LOVE LOVE LOVE these mixed media collages from Brooklyn artist/designer Aaron Maurer. His combination of collaged figures on surreal, painted dreamscapes is incredibly imaginative. I want these all over my apartment. I wish I had found his work earlier, as I missed his recent show in Williamsburg. He also has an impressive collection of digital work, check out his portfolio. You’ll be glad you did.

Why is it that Scandinavians get to be cooler than everyone else? Case in point: Danish producer Kasper Bjørke’s new video, “Young Again,” the first single from his album “Standing on Top of Utopia,” due out in February ’10. The video looks like he ripped open a bottle of acid and somehow ended up in the middle of the woods with gold paint on his face, but in a good way. Guess they’re having a lot more fun than we are up north… Can’t wait for the full album.

Not much to say about Justin Maller’s work except, “Wow.” Incredibly fierce, dynamic and inspiring work. He has a very impressive portfolio.

I like to play around with light sculpture, and have done a few light projects recently (including my Halloween costume), so Joshua Kirsch’s work is a huge inspiration. ‘Concentricity 96′ is an amazing piece that allows the user to interact and control the flow and direction of light. It’s part of a series of interactive sculpture. Says Kirsch on his portfolio site,

“Concentricity is an interactive light sculpture series. Each of the three works presents an illuminated white handle which the viewer is invited to move in any direction. Reed switches located within the sculpture’s circuitry sense the movements of a magnet contained in the handle and translate that information into LED light. Concentricity 96 employs 96 white LEDs that shine through the sculpture’s honeycomb-like aluminum frame to create shapes and patterns on the wall.”

Check out more of his work here.

This is nothing short of awesome. Print Magazine asked design studio Heads of State to create hypothetical packaging for marijuana, were it to be made legal in New York.

Love love love the work of French designer/illustrator Emmanuel Polanco. Reminds me a little of Eduardo Recife in his amazing ability to combine eclectic source material and create new meaning. His set of Tarot cards is incredible. His portfolio is apparently located here, but seems to be offline. Le sigh… Luckily, he’s got some iPhone wallpapers available for download on Poolga.