FIBERS

Moving along.

2010-06-11T22:51:00.000-06:00

this blog has moved. it exists at wordpress.

F News

2010-05-04T10:33:00.000-06:00

http://fnewsmagazine.com/wp/2010/04/left-right-left/

The Wisdom of the Crowd

2010-04-07T10:23:00.000-06:00

(excerpt from an article for my Fnews class)

Not three years ago, the term ‘Wikipedia’ was a classroom taboo.

Often associated with notions of unreliability or misinformation, this web-based, collaborative encyclopedia project was every research paper’s worst enemy. But while some aspects of Wikipedia-based data remain questionable, it has become a notable and information tool. According to its own statistics, Wikipedia hosts over 3 million articles in English and an additional 6 million in over 250 additional languages. Since January it has attracted nearly 68 million visitors monthly. In addition to the huge amount of people reading Wikipedia, there is also an enormous group collectively contributing to it – more than 91,000 active contributors adding, subtracting, and editing content.

Noam Cohen is an Internet and Society columnist for the New York Times. Since 2006, he has chronicled the rise of Wikipedia as an encyclopedic source. “The staggering growth of Wikipedia has been read on many levels: for some, it represents the rise of the amateur at the expense of the professional… for others, it is about the power of the Internet to join people in voluntary enterprises for the common good… and on a third hand Wikipedia is credited with being the most powerful engine in promoting free culture.”

With so many people, from so many backgrounds and knowledge bases tapping into this burgeoning online resource, the key question surfaces: How can it be reliable? To understand its reliability, one must examine the process of contributing and editing content.

Editing and creating new pages is terribly simple. After creating a username and password, the user is free to scour Wikipedia’s endless landscape, making changes as they please. Additionally, users can also view a page’s history – a comprehensive list of every change that has been made for that particular entry. In its About section, Wikipedia states quite frankly that while older articles are more “comprehensive and balanced,” newer articles are more likely to carry misinformation.

So if a contributor can log in and post, say, “the steps for weaving a lanyard” under the definition of “String Theory,” it’s no wonder a Wikipedia source is the demise of any serious dissertation. While it may have no place in a formal works cited. Wikipedia can still be a good source of basic information when used properly. For one, many contributors provide references and citations. When the credibility of Wikipedia’s information becomes absolutely necessary, a user can easily follow in-text links to external sources from where the info originated. Additionally, Wikipedia will also provide notices on articles that are either lacking in source material or contain biased, non-objective information. When information is added to a page without a source, a friendly “citation need” link will appear, so other contributor can either add a data source or edit the information further.

As a test, I created a login and entered “hip hip hooray” randomly into the text of Wikipedia’s philosophy page. Not two hours later I checked the page and my little “insertion” had been removed. I received one message from Wikipedia about including sources with my entries and another message from a fellow contributor, “Hi! I hope you don't mind, but I reverted the changes you made to the article on philosophy. D15724C710N (talk • contribs) 17:44, 31 March 2010 (UTC.)”

So while someone may have been briefly stumped on: “Metaphysics is the study of the nature hip hip hooray of being and the world.” The error was corrected in a matter of hours. Not too shabby. The conclusion – when looking for basic overview information on a term, topic or person, Wikipedia is a good place to start. It also, provides links to all related in-text topics – the philosophy page discussed people and terms such as post-structuralism or Soren Kirkegaard, these items lead to their own pages so the user can delve further into aspects of each topic and how they coexist together. Wikipedia almost exists as a collective world-schema – rather than simply isolating and defining a concept, it also contextualizes it with all other related material.

This consensual way of organizing data also makes an interesting argument for the democracy of information. Piotr Konieczny, author of Governance, Organization, and Democracy on the Internet: The Iron Law and the Evolution of Wikipedia, is also one of Wikipedia’s leading contributors. In his essay he says, “Wikipedia’s policy pages are no different from its encyclopedic articles: they can be edited and changed by any editor, reflecting either ‘‘a consensus’’ among them, ‘‘a slow evolution of convention and common practice eventually codified as a policy.’”

Wikipedia is one of the few systems that counteract the information flow in our current society. Where data typically travels from point A (an “authoritative” media-based source such as the news, a magazine article, a review or any other “informational” material) to point B (the consumer, us, or the “user”) Wikipedia completely alters this formula. It becomes point B to point B or AB to AB. The movement of information is no longer linear – it is a constant back and forth in a way that is much more democratic, anarchic even. The source of information is no longer the individual, rather it is the collective – two heads are potentially better than one. 91,000 heads? Even better. “It is no accident that the wikis allow people to communicate more effectively, democratize decision making, and reduce impact of oligarchies. They were designed from the bottom up with the very purpose of improving collaboration between masses, and hence their structure—their ‘‘code’’—affects the behavior of agents—the individual ‘‘wikipedians’’— influencing the creation of rules and norms,” Says Konieczny in his article.

So in addition to being constantly scrutinized, Wikipedia’s facts come from potentially the largest knowledge base in the world – the populace itself. In a survey of 40 students (age 18 – 25), the highest percentage, 20%, use Wikipedia everyday. 23 of the 40 use it 3 or more times a week – that’s 58%. While it may not be showing up in bibliographies, many students use Wikipedia as a good starting point in their research. Many even use it for entertainment. While taking the survey one student asked, “Have you ever played the Wikipedia game?”
I told him no.
“Yeah it’s where you choose two unrelated topics, say scuba diving and cupcakes. The person who can get from one to the other the fastest, using Wikipedia in-text links and related topics wins.”

Talk about educational fun. Regardless of why you may use it Wikipedia isn’t going anywhere and although it can be argued that there is no true objectivity, the ‘consensus’ style in which it manages information may be our closest solution yet.

Let It Enfold You

2010-03-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

Charles Bukowski

either peace or happiness,
let it enfold you

when i was a young man
I felt these things were
dumb,unsophisticated.
I had bad blood,a twisted
mind, a pecarious
upbringing.

I was hard as granite,I
leered at the
sun.
I trusted no man and
especially no
woman.

