flight patterns from Charlie McCarthy on Vimeo.

While visiting downtown Fort Worth, it struck me how many kitschy signs adorned the storefronts and bars along the way. With an overarching cowboy theme (it’s a cowtown), there still was room for a little variety, such that even regional chain restaurants pulled out the stops to throw up some neon.

Check out the gallery here.

I first saw the work of Jason Hackenworth when attending the Coachella Music Festival in 2007.

I was standing in a throng of people, waiting in a ridiculously long line for water in 105 degree heat, trying to stay lucid. I was familiar with the fair-like performance artists, the installation pieces and the crazy body-art-laden festival attendees, but I wasn’t quite prepared for walking balloon art, stalking through the crowd on the legs of dancers.

After the festival, I couldn’t stop talking about the experience. I kinda thought it was the best thing there. Including almost all of the music that I had seen. (We missed Rage Against the Machine.)

So here I am, years later, just doing a little web surfing and then: Booyah. There it is. Balloon art by Jason Hackenwerth. You can check out more of his stuff online at his portfolio site. Also, be sure to visit the limited prints section for convenient wall-hanging print-ables.

Bikes, built beautifully.

Fast Boy Cycles, out of NYC, is producing some custom built bikes that don’t just look like a designer’s dream mode of transportation, they show like they should be framed on a wall. The company, run by Ezra, is a small cycle development firm that revels in custom orders.

In addition to the main site location they also have an affiliated fender site, Fast Boy Fenders, for those cyclists interested in a touch of class for their non-custom models. All – in – all a sleek little package indeed.

Invader, an anonymous french street artist, has been planting these little pieces of culture in public places for years. The above video shows how one man, armed with only his love of pixels and pop culture, has created masterpiece works from an everyday kid’s toy.

Invader is infamous world wide as a street artist, which essentially means that his real identity is kept under wraps. His work has been seen in hundreds of locations world wide, with locations being added daily. While not as well known in the states as the likes of Shepard Fairey, his work is none-the-less brilliant in both it’s design, as well as it’s execution. If nothing else, marvel at the fact that this may be one of the world’s master Rubic’s Cube wizards.

When I lived in L.A. I kept running across a number of his street art installations in the most random of places. (Which, incidentally, is how they are best viewed.) I wasn’t in the know at the time, but this idea did have an impact on my view of what art really could be. After doing a little “street research” I finally tracked down what was going on and have been a fan for years now.

While the above video incorrectly attributes the phrase “Rubik Cubism” to have originated with Invader in his work, it is still staggering to sit back and watch as the cover art unfolds. The time lapse approach is used brilliantly, with layers of meaning both in the music, as well as the content choice for these two pieces.

You can see more street art and indoor installations at his site: Space Invaders.