Cool World "Durham"

Cool World - Durham from Cool World on Vimeo.

New music video from our pals over at Cool World! By Tess Brown-Lavoie and Nick Carter!

New Items in Online Shop and Free Zines/Suprises!

We have recently added some new items to the online store and for this week only (through 11/24/12) we are offering a free copy of the second Amigos release, Hands Wide Open by Dylan Goettlich plus a surprise! Not only will you be getting a free zine/surprise but you will help us lighten our load for our move to Chicago!

We hope you are well and thank those in Providence for the continued support! 

transitions

Amigos is moving to Chicago...Stay tuned for info on an upcoming sale and other news!

Splashed in Sun

Words Without Thoughts Never to Heaven Go

Lately I've been reacquainting myself with Ed Ruscha, mostly because I stumbled upon his great project at the Miami Dade Public Library, Words Without Thoughts Never to Heaven Go.  The quote, from Shakespeare's Hamlet, wraps around the rotunda of the main library.  In addition, Ruscha created 60 other paintings to fill the first two floors of the library.  Miami seemed/s to be on it with public art, including the famous orange peel spot.

This project at the Los Angeles Public Library is another great meeting of art and libraries as well.

And for more Ruscha, check out this free font inspired by Ruscha's text paintings.  Not a bad world, is it?

Don't Let Me Down

 

Amigos' bud, Nick Carter is in a group show tomorrow, Friday July 27th, at RK Projects located at 204 Westminster St.   The opening is from 7-9, be sure to check it out after the Olympics opening!

Palos Verde Tee by Nick Ferreira

New tee-shirt by Nick Ferreira.  Artwork features a drawing found on the back of a postcard at the Los Angeles Public Library.  Featuring orange ink printed on thin Hanes tees, this shirt is a pretty good look for summer.  Available in sizes small, medium, and large.  Surf's Up, Palos Verde!

Sizes

Small$15.00 USD Medium$15.00 USD Large$15.00 USD

Shout out 2 Olympic Records!

We had a great time hanging out at Olympic Records this past weekend.  Thanks to everyone who came out!  Extra special thanks to Kevin @ Olympic for hosting us and Coors Light for coming up from NY to play!  C ya!

AMIGOS @ Olympic Records

Thanks to our friends at Olympic Records, we will be holding an AMIGOS pop-up shop there this weekend!  Stop by during regular store hours on Friday and Saturday to peruse some rad zines, artist books, music, art and MORE!!  There will be new issues of Girl Talk zine and Strip Mall City and a very special performance Saturday evening by Coors Light.  We hope to see you there!



Mothers News Year 3 Fundraiser!

Mothers News, the free newspaper you see around town, is having a drive to raise some money so they can achieve more than they have already achieved.  That is, achieving more awesomeness with less worries.  This paper is great and for as little as 10 bucks you can not feel guilty for reading the paper every month for free.  If you've been a loyal reader for 2 years, 10 bucks equals something like 40 cents an issue- a real bargain!  Help them out here!

Reanimation Library, Carpenter St. Branch Midway Show Installation Shots

Currently the Carpenter St. Branch of the Reanimation Library is hosting a midway exhibition, Mining the Collection.  This show features work inspired by the collection and features artists Daniella Ben-Bassat, Emmy Bright, Nick Carter, and Buck Hastings. The library will be installed until the end of April.  Please feel free to use the collection, photocopier, and scanner to suit your creative needs. Open hours are:

Tuesdays 10AM-5PM
Thursdays 12-4PM
Fridays 12-4PM
Saturdays 12-4PM

Emmy Bright

Buck Hastings

Daniella Ben-Bassat's interactive TV on the internet sculpture.

 

Nick Carter's work is a projected video.  See it IRL if you want the full effect!

More books!

GBPS

Our good friend, Andrew Burton, put together GBPS which is, essentially, food reviews by skate spots! Genius!  Guest appearances by Morrissey, Skate Alien, and the otter from the Blue Hills.  OCCUPY BRAINTREE PRE FAB!

This is only one dollar with one dollar shipping for US residents. If you're outside of the U.S. or want to order more items in addition to GBPS, please get in touch at amigospublishing@gmail.com.

Reanimation Library Mid-way Opening/Lecture

This Saturday March 31st from 4-7PM 6-9PM, there will be a mid-way opening and lecture at the Carpenter St Branch of the Reanimation Library.  An experiment in collective decision-making​, Andrew Beccone,  Reanimation Library founder, will present the option of one of two talks: One will provide a fairly straightforward account of the conception, development, and work of the library; the other will be assembled entirely from randomly selected library texts and images. Each option will reveal essential aspects of the library, but in significantly different ways. Failure is possible, as is success. Also on view: "Mining the Collection," works generated from the Carpenter Street Branch featuring local artists Emmy Bright, Buck Hastings, Daniella Ben-Bassat and Nick Carter.  More info on the library and other events going on in the next month here.