I was living a hell in
small rooms, I broke
things, smashed things,
walked through glass,
cursed.
I challenged everything,
was continually being
evicted,jailed,in and
out of fights,in and aout
of my mind.
women were something
to screw and rail
at,i had no male
freinds,

I changed jobs and
cities,I hated holidays,
babies,history,
newspapers, museums,
grandmothers,
marriage, movies,
spiders, garbagemen,
english accents,spain,
france,italy,walnuts and
the color
orange.
algebra angred me,
opera sickened me,
charlie chaplin was a
fake
and flowers were for
pansies.

peace an happiness to me
were signs of
inferiority,
tenants of the weak
an
addled
mind.

but as I went on with
my alley fights,
my suicidal years,
my passage through
any number of
women-it gradually
began to occur to
me
that I wasn't diffrent

from the
others, I was the same,

they were all fulsome
with hatred,
glossed over with petty
greivances,
the men I fought in
alleys had hearts of stone.
everybody was nudging,
inching, cheating for
some insignificant
advantage,
the lie was the
weapon and the
plot was
emptey,
darkness was the
dictator.

cautiously, I allowed
myself to feel good
at times.
I found moments of
peace in cheap
rooms
just staring at the
knobs of some
dresser
or listening to the
rain in the
dark.
the less i needed
the better i
felt.

maybe the other life had worn me
down.
I no longer found
glamour
in topping somebody
in conversation.
or in mounting the
body of some poor
drunken female
whose life had
slipped away into
sorrow.

I could never accept
life as it was,
i could never gobble
down all its
poisons
but there were parts,
tenous magic parts
open for the
asking.

I re formulated
I don't know when,
date,time,all
that
but the change
occured.
something in me
relaxed, smoothed
out.
i no longer had to
prove that i was a
man,

I did'nt have to prove
anything.

I began to see things:
coffe cups lined up
behind a counter in a
cafe.
or a dog walking along
a sidewalk.
or the way the mouse
on my dresser top
stopped there
with its body,
its ears,
its nose,
it was fixed,
a bit of life
caught within itself
and its eyes looked
at me
and they were
beautiful.
then- it was
gone.

I began to feel good,
I began to feel good
in the worst situations
and there were plenty
of those.
like say, the boss
behind his desk,
he is going to have
to fire me.

I've missed too many
days.
he is dressed in a
suit, necktie, glasses,
he says, "i am going
to have to let you go"

"it's all right" i tell
him.

He must do what he
must do, he has a
wife, a house, children.
expenses, most probably
a girlfreind.

I am sorry for him
he is caught.

I walk onto the blazing
sunshine.
the whole day is
mine
temporailiy,
anyhow.

(the whole world is at the
throat of the world,
everybody feels angry,
short-changed, cheated,
everybody is despondent,
dissillusioned)

I welcomed shots of
peace, tattered shards of
happiness.

I embraced that stuff
like the hottest number,
like high heels,breasts,
singing,the
works.

(dont get me wrong,
there is such a thing as cockeyed optimism
that overlooks all
basic problems justr for
the sake of
itself-
this is a sheild and a
sickness.)

The knife got near my
throat again,
I almost turned on the
gas
again
but when the good
moments arrived
again
I did'nt fight them off
like an alley
adversary.
I let them take me,
i luxuriated in them,
I bade them welcome
home.
I even looked into
the mirror
once having thought
myself to be
ugly,
I now liked what
I saw,almost
handsome,yes,
a bit ripped and
ragged,
scares,lumps,
odd turns,
but all in all,
not too bad,
almost handsome,
better at least than
some of those movie
star faces
like the cheeks of
a babys
butt.

and finally I discovered
real feelings fo
others,
unhearleded,
like latley,
like this morning,
as I was leaving,
for the track,
i saw my wif in bed,
just the
shape of
her head there
(not forgetting
centuries of the living
and the dead and
the dying,
the pyarimids,
Mozart dead
but his music still
there in the
room, weeds growing,
the earth turning,
the toteboard waiting for
me)
I saw the shape of my
wife's head,
she so still,
i ached for her life,
just being there
under the
covers.

i kissed her in the,
forehead,
got down the stairway,
got outside,
got into my marvelous
car,
fixed the seatbelt,
backed out the
drive.
feeling warm to
the fingertips,
down to my
foot on the gas
pedal,
I entered the world
once
more,
drove down the
hill
past the houses
full and emptey
of
people,
i saw the mailman,
honked,
he waved
back
at me.

It's cool to be green. Too cool

2010-03-03T09:47:00.002-07:00

(newsarticle excerpt)

“We keep all the plastic bags over here under the sink.” She opened the cabinet and an inexorable wave of Type 2 high-density polyethylene came cascading onto the floor.

“My god, what are you doing with all of these?”

“It’s okay, I’ll recycle them. Eventually.”

A cupboard full of old grocery bags is nothing unusual, whether your in SAIC’s dorms, Chicago’s neighborhoods, or anywhere else in the country. What is unusual, however, is the way we have come to regard the environment, and the ways we think we are protecting it.

Enter, the Green Movement. By now, green has become brand. It has been repackaged and sold back to us so many times we hardly even notice it. Earth-friendly products are bought without so much as a second thought, and recycling is not as environmentally avent-garde as it once was.

There was once a time when an individual with his or her own private recycle bin was dubbed “hippie” or “tree-hugger.” Now, those friendly blue bins have become a standard public service, and even now, SAIC is in the throes of RecycleMania!

The problem is that “being green” has become well, easy. “I choose the green products, and recycle my plastic, therefore I’m doing my part.”

This is where delusion comes in.

In this day and age, ‘eco-friendly’ is a label that associates business with compassion. Just about every establishment recycles in one way or another – some restaurants, like Sultan’s Market in the Wicker Park area, even go as far as to compost any food waste that is generated.

Cause to worry exists in the fact that “recycle” (in our cultural context) has become synonymous with, say, Google — it’s become so widely accepted, consumed, and digested — we forgot why it all started in the first place. Like a logo, the term recycle has almost morphed into a newspeak phrase, lodged into our schema with associations of earth-friendliness, love, trees – maybe even a smiley face here and there.

To get at the essence of recycling, we must remember why it started. Just as Google sought “to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful,” recycling began as a way to solve one of the world’s many problems:

Waste. Lots of it. American style.

According to recent figures by the EPA, we are still dumping about 4.6 pounds per person, per day. Half of that ends up in landfills or incinerators. The other half (recyclable materials) is gallantly reused so we can continue to get our fix of those disposable plastic products we love.

