Artist and activist Ai Weiwei is being detained by the Chinese government. Sign the petition here.

Arkitip recently threw up this video they shot with graphic designer Peter Saville two years ago, and it’s a nice trip down memory lane. Known primarily for his work designing iconic covers for the likes of Joy Division and New Order, Saville is a true legend who’s influenced the look of all things cool for decades. Listen to the man talk.

A recent Q&A with Andy Spade on the WSJ site turned me on to this store – actually, more than a store; a grand concept, but on a small and human scale. Spade had this to say about the venture, which is pioneered by writer Dave Eggers: “He sells things like invisible paint. In Brooklyn, you have to swear in, and say you’re a superhero and will abide by the rules.”

Confused? Go check out the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. webshop, where they stock an array of products that may shed some light. Some are tangible, like a Secret Identity t-shirt emblazoned with the words Strive To Be Boring. Some, like the Invisible Plane, are not. In case you were wondering, The Invisible Plane can be purchased for the tidy sum of four million dollars.

While this all looks very cute, Eggers’ goal may not be immediately clear beyond the simple scope of curating comic book and cartoon-type children’s costumes and novelty knick-knacks. But if you look deeper, you’ll find the interesting tie to 826NYC, the New York chapter of a nationwide, youth-oriented non-profit creative writing program. All money going into the Supply Co. ultimately flows into the writing program.

The storefront, in effect, is the Secret Identity – but not too secret, it turns out. The whole point is to get passersby stopping by the store to pop into the writing center and see the work they’re doing with the kids. True superhero work indeed.

I’m late to the party, but this is insane. Kanye on SNL and doing it so right.

Pitchfork sits down for a chat with director Chris Milk about his recent video project for the Arcade Fire song “We Used to Wait.” If you haven’t seen it yet, go now (according to Milk, use Chrome/Safari on a Mac, preferably Chrome on a PC for the best results).

The question-and-answer session reveals much about Milk’s team and their creative process, showcasing his real respect for technology/multimedia tempered by a grounded understanding of what technology alone can never do:

My real motivation came from my desire for music videos to have the same equal soul-touching emotional resonance that straight music does. Honestly, I’m not sure they ever can. Music scores your life. You interact with it. It becomes the soundtrack to that one summer with that one girl. Music videos are very concrete and rigid. They don’t allow for that emotional interaction.

Right now at the New Museum, you can go and experience something called the Dreamachine, part of a gallery exhibition of Brion Gysin’s work. Considered an unsung hero of the Beat generation of artists, this Gysin exhibition includes a mix of audio/visual projections, paintings and literature, chopped up and re-arranged to hypnotic effect. The Dreamachine sounds like a great analogy for the entire exhibit. To experience it, museum-goers sit with closed eyes in a dark room in front of a spinning, lighted column. The disorienting sounds of Throbbing Gristle provide an unsettling soundtrack for good and bad dreams alike.