Conor Oberst solo album

So I only half listened to this album once (in the car, on the way) before I saw Conor Oberst in Manchester this week, and so I (like everyone else there) was hoping he'd play something... anything off 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning' (he even seemed to tease us with hammer-ons sounding very much like 'First Day...').. and of course he didn't play anything. But he did properly introduce me to this superb album, played extremely tightly with his band. Upbeat tracks such as "Souled Out!!!" and "Get-Well-Cards" sit nicely within the more Bright Eyes formulated eerie songs such as the magnificent "Money Lenders" and "Canaveral".

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/music/live_reviews/s/1064685_conor_oberst__academy_2

Here's a pretty accurate review, overlooking the Ryan Adams reference of course...

Bike racks

When Ex-Talking Head, David Byrne, a keen cyclist was asked by the Department of Transportation  to help judge a design competition for the city’s new bike racks, he eagerly agreed — so eagerly, in fact, that he sent in his own designs as well - which they used!

Simple but nicely communicate a characteristic of NY districts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/arts/design/09bike.html?_r=3&scp=2&sq=david%20byrne&st=cse&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Flat53

http://www.flat33.com

Hann would be proud..

There was a variety of art on show  at Siggraph, from motion work, to textiles, photogrpahy, as well as geometric/systematic arts.

Craig S. Kaplan http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~csk/

"His work breaks the process of pattern construction into two steps. First, the designer chooses a tiling of the plane. Then the software places small geometric motifs in every tile, a process governed by a small set of parameters under the designer’s control. The motifs link together to form a finished design. The computer handles the tedium of precise, repetitive drawing, thus freeing the human designer to explore the space of star patterns quickly and enjoyably."

If only we had it for Design Theory assignments...

Star Wars - Clone Wars animated

Ok so it's Star Wars but bear with me..

As I mentioned, LucasArts had a stand at Siggraph and I sat in on a few of their talks; it was really interesting to hear about the whole development process - from concept art, through development and the finished product. How they changed the characters - emphasising the physical heroic traits, eg. highering the waist and broadening the shoulders. They worked towards a real stylisted visual for the film and tv series - sometimes going back and getting rid of work when they found that the characters were looking too 'realistic'. I found this real clear vision of what they wanted to achieve, fascinating. 

They talked about how as each episode was completed, the bar was raised. The budget originally allowed for one or two characters, and one new world  per episode.In the end they were creating numerous vast environments and characters, all starting from 3d physical models. The director then looked at the model, working out what shots and angles he wanted and set the animators to work on creating the whole environment in 3d.

My favourite thing about the look of the film/tv series is that all the textures are hand painted before being placed over the 3d gradients, giving the characters, vehicles and environments a real 'comic-book' look.. that I think really works to create something new and exciting from a used formula.

Siggraph 08

  

 I was lucky enough to go to the Siggraph convention in LA this week (Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques).  

Stalls from companies such as Sony, Intel, Google were there as well as animation, film and games design like Disney, Pixar, LucasArts, Activsion, Laika, Digital Domain and Soft Image. A variety of different art pieces were on show too. The next few post will be stuff I saw there

Oh and I had lunch on Adobe too!

The website isn't great but here it is anyway..

http://www.siggraph.org/s2008/

Everyone makes mistakes..!

I saw this on the bbc site today. About 720,000 pamphlets praising Brummies for their recycling were sent around the city at a cost of £15,000 (curious in itself!)

But the skyline image used was actually one of Birmingham, Alabama, USA...

It took a resident who received the pamphlet to realise that the image was wrong. Initially, the council claimed no mistake had been made and the "generic skyline [was] intended to symbolise an urban area".. they later admitted they had made a mistake. Ha!

LA Architecture

I really like the architecture in LA. It reminds me of the 'Splash' series by David Hockney - the geometric lines. Below are some pictures I've taken. There's also great variety though, in between these modern geometric structures will be a quaint old beach house.

Upper Playground

I came across Upper Playground in a bookshop over here. There's a 12 different designers from over the US and a couple from Chile, Japan and Brazil, and so there is quite a variety in the artwork. There's loads more on their website that is definitely worth a look.

http://www.upperplayground.com

237

I watched Princess Mononokee (another masterpiece by Studio Ghibli) tonight, which is well worth watching just for these little characters.