Back in a Bit

We'll be back at this blog thing shortly.  We've got some fun stuff planned! :)

Reanimation Library Carpenter St. Branch (PVD!)

Amigos is psyched for the opening of the Carpenter St. Branch of the Reanimation Library tonight, March 3rd from 6-9PM.  Books, Surf Rock, Art, partying?  If you can't make the opening, don't worry; the library will be fully installed throughout March and April.  Keep your eyes peeled for an Amigos pop-up shop amongst other radness!

Amigos Shop Final Event this Sunday!!

We are pleased to invite you to our final event at Amigos Publishing & Shop, Let's Go Get Cokes. On view are photographs and ephemera based on our month's theme: the suburbs. The glossy and well-worn photographs by an anonymous artist are of skateboarders and BMXers, of kids hanging out and learning tricks for the first time. The faces in the photos are unclear or cropped out, allowing the viewer to imagine their own adolescence or the banal experiences that are often associated with the suburbs.

Let's Go Get Cokes is a preview of a forthcoming book release by Amigos. The event, to be held Sunday February 26th from 2-7PM, will also include a release of GBPS by Andrew Burton, Jad Angell and Dan Burton, as well as Amigos 009 lite rock - the hits, our first music release, a cassette tape by Daniella Ben-Bassat.

Lou Kishfy and Laura Brown will provide music and visuals. The event, as always, is free and open to the public. We hope you'll join us for our final event at the shop.

Amigos 009, lite rock - the hits, Now Available!!

 Amigos 009, lite rock - the hits, by Daniella Ben-Bassat is now available!  Lite rock - the hits is an epic double cassette tape of the workplace appropriate jams from local radio station Lite Rock 105 interspersed with Daniella's own eclectic covers.  We will be officially releasing this tape at our closing party this Sunday February 26th from 2-7PM.  Be sure to check out Daniella's recent amazing US Weekly-style illustrations for the website Rookie Mag.

Added Walls Reception this Friday!

Amigos pal Nick Carter currently has work on display at Brown's List Art Building located at 64 College St. in Providence.  The reception is this Friday from 7-9, in conjunction with a Michael Price shown in the first floor gallery.

Sale this weekend!

Walking the Dog, our 2012 calendar by Brian McDonough, is on sale for $10.  We only have a few copies left so get them while you can!  Every calendar comes with a mix cd featuring one track from each album photographed and a rolling paper, perfectly enclosed in a plastic baggy.  Walk the dog in 2012.

We are also having a sale on other selected zines and books this weekend!  All the items above plus many more will be 25% off or more so come by to check them out!

 

New prints in the shop!

New prints in the shop by local artists Michelle Chrzanowski and Brendan Campbell!  "I hope you always feel at home" is a silkscreen print by Michelle (aka our fabulous former intern) available in-store on online via the link below for $10.  

Brendan's print seen above is offset and approximately 11x17 inches.  Both prints were made at AS220's fabulous Printshop!  This print is also available in store or via paypal for a very affordable $1.

Songs about the Suburbs

JAS Studio Visit

Earlier in the winter we made a quick studio visit to our favorite maker of Kitty gear, Joseph Aaron Segal and his Pretty Snake line.  We have one of the famous Kitty sweaters left!  You can view more photos and pick up the sweater below!

Mickey Z zzzines

We recently received some stellar copies of Mickey Z's infamous RAV zines.  RAV is "an ongoing comic series about a man named JUICE who is looking for something."  You can pick up issue 2+3 in store or below.  

We also have the most recent issue #5.  This issue is 54 pages, risograph-printed in an edition of 300.  Beautiful color combinations with a creepy inside.

Whore Paint - Menarchy!!

We are super psyched to be carrying the new 7" Menarchy by Providence's own Whore Paint.  The 7" comes with a digital download code and an insert that will win the heart of any feminist.  Experience the sonic slaughter that is Whore Paint, and try not to be too sad that you didn't come up with "Menarchy" first.  The band will also be playing Ladyfest Boston tomorrow afternoon if you are in the area! #coolestgirlsaround?

Bread City

Basketball and Art.  Bread City is awesome!

Doug Magnuson Q & A

How did "OBJECTS ALSO DIE" come about?

In winter 2005, I worked with the Location Managers Guild putting together an outreach event to introduce location scouting and photography to a group of students from Jefferson High School in South Central L.A.  The two day event took place at the Ambassador Hotel (location for dozens of films over the years) on its final weekend before demolition began.  The event was designed for the students on day one, then to allow us day two to photograph the place for ourselves.  We were granted only four hours access each day.

