pointed us to this early Edison video, taken from the front of a B.M.T. train traveling from Brooklyn to Manhattan in 1899. We’re not sure whether the shaky image has more to do with the camera or the vehicle, but one thing is clear: the simple crossing was a hell of a lot more exciting (and apparently scarier, too) a hundred years ago than it is now.
