REED AND RADAR | V MAGAZINE

I discovered Reed & Radar in 2010 and I've been very inspired by their animations. I can honestly say it's shown up in several of my own works - specifically iandi. Their latest editorial piece for V Magazine is every bit as compelling as what originally attracted me to their work, the subtle motion. I love the still figures as they come to life like little dolls and the repetition with the .gif format shows a sense of humor commonly lacking in fashion spreads.

Check out Megabytes of Sprint at V magazinee or Reed and Radar's website for more.

ALLISON SCHULNIK | NERMAN MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

While back in Kansas City for the holiday I visited The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. The Nerman is on the campus of Johnson County Community College. I've always enjoyed the modern art sculptures scattered across the campus, in their collection and now at this new contemporary, minimalist building. I had never been in the museum which opened in October 2007 and was impressed, even surprised by the collection. I could have easily been in a modern gallery in a major city like LA, NY or SF, not on community college campus in suburban Kansas. My friend Whitney works there and I was fortunate to get a private tour through the museum when it was closed on a Monday. I really liked the installation work of Anne Lindberg's Raume Yellow, and the Allison Schulnik, Skipping Skeleton's. Whitney told me the Nerman had another piece of Schulnik's in storage and she took me to the storage space see the piece wrapped in a plastic and wood 9 ft shipping container. I love seeing art out of the usual public viewing context, be it in the artist's studio or in the storage space before it goes up into the ideal viewing space. Schulnik's paintings looks like cake icing and makes the brush strokes in Van Gogh's work look callow in comparison. I imagine her work takes a long time to dry and is heavy to transport and hang. The works are haunting and beautiful in their flow and narration. Her use of nuanced color heightens the dimensionality of her paint application. I love her claymation video for one of my favorite bands, Grizzly Bear but her paintings are by far my favorite.

Mound by Allison Schulnik from garaco taco on Vimeo.
FOR MORE FROM SCHULNIK VISIT HER WEBSITE allisonschulnik.com OR AT markmooregallery.com.

POLISH STREET ART : PRZEMEK BLEJZYK

Street and graffiti art is an art form I have mixed feelings about. In recent years there has been a huge surge in popularity and attention to this medium, especially in my home of San Francisco. I respect the work Upper Playground has done to unify, brand and market street artist's work and the mural work 1 AM has done in The Tenderloin on Golden Gate is a beautiful addition to the blighted neighborhood. I think the amount of Juxtapose-esque cartoon graffiti artists and toys borders ad nauseum in the art world. When I first saw Zupi.org's post on Polish Street Art I had my doubts about seeing anything new. I was amazed when I saw the work of Blejzyk, who also works under the name Sainer. His street art is less like graffiti and more like using walls as large canvases for his paintings, which are also beautiful. I love his use of line, form and perspective distortion, space and color palette. Some of the posted works are done in collaboration with other artists, specifically Bezt on the mural works. For further information check out his blog pblejzyk.blogspot.com or on The Behance Network.

PAINTINGS BY BLEJZYK

NATACHA PAGANELLI : KOLO

This 7:57 short borders chaos with intricate pieces and a driving score but remains captivating in it's order and form. It's like a dreamscape of Eastern European folklore. I don't know much about this piece except from what I found on We Find Wildness blog. According to WFW this short was done during Paganelli's artist in residency in Serbia and is on display at Kunsthalle Mulhouse until January 9, 2011.

Kolo from Natacha Paganelli on Vimeo.

REMAKING OF W MAGAZINE

This video on the rebranding of W Magazine reminds me of why I began working in print years ago. The creative process behind addressing an audience in one issue is a beautiful, stressful and involved process. I miss working closely with printed mediums on a daily basis. Cheers to W and Editor in Cheif Stefano Tonchi for doing such a great job with an iconic staple in the print and fashion world. VIEW THE VIDEO HERE

My New York Diary: A Film-Book by Julie Doucet and Michel Gondry

A long time fan of illustration and film, especially the work of Michel Gondry, this book and DVD are very exciting for me. This book is a collaboration between illustrator Julie Doucet and and Michel Gondry. In 2008, Gondry asked Doucet to make a film together. The book is about that process and inserts Doucet and her drawings into one narrative and an 18 minute film. It is available for purchase on Picturebox and according to the CoolHunting.com post I saw this at originally Gondry will be signing copies in LA on November 11. It's almost worth a trip south to LA.