This brings two problems to mind. Could recycling potentially prolong American dependency on disposable, petroleum based goods? We are recycling those plastic forks simply so we can give them a second life. And all those plastic bags that accumulate under our sinks are stamped with cute little “recycle me!” logos – yeah, recycle me so I can become another plastic bag, destined for the landfill.

To concede, at least we aren’t relying on new material to create more of those plastic baggies. But the larger problem is the issue of dependency on disposables. We’ve created an environmental stalemate.

The second issue is that recycling is often used as an excuse. “It’s okay that the cashier at Jewel double-bagged $150 dollars worth of groceries. I will just recycle all 20 of those bags.” Bottom line: we shouldn’t need them in the first place.

What we need is a way to phase out of dispose-mode. We need a method that kills the “Use now, recycle later” mindset, and reduces the need for new materials. Luckily, some clever folks are one step ahead.

Welcome, friends to the world of Zero-Waste (or, Pre-cycling, if you want to get clever.) In this world there, are no plastic grocery bags, forks, spoons, cups, plates, containers, hats, cozies, napkins, towels, or anything else. In this world, each person has a mug, some silver wear, and a cloth grocery bag. When they go to Cosi for lunch, they give the barista their travel mug for coffee, use their own silverware, and (if you’re really fancy) a cloth napkin.

Pre-cycling would almost eliminate the need to recycle at all. By selecting products with very little packaging, we would reduce waste production and save money. Imagine not buying any more paper towels, paper napkins, paper plates, or plastic cutlery. Wiping up a spill with a cloth towel? Now that’s eco-friendly.

These propositions may sound a bit outlandish, but the times are changing. Currently, Zero-Waste is already in implementation in many areas such as Yellowstone National Park and the town of Nantucket in Massachusetts. According to the Leslie Kaufman of The New York Times, “An antigarbage strategy known as “zero waste” is moving from the fringes to the mainstream, taking hold in school cafeterias, national parks, restaurants, stadiums and corporations.” And restaurants that still employ disposable utensils have switched over to plant-based plastics that dissolve in a matter of minutes when heated.

Bottom line, recycling is essentially a market. Recyclable materials are stored by contractors and sold to buyers – buyers that now dwindle due to the world’s recent economic downturn. Storehouses are overflowing with waste waiting to be re-used. Recycling is a business, and right now, business is bad. Just take a look at the American economy.

China has been buying the U.S.’ recyclable waste for decades, but this has greatly diminished due to its recent economic downturn. In an article for the Guardian about US recycling, Dan Glaister states, “The US exported 11m tonnes of scrap paper to China last year with a value of $11.5bn… The Chinese typically use the paper from the US to make packaging material for the exports they send, typically, back to the US.”

On top of that, one must take into account the oil that is expended every time America ships it re-usable refuse across the Pacific Ocean. Cliff Kuang is a writer for Wired and Popular Science, in his article “The Total Package,” he states, “Every year, the shipping industry—including trucking, traveling on container ships, and air freight—emits six percent of the world’s greenhouse gases, including 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide, twice as much as commercial aviation.”

SAIC recycles through Allied Waste Services, a company that collects, sorts, and compacts recyclables locally in 1 of 8 Chicago recycling centers. Kevin Kruis, the Recycling & Special Events Manager of Allied Waste Chicago, says that most commercial and residential recyclables are taken to an Allied sorting center on 43rd and Racine. Once sorted, the bales of ‘commodity’ are shipped nationwide and overseas for reuse.

This, combined with the petroleum we continue to circulate into our daily lives through the use of disposable plastic conveniences amounts to an awful lot for the planet to handle – all in the name of reuse.

So yes. Recycle all those baggies hiding beneath your sink. Recycle anything that can be recycled for that matter. The hook: next time you’re out – grocery shopping, eating out, or doing anything else that involves disposable waste – pass. Turn it down, or at least reduce it.

To recycle should be a last resort, not an excuse for excess consumption. The planet (and your wallet) will thank you.

Frances Stark

2010-02-09T21:03:00.003-07:00

Perhaps not surprisingly, the recurrent motifs of Stark’s work evoke writing and the activities that often accompany it—from cutting, copying, repeating, and citing to the quotidian realities of sitting at a desk and reading the mail—as do her materials: carbon paper and rice paper, ink, and linen tape. Fragments of language, from blocks of repeated typewritten letters to passages by writers including Emily Dickinson, Henry Miller, and Robert Musil, are arranged on white paper fields in both abstract patterns and recognizable forms including furniture, flowers, and animals. In and In (2005) features dozens of strips of junk mail spliced together and “stacked” in two zigzagging towers as if piled atop a desk: it is a conflation of art space and work space whose subtle allusion to the increasing corporatism of the art world is tempered by its intricate polychromatic delicacy.

2008 WHITNEY BIENNIAL

HAHA

2010-02-09T20:52:00.002-07:00

2010-02-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

See you next year!

2010-02-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

Around the world in 80 documentaries -- free:
http://current.com/1q9hs4c

Oh for the love of God.

2010-02-09T20:25:00.002-07:00

Really?

Taylor is a familiar figure at the FDA. He began his career as a staff attorney at the agency in 1976. Then he worked for a decade at King & Spaulding, which represented Monsanto Corp., the agribusiness giant that developed genetically engineered corn, soybeans and bovine growth hormone.

Obama Appoints Monsanto Man as FDA Food Safety Czar // Current

In case you need a refresher on the Monsanto Corporation:

Monsanto Chemical company founded and incorporated the town of Sauget, Illinois, to avoid taxation from East Saint Louis. For many years the company employed the city's people and polluted its environment while giving them no tax revenue in return, even during the city's decline throughout the latter half of the 20th century.

As of May 2008, Monsanto is currently engaged in a campaign to prohibit dairies which do not inject their cows with artificial bovine growth hormone from advertising this fact on their milk cartons.

Monsanto is accused of encouraging residents of Anniston, Alabama to use soil known by the company to be contaminated with PCBs as topsoil

Monsanto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marvelous. It seems the FDA, USDA, the EPA, and all our corporate friends have their hands deep into each other's pockets. Have a fun time at the grocery store.

Art, Obsolescence, and the Endangered Analog Species

2010-02-05T17:27:00.001-07:00

A piece for my fNews class.

