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Ernst Haeckel and the Unity of Culture via the Public Domain Review

Art — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:58:03 +0000

Renegade Darwinist/zoologist and truly “mesmerizing” illustrator Ernst Haeckel may have caused quite a stir when he posited organic matter as originating from inorganic matter through spontaneous generation. However, he’s most surely better known for his incessant visual chronicling of our planet’s oddest lifeforms and their myriad variations of form and color. In his article on the Public Domain Review, Dr Mario A. Di Gregorio, professor of the History of Science at the University of L’Aquila and author of From Here to Eternity: Ernst Haeckel and Scientific Faith, offers insight into the origins of Haeckel’s theories and the mind-bending art that came from his obsessive depictions of the Kunstformen der Natur, or “the Art Forms of Nature,” which Haeckel published in 1904. You’ll stumble upon copies of this book in just about every format (Dover paperback with CD-ROM, for example, since its contents are in the public domain) in almost any new or used bookstore and should be a staple of your visual junk collection if there ever was one.

Also, keep your eye out for a documentary fill made in 2004 called Proteus, about the life and work of this strange and gifted man.

vinylclockwork – Handcrafted vinyl record clocks

Art — Fri, 06 May 2011 14:49:26 +0000

I just received my handmade vinyl record clock from vinylclockwork and love it! Mine was carved out of a Roger Williams LP on the classic and colorful Kapp Records label. I opted for the free-form version that I thought added to the uniqueness of the piece, though there is a ringed version with abbreviated (3, 6, 9, 12) numbering and a cool dot pattern fill. As a vinyl record collector I can assure you that no listenable albums were harmed in the making of these clocks. I applaud these folks and others who find a creative way to deal with the mountains of corny, cheesy, syrupy goo that our parents and grand parents listened to and that now collect dust by the crate-load.

Enter World War 3 at Exit Art – via Print Mag

Art — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:12:46 +0000

I wish I could fly to New York to see this exhibit more than is possible to describe here. I’ve been a fan of World War 3 Illustrated since I first landed in NYC in the summer of 1988. It wasn’t more than a week before I had seen a striking hand-drawn poster plastered to an abandoned building in Alphabet City showing proletariat fists rising in defiance of police-like figures holding back barking dogs. I remember thinking that I had to meet the person who made this poster. Well, I did. His name was Seth Tobocman and he was an illustrator/artists living in the East Village who was highly involved in social and political movements, something that came through clearly in his art. I was a big fan of Frans Masereel and immediately saw a resemblance in Seth’s work in both style and motivation. I tracked him down after having recognized his bold, graphic style in a local comic/art/zine called World War 3, which I soon found out was published by Seth and his friend and fellow illustrator, Peter Kuper.

Long story short, I managed to get hold of him and met him for an hour or so in his cramped tenement apartment. It was somewhat awkward. I was a student at School of Visual Art in the newly renamed MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program and he was a working illustrator raging against the machine. I think he might have seen me for exactly what I was: an admirer of his work, which I think made him uncomfortable. He seemed to be very cause-driven and didn’t view his work so much as commerce rather than social action. I managed to tape record part of our conversation, though I don’t remember why. The audio is long gone, but I apparently did manage to transcribe it along with some clumsy commentary of my own. This was 22 years ago, so please forgive my prose.

—–

Seth Tobocman on Seth Tobocman (1988)
with a minimal introduction and commentary by Art Thompson

“I almost hate to say this, but if I were in charge of the mass media, I would fire most of the art directors, and most of the artists, and most of the employees, and most of the staff – because they’re not even interested in the things in which they are involved in communicating to the masses. They don’t bother to find out about something until after it becomes an assignment.”

Seth’s imagery has been referred to in many ways by many people with many different opinions, many of which may be valid – at least for the moment. He is fairly young and still learning. And it is to his benefit that he is developing his emerging talents on the printed page.

“The news media is supposed to tell the truth. It’s supposed to inform people. You’re supposed to know what you’re talking about, and then part that information to other people whose jobs and daily routines don’t give them the time to find those things out – which is not their fault. So, they’re relying on you to tell them what’s going on.”

