T-shirt Art

November 2nd, 2009

If you’ve ever missed spending afterschool hours playing Atari arcade games, 55DSL’s newest project will help fill that void. Though 55DSL may be a bit young to have lived through the days of Pong and Space Invaders (the label is celebrating its 15th anniversary), it’s re-popularizing the coolness of pixelated art with its collection “Try Me At Home” – a series of geometrically printed white t-shirts that come packaged with four coloured markers. The concept is similar to Paint-By-Numbers, with the exception that these grids are unmarked, giving you complete freedom to ink your tees as desired.

Collaborating with 55DSL, The Block recruited 10 artists and designers to help experiment “Try Me At Home.” Expressing their creative talents (and their imaginations), artists blew us away and stretched far and beyond the four markers provided (using things like yarn, zippers, and even spray paint).

We were so impressed by the designs that we decided to exhibit the 10 designed t-shirts in Edmonton, November 5 at one of our favourite stores – High Grade Clothing Co. But don’t worry – more cities are in the works.

Artists include:

Mike Perry – Artist/Illustrator
Jeff Hamada – Artist
Nicholas Di Genova – Artist
Drew William – Fashion Designer
Eric Roddy – Artist/Painter
Jason Upton – Art Director/ Graphic Designer
Leila Bani – Fashion Stylist
Niall McClelland – Artist/Illustrator
Scott Walhovd – Designer/Model
Yacht – Musicians/Multimedia Artists

In the coming weeks The Block will feature the 10 designs on our website, hopefully inspiring you to get creative too. And we’re totally on board with 55DSL that these tees will, “make your parents proud, attract members of the opposite sex, and be overall cooler than the rest of your friends.” Results may vary.

Photo credit: Matthew Walker Timmons

http://www.55dsl.com/try-me-at-home-vol-1

http://twitpic.com/ncxo7