The film “Obselidia,” recently chosen as recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Award at the 2010 Sundance film festival, is written and directed by Diane Bell. It follows the life of George, a lonely, “old-fashioned,” librarian with one goal: to create an encyclopedia of all things obsolete. In addition to a charming cast and beautiful score (composed by Liam Howe using only obsolete instruments), “Obselidia” identifies recurrent, and often relevant themes in both our society and the SAIC psyche.

As the self-proclaimed “last encyclopedia salesman on Earth,” George (played by Michael Piccirilli) finds himself in a mental state that is both cynical and fatalistic. While he finds extreme joy in simple interactions (say, a cluster of ladybugs on his hand) he also believes the world around him is quickly pushing valuable people, places, and things into a forgotten past. “The notion of perfection is platonic trick to make us feel inadequate,” he claims. And perhaps he is right.

For artists and art students, feelings of both insecurity and inadequacy often lead to a wild hunt – a quest for that-which-is-flawless. We deal with this feeling incessantly. Am I done? Should I change this? That? What we don’t realize, and what perhaps George means, is that the idea perfection is fleeting, even nonexistent, in a transitory world.

Later in the film, George befriends Sophie, a projectionist at a silent movie theater and they venture to Death Valley to visit an author-turned-hermit named Lewis (Frank Hoyt Taylor.) At this point, Bell’s film becomes subtly environmental. While Lewis’ perspective offers a pragmatic, albeit dark evaluation of humanity’s overconsumption of natural capital, his attitude is that of reserved contentment. His character is much like that of an Edward Abbey / Nathaniel Hawthorne hybrid – living in the desert, tending to his bees, blissful.

In addition, the character Sophie (played by Gaynor Howe) balances the attitude of the film with her wildly optimistic paradigm. “Nothing is obsolete as long as you love it.” Though her dialogue is clichéd at times, she effectively salvages the audience from total, apocalyptic depression. Sophie’s career and hobby have been eroded by changing times; yet rather than turning bitter or hermetic, she drives a Mini, texts on her iPhone, and uses a computer rather than a typewriter.

Sophie embraces the convenience of the modern world, and still remains connected to the roots of her analog past. She has a strong faith in humanity that counteracts George’s platform – that if everything is temporary, why risk involvement?

While there is much discourse (especially in the art world) regarding the ephemerality of human interaction and possession, this idea can also be applied on a larger scope. If each innovation, or idea loses meaning faster and faster, are we telescopically advancing towards an end that is bereft of all meaning?

Like I said, a tad fatalistic.

Many arguments can be made about the transient way in which society functions. In the early 19th century, a group of discontented British textile artisans, known as Luddites, set about destroying mechanized looms, in rebellion against the industrial revolution. 100 years later, Chaplin released “Modern Times,” a representation of people all as “cogs” in a giant, industrial machine. It seems this idea is nothing new.

Instead of being written in stone, our postmodern history will perhaps be written in stucco. Expiration dates necessitate future consumption, and at the speed technology advances, the iPad will look like TI-83 graphing calculator in a matter of years. The trajectories of planned obsolescence are all around us. It’s beginning to look as if an encyclopedia of the obsolete would just include, well, everything.

To most SAIC students, the concept of ephemerality is pervasive. While some suck at the teat of the ‘trend,’ or others thrive on ideas of spontaneous absurdity, we are constantly reminded that things tend to be short-lived.

Some believe that technology’s impact on the art world has been overall, advantageous. Cody Tumblin is enrolled in the VisCom Department as part of his first year program. When asked about the computer, he says, “It used to be you had to get your name out [in public,] but now a graphic designer has to have a huge Internet presence as well. I mean, your portfolio’s online, people find you online, and clients find you online… Social networking’s becoming key. You couldn’t survive in the design world without having that relationship with the computer. Which is kind of a shame. But I don’t mind it, I like it, it helps me connect to more people.”

Some would even argue that our mass-produced, consumer economy requires fast-paced technological advance to survive. But whether we worship it, or despise it, artists are always products of it in some way. There is always level of assimilation into our culture, even if you are the one standing on a soapbox in dissent. “Everything thrives off the media. So it’s necessary for America, but it’s not necessarily helping it,” says Tumblin. I think most would agree.

Bell indicates through characters like Lewis that times, indeed, are changing. So rather than crawl into a hole somewhere, perhaps we should learn to situate ourselves accordingly to this new environment. Though “Obselidia” is considered by some to be a story about love, it is also a powerful commentary on the paradigms in our postmodern world.

Maybe what Lewis points to is that we shouldn’t just throw our hands in the air, rather, we should find our source of rapture. The late American mythologist Joseph Campbell said memorably, “If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.”

So whether you’re a neo-luddite, an Apple advocate, an anarchist, a situationist, a Marxist, an activist, or a disgruntled art student that sits on a Target futon and grumbles about anti-consumerism and impending doom, the message is clear. Find what you love – a person, place, object, idea – and scratch it up a bit. Make it imperfect so it’ll last. And then share the passion you have for it in the best way possible.

After all ‘obsolete,’ to quote Merriam-Webster, means, “No longer in use.” Well. If you’re still using, loving, or living something out, then that definition just doesn’t seem to apply, now, does it?

Weird?

2010-01-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

This was grand.

2010-01-25T00:04:00.003-07:00

"The notion of perfection is a platonic trick to make us feel inadequate."

Saw Obselidia as part of Sundance yesterday. Tip of the hat.

Colors! Hoorah!

2010-01-24T23:46:00.002-07:00

Get 'em while they're hot.

Because we've all had to face this.

2010-01-24T14:11:00.003-07:00

32 minutes of your time.

2010-01-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

If you can watch 30 minutes of Jersey Shore, you can watch this. The added bonus is a little brain activity.
Listen up.

The Business of Climate Change Conference 2009 Jeff Rubin, the former Chief Economist of CIBC World Markets and the author of Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller built his reputation as one of Canada’s top economists based on a number of successful predictions including the housing bust of the early 90s and the rise of oil prices. In his recent book, Mr. Rubin predicts $225 per barrel oil by 2012 and with it the end of globalization, a movement towards local sourcing and a need for massive scaling up of energy efficiency.

Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters | Journal of the mental environment

Up from below!

2010-01-22T11:14:00.004-07:00

This is how music videos should be.
Edward Sharpe.

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros "KISSES OVER BABYLON" from Edward Sharpe on Vimeo.

Cause I just can't get enough..

