Following on from the evolution of a (GTA 4) billboard, Sam Roberts from the almost-investigative blog Ghost Signs, which highlights vestigial ads and trace billboards around the world, sent me notice of the following YouTube video produced by Colossal Media showing how they develop and fabricate their painted-brick advertisements. Colossal’s work makes me ponder the notion of the painted city. The fine art of painting has never really been a medium that moves me, rather it makes me suspicious of its association with aristocratic portraits and bourgeois desires, but of course, there are other applications of paint. From the painted rooftops of Iceland to any of the myriad examples from the book Russian Painted Shop Signs and Avant-Garde Artists, the thought of a building or an entire city painted – collaged signs and textual-graphic overload – makes me be somewhat at ease with the possibilities of paint. And while advertising…Continue Reading
Today some copies of Tangent, a zine I’ve mentioned ’round these parts before, showed up in the mail. I have three photos printed in this issue (honestly I thought Karen would only publish one! but I sent her three to choose from) as well as a Q&A that I previously blogged about. In the zine my images were printed black&white, and turned out really well. here the images are in color. below are some descriptions of each image: 1 – fortunoff vs DADA – I’ve been taking photos for a couple of years now of MoMA’s light pole banners. here we see the DADA banner dwarfed by the size of the fortunoff lettering and advertisement. 2 – water tower – part of another series of photos I have been taking for some time now, documenting water towers throughout new york city. 3 – Sunnyside – my favorite photo of these…Continue Reading
I just sent off my answers for a Q&A requested of me by Karen D’Amico, whom I studied with in London. My answers will be published in Karen’s forthcoming issue #8 of her art zine, Tangent, on the theme of ‘metropolis’. I didn’t know until I read over on Karen’s blog that this issue will be launched at the upcoming 2006 Publish And Be Damned fair in Shoreditch, East London. That makes me feel kind of warm ‘n’ fuzzy inside. I’m going to re-post Karen’s questions here. But if you want to know what my responses were, you’ll just have to pick yourself up a copy. when did you first know you wanted to be an artist? can you remember your first piece of work? smartest thing you ever did in terms of your art practice? worst mistake in terms of your art practice? best / worst bit about being…Continue Reading
While I always love my time in St. Louis, my people there, and having a deep familiarity with a city that is no longer mine, these shots from my return flight from St. Louis’s Lambert to New York’s LaGuardia help illuminate why I am so in love with the grandeur of New York City, a city of unimaginable size and scale: For starters there was the actual takeoff out of St. Louis. Now, first thing to note is that the airport is in the County, not the City (limits). Still, it’s all part of the St. Louis “region”. However it’s a distinguishing fact to keep in mind that when you land at LaGuardia you’re landing in Queens County, one of the five counties that constitute the boroughs of New York City. Also, look at how green this place is: So here’s a shot flying east over the Mississippi. That’s downtown…Continue Reading
perhaps a seasonal post around these parts, below are some images and texty bits sent to me by some of my mates as seasonal greetings that just happen to coincide with that holiday that just passed. Of course the first to arrive was from friend and fellow artist Elaine Arkell, featuring what I can only assume to be a depiction of the inner workings of her own aorta! Moira Ricci sent me this YouTube card with a link to the video below: not via the inbox, but real-world artists gifts included the following: from Jason Eisner a comics pack from my Aussie friend Alice Mrongovius holiday CD tunes from Jessica Cannon parallel language text from Lukasz Skapski: merry christmas or season’s greetings wesolych swiat lub pozdrowienia okolicznosciowe and no i happy new year szczesliwego nowego roku lukasz also John Pitts in… uh outfit performing… uh a song that needs an…Continue Reading
For me, blogging is a natural extension of being an artist, especially in today’s politically charged climate (( such as recently reported in the New York Times, ‘Blogs Take Lead in Reporting Polling Problems, With Supporting Evidence on YouTube‘ (may require registration to read) )): the desire to have a voice, to ‘publish’, in an era typified by a plethora of the text and image-visual overload. Another mode of expression, another desire to have a voice, an older analog format becoming increasingly chic in the art world (could blogging someday be recognized as medium??? scary thought, idinit?) is the zine. Although zine-publishing is more of a recent (as in past 30 years) phenomenon, borne from the cheap and accessible photocopy market, it could easily be argued that older art movements and models at least pre-emanated the emergence of zine culture: Dada with their posters and works printed in editions; the…Continue Reading
I received a bundle of issue #9 of ‘tangent (an independently produced art-zine)‘ in the mail yesterday; opened it up this morning. Haven’t had a chance to read through it yet, just a flick through really. Looks delectable as always. A lot of Travellers Secret Box (TSB) related work in this issue, following (pun intended) the theme of ‘crossed paths’; including a delightful postcard by Daniel Wallis, an inkjet print of a drawing he did about the TSB which people are mailing back to him and he’s documenting on another blog. What an awesome exchange this art & internet world! Meanwhile I’ve got a pile (literally, a stack so big it can tip over) of other mail to sort through; also hoping to make it to the post office tomorrow to send out mail including sending Karen, the producer of tangent, a button/badge she ordered from me some time ago.…Continue Reading
Haven’t checked my mail slot at home in a few days since I’ve been busy with my mates in town, but among the pile was an invitation from Visual AIDS to submit to this year’s Postcards From The Edge benefit. For those that don’t know this is perhaps one of the more exciting and truly benefiting events that have, since 1998, been a staple of the New York art scene. Visual AIDS is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of the AIDS epidemic through the visual arts and performance, and have been around since 1988. They are perhaps best known – consciously or not – for their Red Ribbon campaign (TANGENT!: contrary to the Wikipedia article just linked: *I’m not so sure the ‘popularity’ of the red ribbon has declined, given that the government of Hong Kong has adopted at least the notion of the red ribbon as the…Continue Reading
my latest work arrived in the mail today. it’s pretty appropriate that they arrived in the mail, since it’s an edition of postcards. this work is a fusion of two other works, essentially. the most recent is this photo was recently published in issue #8 of Tangent. The photo, of the Sunnyside gate off Queens Boulevard in Queens, NY, was taken on 23 July 2006 during the 10-day blackout of Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside and Woodside, which effected around 100,000 people, or “25,000 customers“, depending on how you looked at it. the work also stems from the postcard I designed for the inaugural exhibition of Normal Space @ Flux Factory, an alternative exhibition space inside my studio. the postcard for that show had the image on the front, in full-color, but was blank on the back; a URI on the front would have led people to my Normal Space…Continue Reading
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