Liquid Treat

Unraveling the mysteries of life is a tall order for one lifetime, but artist Julianna Parr has made more headway than most with Time Stamp: A Diary of Postcards. This massive art project spans the past decade, when Parr challenged herself to create a homemade postcard each day. The fronts of these mini-artworks feature everything from cartoons and touching drawings to movie stubs and Walgreens prescription stickers. But it's the backs that give the project real emotional weight. You can read musings and laments about cupcakes, death and a crappy New Year's Eve as Parr tries to make sense of life.

by Michelle Taute

You're not truly mysterious unless you drive a Mystery Machine. But if Scooby and Shaggy won't be swinging by to pick you up, we found a shortcut for graphically pimping your ride. It's easy: Just order a few vinyl stick-ons from Infectious Car Art. The wide range of removable designs includes psychedelic swirls, dots and creatures that you can string down the entire side of your car. Or to retain a little anonymity, you can opt for a small accent piece. Installation takes anywhere from 10 minutes to a couple of hours.

by Michelle Taute

Maybe we should all just move to Minneapolis until the election is over. This year’s Poster Offensive, a recurring show where the city’s designers explore peace and democracy uncensored, takes on added weight with the presence of the Republican convention. You can see these sometimes caustic creations in person until the last show ends in mid-October, or just browse the Flickr set. It includes clever shout-outs to Barack Obama, stinging environmental messages and lots of mouth-watering graphics. Don’t miss the One Nation Under Doom poster from Aesthetic Apparatus.

by Michelle Taute

Have you been practicing your satire skills? If not, Minneapolis advertising agency Campbell Mithun has gotten the ball rolling with their Make an Effort campaign. It gently mocks Republicans by giving you some Saturday Night Live-style ideas for welcoming the Grand Old Party to the city. Idea one: Take that flag pin out of your nose and stick it in your suit lapel. Idea two (for those averse to piercing): Break out the white paint and lengthen those parking lot lines for limos. See the whole campaign online for enough laughs to last until November.

by Michelle Taute

Imagine someone fired all the pundits, advisors and talking heads and turned the presidential election over to artists. You’d probably end up with something like The UnConvention. This nonpartisan effort brings together work from legions of creative types while the Republicans are hanging around Minneapolis this week. Even if you didn’t make the trip to the convention, you can enjoy many of these raw, unscripted projects online. Buy an off-the-cuff political yard sign, such as “I’m for preemptive peace,” from My Yard Our Message or view Suzanne Opton’s startling photographs of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

by Michelle Taute

This may be as close as you ever come to art directing Gary Panter. The famed artist—and former set designer for Pee-wee's Playhouse—is offering to create original drawings based on two or three words of your choosing. At $225 for a 6 x 8-in. ink drawing, it's sort of like finding a Picasso in your grandma's attic. Panter has already drawn a series of creepy crawlies based on the word "silverfish" and a Rat Fink take-off from the moniker "stagmaster." Time to break out the thesaurus and the credit card.

by Michelle Taute