2010-01-22T10:49:00.002-07:00

Beach House "Silver Soul" from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Edgar

2010-01-21T21:28:00.001-07:00

Tino Sehgal

2010-01-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

Mr. Sehgal, 31, who lives in Berlin, creates what he calls “staged situations”: interactive experiences that may not even initially declare themselves as works of art...

Part of the point is to free art from the glut of material overproduction. But Mr. Sehgal, unlike many performance artists, is not protesting the art market itself. His work is specifically conceived to function within the art world’s conventions: it is lent and exhibited, bought and sold. It is sold, in fact — now that Mr. Sehgal is becoming a star in Europe — for five-figure sums. The only stipulation is that his pieces cannot involve the transformation of any material, in any way. No written instructions, no bill of sale (purchases are conducted orally, in the presence of a notary), no catalogs and (to the dismay of photo editors in the art press) no pictures...

Mr. Sehgal’s work seems to revel in its own contradictions. It is ephemeral yet fixed; intangible yet expensive, because part of his concept is that his interpreters be fairly paid. It is created with extreme, even obsessive rigor, yet it is subject to change, as the only record exists in the minds of those who see it.

Tino Sehgal - Art - New York Times

Oh Yoko

2010-01-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

YOKO ONO CUT PIECE
by TECHNOLOGOS

Ono was an explorer of conceptual art and performance art. An example of her performance art, is "Cut Piece" (this instance of performance art is also known as a happening), performed in 1964 at the Sogetsu Art Center in Tokyo. Cut Piece had one destructive verb as its instruction: “Cut.” Ono executed the performance in Tokyo by walking on stage and casually kneeling on the floor in a draped garment. Audience members were requested to come on stage and begin cutting until she was naked. Cut Piece was one of Ono’s many opportunities to outwardly communicate her internal suffering through her art. Ono had originally been exposed to Jean-Paul Sartre’s theories of existentialism in college, and in order to appease her own human suffering, Ono enlisted her viewers to complete her works of art in order to complete her identity as well. Besides a commentary on identity, Cut Piece was a commentary on the need for social unity and love. It was also a piece that touched on issues of gender and sexism as well as the greater, universal affliction of human suffering and loneliness.

Yoko Ono - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"For everyone, everything. For us, nothing."

2010-01-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

Words.

2010-01-20T22:02:00.002-07:00

from "Wandering"
by Hermann Hesse,
translated
by James Wright

Rule:

2010-01-18T10:52:00.003-07:00

Unsustainable systems cannot be sustained. The American expansionist paradigm and why we could all use a little mindshift.

In the contemporary United States, we are trapped in a similar delusion. We are told that it is “realistic” to yield to the absurd idea that the systems we live in are the only systems possible or acceptable based on the fact that some people like them and wish them to continue. But what if our current level of first world consumption is exhausting the ecological basis for life? Too bad. The only “realistic” options are those that view this lifestyle as nonnegotiable. What if real democracy is not possible in a nation-state with 300 million people? Too bad. The only “realistic” options are those that view this way of organizing a polity as immutable. What if the hierarchies our lives are based on are producing extreme material deprivation for the oppressed and dull misery among the privileged? Too bad. The only “realistic” options are those that view hierarchy as inevitable.

The Delusion Revolution | Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters

(photos courtesy of AdBusters)

Gettin' Tuff

2010-01-18T10:11:00.001-07:00

King Tuff, that is. Been listening to this little diddy on repeat.
Download here, at Gorilla vs. Bear.

Alpenglow Designs

2010-01-06T22:12:00.003-07:00

Made by yours truly. Stop by the new store, more things to come...

My kinda' mink

2010-01-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Foks Collection by Celapiu.

Something to aspire to.

2010-01-04T10:37:00.001-07:00

String gardens. There's nothing more local than your living room.

Most communities grow about 1% of their food locally – imagine if we transformed that to 10%. The pushback from industrialized agriculture means we’re doing something right.

Worldchanging: Bright Green: Will Allen and the Urban Farming Revolution

Michael Johansson

2010-01-03T11:46:00.001-07:00

One of those things you WISH you'd thought of. Freakin genius.
Here's his portfolio.

"Johansson was born in Trollhättan 1975, took his MA at the Art Academy in Malmö 2005, where he still lives and works. In his playful installations and sculptures Michael Johansson puts the qualities from daily life objects in opposition to their field of application. By repetition, displacement of scale, and new function, he questions the receivers interpretations of the unique."
-- Abducted by Design

That new Beach House jam

2010-01-02T16:39:00.005-07:00

is swell. Can't wait for Teen Dream, January 26.
Download "Norway" here, legally and free.

Jimmie

2010-01-01T12:19:00.004-07:00

"Durham was born in Washington, Arkansas and became active in theatre, performance and literature related to the US civil rights movement in the 1960s. His first solo exhibition as a visual artist was in Austin, Texas in 1965. Durham moved to Geneva, Switzerland in 1968. He studied at L'École des Beaux-Arts, Geneva until being drawn back to the US in 1973 through his involvement with the American Indian Movement (AIM). From 1973 until 1980 Durham worked as a political organizer with AIM, becoming a member of the movement’s Central Council. He also served as director of the International Indian Treaty Council and representative to the United Nations. When AIM fragmented at the end of the 1970s Durham, who was then living in New York City, returned his attention to art, creating sculptures that radically challenged conventional representations of North American Indians. He exhibited and published essays frequently and from 1981 to 1983 he was the director of the Foundation for the Community of Artists in New York. In 1983 West End Press published Columbus Day, a book of his poems and in 1988 his poetry was also included in Harper’s Anthology of 20th Century Native American Poetry."

wikipedia.

Around mountain town

2009-12-28T10:38:00.002-07:00

The Endangered Analog Species.

2009-12-25T19:54:00.001-07:00

Polanoid, an online flickr-esque community of polaroid photographers hosts a lot of interesting projects.

The current one, Unmade Beds (based off the new independant film) is a collection of polaroids that exhibit "the remains of *your* passionate, eggziting, boring, sleepless, sweat-soaked nights."

BUT. That project aside, one of my favorites was the Endangered Analog Species Project:

"Let this project be a tribute to all those analog goodies whose right to exist is endangered by their digital successors - vinyl records and their players, analog phone booths, dial plates, typewriters, Scopitones, Gummiringerln, the Rodox magazine, ... you name it, you shoot it, we celebrate it!"

For all you visual learners..

