Weekend Reading: Great Brittin

Do yourself a favor and dig into some Charles Brittin this weekend. His seminal work West and South is truly something to behold. Admittedly, I'm not a fan of reading the long-winded beatniks. The photography of this era, however, is always welcome on my coffee table. And nobody captured this time of creative upheaval quite like Brittin, who ruthlessly snapped portraits that stung the heart of 1950s Venice Beach, the beats, anitwar movements and general American boredom. And you know when guys like Dean Stockwell, Walter Hopps and David Meltzer are making regular appearances at your beach shack, you're probably doing something pretty awesome. Put on some Getz or Davis and let all the cool wash over.

[images via Hatje Cantz and Eat Tarantula]

This and That

Bust Issues

[via Fourteensquarefeet]

The Mad Shattered

I am a firm believer that a steady diet of slow-motion samurai, shattered glass and screaming brides can make for a creative life well lived. Luckily, so too does The Naked and Famous. And their latest music video for the bombastic single "No Way" is an absolute sensory stunner. Directed by Joel Kefali and Campbell Hooper - who make up the design collective Special Problems - the pseudo-Lynchian video is a welcome reprieve from the heritage-y Americana that is saturating (and spewing) over so much of our creative cultures. Put on your leathers cause this video is a controlled power-slide of all things awesome. And the song isn't half bad either...

[via Inspiration Grid]