Check it! Very good friend of Nerd City and insanely talented guy, Adriean Koleric, aka Item, has contributed some amazing designs to the upcoming Star Wars Galaxy 5 Trading Cards from Topps. You’ve got to love Item’s approach to these designs, which incorporate his now iconic blend of Star Wars characters with super sharp design and fashion imagery. What is really additionally impressive, though, is the decision that he made to give each piece the look of slightly weathered street art, which adds an interesting organic element to the overall feel. Well played, sir.
I was lucky enough to be invited through the almighty Sucklord to contribute to the upcoming Starwars Galaxy 5 line of cards via TOPPS. The task was to customize 56 blank cards to how I see fit.
I opted to go with a gel transfer approach to try and mimic the feel of a sticker or gig poser you’d see on any street corner. Weathered…..peeled…..etc. More images can be checked out over here.
So i just recently got a few packs of Suckadelic’s new line of arttrading cards, from the man himself, and I gotta tell you, they totally rule. Super cool, with an actual wax wrapping, the style and feel of the line is an homage to everything that’s great about trading cards. Seriously…these are the shit.
An innovative idea from the master of this kind of thing, Suckadelic’s cards need to be checked out. In fact, the Sucklord and Nerd City will send the first person to email max@nerdcityonline.com with the subject heading “Suckadelic” a free pack.
Do you remember the SUPER SUCKOFF custom show we did at Munky King Last
year? That one cool show where the Sucklord got all these amazing artists
to do something “creative” with his Sucklord 600 vinyl toy? That show that
was universally praised as the “Greatest Custom Toy show Ever?” Yeah that
one. Well, once wasn’t enough, so now the ever-vigilant Sucklord has
gotten over 40 new artists to do the same thing again, this time showing
in NEW YORK CITY.
On Friday, September 4, 2009 Suckadelic will open up the Super Suckoff
round 2 at APW gallery in Long Island City in Queens NYC.
Come check the new work, buy some stuff, socialize, and drink some Free
Beer supplied by out good buddies at BEER LAO. It shall be quite the fly
time.
Please visit the dedicated SUCK-SHOW page for the Gallery Address, show
times, and fantastic artist List. There are a few sneak peeks up there
already. Check back to peep out more flix as they arrive. Don’t sleep on
this.
Sumthin I’m working on. Wanted to get ‘er done before a certain movie came out, but that proved to be impossible. However, those from the old school won’t give a fuck about that. These will be available about August 25, 2009 (don’t quote me on that)
The most extravagant SUCKADELIC set to date. Contains 3 exclusive figures in
a high-quality, full color, 10″ x 12″ blister pack. By far the dopest thing SUCKADELIC has done to date.
40 piece edition.
The Sucklord also briefly discussed his motivation to put out these pieces at this time on his Flickr:
The LAND of the LOST movie is gonna suck, and Will Ferrell is a total douche for making it into some stupid asshole comedy. For real. The show, as cheezy and flawed as it was, had some pretty serious Sci-fi themes going on. There was a real charm to the low budget effects and the hoakey over acting. There is for sure a lot of opportunity for comedy there. I’m not mad that it’s a comedy. It just looks like a very lowbrow, typical Will Ferrell vehicle that shows no respect for the integrity of the source material or it’s fans. I hope I’m wrong, but that awful clip they showed on Conan the other night was not encouraging at all. Stupid potty humor. That’s why these figures are coming out now. To act as a salve to the heartbroken fans that are being screwed by Mr. Ferrell and his bullshit, self-serving stinkeroo. Enjoy!
It’s cool to know that in a world full of blockbuster summer movie remakes that have little to do with their original source material other than a few names, someone is making art that celebrates the original aesthetic of properties like Land of the Lost.
Now, who’s going to step up and do something like this for G.I. Joe and Transformers?
To pick up your own Evolutions 3-Pack or to check out some of the latest music from Band of the Lost, go here.
Keeping the SUCKPEGS refreshed with a new Delux offering, The Suck Shark.
