Stumbling across this post with artwork by Jan Vormann really made my day. In the days of my lego junkiedom a permanent bond was created between the objects and I. I really love the idea he is working with here, and its aesthetically awesome.
For those of you who still aren’t convinced that stumbleupon isn’t worth worshiping take a look at what it delivered yesterday morning:
The site doesn’t say where/who did these. Check out more at the site.
Also something on creativity that really sparked my interest. How creative can you be?
I got stumbled this site by my roommate yesterday. An excellent public art project if you ask me. Here is my fav:
This weekend is going to be exciting for several reasons:
1. Art Chicago
2. A new idea for a public art project that will be launched soon
3. My bike from Madison is coming in tomorrow morning because I cracked my frame on the old bike: damn Milwaukee roads.
4. Anavasthaa drawings are coming along and a flood of new ideas has arrived. I actually have enough drawings for about 6+ pages and more in the works.
And now a little something from our friend Hieronymus Bosch:
Perusing around town yesterday I found some cool stencils and some wheatpastings as well:
I cannot wait for this semester to be over. There are too many projects to do, too much art to make. This semester my artistic productions have fallen drastically. There are a number of reasons for this, but there are no excuses. I have yet to fully exercise my potential and I’m itching to flex my artistic muscles. This list is for oganizing my thoughts:
1. Anavasthaa – emphasis on experimentation and breaking out of the graphic novel format into something new. Musical (and perhaps other forms of) collaboration to play around with new ideas. A book with a soundtrack. Artwork with a soundtrack.
2. Artwork to sell – begin working on work that is playful and educational. Instead of focusing on what you might think people want to buy start making work that you enjoy with content that isn’t too confrontational. Figure drawing/painting, still lifes. Creating this type of work is important in regards to understanding visual space. Most works that I’ve sold in the past year have been from drawing class where I’m just having fun with simple content. Create studies to learn and sell them to earn.
3. Public Art – It interests me to put “fine art” out into public. There could be lots of reasoning made about how public art breaks out of the gallery and is challenge to art establishments, however to me this is more about reaching a broader audience. Its about creating something that sparks something in the viewer, even if its just a smile. I like this way of communication, because it is more intimate imho. The artist is not recognized and thus it is an image that isn’t trying to sell you something and its not necessarily a means to an end.
4. Artacious – this project is the most challanging of them all. Starting a business is not something I’m sure I’m ready for, but I feel the need to push forwards anyway. I do think it will be a great boon for milwaukee. My only fear is being tied down to this city if I start this website. Need to think a lot more about how this is going to work.
My Issues in Contemporary art class has been quite a thought provoking 2.5hrs a week event for me. It has challenged my direction as an artist. I feel insecure that I am not more involved more in work that makes positive changes. The readings, images, and discussions in this class have pushed me to consider doing some public ‘installations’. All this talk about graphic novels, animations, and now guerrilla art is shocking to me, as its quite different from what I normally do (sit and draw at the kitchen table).
The Howling Mob Society is one group I appreciate because of their successful infiltration of public spaces with art. Their art goes unnoticed by the government who ’supervises’ our public space. The impact of these works can’t really be measured because it is so underground, however for those who it have discovered these works the effect must be profound. Their work challenges traditional history by talking about lesser known events with huge importance. Their current focus is the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 where many people were killed by what essentially amount to government forces.
In my last post I mentioned some inspiring street art. Moose is another inspiring artist who I recently stumbledupon. Moose is a “reverse graffiti environmental artist” who uses dirt (or the absence of it) to create his imagery. I think his ideas are conceptually very strong. Like, bulging-biceps-vein-criss-crossed strong. His medium is quite unique and supports his environmental imagery. On top of that, his images and compositions are pretty good. I seriously suggest reading the article watching the videos on Moose here. If you like what you see here I’d also suggest you check out some other artists.
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