KRAFT MAC & TWEESE

Yesterday, a flurry of new Mac & Cheese work started appearing on the internet. Each ad was inspired by a random person's Tweet about Mac & Cheese, then turned into a :30 second commercial. All shot and edited on the spot and released to the public to consume. Great use of Twitter and turning a simple tweet into something larger than 140 characters could have ever imagined.

And on top of that, my good friend—and very funny human being—Kent Carmichael made these. He's a copywriter and a great person to have on your kickball team or dodge ball team, apparently.  He's also a big UK Wildcats (Final Four bound) fan, so he's got a lot going for him right now. Way to go Kent!

BEATBOXER BEATS UP THE PIXIES "WHERE IS MY MIND?"

Beats by The Petebox  Via @buzzfeed

THE AGE OF GAIA

Gaia is one of the more recent American street artists to catch my attention. His visuals and subject matter are ambitious in size and message, and to top it all off, they look really awesome up close. The imagery appears to be created in a frantic process, but when you see them full scale, the true beauty of Gaia's methodical process really shines.

His work has been popping up around Chicago lately as part of his two week residency at Pawn Works and subsequent show, Resplendent Semblance, that opened this past Friday and runs through May 7th at The Maxwell Colette Gallery(near Chicago and Halsted). You really have to see this stuff in person. His two oil canvas' on display are huge in size and epic in subject matter. The way he incorporated his street art into the gallery space as backdrops to his canvas' really brought his work full circle. Looking forward to seeing Gaia's work evolve even further.

(Above) Oil on Canvas. Orange on Rooster face is from light reflection.

(Above) Bunny eared lion. Fun piece. This one—as well as a few others—incorporated discarded and found fliers from around Chicago to create the resulting imagery. 

(Above) Close up on detail of previous canvas. Melted wax used to preserve image.

Pieces around Chicago:

Check out more of Gaia's work and recent pieces around Chicago on his flickr page.

BLOG OF THE WEEK: GIRLS MAKING GUN SOUNDS

Man, Monday just got a whole lot better. BOW: Girls Making Gun Sounds is as dumb and enjoyable as it sounds. And you can start submitting your own directly to their site. So give them your best AK47 or M16 or Rocket Launcher. Via @triciadesjardin

See more at GMGS

FRIDAY MASHED WITH THE MOVIE FRIDAY

A much more tolerable version of the infamously—and annoyingly—catchy "Friday," by Rebecca Black. The song now tells the story of the movie Friday, starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. Try not to cover your ears. It's Friday! (Via @bescka)

SCENES FROM THE SUBURBS: SPIKE JONZE'S ARCADE FIRE SHORT FILM (TRAILER)

Wow. Spike Jonze worked on a short film companion piece to the video he did for the track "The Suburbs" off Arcade Fire's Grammy award winning album by the same title.

The short film will premier later this week at the SXSW Film Festival...you lucky bastards. Via Pitchfork

Scenes from the Suburbs (trailer)


(Below)Spike Jonze directed Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs," the companion piece for the above trailer.