This is obviously my tribute to JAWS, a yet-untapped Suckadelic Influence
that needed some ironic attention. He is a little hand-sculpted Great
White Shark (carcaridon carcarius ) He comes with a water base for him
to terrorize. I know a lot of people are doing shark toys, why should I
be any different? But how many of them come with their own little ocean?
I would venture not many.
He is limited to 40 pieces and costs $45. This was the hardest Suck Peg
to make yet, due to the hand sculpting and brush painting, two things I
don’t usually do on my bootlegs. This is the first color version out of
four. We will follow soon with the
STAR SHARK, THE PSYCH SHARK, and The SHIT SHARK. All coming later this
year. Look out.
This is the latest installment in the dwindling BOOTLEG series. Only 9
more in the so called “FINAL ELEVEN” to go. This one is
kind of a B-Side, no way am I gonna top the CREATURE. I’m told it’s
going to be my best toy of 2009. Doesn’t leave me anywhere to go but down,
so here goes with what I predict may be a sleeper figure. Behold: MISS
THING, MONSTERS IN DRAG. She is kind of a 1950s style Gorilla-Robot
hybrid, but with the soul of a woman. This is just a funny idea that has
been floating around in my head since I began this series. I made 40 and
it’s a good deal for only $35.00
Speaking of the CREATURE, there’s no way I’m gonna just walk away from
such a bona fide hit if people are still down to pay for it. Sure the
Classic color is sold out, but here is a new version in, what else?
GLOW-IN-THE-FUCKING-DARK. Yeah, it looks cool. This is a 50 piece
edition, a steal for $30. Comes in a bag. There is no carded version of
this one. I am not counting this against the Final Eleven. I plan to do a
handful of new colors of some of the older figures, none of which will
count against the eleven. It will only count if it is a brand new figure
never before made. Color variations, on the other hand, are just whatever
I want to do without limits. That’s how I’m livin.
Everything is now available at the official Suckadelic site here.
Nerd City has always made it perfectly clear about how we feel about the work of Suckadelic- we love it! From his music to his bootleg toys to his subversive artistic statements, we just can’t get enough. We were, therefore, super excited when The Sucklord was cool enough to answer a few of our questions.
Who is Suckadelic? What inspires him? And what is his artistic mission?
Suckadelic is an evil arts organization based in Chinatown NYC. The company specializes in bootleg action figures and illegal remix records. The founder and supreme ruler of Suckadelic is the Super Sucklord, a mysterious space traveller and downtown toy imprasario. His chief inspirations are self-promotion, arcane niche studies, and culture jamming. The artistic mission of Suckadelic is to create opportunities for its growth by absorbing and re-appropriating vast qualities of pop culture detritus in an effort to inspire legions of loyal followers to consume its products and champion it’s cause.
Before I was familiar with any of your other work, I discovered your music. Do you feel that the use of sampling in your music carries over to your philosophical approach towards your other art?
Yeah, we call it “toy sampling.” Taking parts from a bunch of different toys and remixing them into something new. I hide things in there that only real nerds would recognize. I do Same thing with the music.
Also, is there an aesthetic sensibility that influences your toys, for example, that also informs your musical work?
Yeah, A “kitchen sink” mentality, taking stuff from far and wide and boiling it down to something rich and layered with lots of hipster snark. In both cases I try to take uncool nerdy niche references and put them in a “cool” context, such as hip-hop or Gay Rights activism. At the same time I try to demonstrate a serious, almost academic comprehension of the original material. For example, if I’m gonna make a remix of a Micronaut toy and flip him into a statement about lame people on message boards, it has to work on two levels. That’s what I did with the Cosmo Douche. Not only did I try to relay a true-to-life backstory about universal message board wackness, I made sure the piece had unassailable, un-ironic Micronaut cred as well. I did that by mixing parts of both Acroyear 1 and 2. (even though in Japan, Their Acroyear 1 became our Acroyear 2 and vice versa). I try to hit two marks with my best works.
