Last Thursday, I went to see an art exhibit from a friend of a friend of a friend of my father's, the cartoonist and artist Elliott Arkin. His exhibit was primarily a show of a concept he had for a biodiesel car made from an old ice cream truck, which, as seen from the picture, has an incredibly unorthodox but sleek look. (I asked him if it was still going to have ice cream, and he said no. I replied by telling him it would be the best ice cream truck around if it was still going to be an ice cream truck.)

The gallery in which the exhibition was shown, the Half Gallery, was an incredibly tiny space, about the size of a large walk-in closet, and with about twenty people coming in and out, it was pretty cramped. Nonoftheless, I thought his designs were very imaginative, and they make the cramped box-like cars of today seem antiquated.

On a side note, I wanted to note about a craze that seems to be developing in various hipster communities like the one in which the Half Gallery resides in, a short walk away from NoLita, Chinatown, and the Lower East Side, that is, designer toys. For those who don't know, designer toys are models made out of various materials such as vinyl, plush, wood, and resin that are made in limited sets by various graphic artists, often making them considerably expensive. Though not necessarily a New York art, designer toys appear to be quite popular in New York with chains such as Pylones and Kid Robot catering to the needs of their target demographic. There was, in fact, a designer toy store next to the Half Gallery, though I forgot the name of the store. I took a look in there to see the merchandise and art and was amazed by the boldness and loudness of the designs, with grimacing and wild faces and bold art and bright colors painted on the models. Personally, I gravitate towards this kind of art, which made these toys especially desireable for me, even though many of the larger ones (6 inches or so) were at least 50 dollars.