These are some photographs I took at Kinetica Art Fair back in March. I wanted an excuse to play around with the GIF Maker on 15 Folds using my own photographs; these images were perfect because I could easily align the spheres to be the same size on Photoshop.
Today I headed up to Walthamstow to visit Chris Bracey’s huge studio on Vallentin Road – God’s Own Junkyard. Peeking through the locked iron gates, it really does look just like a junkyard, but once inside it’s like an Aladdin’s cave of neon treasures.I don’t know whether it’s because of the junkyard’s location, or if it’s because not that many people know about it, but when my friend and I showed up at around 2pm on a Saturday – a peak time for visitors in most places – we were lucky enough to be the only people there.The man who works there, John, is really friendly and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of pretty much everything stored in the studio. He was happy to show us round, pointing out props and signs that had been in various films, like Tombraider, Eyes Wide Shut, and the newest installment of the Iron Man films – a huge ‘STARK’ sign. I really can’t recommend this place enough; I’ve never been anywhere else like it!
This wry GIF, by New York-based illustrator Beomyoung Sohn, is part of a project called ‘Dummymen‘. The repetitive animation shows our mindless addiction to brands and consumerism as well as, presumably, our loss of individuality as a result. The project, which is still a work in progress, has got a really dark, nihilistic humour to it that reminds me of work by Banksy and Jake and Dinos Chapman. It’s amazing how many brand logos have been squeezed onto all the faces of each block; every time I think I’ve spotted all of them, I’ll see one that I haven’t noticed yet – like the ones for CNN and FedEx, which are partly hidden.
If you like this, then you’ll probably like the hilariously horrible cartoon by Steve Cutts that I posted previously.
Whatever you think of Margaret Thatcher, you can’t deny that she was an inspirational woman. For me, she inspires a kind of hatred, but I’m not going to go into that because I’ve spent the past few days talking about The Iron Lady and – to be perfectly honest – I’m tired of hearing about her. Having said that, I do like these illustrations of olde ‘Maggie’ by various artist types, so I’m posting them as a cynical attempt to get more hits on my blog. Sorry if you have arrived here expecting political commentary and debate – perhaps you should read this excellent piece by Russell Brand for The Huffington Post instead? However, if you’re into pictures of former British Prime Ministers…then you’re in luck!Tory Bachelor Wallpaper, by Matt Mclaren.
AleXsandro Palombo’s blog, Humor Chic, documents the happenings in the fashion world and beyond. Palombo’s take on the fashion news is both bitchy and funny – think Perez Hilton, but without the irritating omnipresence and with added talent and relevance. His shockingly hilarious pop culture illustrations both celebrate and ridicule fashion’s major players; Hedi Slimane is portrayed digging his own grave as he takes over at Saint Laurent, Anna Wintour cosies up to Barack Obama, along with whole host of far more ludicrous scenarios too.Donatella Versace, and John Galliano shortly after he drunkenly proclaimed his love for Hitler.Creatives, musicians and celebrities feature heavily, with the occasional politician or member of the monarchy making sporadic appearances as well. It really seems like when it comes to mockery, Palombo is a man after my own heart – he likes to turn his attention to a bit of everything. Below, he has portrayed Kate Middleton as some kind of power-hungry femme fatale who beats her husband and wants to kill the Queen! I think I kind of prefer her to the real Kate Middleton, who is pretty much the definition of passive, well-behaved marriage material. So blaaah.However, not all of his portraits are derisive or mean – here is quite a sweet drawing of the late Amy Winehouse that he posted the day after her death.
These vibrant compositions aren’t abstract paintings or prints – they are photographs! The pictures were taken by Montreal-based photographer Jessica Eaton, who uses a method called ‘additive colour separation’ to create these effects. By photographing blocks using motion blur or stepped multiple exposures, Eaton causes the blocks to blend together. There is no digital trickery involved, either. Although Eaton says that digital photography and Photoshop helped her to conceive her work, she uses an analogue 4×5 large format camera.
While the solidity of Jessica Eaton’s pieces make them really intriguing, these light studies by Kim Pimmel possess a fluid movement that works well with the translucency of the neon lights. The San Franciscan UI designer and photographer creates mesmerising long exposure light photographs. To achieve these images, Pimmel uses common objects and simple technology; such as LEDs, phone screens and ping pong balls. More of his light studies are on Flickr, but you should definitely watch his ‘Light Drive‘ video – a stop motion sequence of his light study photographs.
This 1958 avant-garde film, ‘Broadway by Light’, was the first film made by acclaimed American photographer and filmmaker, William Klein. The short feature shows the dizzying lights and logos that dominate Times Square and illuminate one of New York’s most iconic locations. ‘Broadway by Light’ was declared by Orson Welles to be, “The first film I’ve seen in which colour was absolutely necessary.”
Well, I didn’t think I’d ever be so enthusiastic about getting some business cards made. Although, these are some pretty special business cards – they would make Patrick Bateman jealous. I found Tind‘s work over on Behance and I was really excited about it. He’s pretty much taken the Absolut Unique approach to printing business cards, meaning that you end up with crazy Hapshash-style psychedelic designs. Because of the traditional methods used, I haven’t seen anything like this before – the gradient style ones look so superior to ones that have been created digitally. The process is shown below and there are more photos on Behance and Tind’s Facebook page, too.Tind inks up the plates, often using two or three colours, and sometimes adding swirls and lines – just experimenting with strange effects, really. In later print runs he’s started to layer up different colours, which is more time-consuming but can produce some amazing effects. The card Tind uses also varies in colour, weight and texture – meaning there are even more limitless combinations.The cards are left to dry and then cut down to size.I can’t wait to see how mine turn out! I’m going to scan my favourite designs and I will post the results when they’re ready. The only problem is, I’m not sure I’ll actually want to give my business cards away to people…
These are some photographs I took at Kinetica Art Fair back in March. I wanted an excuse to play around with the GIF Maker on 15 Folds using my own photographs; these images were perfect because I could easily align the spheres to be the same size on Photoshop.
This wry GIF, by New York-based illustrator 
