For the past two years, in a loft apartment in downtown Los Angeles, Craig Thornton has been conducting an experiment in the conventions of high-end American dining. Several nights a week, a group of sixteen strangers gather around his dining-room table to eat delicacies he has handpicked and prepared for them, from a meticulously considered menu over which they have no say.
posted by Egg Shen
on Dec 1, 2012 -
51 comments
in 1977 Amsterdam got its first Underground/metro line. The trains that first ran on that line, the "zilvermeeuwen or seagulls" are still in service some thirtyodd years later and have gotten a midlife update a few years ago. Part of that update included a new anti-graffitti skin, but also the transformation of some fortyfour carriages into
art shows, featuring
artworks and photographs by fortyfour Dutch artists.
posted by MartinWisse
on Nov 20, 2012 -
10 comments
A visit to the underworld: the unsolved mystery of the tunnels at Baiae "In 1932, the entrance to a hitherto unknown tunnel was discovered in the ruins of the old Roman resort of Baiae, on the Bay of Naples. Packed with rubble, wreathed in choking gases, and heated to more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit by nearby magma chambers, it was difficult and dangerous to excavate. But when, after 10 long years of work, the amateur team exploring it finally broke through to lower levels, they uncovered something truly remarkable: a complex, pre-dating the Romans, built around a boiling underwater stream that seemed to have been designed to ape a visit to the Greeks’ mythical underworld." (
A Blast from the Past)
posted by moonmilk
on Oct 8, 2012 -
30 comments
This stealthy undertaking was not an act of robbery or espionage but rather a crucial operation in what would become an association called UX, for “Urban eXperiment.” UX is sort of like an artist’s collective, but far from being avant-garde—confronting audiences by pushing the boundaries of the new—its only audience is itself. More surprising still, its work is often radically conservative, intemperate in its devotion to the old. Through meticulous infiltration, UX members have carried out shocking acts of cultural preservation and repair, with an ethos of “restoring those invisible parts of our patrimony that the government has abandoned or doesn’t have the means to maintain.” The group claims to have conducted 15 such covert restorations, often in centuries-old spaces, all over Paris. - Wired.com
"The New French Hacker-Artist Underground"
posted by The Whelk
on Jan 24, 2012 -
20 comments
Wallaby Beat is a blog dedicated to punk, DIY, powerpop, grillfat (pre-punk Australian hard rock) and NWOAHM from Australia 1975-1984. It follows projects like
Do The Pop,
Lethal Weapons, and
Inner City Sound in documenting Australia's fertile underground rock and roll scene. While those blogs and books are focused on the past,
I-94 Bar is documenting the scene as it stands today and interviewing the various survivors.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn
on May 1, 2011 -
17 comments
The Realist Archive Project (previously) is now complete.
The Realist, edited and published by Paul Krassner, was a pioneering magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire" in the American countercultural press of the mid-20th century. Although The Realist is often regarded as a major milestone in the underground press, it was a nationally-distributed newsstand publication as early as 1959. Publication was discontinued in 2001.
posted by Joe Beese
on Nov 9, 2010 -
6 comments
If you're planning a visit to Stockholm, Munich, Bilbao, Shanghai, Dubai, Tokyo, Prague, Moscow, Toronto, and/or Barcelona, don't miss the chance to check out some of
these amazing subway stations.
posted by brain_drain
on Dec 8, 2009 -
57 comments
The story starts in 1992 or so, when the 14 year old Brit,
Dominic Stanton, bought turntables and started spinning early drum'n'bass. He transitioned from DJ to producer, made demo tracks, and got signed by age 17. He went on to produce broken beat
* and jazzy downtempo
*, even into the realm of disco edits. Then about two weeks ago, the 31 year old musician called it quits.
The point is that I am no longer Domu. He is a character, always has been, and as of Friday 13th November 2009, he no longer exists. Neither does Umod, Sonar Circle, Bakura, Yotoko, Rima, Zoltar, Blue Monkeys, Realside or any of the other names I put out music under. I am cancelling all my gigs and not taking any more. My hotmail is closed, my Twitter is closed and my Facebook is closed.
Furthermore, his website is closed and the original post of his farewell message is lost, though you can still
view the cached version or find it
copied elsewhere. Domu's website now simply states
This really is The End . . . Step inside for an abbreviated journey.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Nov 30, 2009 -
46 comments
Julia Solis, who brought us
Dark Passage (
previously), is still exploring derelict sites, both
subterranean and in urban decay. Her most recent project is
Abandoned Theaters, a look at grand old movie palaces, school auditoriums, and theaters that have become, shall we say, retired. Julia still keeps a photoblog that she calls
Dark Passage Travelogue, and partnering with
Suzy Poling, she chronicles the decrepitude of hospitals long abandoned in
Fantastic Degradation.
posted by netbros
on Jul 2, 2009 -
10 comments
On Sunday,
Karmanoia, one of Berlin's most interesting underground clubs, closed its doors for the last time. Although not as storied or well-known as
Tacheles - also facing
tough times - and easy to pass without noticing, Karmanoia had a loyal crowd of oddballs frequenting it, and was notable not just for its pirate-ship-like interior, but also for the full Labyrinth built into its upper portions. The club's funeral took place directly after locking the doors at midnight on Sunday, with an orchestra dressed like skeletons leading a parade to a nearby canal to bury the key in a watery grave.
[more inside]
posted by mannequito
on Apr 1, 2009 -
23 comments
On March 3rd 1943, the
worst civilian disaster of the Second World War killed 173 people, including 62 children. During an air-raid alert, the noise of a new anti-aircraft battery panicked the crowd trying to get into the shelter at
Bethnal Green tube station. In the
dark, wet conditions, someone tripped and fell at the foot of the stairs, blocking the pathway and knocking others over in a domino effect. More and more people continued to pile in at the top leading to a massive and deadly crush.
[more inside]
posted by Electric Dragon
on Mar 3, 2009 -
27 comments
You Say You Want a Revolution -- "Despite some bravado, I myself was a cautious person looking to break the shackles of bourgeois detachment. I felt real relief in seemingly giving my all. But at the same time, I was terrified. Such existential 'acting out' does not ordinarily lead to political good sense. The importance of demonstrating revolutionary credentials or moral purity gets in the way of clear thinking about how to strengthen the movement or take advantage of political opportunities."
Howard Machtinger, a founding member of the Weather Underground, provides a contemporary critique of his group's actions.
[via]
posted by billysumday
on Feb 19, 2009 -
19 comments
