The AW crew has teamed up with Sneaker Freaker magazine and McCaig Welles Gallery to bring you the following...

Operation: Weapon Inspections

Purpose: To juxtapose fashion contra function. When designers in the fashion industry undertake new and fresh endeavors (hopefully desirable to mainstream youth) the question arises - 'Should the article of clothing be more fashionable or functional?' Unfortunately, and inevitably, the decision is made, the answer is given and the designs are made at the expense of one or the other. Aerosol Warfare's Weapon Inspections hopes to blur the line between fashion and function so in the end both are indistinguishable within a particular article of clothing. We hope, with this show, to redefine that fine line so that an entirely new breed of Converse Weapons (as
contemporary art) takes the scene by storm. Is it fashion, or is it art?

Mission: Weapon Inspections challenges the individual artist by giving them a particular and specific canvas to work on (i.e. the Weapon). What new breed of art does a proposition and a show like Weapon Inspections bring about? While most artists are stubbornly accustomed to working on their personal mediums - be it canvas, metal, walls or sculptures - using the Weapon as a neo-canvas forces them to think outside the box. How many different directions can the Weapon and the art go? How does each artist interpret the Weapon, its form and layout and use it in conjunction with their own designs to create art? By pushing the envelope with the Converse Weapon, Aerosol Warfare hopes to successfully conceive an entirely different form of art that would have otherwise never been born and bring the Weapon to new audience with higher
visibility.

Forecast: Aerosol Warfare (through its Weapon Inspections) plans to reemphasize the connection between hip-hop culture, - which is currently becoming a measure for all that is mainstream - and style. With earlier generations, when hip-hop was first
developing, there was a strong emphasis on what shoe a person wore. It was the shoe that measured how mainstream a person was. How cool they were, or how 'wack' they were. Aerosol Warfare is placing the Weapon back into the hip-hop mainstream culture.

Implementation: Aerosol Warfare has invited cutting edge, well-known & underground artists from various disciplines - hip, DJ, graffiti - to craft art in a new arena : Converse Weapons. Each artist will then manipulate and transform the shoe utilizing their particular variety of artistic styles. This final product will then be collected and showcased in Aerosol Warfare's Weapon Inspections show opening in New York City, Summer 2004.

Target City & Gallery
NYC

* SEEN (UA)
* Kel 1st (roc)
* Dash (fc)
* Wane (cod)
* Wen (cod)
* Phem9
* Shock 123
* Baby 168
* Angel 179
* GONZO247
* Christian Azul
* Bezerk
* Jester
* Color One
* ManOne (crewest)
* Monk
* Speed One
* The Reverend Butter
* Merge360
* Mr. Bristle
* Brett Webb
* and more to be announced ...

"we are organising a a solidarity event for the benefit of three graffiti artists in order to raise funds to cover their legal costs. here in finland."

This month, Kidrobot’s head toy designer Tristan Eaton presents a rare glimpse into the world of Designer Toys and Action Figures. With the help of the Riviera Gallery and Kidrobot Inc., Tristan brings you VINYL KLASH; an exhibition of artwork inspired by toys and toy culture. Vinyl Klash explores the concept of toys influenced by art & art influenced by toys. For the Exhibition, Tristan has curated an elite group of Graffiti Artists, Designers & Illustrators to hand customize his latest toys and toy designs. The unique group of collaborators include the likes of:

FRANK KOZIK, SEEN UA, COPE 2, NYC LASE, SP ONE, DR. REVOLT, KOYAMA OSAMA, EWOK 5MH, SUPERDEUX, STERLING TOLES, JOHN ANDREW, AZK, JUSTIN FINES/DEMO and MARK BODE.

The exhibition will consist of many hand painted toys including Tristan’s Kidrobot 8” Figure & his now infamous DUNNY. You can also expect to see entire installations based on the process of toy design, silk screen posters and a VERY rare set of Gold Plated & engraved Dunnies. All toys exhibited will be one of a kind and available FOR THIS EXHIBITION ONLY, making them the definition of ‘Limited Edition.’

About the Curator:

Born in Los Angeles, Tristan began pursuing street art as a teenager, painting everything from billboards to dumpsters in the urban landscape of wherever he lived, including London, England and Detroit, Michigan. He moved to New York City to study art at the School of Visual Arts, but dropped due to financial ambiguity. Tristan is currently the Head Toy Designer for New York City’s famous KidRobot Inc. He is represented by the prestigious illustration agency Bernstein & Andriuli and he is regularly commissioned by Fisher Price, NIKE, Def Jam Records, Hasbro, Chevy Impala and Rolling Stone Magazine. Tristan began designing toys at the age of 18 and since then has continued to persue excellence & experimentation in the art of toy design.

About the Movement:

In recent years, the world of ‘urban vinyl toys’ and ‘designer action figures’ has created a new revolution in toy design bringing together designers from all around the world from graffiti artists to top fashion designers. This explosion of creativity has resulted in the equivalent of a new pop art movement that is continuously growing in popularity and strength. This underground world has recently found it’s place in the mainstream, appearing in everything from television commercials to TIME Magazine.

This rare event will take you up close and behind the scenes with the heroes and underdogs of this emerging culture.

Transport Gallery Presents;
"Unseen Messages"
From Members of the NY/Tokyo Collective

Barnstormers;

DOZE, DAVID ELLIS, RO-STARR, SASU, KAMI, CHEN JEN, CHRISTAIN MENDOZA, JOSE PARLA, KENJI HIRATA, KIKI YAMAGUCHI, MIKE MING, NAOMI, WEST, YURI SHIIMOJO

6 Ways Out featuring works by Patrick Rocha, Eric Elms, Maya Hayuk, Craig Metzger, Todd St. John and NeckFace.

BROOKLYN FIRE PROOF PRESENTS SIX WAYS OUT.

June 3, 2004:

Brooklyn Fire Proof presents Six Ways Out, new work by six emerging artists working to explode the conventions of their media, movements,and moment.

The wooden sculptures, wheatpaste posters, oil paintings, installations, paper cutouts and graffiti of Todd St. John, Eric Elms, Patrick Rocha, Maya Hayuk, Craig Metzger, and Neck Face couldn't look more dis-similar, but they are champions of their respective crafts. Each challenges the classes of art that separate low from high, street from gallery, underground from mainstream, and popular from fine.

The current vanguard of art looks more disparate than alike, more fragmentary than coherent. And yet, the idea of art-making has never been stronger. Creative energy flows in every direction.

Please join us June 18th as the newly-renovated Brooklyn Fire Proof brings together these six artists, six models for art-making. With more than fifty new pieces and an enormous collaborative mural, Six Ways Out aims to show these works as myriad projections from the shared prism that ties the new art together.