by Alex Brown

Good day collectors! With temps about to hit the 60s and cherry trees in full bloom, the weather in NYC is teasing kids stuck between spring and summer breaks and is making the rest of us feel like skipping to work (instead of say, skipping work) because you know I'm not one to take a day off. Even with spring fever in full effect, not much tops the joy of bringing new art to you all twice a week. It's true: thinking about today's edition put a spring in my step!

Alex Brown's Untitled (Sad Vader) is UBER internet-famous. I'm perpetually fascinated by the way images and information circulate and proliferate—and in this case, were cause for an interesting copyright discussion when two artists made a sculpture based on Alex's image—but those alone are not what triggered my heart's pitter-patter for this image.

Sure a good controversy stirs interest but that Untitled (Sad Vader) has been blogged and reblogged, again and again, is proof positive that the force is always with us! At least, a little. I'm not really one to geek out over Star Wars legos or to quote Obi-Wan Kenobi but every once in awhile, wouldn't it be great to James-Earl-Jones it under that mask? As Alex writes in his statement, Sad Vader reminds him of when he was a kid and denied his very own Darth Vader mask that, yes indeed, makes that creepy underwater sound (or in this case, the over-head, hot-air sound) of Darth's heavy breathing.

We've all been there—seething in a booth, feeling dark and doomy and suffering from life's little injustices: the ability of parents (or peers!) to not submit to Jedi mind tricks, a lack of a lightsaber or just the looooong wait for french fries at a fast food joint. If only I could summon my super-human powers whenever I wanted! How many other movies have inspired their own wikis... er... wookies? Even saber-swinging Obama (action figure, anyone?) and Lady Gaga are fans.

I'll be back tomorrow with a special benefit edition which features a triple threat of goodness: an artist, a project and an organization, each and every one beloved unto me. (And soon, to you too.)