“The press is supposed to come from among the people. It is not supposed to be a separate or alienated institution.”

World War 3 Illustrated is probably the main focus of Seth’s energy. The magazine was started in 1980 by himself and best friend Peter Kuper as an outlet for their own artwork. It has since grown into a thick publication with a large international circulation. The contents vary from wordless stories using strong graphic imagery to more straight- forward comic art with a political or social message. It is a soapbox in which the artists involved take full advantage of their total freedom of expression. To borrow an appropriate quote, The freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.

“I basically put myself over as a professional illustrator. I had to go through periods when I didn’t have work and periods when I did have work. And at this point I’m getting work pretty steadily – and I’m saying what I want to say. I’m not getting mega-bucks, but I am selling work. I’m insisting on it and I think it’s working out.”

“There were times when people wanted me to compromise and I didn’t. And I had to pay dues for several years of very little work. But it was important to do that ’cause I was starting to develop a series of contacts of people who would let me say the things I needed to say. And that’s much more positive in the long run.”

“I think the only way you can live in a commercially oriented capitalist society without being totally weighed down by it is, to some degree, hold on to the bourgeois notion that you can make a living doing something worthwhile. And if you discard that notion, then you should start planting bombs because there really is no place for you in society. Maybe we should all start planting bombs–but that’s not what I’m doing.”

Seth Tobocman considers himself to be not only an artist or an illustrator but also a propagandist. He believes in the free press, in voicing one’s own opinions and challenging the media establishment.

“Most so-called illustrators run from one job to another. They make very little distinction about what that job is or what it means. They know superficial information. One of the reasons why cliché is so popular in illustration is it allows you to act like you know what you’re talking about. I insisted in my life that there was something good about being an artist – something useful about being an artist. Artists tell the truth.”

Tony Fitzpatrick at Slugfest 11/4 – 12/14/2009

Art — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:38:30 +0000

Chicago-based artist Tony Fitzpatrick has presented a mesmerizing collection of print/collage works in No. 9, An Artist’s Journal currently on view at Slugfest Gallery in Austin, TX. Comprised of several pieces all roughly 7.5 inches wide by 10.5 inches tall, the collection tells stories of places traveled and people known (and lost) as revealed in the subtle clues embedded using symbolic imagery and collaged objects. The ephemeral quality of the works are the result of both the actual bits of precisely cut graphic images adhered to the surface as well as the melancholic nature of the pieces as a whole. Mr. Fitzpatrick stacks cutout handwritten words in columns within each image that form poems that possibly hint at the meanings of each piece or perhaps of a moment experienced in the “story.” He frames each work with three or four matchbook covers, one in each corner of the piece. These matchbooks, which appear to date anywhere from the 1940′s through the 1960′s, often hail from bars and restaurants in New Orleans, a richly storied city where Mr. Fitzpatrick has spent some time. In fact, you may have seen his work on the cover of the Neville Brothers classic 1989 album Yellow Moon, to which he attributes the initial boost to his career as a visual artist.

The works in No. 9 strongly resemble–and are possibly a subset of a larger series of–works previously exhibited in New Orleans during the Prospect 1 Biennial earlier this year. Those works were also of similar scale and composition as the ones in No. 9 and were possibly even more compelling shown in New Orleans. However, beyond their obvious cultural references, the thread that runs throughout No. 9 and is even part of the Slugfest exhibition’s namesake is a reference to a dear, departed friend of Mr. Fitzpatrick, who bears the tattoo “No. 9″ on his forearm as a memorial to his friend who would always say goodbye by reminding folks to be careful because “we’re already on our 9th life.”

Slugfest Printmaking Workshop and Gallery
Tony Fitzpatrick Official Website

No. 9

Dreams of Space

Art — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:19:59 +0000

Dubbed “Space Art in Children’s Books,” this very simply presented website is a treasure trove of pre-space era through post-Apollo mission illustrations which appeared in astronomy and science books beginning as far back as 1883 with Agnes Giberne’s romantic visions in Sun, Moon and Stars : A Book for Beginners. As a child of the Apollo era, just barely old enough to remember the famous lunar touchdown, I’m thrilled to see such a collection of wondrous images available online. To the moon…and beyond!