I googled them to then find out about 237, an urban art project started in Spain, who have left these guys around their streets.

I like how they subtley use their environment to work with the character outlines.. having them sat on the curb, or drooling over the nearby fruit... as ambient media should

http://www.woostercollective.com/2005/02/237.html

Tate - Street Art Exhibition

Tate Modern is currently exhibiting street art from various international artists.. on the side of the building itself. The tate are also holding talks throughout July about street art.

There's also leaflets with info on pieces around the gallery available. Some photos of these are below.

It's exhibits like this and the continued increase in popularity of  graffiti artists like Banksy that are making this public display of art more and more common.

Info at http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/streetart/default.shtm

Olympics Opening Ceremony

I'm sure most of you saw at least some of the 4 hour opening ceremony but I still thought I'd make a note about it.

Visually impressive to say the least. The sheer scale alone creating a lasting impression. How is London going to top that?

Spike Press - Screen printing

I have a few screenprinted posters from gigs (but not by Spike Press) and I really love the quality of them - a great momento.

I recently found this website with some great prints available.

http://www.spikepress.com/

The Getty - LA

"The Getty Center presents the Getty's collection of Western artfrom the Middle Ages to the present against a backdrop of dramatic architecture, tranquil gardens, and breathtaking views."

Cy Twombly

Recently I visited the Tate Modern. Until September 14th there is an exhibition of works by Cy Twombly - distinctive in style through the use of scribbles and vibrantly daubed paint. 

"One of the most highly regarded painters working today and a foremost figure among the generation of American artists that includes Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol." - Tate.org.uk

Drawing inspiration from European literature and classical culture (mainly poetry and philosophical texts), Twombly's work expresses visions and emotions associated with the seasons, nature and the passing of time. Included in the collection are 8 pieces associated with the seasons - 2 versions for each season. Below are Winter and Summer... guess which is which...

What is so overwhelming about Twombly's pieces is the sheer scale of them - each the height of the exhibition walls, and some stretching the width of the larger rooms - emphasising the emotions expressed in his brushstrokes of colour.

Studio Ghibli films

I've recently been watching a lot of films by Studio Ghibli, with producer/animator Hayao Miyazaki (above), most famous for the Academy Award winning 'Spirited Away'.

'Whisper of the Heart', released in 1995, is my favourite so far. It's a 'coming of age' story, centred around a young Japanese girl, Shizuku. She spends most of her time reading books from the library where her father works, attempting to sort out her friend’s love issues, and wondering about the owner of the name she finds written on all the library cards of the books she checks out.

What i like about Studio Ghibli's films is the real sense of place that they achieve. The beautifully animated environments seem vast, yet more familiar as the film progresses.

What I also like about the film is this bit of triva.. In the story Shizuku aims to read 40 books over the summer, but for the English dub she only aims at 20.. would 40 have been unrealistic for American kids?

Centre Pompidou - Paris

"The Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou was the brainchild of President Georges Pompidou who wanted to create an original cultural institution in the heart of Paris completely focused on modern and contemporary creation, where the visual arts would rub shoulders with theatre, music, cinema, literature and the spoken word. In a unique location under one roof, the Centre Pompidou houses one of the most important museums in the world, featuring the leading collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe, a vast public reference library with facilities for over 2,000 readers, general documentation on 20th century art, a cinema and performance halls, a music research institute,educational activity areas, bookshops, a restaurant and a café."

In the image below are some of my favourite pieces in the Pompidou.

I thought this was a great idea. Christian Marclay, a visual artist and composer, was briefed to promote a local musical festival. He made hundreds of copies of blank musical staves and posted them up around the city. A lot of them were covered over within hours but on the rest, people had drawn on them - musical compositions (some of which expressed a tune, some of which did not), doodles, written messages and many more forms of expression. The idea being that the posters were promoting the city's festival by promoting the sounds of the city's people.

Bauhaus Museum Berlin

So last month in Berlin I went to the Bauhaus-Archiv  Museum (bauhaus-archiv museum of Design)

"The Bauhaus Archive / Museum of Design in Berlin is concerned with the research and presentation of the history and impact of the Bauhaus (1919-1933), the most important school of architecture, design, and art of the 20th century."

The temporary exhibit was "Max Bill:Aspects of his work". Max Bill was an international success in a wide range of creative activities. He regarded himself as an architect but he is probably best known for his typography.