Who knew that 2009 was going to be the year that modern art got high-profile political again? Just a few months back, we had Glenn Beck telling us about the evil communist indoctrination elements found within the exterior of Rockefeller Plaza and now we have the decision not to hang painter Alma Thomas' "Watusi (Hard Edge)" piece in Michelle Obama's office. Thomas' work had come under attack when it was mentioned that the First Lady would like to hang some of her work in the White House. According to the Washington Post, conservative sites started arguing that Thomas' work plagiarized Henri Matisse -- their point, we suppose, was that by hanging her work, Michelle Obama would therefor become pro-plagerism? Whatever the case, and not to exaggerate too much here, this is clearly the worst instance of pointless, partisan, arguing-just-to-argue ever in the history of universe. Unfortunately, the Post continues, the White House has decided to not hang the painting, claiming it just didn't work in the office after all, but perhaps they just wanted to quiet this absurdly focused pressure. And this apparently wasn't the only piece to catch heat. Does anyone have any info on obtaining Canadian citizenship? We're sick of this.

Back in early October, we told you about the death of Gourmet, the smartly designed magazine that always got our mouths a-watering. It's been a strange new world without it and although we have other magazines to turn to when we're feeling those foodie urges, we certainly still miss it. We were made all the more melancholy when we found former art director Kevin Demaria's Last Days of Gourmet. It's a heartbreaking collection of photographs from those final hours while employees cleaned out their desks, everything was boxed up, and the magazine was finally shuttered. Also, in this age of constant magazine deaths, the series helps paint a good picture of the real people and places involved in these closures.

Let's start this last day of the work week a little mean, shall we? Currently making the rounds in the ad agency world is Dan Neil's scathing review of modern ad icon Alex Bogusky's latest book (co-written with John Winsor), Baked In: Creating Products and Businesses That Market Themselves. While Neil admits there are the occasional useful thoughts in the very, very slim book, he spends most of his review tearing it apart, saying that most of it is either very obvious words of wisdom ("better products tend to sell better") or not entirely grounded in reality. He sums it all up nicely toward the beginning when he writes "perhaps Bogusky and Winsor never had an editor to challenge them on some of the most evident holes in their book." It's a great picking apart of the book (we've always been a little critical of Bogusky's literary work ourselves), but also seems to have a wide spread, speaking to the many other self/business-help books that follow that "well this is all great, but how does it apply to the real world?" model.

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), which is currently exhibiting the ICP's Richard Avedon restrospective as well as a survey of photos from its own collection, is housed in a glorious 1927 Beaux-Arts building that recently underwent a seven-year renovation and reinstallation. Architecture buff Jim Garrett decided to pay tribute to the Paul Philippe Cret-designed museum by recreating it in LEGOs. He describes his "brickitecture" DIA as "selectively scaled down" (a scale model would be about three times wider and longer) but didn't sacrifice detail. For dramatic effect, a Thomas Crown Affair-style art heist is in progress on the roof. Garrett's other creations include LEGO versions of the Detroit Public Library and the Sphinx, as well as an eleven-foot tall model of Detroit's Penobscot Building.

Previously on UnBeige:

"He was not a great draftsman. In terms of what it means to draw beautifully, in terms of control, I don't think he was very notable....He had an enormous sense of style, and he could bring that burnished style to a product in way that enhanced its value. That was a very substanial gift. When you gave him a shoe to draw, the shoe became more sophisticated. You got something extra.

He was really not related to the field of illustration. He was an outsider who came in and proved that you could be an enormous personality, do an individual thing, and still be used successfully in commercial art."

-Milton Glaser on Andy Warhol, who he calls "the perfect commercial artist," in Tony Scherman and David Dalton's POP: The Genius of Andy Warhol (Harper)

(Photos: Journal of Popular Noise)

The Journal of Popular Noise, the audio magazine founded and edited by graphic designer Byron Kalet, is a treat for the senses, from its expertly curated musical selections (distributed as a twice-yearly trio of seven-inch vinyl records) to its letterpress-printed, hand-folded packaging. Just in time to impress the design-savvy music fan on your holiday shopping list comes JPN's fall/winter edition (above), which will feature the music of Seattle band Foscil. We interviewed Brooklyn-based Kalet before he got too tired from hand-folding all of the new issues, which ship next month. Read on for the tale of JPN's origins, how frugality was the mother of great design, and why he thinks of Foscil as "the Dick Avedon to my Alexey Brodovitch."

How did the Journal of Popular Noise come about?
There were a couple distinctly different signs that all pointed in the same direction for me. I had been doing some research and had long been interested in the intersection of music and design. As a musician and designer, I always felt very strongly that the same set of rules and functions were at work in the decision-making process when creating in either medium. Rhythm, contrast, tone, are among many of the words that are commonly used by both designers and musicians to describe what they're up to. I wanted to try and very directly apply the basic compositional conventions of pop music to the composition of a magazine, as it seemed to me they were already almost one and the same. I was particularly attracted to magazines, as they seemed to have not only a close formal relationship to music composition but also an almost symbiotic relationship with pop music. Maybe blogs have that role now, but imagine what pop music would be like without Rolling Stone in the 70's, Maximum RocknRoll in the 80's, Riot Grrrl zines in the 90's, and then, well...blogs.

