The newly-launched and amazing Pictory Magazine just published a beautiful and interesting showcase of twenty-eight photos of San Francisco; don’t miss their first showcase, Overseas and Overwhelmed, either!

Recently I was reminded of this lovely little essay by the cartoonist Seth, about the solitary art of cartooning. From his description I’d say that cartooning — at least fiction cartooning such as Seth practices — sounds exactly like fiction writing, except you have to draw pictures. Which by rights should make it even harder.

Of course, nonfiction cartooning, such as Joe Sacco practices, is exactly like reporting — except you have to draw pictures, so that practice should be even more difficult.

Anyway, at Seth’s essay, don’t miss the little included strip, Down the Stairs. And here’s an illuminating Q&A with Seth from the same magazine.

Brian Dillon at the Guardian reviews a London exhibition, Dark Monarch, that traces imagery of the occult through British art, and Dillon devotes his review to exploring one motif prevalent in the show: the black mirror. Read more »

Ed Ruscha, photographer of twenty-six affectless Standard gas stations in LA, Every Building on the Sunset Strip, and painter of words floating in space, with or without a setting, is the subject of a retrospective at London’s Hayward gallery, and the Times of London decided to ask David Lynch what he thinks of it. (Who better to ask, really?) Bottom line: “I like to think the California sun has burnt out all unnecessary elements in his work.” Read more »

Print Magazine, anticipating the legalization of pot in the US within 15 years or so, asked four design firms to come up with commercial packaging for marijuana cigarettes.

Strømme Throndsen designed an attractive box that holds 16, with an optional case to carry only the ones you’ll be wanting to consume. The Heads of State designed a better baggie, which would seem to be the most logical approach for actual commercial sale. LUST created a small, garish box using the colors of the Jamaican flag and statistics about the plant.

My favorite response was that of Base, which rejected the premise of the commission by taking re-appropriated Altoids tins, eyeglass cases, and so forth — the kind of things people already use to keep their joints safe — painting them white, and leaving them unbranded because “nobody owns marjijuana.”

Yesterday the Wheels Blog at the New York Times wrote up the new Volkswagen L1 — a prototype for a tiny single-seater that they claim will be the most efficient car in the world, getting 158 miles per gallon of diesel fuel — and compared its overall look to a remarkably similar sculpture by the Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco.

In 1993, Orozco took a Citroen, longitudinally sliced two feet out of the middle, and welded the outer pieces back together. Much like the L1, the steering wheel is centered in the cabin. When on display in museums and galleries, visitors are allowed to open the door and sit inside. See the original post for images.

You remember how Damien Hirst sued a 17-year-old kid, Cartrain, for having used an image of “For The Love of God” in a work, and in revenge, Cartrain pinched some pencils from Hirst’s installation “Pharmacy”?

Cartrain was arrested and is out on bail for the theft of the pencils; in the meantime, he has allegedly begun to make drawings, allegedly using the allegedly-stolen pencils, and he’s allegedly put them up for sale here, attributing them to artists such as Billy Childish, Harry Adams, Cy Twombly, Richard Prince, and Banksy.

This kid, he’s got some chutzpah.

Though needless to say, the whole site might be a hoax. In which case that’s chutzpah of another order.

The other week, Juxtapoz photographer Chris Osburn published a bunch of photos from a recent trip to Nigeria, and he’s calling the series Postcards from Lagos. He reports that Lagos is a place where you have to stay alert, lest you get robbed or run over by a motorcycle, but he still managed to take lots of great shots.

Only a handful of the snapshots are interesting as art, but they’re all interesting for the content — like a notice at a movie theater, politely requesting that patrons leave their outside refreshments, cigarettes, and dangerous weapons at home. (Is there any other kind?) Check out fifteen of the pictures here. And remember, the next time you find yourself at the movies in Lagos, be sure to check your handgun at the box office.

Soft Skull Press has got a new book out called Label 228, featuring art made on Priority Mail labels. Juxtapoz blogger Elise Hennigan has written a review of the book that includes some samples of the collected art. The curator, camden noir, writes of why people choose these labels as a format:

“It’s a remarkably popular method of exposure featured by graffiti artists worldwide. These labels are free, portable, and quick and easy to exhibit, offering artists the chance to spend more time creating their work than if they were to paint and write directly on walls, vehicles, and public objects.”

The Conversational Reading blog is giving away a brand-new hardcover copy of Zak Smith’s illustrated Gravity’s Rainbow in a contest held on their Facebook page. To enter, you need to become a member of their group, and write on their wall exactly why you deserve the book. The contest ends September 7th.

In case you’ve never had a chance to check this book out: it’s genius on every page, and well-worth trying to swing a free copy!

We’re lucky to have Zak Smith as a Rumpus contributor. Above all check out his conversation with Anthony Lister, or his conversation with Gordon Terry, or the controversially-titled Barely Legal Whores Get Gang-F***ed. And also, our interview with him.