Your toy work is unapologetically referential to action figures in a world where many art toy/ designer vinyl artists tend to avoid such homages. Why do you feel that your style is more open to this realm than that of your peers?
The 3 and 3/4′ figures were what I played with. To me this are the archetypal scale for toys. Way before I learned to make my own, all my toy fantasies revolved around this scale. I can’t speak for what other people are doing. It all just boils down to the fact is that it’s just what I like and what I know.
What are you listening to while you work at the moment?
I usually listing to left-wing talk radio when I work.
Your video output has increased steadily over the past couple of years. What is your level of involvement in your video projects?
For the Sucakdelic videos, I do all of it. Conceive it, shoot it edit it. For the Original Villains. I do most of the conceptual stuff and the production, but the various people in the episodes often write parts for themselves that fit within the bigger picture. With Microsexuals. I help out with some writing, but I mostly do set building and stop-motion or puppetry work.
The well publicized Christie’s auctions of your work sort of thrust you into the world of mainstream or proper art. Do you feel that this is a reflection of a general acceptance of the importance of your work by the larger art community or more of an indication of that community’s desire to capitalize on the “next big thing”?
I don’t really know. It was just one deal that I did with an idealistic person who works there who had a pure affinity for the work on a personal level. I never got that there were really any greater implications to it. I know it may seem that way to someone on the outside of it. But to me it was just another opportunity.
What upcoming projects can we look forward to from The Sucklord?
An epic, multi-chapter Original Villains movie called TOY LORDS of CHINATOWN. It’s a sci-fi gangster movie centering around the bootleg toy racket and all the shady characters that keep it going. It will have a series of figures to go along with it, both vinyl and resin. First episode comes out this Spring.
Thanks so much for your for your time, Sucklord. Long may you suck!
For all of the latest and greatest about the goings on of Suckadelic, check out the official site here and The Original Villain Network here.
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada’s Adriean Koleric is Item, one of Nerd City’s favorite artists and greatest allies. Item was kind enough to answer a few questions about his artistic philosophies, inspirations, and his upcoming HERD show.
I see a really cool range of homages in your work from nerd pop culture to modern architecture to fashion to music. Stylistically, what influences propel Item?
I think you pretty well summed it up in your question! Ya, i’m a Nerd through and through. I love Industrial Design, Architecture, etc. …but my first love is pop culture, especially early to mid-80’s era. Stuff like comic books, toys, vinyl, cartoons, etc. That shit just gets me going and really helps fuel the creative fire. By the way I have to say, the trailer for the new GI Joe movie looks absolutely sick! I was a little worried with the all leather promo posters, but this really settled things down for me. I’ve been waiting for this flick since 1983, so it’s kind of a big deal to me!
What specifically is the HERD show and how did the idea come about for it?
HERD is my first solo show that’s based on the original Star WarsAT-ATdesign. The show will center around a dozen refurbished AT-AT’s (aptly renamed to AK-AT’s ) and will also feature some wall graphics, lighting elements and my first official toy based on my AK-AT driver mashup. I basically had 2 objectives for the show. One was to put focus on the actual design of the AT-AT’s and make people realize that someone actually sat down and spent time on this piece which in my opinion is one of the most iconic pieces of art ever made.
The funny thing is we don’t know the name of the Artist behind it like we would with a VanGogh or Warhol piece. According to Wikipedia, the AT-AT Designers name is Joe Johnston who funny enough is supposed to be the Director for the upcoming Captian America movie. Nice little tidbit eh? As for the second objective, I also wanted to show how some of us are heavily influenced by Western Pop Culture and that items such as the AT-AT’s are essentially ‘Art’ to us which then filters into our work today. These are the creations we look fondly back onto and inspire us to do what we do in a creative realm. Essentially what i’m saying is that we’re the HERD that are being lead by this movement called Pop Culture.
You have commissioned some really cool pieces from Suckadelic as part of the show. How did that collabo come about and what was the process like?
