I’ll be back to this website later tonight for this:

Real time projection in a building facade in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Draw your feelings and watch it live from 8PM-1AM (GMT -2).

One of my fave mags because it consistently introduces me to a fountain of new music that I wouldn’t otherwise find unless I spent my free hours diggin’ in the crates and hanging out with vinyl heads, Wax Poetics’ current issue themed under Brazil (it’s a Brazilian summer!) is a treasure trove of interviews with some of the greatest legends of tropicalia and jazz, plus newbies making the grade. Cover star Gilberto Gil leads off articles with Airto Moreira, composer Arthur Verocai, L.A.’s Triorganico, singer Ceu (whose career has seen an incredible forward trajectory in the past few years), among others. This edition will surely be a collector’s edition, worth putting alongside all that vintage vinyl you have.

If you’re passing a newsstand in the next few days, look for the long-awaited Brazil issue of Juxtapoz. Guest curated by William Baglione—whose artists we always breathlessly talk about here—the hot special edition stars a slew of familiar names: Bruno 9li, Tinho, Calma, Choque Cultural, Os Gemeos and others. Baglione said he chose the artists based on a variety of styles, potential and experience. The cover artist is Herbert Baglione, William’s bro who counts Juxtapoz editor M. Revelli as a fan. The story goes that the issue originally was meant to be a spotlight on South American artists, but when they saw that most of the artists were Brazilian, Juxtapoz changed strategy and dedicated an entire issue to the well-deserving cast of lucky artists. Jump on this quick.

You’re getting the first look at Nike Sportswear in Brazil’s new pop-up store Canarinho in the Gallery of Rock in Sao Paulo and its accompanying Brazilian-produced line. Gallery of Rock is a multi-story behemoth of stores in the city’s decadent downtown dedicated to Brazilian alternative culture, from hip-hop to cosplay, so they couldn’t have picked a more appropriate place to launch the colorful boutique. Named after the pet name Brazilians gave to their national soccer team during the World Cup in which they wore yellow jerseys for the first time, the collection features local artists Don Torelly, Presto and Jurubis, whose takes are fun, animated visions on the classic Blazers and Dunk Lows, plus tees. Eduardo Saretta from Choque Cultural put together the creative team. See more photos after the jump, and if you gotta get your hands on these surely limited editions, hit up Maze in Sao Paulo.

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Geometrical, precise and wonderfully intricate to such a degree that you can spend time completely wrapped up in only one section of them before moving on to a different part, Fernando Chamarelli’s paintings mishmash all manner of references to dizzying effect. Like Bruno 9li, he intertwines history and iconography—religious, philosophic—using Brazilian pop culture to carry the aesthetics of pre-Colombian indigenous art. The artist’s background spans to cartoons and portraits before developing a healthy interest in street art and tattooing, the latter of which likely explains his eye for color and edge. Simply put, this guy rocks. His show Viracocha just launched at Rojo’s space at Livraria Pop in Sao Paulo and will be there until June 20, but experience it vicariously through his inspiring photostream.

Let’s go ahead and just say it: wallpaper and tiles are long dead. New ecological paint job—well, baby, you can get a little more creative than that. The way to go, if you want to really make a statement for guests and live in something conducive to green all the way, is investing in an Ekobe wall. Composed of 100% natural materials, the tiles by the Brazilian company are veggie matter. We’re not talking about banana peels or apple cores; this stuff gets more tropical and exotic, like the insides and outsides of coconut shells. The Membira line goes so far as to mix in rice peel (you can peel rice?). The surfaces are often presented as mosaics that have their own particular discoloration or irregularities in texture—all aspects that reflect their truly natural origins. Consumers can apply Ekoba products to pretty much any internal surface but are advised against making major pathways with the square pieces because it seems they’ll disintegrate with all that wear and tear. As you can see from the photo, surfaces made with Ekobe tiles lend themselves to stunning interiors and stand apart from anything else out there. I’d jump at a chance to attend a meeting in that room. The tiles are available at Nemo Tile in NYC.

I just came across a wonderful short new film by Brazilian director Cisma, the result of the latest commission from Adobe’s very inspiring Adobe Artists project. With the strict rule that everything must be produced using only Adobe products—Creative Suite 4, in particular—Le Sens Propre continues successfully in Cisma’s trademark surreal style. We watch a little girl in her room throw dishes into a tidy and unbroken stack, tie her shoes but accidentally knot up her thumbs instead and see bunnies turn into colorful, soft pebbles. It’s a bit Alice in Wonderland meets Candyland; totally charming to the end. Amazingly enough, no 3-D software was employed in the making of the film. According to an interview with Motiongraphics, Cisma wanted “to create strange scenes and weird connections between elements of the story,” giving viewers the chance to be surprised. It’s this aspect that keeps you glued to the computer screen. Check the Adobe Artist site for other gems, including a short by another Brazilian filmmaker, Nando Costa.

In another well-curated proposal, Choque Cultural’s chronicling the art of text in Caligrafia, its latest exhibit. Jumping off from Chaz Bojorquez’s famous East L.A. tags, the show features a diverse array of styles from 40 international artists. Hardly anything is left out in this extensive visual history: Loomit’s 3-D letters, Atsuo’s glittery work, Retna’s engraved metalwork and seminal artist Billy Argel’s Brazilian skate contribution. Other big stars include L.A.’s own Saber and New York City’s KR. Media forms extend from painting to prints and photos. See a few pieces from the show online at the site. The show runs till June 27.

