Archive for August, 2011

icons

jason hopkins describes his magnificent CGI sculptures as post-human. i’m not sure what the hell that means but if this is what we’re headed for down the course of evolution i will never again complain about getting old.

i just can’t stop looking at these. for those out there with an affinity for geeky, science fair freak show art, this project is a dream. it’s called abhominal (which sounds quite ironically like abdominal and abhorrent and abomination put together. that pretty much sums up the sculptures.) each piece is a loving marriage of geometry and flesh, the technical and the irrational, the unnatural and the organic. the hybrids are frail and revolting. which is of course what makes them so fascinating. they’re strangely believable too, just human enough to be familiar and just fucked enough to be… well. fucked. and here the uncanny valley comes into play, making the viewer direly uncomfortable, but also inviting them in for a cup of tea. a true mad scientist of the visual arts, hopkins has used people-stuff, human matter, organs, skin, and a few awfully misplaced limbs, as a material rather than a subject. props, bro.

another hopkins character i’ve been intrigued with is jon, english electronic producer. great music for making stuff, writing, contemplating the universe, or falling asleep and having wicked cool dreams. this is one of my favorites from his 2009 album.

a small ice age,

in the soft web between two fingers

acrylic on canvas, 60×60 cm (detail)

mutual

hammond’s tail quite likes

providing him with

a tooth trail when

he goes for a run

A5 sketchbook page, illustration

encryptions

with varying origins, yes i know, but won’t they still do? can’t we sweep such discrepancies under the proverbial rug? curses and mold, who do i converse with!

and why! am i not the one to use them; the one to trace along a 2D plane and try to hear, or feel, maybe taste what i couldn’t in nature?

or see an answer in the question itself. i love it when that happens. when it’s given up in question 3 and you wouldn’t have otherwise remembered it for question 41. little gifts everywhere to be found and snagged.

easter eggs. street pennies. the unstable homeless.

mascara paintings on paper, 5×7 / 5×10 cm

day VI

newfound home

dear imogen

what the fuck kind of name is that anyway? and heap? like a heap of dung?

i’ll be brief and direct here. your music infuriates me to the point of gastrointestinal discomfort. i cannot gauge the process and effort that goes into your productions, but all i hear is a middle-aged ice cream truck driver luring elementary students with a horridly maternal, breathy falsetto.

also; please, please leave autotune to t-pain. you will never make it any bigger than the occasional c-movie soundtrack that will feature you because you were playing while that bitch died on the OC and are therefore quasi-famous. oh, and that jason derulo song where you marred the chorus and were mistaken, by more than one exclusive listener i may add, for mr. derulo himself under heavy vocal editing.

your abhorrent name is well suited to the noise you subject the world with.

abandon your sinking ship of a career and, i don’t know, take up gardening.

recipe

breakdown

prep time: 2 months

cook time: 4 months

ready in: indefinite

servings: 1 undeserving mind

ingredients:

1 interference, preferably a nuisance

2 cups feigned indifference

1/4 cup of mock concern

3 tablespoons of self doubt

1/2 cup of neutral intermediary

1 big, beautiful catalyst

directions:

1) introduce interference at opportune moment for destruction and damage. ensure that interference is in a state dire enough to latch on to the catalyst, and disallow any outward protests or complaints.

2) add indifference, to maintain an air of superiority and self assurance.

3) mix in the self doubt as realizations take place and more is gleaned about the happenings in question. this should stimulate nail biting, cold sweats, slight nausea, and obsessive examination of things that only make it worse. sprinkle on the mock concern to cover this up and belittle the adversary.

4) find the intermediary useless, and throw it away.

5) allow catalyst to catalyze and commit sanity to its contingency on the situation’s dynamics. give it some time, and wait for the threshold to snap.