How did you decide upon the three-records-tucked-in-a-lovely-package format?
Early in 2007, magazines were still flourishing—as the record industry was floundering trying to navigate the new business of ringtones and digital downloads. Magazines are great because they offer an experience that one could never get from the internets, which is why I chose the most tactile and physically impressive production techniques. So with all that on my mind, it seemed obvious that this was the way to do it. There's a long tradition of record clubs, serial composition, and music magazines, from Aspen to Flexidiscs. I don't think I'm really doing anything new, I'm just doing it my way for what's happening right now.

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As if swine flu weren't bad enough, now the unholy enemy of all who stand upright has landed on our shores. Of course, we are talking about tripping. But this time it has nothing to do with Bilbao, bridges, or Santiago Calatrava. Instead, it's the still relatively-new High Line in Manhattan, about which Gothamist has received word that a woman has decided to sue the city for $2 million over the park's uneven walkways, which caused her to trip, fall, and break her ankle. Before you scoff, this has apparently been a fairly typical issue, with loads of uneven paths and steps eagerly awaiting their next helpless victims. However, one could also argue that maybe if people were watching where they were walking, instead of trying to get a peek at all the naked attractive exhibitionists

A little heads up about tonight's Project Runway, particularly for those of you in Los Angeles. The episode airing tonight of the popular designing/sewing reality show was not only shot at the Getty Center, but apparently the whole competition centers around designing outfits "inspired by the museum's architecture and artwork." Should be a fun time, considering all the sprawling, swirling bits spread across the gardens and the design of the buildings themselves. If you're in Los Angeles, the Getty has decided to host a screening of the episode in their Harold M. Williams Auditorium, with an added bonus at the end:

After the screening, the museum will hold a panel discussion featuring three speakers from the world of art and fashion, including a former curator from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; an editor from Marie Claire magazine; and an L.A.-based fashion designer.

Update: If you don't already have your space booked, it looks like you've missed your shot. The event is already all full.

While architects may be facing only a 50% chance at finding a regular paying gig these days, fortunately in New York there are a couple of charitable arms out there trying to help out. The L Magazine profiles the work of The Bronx Museum of Arts and the MoMA, both of which are trying to open their doors up to architects who likely haven't been having the best couple of years. The Bronx decided to run an exhibition featuring architects' ideas for redesigning the Grand Concourse that runs through the borough, while the MoMA has opened up space at P.S.1 for research projects concerning "flood problems as a result of global warming" for the NY area. So while it's not like the museum industry has faired much better since the economy's fall, but it's nice to see one group trying to help another, despite these trying times.

The old saying goes that there are two constants in life, death and taxes. But were we to revise the list, we would say "death, taxes, and the legal battle between George Lucas and Andrew Ainsworth." You might recall our last post about that new addition toward the end of 2008, when a lawsuit was finally settled between the two, with Ainsworth, the designer of the original Stormtrooper costume from Star Wars, being found by the British court to have broken US copyright laws by continuing to sell replicas of the outfits without Lucas' permission. But it wasn't a total victory, as the judge also ruled that Ainsworth wouldn't have to pay any fines and he still hadn't broken any intellectual property laws in the UK. Now, because this issue will likely go on forever, Lucas' team has decided to try again in court by claiming the Stormtrooper attire are pieces of art and thus, copies should be punishable by British law and Ainsworth will need to shut down and pay up. It should make for an interesting trial, given Ainsworth's hand in the original creation of the works of art in question.

Are your photos worth thousands of words? Thousands of dollars? Thousands more photos? Pulitzer Prize-winning photo editor Stella Kramer will help you get the picture (and figure out where to sell it) at Mediabistro's one-night Breaking Into Editorial Photography seminar on Monday, December 7 in New York. Students will learn about how to get coveted magazine jobs and build a career as an editorial freelancer. Here's your chance to hear tips on creating a dynamic portfolio, what photo editors at top publications are looking for, and when it pays to get representation; registration is a click away.

From left to right: Dzine beholds his custom lowrider, "The Tipping Point," while Kenny Scharf discusses "5 For 99 Cents," the mixed media painting he created for the Stages exhibition, on view at Deitch Projects in New York through November 21. (Photos: UnBeige)

We've followed "Stages," the Nike-sponsored art exhibition to raise awareness and funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, from its Los Angeles launch to its Paris debut, and now the show has opened stateside in a dazzling installation at New York's Deitch Projects. The aim of Stages, named for a term that can describe the progression of cancer or a cycling competition, is nothing short of "uniting the worlds of art, philanthropy, and sport in a unique celebration of human potential" through the newly commissioned works of 23 artists, a diverse bunch that includes Ed Ruscha, Cai Guo-Qiang, Christopher Wool, KAWS, Jules de Balincourt, and Rosson Crow. Armstrong hatched the idea with Nike president and CEO (and fellow art collector) Mark Parker to "offer artists a forum in which to convey the Livestrong ideals and portray what the movement means to them and how they see it changing the world."

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