Friday, March 16, 2007

James Brown Tribute Bag



The Godfather of Soul. The Hardest Working Man in Show Business. Soul Brother Number One. A few weeks after the passing of music legend James Brown, I decided that I needed to do a tribute bag to the man responsible for changing the course of music in general, as well as inspiring a future generation of hip hop artists across the globe. Due to my regular duties and commitments, the project was spread across a few months' time. Finally, I got back to it and, determined to finish despite other looming projects, I completed the custom graphics late last week. This is the bag as it came out in the end.

The project made me think of all the musicians who we have lost - as well those still making incredible music -that I felt compelled to create a heartfelt, artistic bag for. J Dilla. Herbie Hancock. Madlib. MF Doom. Bob Marley. Miles Davis. The list goes on and on. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I wanted to do a series of bags. So...I'm hereby declaring that I will be making a series of "Musical Tribute" bags. The James Brown one is the first, and is will be available for sale on our website. J Dilla will follow, but will be for my own personal use, as he was my favorite producer ever. The timeframe for these bags to be made is wide open, so I can't really say how frequently I'll be able to release new ones, but my goal is to do roughly 5-6 per year. We'll see how it goes...



A closeup of the bag. I've been really into doing photorealistic artwork using applique technique.



And this is a closeup closeup. Right next to the flap, the stitching and texture are quite evident...but a few feet away, everything blends together really nicely and the graphic looks like a screenprint or photo.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Slow Sunday at the ICA !

Black Floor Gallery and the PBMA are hosting track events at the Institute of Contemporary Art on Sunday March 18.
"Slow Sunday" a spin off the Cadence Fast Friday out in Seattle will be from 2-5pm.

The memebers of Black Floor Gallery have constructed a 12'x24' mini black floor platform that sits on the first floor of the Art Museum. A part of the show entitled "Locally Localized Gravity" the platform has housed all the events Black Floor has scheduled between the opening of the show on Jan. 19 (where the famed band "Japanther" performed) and through the end on March 25. This will also be where all the bikers will be competing, if you fall off you lose!

The 6 co-founders of Black Floor quickly became part of the cycling culture upon moving to Philadelphia in 2003. Since the beginning of their ventures in starting the gallery, cyclists have always been a part of the community. The last day of Locally Localized Gravity at the ICA will mark the LAST DAY FOR THE EXISTENCE OF BLACK FLOOR AS WE KNOW IT! Because of this, the founders wanted to pack the schedule full with many events including things that are not necessarily considered "art." Giving back to the cycling/messenger community they are hosting track bike events including:

Track Stands
Backward Circles
and Foot Down

We want this to be a fun event and all those participating will be on stage inside a contemporary art museum! This will probably not happen many times in life so we are expecting to have a GREAT time! Depending on how many people show up, we may have to run the events in heats.

The PBMA is supporting and helping run the event. Prizes will be given to the all winners from Cadence, Fabric Horse, Reload Bags, Gerikmade, Jetsetter, and more.

Come out and help make this event one to be remembered!

Please contact carrie@fabrichorse.com with any questions.


Slow Sunday
@ ICA
36th and Sansom
Philadelphia, PA
2:00 - 5:00
The event is FREE if you have your bike and you want to compete. Otherwise its $3 for students, $6 for adults, Free with PENN card, (in other words, BRING YOUR BIKE! thats your ticket in!!!)
www.icaphila.org
www.blackfloorgallery.com

Thursday, March 08, 2007

7th Annual R.E.Load April Fools Race Extravaganza !!!



Once again the time has come for another April Fools race! Last year we had a whopping 184 racers, continuing the tradition of growing in numbers with every passing year. In this, our 7th year of hosting this event, we plan to once again push the limits of our capabilities and present all registered riders with an unprecedented amount of fun and prizes.

The April Fools event was born out of a desire to stray away a bit from the serious and punishing alley cats that were going on in the late 90's. First and foremost, this event will always be about getting a mass of people together on their bikes for a couple of hours of fun and mayhem. All types of cyclists are welcome; whether you're a seasoned vet with tens of thousands of deliveries under your belt, or a casual three-speed rider, or a weekend warrior, we guarantee you'll have one of the best times you've ever had at a cycling event. The format is absolutely wide open. All riders will be given a whopping manifest with far more stops than any one individual could possibly do in the given time frame. It's basically scavenger hunt-style: All the stops have different amounts of points, you choose where you want to go, in whatever order you want to go in, and hopefully when you get to the stop, you can fulfill whatever duties are necessary to acquire the points for that checkpoint. Tasks can include anything from breakdancing battles, to simply writing down info that you find on a billboard. Sometimes you will be pitted directly against your fellow riders at a checkpoint. And sometimes, since the theme IS April Fools, you might ride to a checkpoint and find that there really is no checkpoint there at all. The person with the most points at the end wins. In this race, "fast" is good, but "lucky" is just as important. The stops will be taking you all around the majority of Philadelphia, so even if you get tired or just plain feel like giving up, you'll most likely be near a participating bar or establishment, and can hang out and watch the rest of the action unfold.

The race is also completely out-of-towner friendly...generally we have riders come out from up and down the east coast, as well as some international locations. You guys will be fine, trust us.

This year's sponsors:

R.E.Load
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Outlaw Print Co.
Level
Fuji
Kryptonite
Depot
Fabric Horse
Gerikmade
Cadence
Deller
Jetsetter
Randl
Giant Dwarf
4916
Bicycle Revolution
Bicycle Therapy

There's gonna be an insane amount of prizes here, folks. Bags, accessories...maybe a bike. Level is doing custom-dipped RED track hubs for the event...clothing, locks, beer, cd's, books...we're hoping to go about 50-deep in the awards presentation, so if you're in it, chances are you'll win something. If you don't, you're just an unlucky person...

Following the race there will be an afterparty with several local dj's, and beer provided by Pabst. Location TBA. And the day after the race, Lex will be hosting the first annual "Bike Bling Parade". Bring your flyest whip and take a cruise around the city! There's a bbq on Lemon Hill afterwards, with more dj's.

Here's the details:

7th Annual R.E.Load April Fools Race
Saturday, April 14th
Registration opens at 2pm, race starts at 3pm.
* Registration is in the back of R.E.Load: Between 2nd and 3rd st, on Green.

Entry fee is $5, which gets you a free event tee shirt, spoke card, and entry to the afterparty. So, pretty much you're not really paying for anything. Even if you don't race, you're getting a three-color printed shirt and a laminated spoke card for only $5. You can't go wrong....

Ok, we hope to see all of you out here in about a month! If you have any questions, feel free to email ro