Being an outsider sucks. We sometimes feature products on our site, like kicks, that are available only in Brazil, and we’re definitely guilty for making you salivate and yearn for them. Today we’re psyched to tell you about the launch in mid-May of MOMA’s Brazil Product Collection, a group of 75 Brazilian design goodies not found anywhere else in the U.S. One of the works featured is Estudio Manus, who we introduced here a while ago and has gone on to dizzying success since then. Also in the collection is a sushi bowl by design kings the Campana Brothers, a movable Centipede fruit bowl by Gustavo Engelhardt, Daniel Castelo and Diego Costi and a Dry Erase Wall Clock by Ricardo Saint-Clair (pictured)—MOMA exclusives, so ha, take that, Brazil, you can’t get these products over there. The products will be available super-close: at MOMA Design stores and on MOMA’s site. Which means for now, you don’t need to take an emergency Portuguese class to learn how to say “Can you buy these for me?”

Interesting things are happening in the sneaker/partnering news department this week. Run-DMC’s abandoned their Adidas loyalty to Nike by releasing a Nike+ running soundtrack. And on the heels of that is Vice Brazil’s launch with partner Converse in tow. Kicking off Tuesday is The Way We Run, a multi-track of events spanning art, music, fashion and skate in Sao Paulo, like a meet and greet with team skaters and DJ sets, all taking place at various high-profile places for six weeks. The event ends with a surprise show. I met Vice Brazil publisher Tony Cebrian a few months ago, who told me he has big plans for the Vice empire’s South American version of the free magazine, including featuring stories that will knock any generalizations of Brazil right out of the water. Look for a translated version of those stories to wind their way to your copy of Vice soon. I’m looking forward, just as you likely are, of seeing some Dos and Dont’s from below the Equator.

On Sundays, a walk just two blocks away from Ipanema beach reveals a bustling bazaar, where independent crafts-people selling an array of clothes, jewelry, hand-made artifacts and original artwork assemble to form the Feira Hippie, or Hippy Fair. Every stall boasts a variation of Brazillian inspired artistry, from canvases depicting abstract renditions of patchwork favela neighborhoods to clothes hand printed with the traditional patterns of Brazil’s indigenous tribes, with their creators (many of them distinctly hippy) manning their posts with laid back smiles and a mood for bargaining. An American buck goes a long way here, and it effectively beats out any tourist shop found anywhere between Leme and Flamengo.

Coming from any great sneaker city, one would never expect to find something quite as unique as Maz in the tiny burg of Paraty, about four hours from Rio de Janeiro. Tucked away on one of the only paved streets in a town of cobbled lanes lies the tiny boutique offering various cuts of Maz’s soft top, rubber sole kicks in a hundred different color combinations. The basic laced design falls in line with the soccer trainer tradition, but ride like a pair of your most comfortable house slippers. Be sure to stop through if you happen to be trekking through Brazil, or check them out online.

In 2007, a tiny Brazilian sneakers blog started tapping into the kicks obsessions of its citizens, but as we are with most things, we were on their potential from the get-go. Two years later, it’s built up a veritable reader base, who head directly to it to hear first word on the country’s newest arrivals and to read the daily musings from some movers and skaters in the industry. Nike Brazil, one of its most ardent fans, has given it a flattering gift for all that dedication on its anniversary: to let it design its own Air Max 1 called the Lanceiro, making it the first model of this type to be designed by Brazilians. Pulling colorful cultural inspiration from the blog’s home state of Pernambuco, especially mangue beat, the state’s musical invention in the ’90s that mixes traditional maracatu and ciranda sounds with hip-hop and rock music, the Lanceiro is a real eye-catcher. Designer Fabricio Machado looked to the vibrant beads on the costumes of Pernambuco’s rural spearmen Caboclo da Lanca for the dots on the upper of the shoes and added in a speckled midsole to imitate mud from the state’s famous swamps. To switch things up a bit, the laces and inside soles are swappable for a version with the beadwork pattern. The site has full information in English on the development of the shoe including some amazing photos of Caboclo da Lanca, and promises to have information on where to buy the Lanceiro shortly. An inspiration picture after the jump.

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Though it’s already in a hot lipstick-red color, the spectacular sleekness of the Capacete E8 motorcycle helmet by Sao Paulo design firm Questto Design is a serious competitor for your attention. Winner of the 2009 IF Product Design Award in its category in Brazil, this sexy helmet made from plastic resin boasts flexibility: you can wear it open-visor or with the chin lifted to let in more air, which makes it seem like it’s completely open (in Sao Paulo, when they stop to make a delivery, motorcycle delivery guys will take their helmets off to the point that it’s holding only the crown of their head). It’s being put out by Brazil-based EBF helmet company and will likely only be sold within Brazil, but nevertheless, it gives out true border-jumping inspiration in the industry for a motorbike essential. Daft Punk might consider a change of headwear after seeing this hottie.

One of my favorite things to do is read in bed. If I can get comfortable enough, I’ll go so far as to even work on my laptop there—a no-no for psychiatrists advising sleep-deprived patients that a bed should kept associated as a place to rest. After about 15 minutes though, I have to plump up that pillow on my back again. Though this process isn’t that much trouble, the only problem with having the Cama Clina from Faro Design in Brazil is that I’d likely permanently give up the work table for the work bed. The company tapped into a system they developed in 1988 for canvas patio chairs for this ultra comfy recliner bed, which works via hinges that move a leather piece that works as back support to the front. When not in use, it’s incorporated into the aesthetics of the wood headboard so you wouldn’t even know about its hidden other use. Rad? Yes. Dangerous to productivity? Likely. But what’s a bed for then?