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100 artists from around the globe customised postcards from home with some fun results which can be seen HERE. Also as a reminder, the postcard appeal is still open as ever to anyone willing to help.
Links:
Postcard Exhibition
PingMag (source)
As we approach another American presidential election, think back to this memorable cover from the Seattle-based Stranger newspaper by Corianton Hale and Dan Savage. See it large HERE.
Links:
The Stranger
Corianton Hale
Design of Desent (Seattle Pi)
Looking for an anthropomorphic gift for someone special? I'm Smitten might be just what you need. (Photography by Todd Baxter)
"In children’s stories, animals always mean magic. They are wonderful and ordinary. They talk and wear clothes and sometimes they go to school, and so, growing up, surrounded by these sorts of friends, you have the sense that almost anything can happen to you. The older you get, though, the more it seems that all of that magic has gone off, somewhere else maybe. I decided to take my artwork off the wall and out of the frame, and to put these images of everyday mysteries onto cards, and handbags, and t-shirts, so that everyone could have something a little bit pretty and a little bit strange to add to their day."-Ashley Alexander
The following is a selection of typographic animations based on movie scenes. It's interesting to see how they flow, influence and enhance the dialogue.
The CANS Festival, a street party of stencil art, is happening this Bank Holiday weekend in London. It will be in a half-mile stretch of tunnel in Leake Street, London from 10am Saturday 3 May to 10pm Monday 5 May 2008. Admission is free. It is an open event so visitors are encouraged to join in though it is limited to stencils only.
UPDATE: Here's a video of the show...
From Toronto-based Crush, this video for the R.E.M. song "Hollow Man" is a refreshingly low-fi typographic and pictorial collage. See below in low quality Flash video or alternatively in Quicktime HERE.
I first discovered Theo Jansen's work just over a year ago and immediately started correspondence with him. Today, we sat down for what is a key interview in the roster bringing together the worlds of science and art in the most natural and unexpected ways.
Theo Jansen studied physics at the University of Delft, Holland before becoming a painter. After his seven year career in painting, he started work on the UFO project which entailed the creation of an actual flying saucer that flew over Delft in 1980 causing pandemonium in the town and attracting considerable attention to his work.
For more than 10 years now, he has been working on the genesis of new nature in his Strandbeest creations which he envisions becoming completely autonomous, intelligent, wind-powered life forms. As an introduction to this work, here is his presentation on this fascinating project for TED:
This is the first part of dual interviews between the twin founders of Evil Twin Publications.
Stacy Wakefield Forte studied book design at the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated from the Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam in 1994. As well as working with her sister on Evil Twin Publications, Stacy was Design Director at Artforum and Index magazines in New York.
Now living the Catskills of upstate New York, Stacy continues to design books, is a member of Booklyn, and works as a volunteer at hydro-powered WJFF Radio.
What effect did travelling outside the US at a young age have on you? And what were the key things you learned during this period? Charmed by squatting? Was it difficult to return to the home country?
Travelling internationally at any age is fascinating. You discover things you take for granted that other cultures look at completely differently. I loved squatting for the same reason, it expanded my notions of how basic things like housing and group living could and should work. In the netherlands there is a community around squatting that functions extremely well. People in that scene are very community focussed, which is surprising to be around coming from the US where the culture is very individualistic. American underground art and music culture is exciting exactly because of our intense individualism. But the dutch are much better than us at anything community-centered, like squatting and collectively run businesses and projects. In my experience.
You’re currently collaborating with Fritz Haeg, researching earth sheltered homes for a new book. Where did you discover Fritz’s work and how did the collaboration begin? And what drew you to the subject of earth sheltered homes?
I met Fritz in LA through mutual friends and we spontaneously discovered a shared fascination with earth sheltered houses. We both had ideas percolating around them that made more sparks when combined. Earth sheltered houses are so romantic and wonderful. Covering a house with a sod roof so that it blends with the landscape and the home is protected from the elements makes so much sense.
For some reason this style hasn't captured the sustainable-building imagination as much as it should, so I think this project is really important for bringing rooted houses more into the public conciousness. There are issues around building them, it is a little more complicated and expensive to build them than above ground houses, and the right site is very important. but with more attention and discussion brought to them, these things can be addressed and improved on. So our goal is to investigate earth sheltered building, its past and present and potential, and see what we find.
What are the prominent memories and key things you learned while working as design director for Artforum and Index Magazine?
Artforum is an extremely well-run independent magazine with a phenomenal staff. I was really lucky to get to work there. The design of the magazine is necessarily straightforward and subservient to the text and art images, so as much as i loved the working environment and being involved in such a venerable institution as Artforum is, I don't think the designer has a very integral role there. At Index I had the chance to have much more impact. It could be very challenging to work there because it was a small and chaotic operation, but that added to everyone's sense of urgency and personal accountability. The role of design in the magazine was huge, I worked in very close creative collaboration with the publisher, Peter Halley, and we tried out all kinds of ideas that editors would have killed at other magazines.
Usually as a designer, you are working to please a panel of editors, who are by nature word people and not always visually adventurous. I have no problem with that, I think that kind of collaboration between a designer and editor can lead to the most accessible and relevant design. But index was a departure from that because the only person with final say over my work was Peter Halley who is a visual artist, as well as a writer. He was always pushing me to be wilder.
