So for midterms we have to do a minimum of five illustrations in a set for a "visual campaign" to compliment the election. We had to choose to either promote or make fun of a president/vice president candidate. I chose to make fun of McCain and Palin from a feminist stand point, giving the viewer the context to see their gendered flaws. Plus, these were just fun images to make.
This is a piece designed around the concept of taking a catch-phrase or word that is uncommon or slang and giving it visual life. I chose the phrase "Gold-Digger". The catch to the assignment, however, was to choose an artist that you admired and work from their stylistic view point. How fitting -- I fall in love with Richard Gray and I get this assignment. The separate components and processes came together nicely for this piece, and I'm satisfied with the final.
These are two more pieces from my Propaganda class at MICA. The assignment was to take two politically oriented statements said by those around you and make opinionated illustrations based on those statements. The first illustration, meant to be sold as a magnet, refers to the claims thrown by Obama supporters and campaign affiliates that Sarah Palin gave her daughter the choice of having an abortion. They criticized the statement Palin made, that she was "proud of the decision my daughter made to keep her child". The second illustration, meant to be sold as a bumper sticker, actually alludes to the McCain and Palin campaign slogan, "The Real Mavericks". To give you some context, the dictionary definition of a maverick is a "rebel or non-conformist".
Volta wasn't the most successful venture into commercial music for this songstress. Like a tween in puberty, Volta represented a growing period for Björk. She was trying out new stylistic approaches of song craft, collaborating with people from all over the world, and thinking big by kicking the worlds ass with an 18 - month world tour. But as an album, Volta fell flat. Seemingly unfinished, chaotic without a clear purpose, and a little too safe in arrangement composition, Volta didn't live up to the high expectations left with her more adventurous, stylistically sound, and compositionally experimental albums Medúlla and Drawing Restraint 9.
But here, we see Björk traveling down a new path. Limited chord progression and key change, unique sonic atmosphere, chilling vocals, and fantastic drum beats (even more exciting and strange then the drum work on Volta, which was pretty excellent). This Björk reads a little less orientalist and formulaic and a little more challenging and developed. Hopefully this a precursor to Björk's future work.
The single for "Nattura" will be released on October 20th from One Little Indian.
Hedi Slimane is wonderful. I might put a little more meat to this post later. I admire his handling of composition and light. Also, the rear portrait at a three quarters view is lovely.
Dimitris Papaioannou is my newest art crush. I mean it, he's a dream boat. Papaioannou is the visual mastermind behind the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics, as well as my favorite piece, the film "2". With a strong romantic undercurrent, the scenes within "2" portray the many emotional facets of a relationship, specifically in the video above as between two men. Beautiful and bitter-sweet, these performances demand the viewers emotional participation and response -- a quality that I think is difficult to require.
Did I forget to mention that his work is heart-warming? Because it is.
Friday, October 10, 2008
These are examples of Richard Gray's work. He is my new illustrative obsession. His illustrations are choked full of crystal clean imagery, detailed line work, and a unique handling of color. His amalgamate use gouache, graphite, and digital fuses together seamlessly, and as such his illustrations become sleek and his textures well defined. And plus, the guys and gals in his work are so damn sexy.
Propaganda is rapidly becoming a class that I can count on expecting finished, punchy images come out of. This piece is a response to Coca-Cola's South American bottling factory controversy.
Hello world, this is Michael Hoeweler speaking. Like most other bloggernaut's I will be posting my thoughts on illustration, art, design, music, fashion, culture and other general loves. I hope to keep this guy updated at a steady pace. I feel good.
