Sorry for the lack of updates but we have been working on a project for IDN as well as creating a wicked new blog and a Virb account. Sorry to tell you this but this Blog will be only used as an archive now. BUT please continue to check our NEW BLOG  to see some seriously entertaining weirdness!

http://espvisuals.blogspot.com

To celebrate artistic inspiration in Hong Kong, 50 local creatives (graphic designers, fashion designers, stylists, illustrators, cartoonists, painters, photographers, etc) was invited to participate in the EVISU CUBE GALLERY project.

Each collaborator was given a pack containing Evisu denim, buttons, labels, rivets, pockets, etc. and asked to make a one-off “art piece” during a 1-month period.

This was the most fun we have had this year! It was a real challenge to try and do something strange and orginal while at the same time, try and present Evisu in a subtle style.

Dkoda, Selph, Irie & Plume created "Howling Monk" in LDN whilst PHilfy made "Horny Worm" & "Hooded Bandit" in HKG with Lowina.

If you have a chance please head down to one of the Evisu stores to see this touring exhibition. More details HERE .

If you are a Toy head like me, then you probably already know these websites. But for the rest of you who are interested but don't know where to look online, here are my top 5 toy websites:

Selph, Irie & Plume headed down to the Dragon Bar to wish Mattie (www.Cablestreet.co.uk  Event Organiser) a Happy B-Day. Irie played some heavy hip hop tunes while Selph happily propped up the bar. If you are ever in LDN, head down to the Dragon Bar. You will always find a graff head or three hanging there. It has hosted hundreds of wicked art exhibitions and continues to rate as one of our fave hang-outs.

Irie on dem wheels of steel

Selph & Irie

A few years ago, ESPV created a gameshow where MC-Ism (a good friend of ESPV and a rapper from Cubitus6) has 5 minutes to learn Cantonese phrases before he is tested. If he is wrong, there is punishment awaiting. Hosted by TAI  It's A Classic Hong Kong Gameshow Vibe!

"Teach MC-Ism Chinese" Episode 1

"Teach MC-Ism Chinese" Episode 2

Selph had the great pleasure of meeting Amano-san who is the Japanese legend behind Battle of the Planets and Final Fantasy. Amano only agreed to draw something for the crew if he could get something artistic back in return. Thank fuck Selph was carrying a bunch of ESP stickers with him!

The Final Sketch That Selph Received

In order to promote Crazy Label's Treeson Toy and the upcoming Tamo Toy release, PHilfy (ESP) and a select few from the ST/ART Collective organised a live painting at the event. A perfect two days of art & toy appreciation. Check the EVENTS  page to see the final finished piece.

ESP were involved in two short movies over the Summer of 2006:  Farm's 3rd Anniversary Video & a Hong Kong-made documentary called "Tagspotting"

Link: www.hongkongvirtual.com

Link : http://edleeblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/tagspotting-live.html   

We'd love to hear your comments!

Irie, Selph and the www.ukadapta.com crew decided to wish our friends Kim (HifanaVJ ) & Maki (Super-duper graphic designer) a very Happy Halloween and a huge congratulations for getting married! The production of the piece was filmed by Shuta and the vid was sent to the couple for their wedding reception to be shown to their families and friends back in TKY...... You can check an edited version below.

(Selph had to remove his real identity from the beginning of the video! A big sorry to Shuta for trimming his video!)

A wicked two-day music festival (the only one) in HK. ST/ART Collective were painting again this year and it was a wicked party/live art event. Check the EVENTS  page for more pics.

PHilfy

After a long time deciding in which direction these toys were gonna go, these are pretty much the final designs that will hopefully be hitting the shelves sometime in the first quarter of next year. Andy Woo wanted us to go for a look where the Tamos look like they could actually be mini street-artists attacking real streets. And so the ninja/special forces girls were created!

Check the EVENTS  to see the one-off Tamos we created for the Taiwan Toy Show 06.

J.A.R. organised a great event with Pictoplasma at Finds Restaurant in HKG. Artists had to cover the walls with black and white images of characters. In the evening, customers who came to the bar/restaurant had to colour-in our images. All money from drinks bought that night went directly to ORBIS the charity that helps the blind. An amazing night mixing art & charity with a sprinkling of booze. We really hope that this event continues for next year as it was such good fun. Check the EVENTS  page to see more of the night!

PHilfy & Selph were invited to make some special one-off customs for bag makers Eastpak. The showcase was really fun to take part in but the actual customising of other customer's bags in Times Square, HKG was horrible! It was such a small booth with too many people asking us to do absolutley ridiculous designs which had no reflection of our style of art. ESP isn't even gonna show you what we had to do to some of those bags. All we are saying is, No more Skulls/crossbones or Monkeys for fucks sake!

Check EVENTS  to see Selph & PHilfy's custom bags.

ESP and ST/ART came together to provide a live paint show made from cardboad boxes to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of YMCA's youth outreach programme entitled Farm. A damn hot and fine day with loadsa heads coming down to see the work. Check our EVENTS  page to see more photos of it!

By far the best exhibition ESP went to and attended.... ST-ART Collective invited us to join in the madness. 450 (12X12) canvases were painted by approx. 40 artists for the show. The idea being to raise the awareness of the fact that the average living space in HK is only 450sq ft. The show attempted to show the space vs. price issue and money was donated to the homeless of HK from any of the canvases that were sold.

Check EVENTS HKG  page to see the wealth of talent.......

Po Kit from Afterschool Cafe in Causeway Bay wanted his hoardings decorated in a night while he had some renovation going on. This was one of the sections we completed. From Left to Right: Graphic Airlines, 4Get, KS1, C#, Selph, Hobsek, Redy

Jimmy from Royal Elastics sorted out a wicked skateboard exhibition with UK's She One doing the live painting. The theme for the show was Communism and the drinks flowed freely throughout the night. Thanks again Jimmy! Check out the close ups of me and PHilfy's decks in the Exhibits Page

I treated myself to some vinyl goodness this week and bought Doze Green's Ganesh elephant and ITRanger's CopyCat- Bulky. I love Ganesh's leg detail and his hat and the err....Bulkiness of CopyCat. I was extra stoked when I got home, did some research and found out that my Ganesh is actually one of only 400 and the CopyCat is one of 200!

--Selph--

ESP (HK) had the honour of meeting Andy Woo from Crazy Label toys this week.(www.wookieweb.com) He has just released a toy called Treeson and is planning to unveil his new figure series TAMO at the Taipei Toy Festival on the 6th-9th July. He has asked us to paint some TAMO's for the Take A Peek Mini Show in Taipei and to design some limited runs for TAMO Series 1. Check his Flickr  account for some great pics. This has been a dream for all of us and we are seriously excited at the future prospects these projects have to offer! Big Up Crazy Label!

Treeson is a kind creature that was brought up by trees in a forest.

The three TAMO blank canvases. A million possibilities..........

Get to know him cos he's gonna be big!

 ESP hosted a writer's get-together close to Selph's home on HK  Island.....however, it didn't turn out to be the dream day everyone had hoped for...Multiple false alarms and finally a park official caused the day to be an unnerving one. Many thanks to all the writers who made it anyway despite the troubles and showed us some skills.....Big up to Redy, Dofi, Hobsek, Aurelie, Orsek, Mr Mena, Retron and 4Get for coming down and representing....