2009-12-25T10:40:00.001-07:00

New York City residents waste 270,000 pounds of food every single day. Want to know what that looks like?
See more videos like these here on the AdBusters blog.

Need this.

2009-12-24T17:18:00.002-07:00

Ommwriter from Herraiz Soto on Vimeo.

Egg noggery and a winter solstice soirée.

2009-12-22T12:39:00.002-07:00

Getting the Berry gang together. I was a lot happier than this picture suggests.

recycle.

2009-12-20T22:56:00.000-07:00

Found as is.

HA!

2009-12-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

100 days, 100 dances, 100 locations, 100 songs. This just makes me ridiculously happy.

BOOMBOX from Ely Kim on Vimeo.

Chew Lips

2009-12-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

Download free single.

CHEW LiPS - "SOLO"

CHEW LiPS | MySpace Music Videos

Coming to Chicagooo

2009-12-17T15:12:00.002-07:00

Yeasayer. April 29th, I'm marking the calendar. Download new single here.

Matias Mendoza

2009-12-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

flickr sketches.

Climate time, y'all.

2009-12-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

Greg Patillo

2009-12-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

Just add puppies

2009-12-06T19:54:00.001-07:00

I've officially reached the conclusion that adding puppies to anything makes it ten times better.

Even when they pee on your shoes. I love you puppy.

Renegade!

2009-12-06T09:34:00.001-07:00

Finds.

2009-12-05T12:09:00.001-07:00

Medicine.

2009-12-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

Food bloggery: my new hobbery.

2009-12-03T18:53:00.002-07:00

Been reading a lot of food blogs lately. When you can't afford cookbooks (or a spice rack?) they are more entertaining than Youtube's top ten (OMG I know.) Raw food's my new obsession -- an example: These vegan chocolate cookies (or fudge babies as they are referred to in the recipe here.) They are actually good for you and they taste like heaven. Yeah, I know.

My friend the acorn squash.

Christmas is coming early!

2009-12-03T15:22:00.003-07:00

Ready mech dot com gives you free toys.
I already printed off that little Siggi Eggertsson number.

And loverly giveaway here.

Other peoples' tidbits.

2009-12-02T12:59:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year.

Liu Bolin.

2009-12-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

Likes to paint hiself.

Neal Cassady

2009-11-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

Wes Anderson Music Movie Moments

2009-11-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

The Who

Elliot Smith

The Kinks

Nico

The Stooges

Charlotte Gainsbourg

2009-11-24T16:18:00.001-07:00

+ Lars von Trier = Antichrist.

+ Beck ="Heaven Can Wait"

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Heaven Can Wait from Charlotte Gainsbourg on Vimeo.

Both have fantastical imagery.

yesh.

2009-11-22T20:35:00.001-07:00

Tallest Man on Earth - The Gardener - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Bowerbirds - La Denigracion - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Mad Beadery..

2009-11-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

by Brokenfab. They do textiles too.

2009-11-15T20:01:00.001-07:00

Autumnal things.. and

2009-11-15T19:19:00.003-07:00

some heavy reading. Literally. I barely made it up the stairs.

This pumpkin was my dinner.

Ladies and gentlemen..

2009-11-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

AJ Fosik.

Lauren Dukoff

2009-11-08T22:58:00.001-07:00

got to follow Devendra Banhart with a camera. If this book wasn't 35$, it would be sitting on my desk right now.

More work

2009-11-08T21:33:00.001-07:00

Sketchbook wallpaper.

Missed Connections.

Giveaway!

2009-11-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

I would do unthinkable things for a magic bullet blender.. free giveaway!

Some Thunder..

2009-11-04T18:34:00.002-07:00

Salt Lake City:) Go see the full movie here.

BEAUVILLE TEASER from team thunder on Vimeo.

Some recent work

2009-10-29T07:37:00.002-06:00

This piece is a conceptual opposition to artist Lari Pittman. It portrays capitalist propaganda and ideas of American homogeneity -- two things Pittman is strongly against. On the other hand, I appropriated his style of decoration and embellishment.

Tactile Painting.

A digital collage illustrating my background and home town, Salt Lake City.

2009-10-28T19:08:00.000-06:00

Want.

2009-10-27T22:38:00.002-06:00

Tree Theory. Made in Chicago.

Ryan Bubnis

2009-10-26T09:43:00.002-06:00

makes beautiful organic illustrations. Good feed for my deep obsession with pattern.

"Ryan Bubnis’ clean yet chaotic style has been described as “urban folk.” Through his paintings, he comments on themes relating to the human condition. Vibrant, abstracted shapes and faces radiate joy and optimism while they float in and out of rich, multi-layered realms."

--RyanBubnis(dot)com

HOLDEN '10

2009-10-25T21:05:00.002-06:00

Does it again. Now officially miss the mountains. Go Look.

The college ramen diet?

2009-10-25T13:01:00.006-06:00

I think not.
I think if I could, I would marry my toaster oven. And oatmeal.

On another note. I've been gathering a lot of useful info from Nick Campbell and his website GreyscaleGorilla. If you spend an ungodly amount of time in photoshop (me), it's a fun time.

You can take this:

and this..

to make somethings like this:

check it out.

iphone polaroids.

2009-10-24T22:02:00.003-06:00

Out of the city and into the farm -- for a day.

2009-10-24T21:55:00.000-06:00

Michelle and I got a chance to get out of the loop and see some autumn scenery today. Best ten dollars ever spent. Apple orchard, pumpkin patch, corn maze... autumn is the greatest. Bottom line.

She wields an x-acto knife like a magic wand

2009-10-18T09:58:00.000-06:00

And by "she," I mean Leigh Salgado.

Irving Penn, you will be missed

2009-10-13T14:36:00.000-06:00

Crafting.

2009-10-11T22:28:00.002-06:00

The other day I was clumsy enough to elbow and Ikea mug full of hot coffee onto the floor. After the mess was assessed and dealt with, I was left with three large pieces of mug that I normally would have tossed into the trash. Those were the old days. In the new days I am reduced to a material-starved art student, and thus, the pieces sat on my window sill for days until I realized what I would do with them.

All I knew was that I was in need of a bedside lamp. So to same myself a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond (aka hell), I decide to take a page out of Jeff Carter's book and use Ikea products in sculpture.

Here is some of his work:

This table is hooked up to a motor that makes it undulate like waves in the ocean. Brilliant.

