Source Colossal   In the Oscar-winning film American Fiction, the irritable protagonist Thelonious “Monk” Ellison describes his work as follows: “I just invent little people in my mind and make them have conversations with each other.” The film, which director Cord Jefferson adapted from Percival Everett’s novel Erasure, grapples with stereotypes and the ways we’re asked…

Source Colossal   Headquartered in Stockton, California, Blackwing is about finding the joy in analog creative tools at a time when digital devices consume our attention. The manufacturer produces its signature pencils in a series of specialized factories in Japan, where the graphite cores are meticulously processed before being sent to a wood shop. In a…

Source Design You Trust  3D Beast is a New York–based architecture and computational-design practice focused on bio-engineered wearable structures. The central idea behind 3D Beast is the translation of architectural systems into things that can be worn. Instead of treating buildings, garments, and digital models as separate disciplines, the practice develops complex structures that operate…

Source Colossal   In his essay “The Passing Wisdom of Birds,” environmentalist and writer Barry Lopez rued how scientific methodology doesn’t take into consideration our senses or perception, how data is divorced from the experience of nature. “Biology should borrow here from quantum physics, which accepts the premise that, under certain circumstances, the observer can be…

Source Design You Trust  Lora Zombie is a self-taught Russian contemporary painter, born in Voronezh in 1990, best known for her explosive “grunge art” style — a collision of pop culture, punk attitude, comic-book imagery, unicorns, and social commentary. She began drawing as a child, built an international following through DeviantArt and social media in…

Source Colossal   Whether it’s scenes from the subway, streets, or Times Square, visions of New York City are often hectic and crowded. For Erin Milez, the hustle and bustle, but moreover the cramped spaces and tightness, characterize a new body of work going on view this month in Everything the Light Touches at Monya Rowe…

Source Colossal   Before the iPhone essentially turned all of us into documentarians, the Super 8 camera offered a more democratic approach to filmmaking. Kodak introduced the analog format in 1965 with an eye toward amateurs and hobbyists interested in capturing the world around them, and today it remains a stalwart of the discipline, particularly for…

Source Colossal   Created from bamboo and printed Japanese paper, Jacob Hashimoto’s elaborate installations cascade from the ceiling to create a vibrant “cloud canopy.” In his latest exhibition titled Giant Arc, ripples of color and pattern stretch from wall to wall as the nearly 75,0000 kite-like elements cluster, repeat, and tease the floor. The monumental work,…