In the weeks leading up to the event, I decided, instead of photographing stills I would shoot this documentary.  For many years I'd had a vision of how film could be used to describe a piece of architecture and the essence of a place.  The Ambassador was the ideal subject and it was incredibly fortunate to be there at that moment in history.

As mentioned, we had access for only FOUR HOURS on each day!  The first day we were busy teaching the students, so essentially OAD was shot, day two, in only four hours!  They weren't messing around either -- security kicked us out at the buzzer.  And that place was huge -- over 500 guest rooms, miles of corridors, ballrooms, pools, bungalows, basements, etc. sitting on 24 acres -- I could have easily spent four weeks shooting there, easily.

I moved quick as I could, shooting from a tripod with no time to deliberate or settle in.  My brother Greg was there taking stills, and we split up to cover as much ground as possible.  I kept the camera rolling at all times, catching as many images as I could.  The hallway shots are me jamming from one place to the next.  There was so much variety from room to room, floor to floor.  Areas that appear to be in good shape were leftovers from film production, fresh paint having been applied by art departments.  One of the greatest opportunities that day was the groundskeeper unlocking all the "off-limits" doors, giving us access to areas that had been chained shut for years.  Some of it was downright ghostly.

Was the Ambassador a place that you had been interested in prior to making the film?

I knew very little about the hotel before I became involved with the Location Manager's project.  I knew, once upon a time it was a big deal for Hollywood players and had hosted the Oscars.  I knew RFK had been assassinated in the pantry and the hotel had shut it doors.  I was aware it was a film location.  But until LASUD announced plans to destroy it, I hadn't given it much thought.

How did working with Jocko Weyland and Elk come about?

The Ambassador compound was a fortress and there was no getting on the property without some kind of official business.  Jocko, I've known since the early '90s, having met in NYC when were were both living downtown.  In 2005 he was in L.A. and I mentioned to him that I had an appointment (regarding the Jefferson High event) at the hotel, having no idea it was an object of obsession for him.  I invited him to come along and while I was in my meeting, he was able to wander around soaking in some of the derelict grandeur that was the Ambassador in its dying state.

Originally, I envisioned narration over the film and asked Jocko if he'd write it.  This led to his essay "Objects Also Die" -- the title, from which my film takes its name, inspired by a line of dialogue in Georgio Bassini's "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis.  Much later, as the film OAD took shape, I made the choice not to include any narration.  Eventually we decided to make a book about the Ambassador with his essay as the centerpiece.  This was finally realized as the Elk book "Objects Also Die", which also includes a DVD of the film.

Most importantly, Jocko introduced me to George Draguns, the brilliant musician responsible for creating the soundtrack.  George is a friend of his from Philadelphia, who just nailed it.  I love the music.  It absolutely captures the essence of that space and really makes the film.

What are some things that have inspired you?

That is a very, very, very long list.  But a few things in relation to Objects Also Die:  the photographs of Julius Shulman and Lewis Baltz, the films of Terrence Malik and John Cassavettes, the music of Arvo Pärt (thanks Greg), the guitar tones of Sonic Youth, the rock gardens of Kyoto, the ambitions of cubism, and the mysteries of my grandmother's hundred-fifty-year-old farm in West Virginia.  And of course the Ambassador itself, which was really something to behold.  Being there it was impossible not to imagine what the walls had seen in their time.  It's a sense of wonder I hope comes across in some way in the film.

What are you working on currently?  

Currently I am in post on a new feature length documentary the working title of which is "Into a New Dimension: The Making of US4" about the making of director John Hyams' latest film "Universal Soldier Part 4".  It's an amazing, in depth, warts-and-all adventure into filmmaking and the creative process I spent the past year filming in Los Angeles, New Orleans and Baton Rouge.  We're launching a Kickstarter campaign this Saturday, January 28th to help raise finishing funds for the project -- so please check that out at here for more information!

Anything else you'd care to mention?

Thanks to AMIGOS SHOP!!!

Thanks to Doug Magnuson and Elk for allowing us to screen Objects Also Die.  Please note the screening will be held at the store tonite at 7PM.  Refreshments and other Elk titles will be available.

Objects Also Die Film Screening 1/28 @7PM!

Objects Also Die, a short film by Doug Magnuson, is a "filmic memorial" of Los Angeles's now demolished Ambassador Hotel. Home to presidential hopeful assassinations, numerous Oscar ceremonies, and now the site of a Los Angeles school, The Ambassador truly lived a life of its own. The film, accompanied by the zine of the same name, was originally published by Elk in 2011.

Elk zines and books was founded by artist and writer Jocko Weyland. You can learn more about Elk and its publications at www.elkzine.com

Refreshments and copies of Objects Also Die, as well as other Elk zines and books will be available for purchase.  You can also purchase the DVD with comes with a 44 page zine below.