Here's mine:

Miike Snow

2009-10-08T23:14:00.002-06:00

Kills it. Check his rcrdlbl page for some tasty (free) tidbits.

Bahaha

2009-10-07T18:33:00.000-06:00

Stuff Hipsters Hate.

One hell of a dame

2009-10-07T00:13:00.005-06:00

Djuna Barnes.

Excerpt from "View From The 'L'"

The frail mosaic on her window

Facing starkly toward the street

Is scribbled there by tipsy sparrows—

Etched there with their rocking feet.

Is fashioned too, by every beat

Of shirt and sheet.

Sill her clothing is less risky

Than her body in its prime,

They are chain-stitched and so is she

Chain-stitched to her soul for time.

Ravelling grandly into vice

Dropping crooked into rhyme.

Slipping through the stitch of virtue,

Into crime.

Film?

2009-10-06T23:58:00.000-06:00

Ellen Rogers, a London based fashion photographer is one of the few remnants of the analogue world. Her photos are manipulated exclusively in darkroom process and remain untouched by digital means. Yeah. I know.

Kate Gibb

2009-10-04T07:26:00.000-06:00

Knows how to screen print. Oh, and she has a blog too.

Occurences

2009-10-03T19:18:00.004-06:00

Unicorn Kid. This 17 year old scottish techno phenom made for an interesting time at the Metro. He has a great fuzzy lion hat though.

One of my favorite stops.

Sewing fun.

Francoise Nielly

2009-10-02T06:22:00.003-06:00

I want to eat her paintings. Check her out.

Dig this.

2009-09-30T23:14:00.001-06:00

Siggi Eggertsson

2009-09-21T10:28:00.003-06:00

When I'm in desperate need of a little illustrative inspiration, I always like to check out Big Active. They are an illustration and design firm with a really talented group of people, their blog is always full of tidbits including this flash video of recent works by Siggi Eggertsson -- amazing illustrator extraordinaire. So great. Enjoy.

A Growing Pile of Work from Siggi Eggertsson on Vimeo.

Get your print on.

2009-09-14T19:44:00.007-06:00

I don't care what digital ways you preach, nothing can replace a great screen print. Here are a few people who do it right.

Anne Arden McDonald

2009-09-13T22:13:00.005-06:00

Especially in today's multilayered, multitasked environment, even artists no longer dwell in singular disciplines. Especially here at SAIC it's not about what you specialize in, it's how much you specialize in. We've become a world of dabblers. A prime example of this is Anne Arden McDonald. I was first blown away by her jewelry -- natural and organic forms I found very unique. But then went I went to her site, I realized that she was not a jeweler or a photographer or a sculptor or a talented eye in the world of contemporary installation. She is all these things. And you should see it for herself. There's a reason she'd an out of business cards by the time I stumbled into her booth.

Notebookers unite

2009-09-13T21:53:00.005-06:00

For those known for their incessant need to record in their Moleskine, good news is here. Randl / Chikabird, a handmade clothing and accessory company creates wallets, refillable notebook covers, and screen-printed clothing for everyone. And they have an Etsy store, so geography is no longer an excuse.

About time

2009-09-13T21:46:00.003-06:00

In hopes of remedying my ghost-town of a blog, I am now back on the post train. Finally settled in the city (after what three weeks?) I find it is time to share some of the experiences I've been having and some of the things I've seen.

The highlight of my day today was the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago's Wicker Park. For those who missed, I'll give a short summary (and some great links) to enjoy.

Words

2009-08-05T00:04:00.000-06:00

Norman Brenner said that, "The intermediate stage between socialism and capitalism is alcoholism." For some strange reason this holds truth for me upon reflection of our current societal values. Another statement that holds truth is that the Didgeridoo is an instrument whose splendor often goes unnoticed. Even more splendid is the musician himself. I snapped this when I was riding my bike through park city this weekend for the Kimball Arts Festival. The shells strapped to his legs served as a makeshift percussion ensemble.

-- Post From My iPhone

Dabbling

2009-08-04T23:48:00.000-06:00

Sun time is fun time. So is experimentation with an iPhone camera. Purists call it cheating, I call it my backyard plum tree.

-- Post From My iPhone

Finally.. some art for the art blog

2009-05-07T17:04:00.003-06:00

These last three pieces will hopefully be the end of the Kashmir focus... I got more into oils and washes. I also, had fun loading on the gesso, waiting till it was nearly dry, then scratched the hell out of it for some textural goodies. Enjoy.

A few spring occurences

2009-04-18T20:43:00.009-06:00

The temperatures have finally risen and we all know what that means -- more downtown festivities. Kate and I rambled about town the last few weeks, and stumbled upon quite a few things to do. Not to mention, I enjoyed lurking the conversation of an old english professor (recently laid off and, naturally, emburdened with a darker, more cynical view of life) holler and preach about what would have upset Neitzsche about our current society. Apparently his prana flow was in a terrible state that day. (He said it, not me.) It's amazing the people you stumble on in Nobrow. I highly recommend taking in a deck of cards and listening to the colorful conversations that permeate the place.

Today was Record Store Day at Slowtrain. We mobbed down from Alta just in time for Band of Annuals.

...And the day before (Friday) was a gallery/fashion stroll on Broadway that I stumbled upon, on my way to see "Sin Nombre" (killer, by the way -- or 'modern as hell' as Cassady would put it.) Regardless I found a great pair of subterraneans playing on the street, (the guy on the right strums a washboard as percussion and lefty plays the harmonica/banjo.)

Kayo gallery was a happening spot as well, a real blackdress affair with a gypsy jazz group that reminded me of Pearl Django. Couples were cheektocheek, tangoing right and left. Oh yeah, and the art was cool too.

Saw Bruce Cockburn three days before that, (Tuesday.) Not my artist of choice, but he has a lot to say, and rips on the guitar. I managed to snap this before an authoritative woman with a laminate around her neck shredded my ear about photography in the 'theatuh.' Gotta hand it to Wagner though, the acoustics were great.
..And just a few shots from Liberty park on the first, warm Saturday of the season (God knows, how long ago.) There were some great kites and it gave Greeley (the bear) and chance to practice his social skills.

Tom Thumb?

2009-04-13T23:05:00.008-06:00

There've been a lot of allusions to Tom Thumb lately. What's the deal with this little fellow?