BEHIND THE SCENES from The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Again I'm letting my inner (quickly becoming all consuming) nerd out with this but I love these stills from Star Wars. I'm sure the images need no introduction but it should be said these images will be published this month in a Making of Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back.

Originally posted on Vanity Fair's website

OOPS, by CHRIS BECKMAN

Chris Beckman blew me away with the editing on this appropriated video pieced together with Youtube clips. I watched it 3 times today. His use of sound makes the transitions between clips work so well. While your watching it, turn down the brightness of your screen and or close your eyes and just listen. Beckman is the 2010 Vimeo Award Winner in the experimental category. These video vignettes may not stand on their own but Beckman 's editing creates a story of our shared experiences that stands as a memorable testament to modern life.

MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS | Lara Vs The Savage Pack by Lucinda Schreiber & Beatrice Pegard

I love this. I am constantly inspired by the things I find on Vimeo and booooooom.com. Forget Youtube. Vimeo is all you need, unless you're looking for cat videos. Directed by Lucinda Schreiber & Beatrice Pegard. Lucinda Schreiber also directed that beautiful “Autumn Story” video which can be found on booooooom.com.

Max Oppenheim and Black Hole

I have a long history of obsession with the illustrated medium. From pencils and crayons in elementary school, comic books in middle school and sharpies on walls in high school I still love the medium. As a photographer working digitally I love seeing artists recreate illustrated art into a photographic medium. Max Oppenheim and prosthetic artist Bill Turpin have taken the series Black Hole by Charles Burns and made the series that ended in 2005 relevant again in 2010.






originally found at Zupi
Zupi . Contemporary Art, Illustration and Design Magazine / From comic books to photography

EL GUINCHO | BOMBAY by MGdM - Marc Gómez del Moral

I love the styling and editing of this video. It reminds me a lot of Alejandro Jodorowsky and has a catchy beat that has been in my head all morning. The video is by MGdM, Marc Gómez del Moral, a Spanish Cinematographer with quite an impressive body of work. Check out his website www.marcgomezdelmoral.com for more.

MR. ANDERSON'S BIRTHDAY by Thomas Broening

If you're not familiar with Thomas Broening's photography consider this your cue to look into his work. He's local to San Francisco and I've been an admirer of his work since 2006. Recently he's been doing a series of shorts around a character named Mr. Anderson. I really like his transition to video because he's using the medium to tell a story. A lot of photographers have tried making the jump to video. Video has become more accessible with the digital SLRs, however pursuing a medium just because you can doesn't necessarily make it a worthy pursuit. A friend of mine, Zan McQuade, scribbled into my notebook a paraphrasing of a quote she heard Braden King say at an event she was covering at Sundance that has stuck with me. I looked it up today to share.

"The film or the song or the painting isn't the thing," said King, adding that it's the medium to get at the mystery. Film, to King, is "a piece of fabric you can drape over an unseeable thing to give it form." -Zan McQuade from Obsolescence and Sustainability.

Maybe it's my education in journalism, my boyhood love of comic books or my obsession with film that causes me to pine for good story telling. None the less, Broening is successfully using video as a mode to tell stories which I really appreciate. Plus, today is my birthday and I think "Mr. Anderson's Birthday" is great.

MUSICAL DESIGN INSPIRATION

LCD Soundsystem is quickly becoming one of my favorite musical influences. I think James Murphy might be a musical genius and his influence on what is current and relevant in the world of design and video is more than notable. Michael Vadino's work with LCD Soundsystem dates back to their first album. The video below is from the "That's Cool, But Can You Make It More Shit?" exhibition at the Tom Dunne Gallery of Vadino's work and was featured on the LCD Soundsystem site.

IKEA for the cats

IKEA released 100 cats into a London store for their new commercial. Mother London is the agency responsible for this part of the campaign. If you've ever been to an IKEA you'll recognize a bit of personified and anthropomorphic cat behavior. It has viral written all over it. I saw this posted on AdFreak and heard about it on NPR this morning. Youtube is already overloaded with cute cats and I can't begin to imagine the play this is going to get. Watch the making of below and the ad here.

RIGHT PLACE by KOSAI SEKINE

This short by Kosai Sekine about an idiosyncratic and eccentric store clerk finding his place won Best Short Film at Young Directors Award Cannes in 2006 and Best Foreign Film Award at New York City Short Film Festival. I love the use of color, type A product positioning and musical scoring. The short reminds the viewer that we all have our right place, no matter how misplaced we may feel. More of Sekine's work can be found here.