Dada Magazine

Art — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:18:06 +0000

Talk about “visual junk.” If your notion of Dada is no more than a Duchamp urinal then please click on over to UbuWeb (with your French-English dictionary) and peruse their Dada Magazine archive. Founded by Tristan Tzara in an attempt to broaden the reach of Dada’s core ideas throughout Europe, Dada (the magazine) published works of art, prose and poetry and survives as a wonderful example of early DIY subculture publishing both in content and form. Of the three issues available online, Dada 3, published in December of 1918, is the most striking of the titles sporting some innovative page layouts and a terrific cover design (inset). Notable contributors over the years included Giorgio de Chirico, Robert Delaunay, and Wassily Kandinsky just to name a few.

Design and the Elastic Mind

Art — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:48:59 +0000

If you’re in the NYC area and you haven’t made it to MoMA in a while, now would be the time to do so. Design and the Elastic Mind is a new exhibit which examines how designers of all kinds are exploring advances in science and technology—not to mention the changes in how we both view and relate to the world around us—in order to rethink who we are and how we spend our limited time here on spaceship Earth. This exhibit, which takes a few hours to really soak in, makes it clear that we are on the verge of, if not deeply immersed in, a fundamental leap in our thinking, doing and being. There are sublime examples of how data sources such as internet traffic and prison incarceration-vs.-spending can be visualized in new ways and for new means. The innovative concept of “thinkering” is often evoked in the demonstration of how everyday objects can have uses and lives beyond their original purpose. In many of the projects on display the roles of scientist, inventor and designer are virtually interchangeable though they are mainly presented in the context of design. Even if you do make it to the exhibit I highly recommend spending an afternoon clicking around the wonderful website that MoMA created which reflects the character of the exhibit in its approach to user experience and information design. As a visual designer I was inspired by Design and the Elastic Mind to look beyond the current hype of green and sustainable design and reexamine not only what I do but how and why. I’ll keep you posted on what I discover.

Publikum Calendar

Art — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:39:56 +0000

Okay, so I’m a few months late posting this, but here it is nonetheless. The 2008 version of TheBrainDesign’s Publikum Calendar is a socialist nightmare of graphic design and visual anarchy somehow corralled into a website, downloadable calendar and video documentary–just to name a few of the outlets for this inspiring international effort. The designers and artist represented hail from all over Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. If nothing else, it’s visually interesting stuff. And, yes, these images to the right are each different months of the Publikum Calendar.

Bicycle Paintings

Art — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 01:44:13 +0000

Pedal on over to Taliah Lempert’s unique collection of bicycle “portraits” and see if you can find your own…model that is. The bikes in her artwork belong people she knows and, she claims, represent an extension of their personalities. She has a loose painterly style that fits the portraiture concept and clearly has developed a mastery of capturing her subjects’ likeness. Oh, and check out her coloring book, while you’re there.

The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora

Art — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:54:16 +0000

If you’ve ever been crate-digging and stumbled upon an LP or 7-inch with Jim Flora’s cover art, you most likely bought it regardless of the music the record contained. At least, that’s been my experience. These covers are truly works of art and often outshine the music therein. Long the stuff of record geeks’ collections, Flora’s art has managed to slowly infiltrate the public’s consciousness largely by the efforts of one man. Irwin Chusid, a long-time WFMU DJ and Jim Flora archivist coined the term “Outsider Music” and was responsible for bringing to light such important, but previously overlooked artists as Esquivel, The Langley Schools Music Project and Raymond Scott just to name a few. The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora is the second book on the artist by Chusid, who is by now considered the authority on the subject and even co-maintains the official Jim Flora blog. As the title suggests, Flora’s normally playful graphic style is taken for a more sinister ride in the works featured in this book, which also includes several unpublished sketches and paintings. The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora is an absolute must-have for both music and art lovers, fine or otherwise. And if you are going to be in the Seattle area now through October 24th, be sure to catch the exhibition of the same name currently on view at the Fantagraphics Book Store to see many of these works first hand.