Tom Thumb is a traditional hero in English folklore who is no bigger than his father's thumb.

Tom Thumb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My previous 'Wanderlust' post has a poem in which Rimbaud references him, and so does Dylan. This is one of my favorite tracks from 'Highway 61 Revisited:'

"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"

Noteworthy

2009-04-13T22:48:00.004-06:00

My concentration search has lead to uncover a lot of great photographers. Among them is Steve McCurry. Famous for his work with National Geographic, McCurry is well known for the photo of the girl with green eyes -- taken in Peshawar. Although this photo has become world famous, it is not even close to being his best. Here are a few, but I suggest you visit his website. There are many galleries but its worth your time. He has an entire photo album on the use of light. Feast your eyes, friends.

'A wanderer by trade'

2009-04-11T13:45:00.002-06:00

I watched 'I'm not there' again yesterday and forgot how great it was. It lead me to do a little more digging into a few of Dylan's personas. So as I sit up here at Alta, more content than a hibernating grizzly bear, I thought it would be a good idea to read a little poetry by Arthur Rimbaud. I found a great one called 'My Bohemian Life:'

I went off with my hands in my torn coat pockets;
My overcoat too was becoming ideal;
I traveled beneath the sky, Muse! and I was your vassal;
Oh dear me! what marvelous loves I dreamed of!

My only pair of breeches had a big whole in them.
Stargazing Tom Thumb, I sowed rhymes along my way.
My tavern was at the Sign of the Great Bear.
My stars in the sky rustled softly.

And I listened to them, sitting on the road-sides
On those pleasant September evenings while I felt drops
Of dew on my forehead like vigorous wine;
And while, rhyming among the fantastical shadows,
I plucked like the strings of a lyre the elastics
Of my tattered boots, one foot close to my heart!

My wanderlust is getting out of hand.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Wordplay.

2009-03-29T20:35:00.001-06:00

When you're bored, you should play with your words. People just don't do it enough.

Ocurrences

2009-03-12T13:40:00.007-06:00

Beyond the occasional deja vu, I find we also journey through periods of our life in which something continues to reappear. Sometimes it is an idea, or a person, sometimes it may be a phrase. Regardless of what it is, you stumble upon this serendipitous, inconsequential motif. Some people call them signs, but I prefer not to view it in that way. In "Cat's Cradle" Vonnegut outlined a belief known as Bokononism in which people were interconnected by a karass. The people in your karass were often completely random -- sometimes even your enemies. But they were in your karass because they would play a role in your life, as a stepping stone in your mental or physical journey. This has been happening to me a lot lately and whether you are a Bokonist, superstitious, or of some other religious or philosophical affiliation the recurrence exists all the same. For me it has been a bluebird. And it will not leave me alone. Here are a few of the ways he and I have encountered one another.

I:

Charles Bukowski is most known for his rough and real depictions of American life in his novels. But it was only recently that I was introduced to his poetry. A friend told me I should look at one in particular. It is entitled, "Bluebird."

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?

(courtesy of americanpoems.com)

II.

On my list of current books to read is one entitled "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau, (coincidentally we also read "Civil Disobedience" yesterday in class. Regardless, the name has been on my mind. In a public restroom yesterday, I saw this quote written on a bathroom stall.

"The bluebird carries the sky on his back."

- Henry David Thoreau

III.

In my studio art class I recently worked on a piece that was supposed to conceptualize a Chinese I-Ching hexagram. Mine was called revolution, a concept the Chinese believed was related to the moulting of animals and the changing of the seasons. After a month, I went back to it yesterday, removing it from the wall. It needed something. Over the black silhouette of a bird I had illustrated, I absentmindedly began to doodle over it in pastel. I took the piece home later that day and a friend came over. When he saw it, he said, 'Hey, I like your bluebird.'

Charles Bukowski. Courtesy of Anders Hornstrup via Flickr.

Waking Life

2009-02-26T10:21:00.003-07:00

Recently I've been pursuing films of a particularly creative caliber, specifically, ones that make the mind truly think. "Waking Life" a 2001 animated film by director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused) truly stranded my mind out to sea. But after a lot of consideration, it is safe to to say that although my mind was lost, it was lost in a good place. A remote island, if you will, where suddenly life seems a little more interesting. This movie explores many views about the nature of life itself, in a beautifully animated format that complements its subject matter with perfection.

"I see this as a realistic film about an unreality," Linklater says. "The gestures, the sound, the human expressions all seem real, but this reality is then re-interpreted artistically. It becomes a kind of moving painting."

Animating a Waking Life

Even for those uninterested in the complex and vivid language of this movie. (It delves into ideas of existentialism, nihilism, social Darwinism, and even physics to say a few.) Equally fascinating is the animation itself. Constantly moving and changing in color and style, every scene puts amazing emphasis on the human form and its interaction with its surroundings.

[T]he rotoscope technique – which, in a sense, allows the filmmaker to trace over the photographic image - complements the ambiguous dream/wake duality of the film: it’s reality and yet it’s not.

The Animation Pimp » Blog Archive » Waking Life: The Truth is in the Animation (Montage Magazine, 2004)

Different artists were used for each scene, giving each space and character a unique personality. This adds another layer of existential fragmentation while, at times, playfully poking fun at some of the characters. At the same time, the lack of a cohesive style along with the shifting, floating, dislocated backgrounds and landscapes keeps the viewer on edge, at a distance.

The Animation Pimp » Blog Archive » Waking Life: The Truth is in the Animation (Montage Magazine, 2004)

Happy surface day!

2009-02-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Mary and I decided to call in sick and take a personal day up at brighton. We got there around ten and snagged a couple pairs of the Live Life 2s and filled our pockets with vitamin water. To say we had a good time would be an understatement - i'm currently fighting a very strong impulse to empty my bank account and buy a pair. Regardless it was a super awesome time!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Manxy

2009-01-24T10:16:00.001-07:00

The Kingsbury Manx is releasing a new album soon, one of there EPs, "Well, Whatever" is very promising track for when the mood is of mellow nature. Listen to it on their myspace.

Concentration time

2009-01-15T21:28:00.007-07:00

I finally finished a few of the aforementioned pieces I was planning. They are based on the conflict within current Kashmiri culture. The LoC stands for Line of Control, the dividing border between Pakistani Kashmir and Indian Kashmir. For more info, check the archive.