Riceboy Sleeps is an art collaboration between Jónsi Birgisson and Alex Somers comprised of still images, music, video, and storytelling. Releasing a picture book in Iceland in 2006(1000 hand numbered editions), they held their first exhibition at Gallery Turpentine in Reykjavik.
In 2007, a second unnumbered edition of the book was released as well as two singles, All the big trees and Daniel in the Sea. Further exhibitions outside Iceland followed in the US and Australia. They currently have an exhibition at the Agency Gallery in London(10 April-17 May, 2008).
Jónsi Birgisson is also a member and lead singer for Sigur Rós and Alex Somers who has worked on artwork for Sigur Rós is a member of the band Parachutes. As Jónsi and Alex were setting up their exhibition in London as the interview was conducted, each was interviewed separately though the answers are presented here in a compiled format.
Sioux: How did the Moss Stories and Riceboy Sleeps project develop and what were your motivations?
Alex: The project began four years ago and there was never any motivation, we didn't realise that we were starting a real project. It was just the two of us making music and making artwork for fun really.
Jonsi: It just started with me and Alex and we wanted to do something together. Alex is just in the same headspace.
Sioux: Did that start from the videos you've done?
Alex: Actually, we started making music a long time ago and we made lots of songs and we were recording and stuff and then at some point since we both did videos on our own, we decided it would be fun to make videos for some of our songs and that's how it began and then Jonsi and I moved in together so we began drawing and painting a lot together.
Sioux: What would you say are the key differences in your musical work with Riceboy Sleeps as opposed to your creations with Sigur Ros and Parachutes?
Alex: It's quite similar. We use the same instruments, same microphones. I think the process is quite similar except Parachutes is Scott and I, and Riceboy is Jonsi and I. I think working with Jonsi, everything is much more brave and spontaneous and I think with Parachutes we're not as brave as Jonsi, he's so brave in trying and going for things. And sometimes I forget that if I'm not working with him . They're quite similar.
Jonsi: Yeah, just different. Me and Alex work differently. Riceboy is more like playing with sounds.
Alex: It's more of a feeling and atmosphere we're trying to create than a specific message. We're never really aware of trying to tell people something, we're more interested in having people feel something so it's just a really good feeling and something we've both been really attracted to before we even met eachother. It's comfortable, it feels like things have soul. Before we met, we were both collecting old photographs and old books and didn't really know why, we just both really like them. Then when we started making artwork, it just got incorporated into our work."...when I met Jonsi, I was really, really poor and I was just living off of rice mostly..."
Otake Shigeo has some interesting work on his website, Secrets of Plant Worms House; a touch of Neo Rauch and Mark Ryden with a Japanese twist. From what I gather from the site, his imagery is inspired by the natural world ranging from insects and topography to mushrooms. His set of tarot cards is quite nice as well.
Links:
Secrets of Plant Worms House
SOURCE: Pink Tentacle
(all images copyright Otake Shigeo)
Living and working in Reykjavik, Gabríela Fríðriksdóttir is yet another Icelandic artist that has caught my attention.
Gabriela graduated from the Icelandic College of Art & Crafts in 1997. She works in a variety of media including sculpture, drawing, media, sound, and music. Creating her own mythology, exploring borders of dream and reality, she has quickly become a prominent figure in the Icelandic art world. In 2005, she was Iceland's representative at the Venice Biennale.
Links:
Gabriela.is
Gabriela (POL Oxygen)
Gabriela (Unit - Bjork.com)
Gabríela Friðriksdóttir - Versations Tetralogia (cia.is)
Gabríela Friðriksdóttir at Venice Biennial (cia.is)
Salt of the Earth (cia.is)
In her upcoming book ABC3D(her first to be published in the UK or US), Marion Bataille bends perception from the lenticular cover to the diverse visual tricks within.
Graduating from Ecole Supérieure des Arts Graphiques de Paris, she is a multi-skilled artist, illustrator, costume designer, photographer, graphic designer and typographer. In her native France, she has written and illustrated Bruits (Sounds) and Livre de Lettres, the original version of ABC3D. In addition, she has illustrated Les Yeux Qui Chantent by Alex Cousseau, and La poésie surréaliste.
The clip below is an introduction to ABC3D. The book will be released in Autumn this year (2008) and is available for pre-order on Amazon.
Two new treats for fans of Bjork: the video for Wanderlust, the fourth track from her album Volta and a free remix of her album Post. The video has been created by Encyclopedia Pictura and the remix album is from Stereogum and is titled Enjoyed: A Tribute to Bjork's Post.
The video for Wanderlust has been gestating for the last 9 months with Encyclopedia Pictura who has been responsible for some unique creations in the last few years. Finally born, the video which can be viewed in 3D or 2D is a delicious blend of organic elements and ingenious craft which is fertile with textures, ideas, and feelings.
Below is the full, flash video for Wanderlust. Alternatively, the high resolution Quicktime version is available HERE on the Encyclopedia Pictura site though it is quite slow at the moment due to demand.
Stumble it!
Stumble it!