It was such an easy process. I have to say The Sucklord is a machine and an absolute professional at what he does. I basically dropped him an e-mail with a sketch of my ‘AK-AT Driver’ to see if he’d take it on as a job, which he graciously did. From there he rattled off a dozen kit-bashed resin figures that were spot on to what I was hoping to get. I felt like a kid again when those bad boys showed up in the mail. The quality is downright criminal. I cannot wait to include them in HERD!
You share the music that you’re enjoying fairly regularly on your blog. What have you been listening to while working on the pieces for the HERD show?
My Nano was on serious shuffle mode through the HERD process. The tunes were all over the place, but if I had to pick something specific i’d say I really got into The Rakes. ‘Strasbourg’ is a bloody masterpiece! Absolute brilliance! I’m also one of those guys to have a ‘background’ movie playing while I work. You know, the flicks that just sound great? Life Aquatic, Snatch, Lock Stock, The Darjeeling Limited and definitely Afro Samurai! RZA rocked the shit with that soundtrack. I wish my theme song sounded as bad ass as that one.
Well the first challenge was actually getting my hands on them. Thank goodness for E-bay! Otherwise i’d be hooped. Once they arrived, then came disassembly and then a major cleaning as you would not believe the state that some came in. One was actually lit on fire from the inside! Of course no mention of that in the auction description. So after all components were ‘brought back to life’, out came the spray paint and the rest is history.
What else is on the horizon for you, artistically?
I’ve got a couple of shows in the pipeline. One based on Cobra Commander which will be another solo gig and then a group show I’m putting together that will be an all ‘Droid’ program. The mediums will vary for both, but the common is that I’ll still be incorporating some of my Design background to each one. Stuff like this just evolves as the process goes, so it’s always hard for me to know exactly how things will turn out at the end.
Thanks so much for what you’re doing with your art. Your combination of uber modern style and geek culture reverence is exactly what Nerd City loves!
The Vader Project has a new home. Once again, the coolest artists from around the world are contributing customized, life-sized Darth Vader helmets. This time, the show is taking up residence at The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.
This exhibition includes 100 works by contemporary international artists utilizing 1:1 scale authentic prop replicas of the Darth Vader helmet used in the Star Wars films. Each helmet was a blank canvas for the artist to paint, design, and customize. These iconic helmets of the notorious movie villain were created by some of the biggest names in today’s pop surrealist and underground art scene including Shag, Peter Kuper, Attaboy, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Dalek, Paul Frank, Ron English, Jeff Soto, Frank Kozik, Wade Lageose, Joe Ledbetter, Alex Pardee, Suckadelic, Cameron Tiede, Michelle Valigura, Sunich, Mister Cartoon, Marc Ecko, Amanda Visell, and many more. The Vader Project was curated by Dov Kelemer and Sarah Jo Marks of DKE Toys, one of the largest designer vinyl and art-toy distributors in the world.
In addition to The Warhol’s grouping of these iconic helmets, approximately 15 works will be on view at The Carnegie Science Center during the duration of the exhibition.
Back from New York Comic Con, the gang is joined by intrepid freelance Nerd Citizen Jason Fabeck and the Shawnimal himself, Shawn Smith as they discuss all the goings on in NY in this super-stuffed episode of Nerd City.
Nerd City favorite, the Sucklord himself, Dj/artist/toymaker Suckadelic, was in full force @ NYCC, hanging with the Mimoco crew @ their booth, spinning top jams, and making and signing figures live @ the Con. After spending a little time with the man himself, I can only say, Viva La Sucklord.
Our friend Item has just unveiled new images of these prints that, along with his customAT-AT’s, will be available at his upcoming HERD show. According to Item, the official word is that HERD will happen Spring 2009 (April 17-May16) in Edmonton at Latitude53. It is also with great excitement that we are able to reveal that the show will feature a limited run of Suckadelic bootleg figures made specifically for it by the Sucklord, himself. Nice!
Keep up on HERD updates and other good stuff at Item’s blog here.
Use Priority Code WL192 When Ordering Tickets!
