P1 Brand

During our recent European tour, we made a trip to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, located just outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. One of the exhibits on display was the work of German photographer Andreas Gursky, who creates hyper-real, color prints on a monumental scale. 

What do you do when you're offered some track time and have access to one of JDM Legend's cars? You drop everything and head to the track for a few hours of filming.

The notoriously surreal French director, Michel Gondry, known for his feature films like The Green Hornet, Be Kind Rewind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and more, is apparently in the process of shooting a new film (L'Écume des Jours/Froth in a Daydream) somewhere on the streets of France. As we discovered from the French, automotive/pop culture blog, Blenheim Gang, Gondry has had several cars modified in a very surreal manner.

It's always great to see advertising and marketing departments flex their collective heads, and this recent example of Chevy Sonic employing Jeff Soto is a perfect example. Although the final product isn't too fantastic, the fact that we watched it is testament to fact that unusual, viral marketing does work. Via Arrested Motion.

A beautiful short film shot in 1959 or 1960 on the Scarab F1, an all American effort car, testing at Riverside, California. Thanks to the folks at MotorSportRetro for the posting, where you can find more details on the segment.

Photo courtesy ©TheCahierArchive

As the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship season kicks off this weekend in Australia, it's worth mentioning that another drama is unfolding in the world of motosports. American filmmaker, Ron Howard, is currently directing a biopic based on the life of three time Formula 1 World Champ, Niki Lauda. Tentatively titled Rush, the film tells the story of Lauda's horrific 1976 crash (shown above) at the Nurburgring and the intense, on-track rivalry with Brit, James Hunt.

One of our favorite tunes from Agent Orange, the SoCal surf-skate-punk trio, and the early single, Bloodstains. A song about "fast cars, cheap thrills, rich girls and fine wine."

A quiet, but fantastic, short on enigmatic Japanese artist, Usugrow, via Staple Design. Usugrow is part of a loose collective known as The Shinganists (The Outsiders) that pull cultural inspiration from the realms of heavy metal, punk rock, hip hop and tattoos to inform their works. Above he talks about his influences, how he aims to redefine those influences, and his passion for his meticulously detailed work. 

Video courtesy of Louis Mitchell©2012

The boys at EGarage have teamed up with Luke Huxham, who has again put together another fantastic short featuring Nakai-san of Rauh Welt Begriff (RWB). Thanks in part to several high profile projects, including new cars for Fatlace and other, the popularity of the RWB style has skyrocketed in the past few months. 

Master builder Nakai discusses his passion for his work and some of the precarious pitfalls inevitable to growing so quickly as a brand.