What does American Apparel have in common with the New York subway system? No, this isn’t the beginning to a dirty joke (though you’re welcome to provide alternate punchlines in the comments section) – they use the same typeface to get their point across. Helvetica. To many, it’s just the option between Gill Sans and Hoefler in a scroll down menu, but to design geeks, Helvetica is god. Fresh, clean, appealing – just what we like here at GURU Energy Drink.

‘I guess it’s like jeans and a white t-shirt,’ says GURU’s own Helvetica-obsessed Artistic Director Justin Dallegret. ‘Classic, timeless, sexy and ya want to wear it all the time.’

Don’t believe him? You’re too late to see the MoMa’s exhibit, but check out the documentary Helvetica , released in 2007 just in time for the font’s 50th anniversary.

Take that, Times New Roman.

Feeling a little dizzy from the back-and-forth, back-and-forth of the tireless teams of catwalk models? Make your way to Williamsburg where the pretty people are breathing new life into regular Fashion Week fare.

“Presented in a nontraditional platform style, the show consists of a series of entrancing experiences, ranging from a drive-in car scene to a posh living room cocktail party,” says Christopher ‘Tinypants’ Dang of tonight’s show from Love Brigade, a collective that comprises three fashion labels, a retail store and a music merchandising service. All three angles will be at work for their Spring/Summer 2010 Revival collection. Things kick off tonight at 8 pm in The Space on 8th, and you’ll find collaborations from (to name a few) hosts Famous Friends, video docs from The New Pop, Jump shoes, music from Finger on the Pulse, Gabriel J. Shuldiner necklaces and, of course, GURU Energy Drink. With so much sensory stimulation, it promises to give you more than the usual runway rundown.

You can find more info about the party and Love Brigade on their site.

On Saturday, FIFI projects opened the doors on to their new gallery space in New York’s Lower East Side with the show Crown Of The Lost. The party was fueled by GURU’s Clean Energy, and here’s a quick Q&A with FIFI founder and curator, Eduardo Lopez – who just relocated from Miami to NYC. Big move!

Check it out at www.fifimagazine.net

What do you love about New York’s Lower East Side?

EL: Lower East Side is a great place for young galleries like ours.

So far how would you describe the difference between NYC and Miami?

EL: The difference between NYC and Miami is (most) people in the art business in NYC seem to have a better sense of community. In Miami, the older galleries and older collectors pay almost no attention to younger expressions by artists and galleries. People in New York are more open. Miami is really great during art|basel and its satellite fairs every December, but the rest of the year it’s quite slow. NYC obviously has more art-related activity year round.

Who’s your guru?

EL: Music and the ocean are my gurus.

Currently on display: Crown of the Lost focuses on the foreboding aspects of nature and the inevitable decay of beauty through the exploration of behavioral aspects of biological and technological ecosystems and environments; their development, peaks, and ultimately their breakdowns.

assume vivid astro focus and Black Meteoric Star at Super #3, Maison des Arts de Créteil, Paris, 2008.

Photo by Yves Malenfer

MoMA’s PopRally brings together supersonic DFA’s Black Meteoric Star/ Gavin Rossum and Brazilian visual artist assume vivid astro focus for a psychedelic audio-visual performance at MoMA’s Marron Atrium on May 23rd. The party coincides with the upcoming release of a first self-titled album in which Rossum reveals tales of dance floors from America’s Midwest to the nightclubs of Berlin. The neon dayz are not over. We need to hookup these kids with some GURU.

 Share this Comments (0)

Seth Aylmer, Jose Serrano Reyes and Joan Tom.

Trust Art was introduced at TED2009 as an ‘intriguing new business’ – a stock market for art. Few months later, we are witnessing the first breaths of a new social media experiment based on the following premise: Can financial and social capital elevate art projects that are designed to elevate society?

Over the course of this year, Trust Art will commission ten public artworks steeped in social, environmental, cultural, and economic value and created by emerging artists – and anyone & everyone who cares about cultural renewal is welcome to participate. “The gallery model is open to only a small number of people – we want to open up the patronage of the arts to anyone who has $1 and an internet connection,” said Jose Serrano Reyes, co-founder and curator, who’s been studying (and banking on) the obsession of ranking for quite a while now, as over 300K people are actively checking their other online property, FameGame.com, every month.

Since the launch of the initial prototype, key partnerships with organizations like the Open Space Alliance and the NYC Parks Department have been secured.

The concept’s got strong legs. For instance, filmmaker Josh Powell will produce a series of viral videos and commercials for Columbia University’s Bamboo Bike Project to introduce the bamboo bike not only to people in the USA but also a global audience around the world.

“Riding on plants is cool” – Josh mentions in his project proposal. It’s also a concrete step towards a better future.

Josh Powell – Bamboo guru

The experiment officially launched last night at Norwood and all guests automatically became investors as the price of the ticket -$101, was distributed equally between the ten projects.

Anyone can now log on to TrustArt.org and become shareholders for only a dollar. Shareholders can increase the value of their investment by sharing to their network & creating bonding capital. The fictional currency can be tracked online at anytime, but the shares won’t be converted back to money until the end of the experiment, when the artworks produced will be sold at a public auction.

Check out Trust Art on Fame Game and show them some #followfriday love this week on Twitter.com/TrustArt.

Yves Klein, Victory of Samothrace. 1962

If you have a few hours to spare, dig through Times 200 artists of the 20th century list, released in partnership with Saatchi, the world’s interactive art gallery.

In the context of this feature, you can vote for your favorite artists working since 1900 from a list including some of the most influential painters, sculptors, photographers, video and installation artists of our time.

The final Times Top 200 will be announced on in May 25 2009.

Check out the URBAN GURU art feed