auspiciousmotion

Test post from Kapost.  
 

I want to talk a couple of things I really like:

First, some simple graphic goodness. A Softer World is, I guess, a comic strip. It’s carefully crafted from photos nostalgically framed in black and captioned with a slightly distressed typewriter font. I can’t even begin to tell you what it’s really about, wondrous and ironic as it is. It’s kind of a narrative, which gets me going. I check here often to break up the monotony of my life.

Part of what makes it so neat is the brief space which it occupies, and the strong message it gets across through imagery and text.

Now for some digitally stuff. Looking at a demo of a huge multi-touch screen in Germany, I was reminded of something I found totally awesome when I was in in Art School, something the Professors raved about, the reactable. Basically it’s a multi-touch screen with objects that also govern the interaction, and get this, it’s for making music. So it’s still really incredible, two or three years after its big debut.

With that new Bond movie out, the Quantum of Solace, and its gorgeous depiction of massive multi-touch screens, I think these ideas will become more and more practical to develop for communications and advertising. To impress potential customers and onlookers, I can’t think of anything better.

Finally, I’d like to say I appreciate telephone poles and wiring delivering electricity and cable TV and stuff. I found this logo while looking through my old stuff. Remember, this is from March of 2006, when I was practically a tadpole in the world of design (how much can change in a couple of years, nu?), so don’t focus on this being a viable or scalable or practical logo, just an exercise:

This is what I had to say about it back then, "This [logo] just encapsulates what I think about the program: layers upon layers of communication interfaces. We often forget how much coding and hardware goes into even our most every day activities. I love the telephone pole for this reason."
Aw.

this is about creative writing

One of my projects at my new job (old place of work: ATLAS, new title: Assistant Director of Communications) is to come up with a Holiday Card for about 200-250 recipients, ranging from Board Members to TAM alums.

Initially, I was thinking winter imagery that had to be non-denominational. I was thinking, “The weather outside is frightful…” Lumps of snow decorating the ATLAS Building came to mind.

Then it hit me: snow globes are sweet!

This is what I came up with, after the requisite numerous iterations, and plenty of design help (and critique) from colleagues (and the client). Fun stuff:

[click for larger]

Evan and Tony are having a joint exhibition, opening this First Friday at Sliding Door Gallery.

You may remember their entry into Rethought, Reworked and Repainted. Well, they sold the fruit of their collaboration at that show, a painting/collage of “Cars in Yard,” and even got a writeup at a local art site by the buyer.

Sliding Door Gallery was pretty enthusiastic about Tony’s and Evan’s work, so they asked them to do another show this month. This time, they are taking large found pieces o’ wood, windows, and even a canvas or two, and I think we can safely say that all the pieces are a joint effort. You have to see it to know what their collaborative style is all about. It’s exciting.

Join us from 6 to 9 this Friday evening, November 2nd. Sliding Door is located between 5th and 6th on Santa Fe in Denver.

In honor of The Simpsons Movie…

(click to see the bigger version)

1. I don’t think perfection even means happiness.

2. If you don’t take a chance with the nice guy, your existential crisis might get a lot worse.

3. Do you know gmail chat? It’s pretty sweet, but like most chat applications it’s not as fulfilling as a conversation where you can hear the other person’s voice. So we’ve decided that in this case, “chat” is singular and “chat” is still the plural, because it’s not worthy of being called “chats.” Chats imply something cozy, involving hot beverages and plenty of time.

I’ve been working on this video for what seems like a month. It’s something that I would like to project on a wall, maybe at a party or a bar, or even somewhere more highbrow like a gallery. I’d love to get your critiques and feedback about it, so hollerrr with a comment.

I recommend watching this with your current favorite song as a soundtrack, as I left it intentionally mute. Also, because the video has been compressed to view on the web, it’s not the best quality nor the largest resolution. The whole thing is 3:33, so you won’t need to spend much time on it. That’s a palindrome and you know it’s a palindrome. Click the screenshot below to watch (requires Quicktime/plugin, I think)…

While sitting by the Boulder Creek at nearly peak flow, I shot the original miniDV video for this project. Then, using Luma Keying in Final Cut Pro, I got rid of everything but the rushing, white water. A very similar effect can be achieved by upping the contrast in iMovie HD and appying the effect “black and white.” Having isolated the white splashes, I edited the footage using only the effects fast/slow/reverse in iMovie. Well, ok, I used a few transitions as well. Ultimately, I wanted to give the surreal experience of watching water flow a rhythm and meaning.

Since it’s kind of teeny, I’ll link a larger downloadable file here, for those of you who wish to see it bigger and better. (To download, click the link above and select “save link as” or some similar terminology.)

Furthermore, I am interested in any and all remixes that people can come up with, and in the interest of creating open-source artwork, I urge you to use the large file to mess up, modify, and re-make your own aqua poetics.

Evan has some of his latest work in a show, opening this coming “First Friday” August 3rd. It’s going to be at Sliding Door Gallery, which is on the southern reaches of Denver’s Santa Fe Art District.

The show, “Rethought, Reworked, and Re-Painted,” is all about taking old, cast-off, ugly specimens of art Americana, and remixing them to make something new and hopefully more desirable. To see some examples of what this has looked like in other galleries, check out what they had over at The Wurst.