It seems like a lot of what could be super interesting collaborations these days are just thrown out into the marketplace with somebody's name stamped on them, like "Legendary Dude X does a signature t-shirt for Brand Name Z", without any sort of story backing it up. Most of the people who are expected to buy the stuff have never heard of Legendary Dude X so it ends up almost being a wasted endaevor, even though it might sell a shit ton of units due to the brand name and people just trusting that Legendary Dude X is to be trusted because he's working with Brand Name Z, I like to see colabs happen where you learn about the people involved.

I'm not sure if Freshjive is releasing any sort of clothing to go along with Edward Clover's exhibit tomorrow at Reserve but they produced this little video clip to offer some insight on who the dude is and what he's done. I'd love to see more stuff like this in the future.

Earlier this month Volcom's skate team did a skatepark demo tour thing from LA to SD where you could track their whereabouts via GPS. It's obviously over now but you can check the video and the tour blog right here.

The author of the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book and the Heavy Metal Funtime Activity Project Book is having a sale right now off of his site where he's moving a bunch of original drawings from his books etc... for $100 each!

Working with public school art programs and youth mentoring programs, MAKE SOMETHING!! workshops invite local youth to
experience creative learning in a non-traditional setting. Workshops focus on subjects such as painting, sculpture, photography, tattoos, music, animation, zines and assorted other subjects that relate to DIY culture. The walls of each "classroom" display many of the works created on-site, and will hence become an ever-evolving gallery of young ideas in artistic practice.

They're working with public schools and local youth mentoring programs, doing art classes in NY, LA and SF (30 classes total). The teachers are all artists associated with the Beautiful Losers film (or surrounding posse). They started a few weeks ago in NY and SF (LA starts this weekend), below is a schedule for the remaining workshops. The actual classes aren't open to the public, but all the work made is on display in the spaces and is definitely worth a check if you're around...

LOS ANGELES / August 22nd - September 8th, 2008
The Montalban, 1615 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA 90028 (on the mezzanine)

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE: AUGUST 22 - Make A Zine with Aaron Rose / AUGUST 23 -
Film Score with Money Mark / AUGUST 28 - Skate Graphics with Ed Templeton /
AUGUST 29 - Sneaker Design with Jesse Leyva / AUGUST 31 - Make a Poster with
Mike Mills / SEPT 4 - Design a Tattoo with Mr. Cartoon / SEPT 5 - T-Shirt
Graphics with Keith Scharwath / SEPT 6 - Drawing with Geoff McFetridge

SAN FRANCISCO / August 16th - September 21, 2008
VASF, 1485 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE: AUGUST 23 - Fabric Prints with Meghan Edwards / AUGUST 24
- Make a Musical Instrument with Tommy Guerrero / SEPT 6 - Sewn Assemblage
with Thomas Campbell / SEPT 7 - Make a Zine with Aaron Rose / SEPT 13 -
Fashion Magazine Manipulation with Clare Rojas and Andrew Jeffrey Wright /
SEPT 14 - Print Making with Sara Paavo / SEPT 20 - Movie Making with Alex
Kopps / SEPT 21 - Collage with Kylea Borges

Kaws' character design workshop.

Todd James' comics workshop.

In other DIY news, The Homework Show is a cool little backyard art show going on down in San Diego featuring familiar artists like Gary Benzel (of Green Lady) along with some inspiring newcomers. Learn about all of the artists and the project here.

When I received a press release this morning that said "The Tony Hawk Foundation brought its signature Stand Up For Skateparks fundraiser to The Hamptons..." I was like "What the fuck do The Hamptons have to do with skateboarding?", then I read a little further to the part where it said "...raising $575,000 to help develop public skateparks across America, including $50,000 for the Manhattan Bridge Skatepark in New York City." and I was like "Right. My bad."; if it brings out Ralph Macchio and it raises a shit ton of money to build skateparks then you really can't hate on it. You should maybe actually be kinda stoked on it.

It looks as though maybe, possibly, perhaps, the folks over at Alien Workshop have reached the editing stages of their next video, MIND FIELD.

For everyone who remembers this guy, and for everyone who doesn't, it's Skateboard-Stickers.com, showcasing a ton of awesome designs from the 80's and 90's.

Okay... Thomas Campbell, Tommy G, Aaron Rose, Clare Rojas and more teaching free workshops? Get your ass to SF!

If you're gonna be in LA this weekend you should definitely try to get to this rare event from Insight.

Not much needs to be said after reading this introduction by photographer Jon Humphries:

“Only in skateboarding will you have two completely opposite personalities that are longtime, great friends. Paul and Clark complement each other’s skateboarding talents by living on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Take a look at the five-day expedition into the New York world of Clark Hassler and the Los Angeles living of Paul Rodriguez.”

So in case you don't read streetwear blogs or just haven't heard yet, Adidas' AZX is a line/project containing their ZX models spiced up by 26 folks from different sneaker stores around the world. These folks were all flown in to Adidas in Germany a few months back and were basically given free reign in terms of materials and colors, and the first first 8 shoes (A to H) in the series dropped a few days ago. Up next (September 20th) are I to P, and included that group of 8 is the pair pictured above from Livestock, repping the letter L. Watch the video below for more...

It kinda fizzled as a skateboard brand in the 90's/early 2000's, but this spring the good people at Freshjive are bringing back a classic: SMA! No hand crafted skateboards will be released in this incarnation of the brand but the first season contains some really strong photo and logo tees, sweatshirts, caps, that sorta stuff. Looking real good, we'll bring you photos of the stuff when it's released.

Would you know that this artwork by Klutch was made from a skateboard if this site wasn't all about art and skateboarding? Would you even care? It stands alone as jus a really cool piece of work, beyond the fact that it's cut out of a blemished deck. More here.

Michael Sieben's new skateboard company is an incarnation of his last one (Bueno) only better; this time around he doesn't have some douchebag businessmen ruining, I mean, running, the show. Have a look at the "ads we can't afford to run" section for some serious brilliance. Also, have a look at the video for Michael's Adidas release.

Been looking forward to seeing this one. Head out to a premiere if the tour rolls through your town... or country.

Coming this fall. Click here to learn more.

Arkitip consistently delivers only the highest quality artist prints. This month they're releasing an illustrated example in the form of this one by Evan Hecox.

Beci Orpin does an awesome kids' clothing line that I wish made sizes to fit grown-ass men. Such goodness, she just launched the Tiny Mammoth web site. Have a look then get a store near you to order some so you can buy a gift for your baby mama's baby.

Livestock has started a program where they're releasing artist series t-shirts, designed by folks they've been inspired by over the years, every 45 days. The first was a one-off from graffiti legend Ghost, the current is a series of 3 designs by the always awesome Ben Tour. Below is one, click HERE to see the other two.