I’ve been enjoying my visit back to this is Colossal, where I found another sculptor who has some incredible work embedded into gallery walls. His name is Matteo Pugliese, and he works in Milan, Italy, making these incredible sculptures that seem to exist in two worlds. By coincidence, the work above is called Between Two Worlds (Tra Due Mondi), and is part of his 2009 series. Take a look at his site to see more of his awe-inspiring work portraying the beauty of the male figure.
I stumbled on Savory Institute by a link on Techdirt that led me to Ted’s Ads Worth Spreading, which then led me to this video describing such a simple and straightforward solution to desertification. Considering that nature had a cycle that sustained life for millenia, we have to realize that maybe certain basic problems already had solutions, but we didn’t see them for what they were. Allan Savory spent his life studying the effects of climate change in his native Zimbabwe, and saw that though livestock might be part of the cause, they also held a key in helping to regenerate lands to fruitfulness after desertification. He called it Holistic Management, and is now collaborating with teams around the world to help reverse how we deal with desertification. He has had successes in Africa, Australia, North America, and South America, and is trying to spread his message of hope in these times affected by global climate change.
But to hear about their ultimate tale of success, listen to their Director of Marketing and PR, Laurie Benson:
Everyone is asking for a message of hope on some huge issues that we’re facing. Here’s one group that is making success happen, one collaboration at a time.
http://vimeo.com/30342788
If you haven’t seen this book yet, then you really are missing something that will blow your mind. It’s a redesigned new edition of his first successful book release, Premier(e), and was launched via our favorite indie project launcher, Kickstarter.
First of all, I only started following Eric Canete within the past year or so. I did not know what I was missing. He is one of those artists that ranks with the highest of the high in the comics and illustration world in my book. And he’s a seriously prolific creator – if you don’t believe me than go to his Twitter feed or his blog. They’re filled with amazing wonders of pencil and ink that cause you to lose sense of… well, your senses. The sheer mastery of this guy is also acknowledged by the various other artists who have worked with him, and are trying to figure out if he’s human. Ha ha, it’s easy to see why they think this way after you take a brief voyage into this monster called Encore. It’s HUGE and it can’t be seen in one sitting, because you just know that trying to see it all at one time will mean that you missed out on something stupendous in a section of a drawing.
Yes, there are a lot of artist’s books out there, but there is something really special about this one. Trust me, the video doesn’t come close to seeing what this man conjures up with his mind and his hands. I’d say more, but I still haven’t made it through the entire book yet. Well, I mean at the speed that it deserves….slow and steady, with jaw hitting the floor repeatedly. If this is Eric’s Encore, I’m scared to see what he calls a finale?!
p.s. You can find a copy here and here.
I was led to this clip by Rob Schwager sending me to this is Colossal, which I haven’t visited in a while. Now that I’ve found this, I’m going back! This violinist’s name is Bryson Andres, and he plays in Spokane, Washington, though he’s originally from Ancourage, Alaska. If you go to Youtube, he’s got a few videos up, and each one is better than the one before. Wow, he is wicked good on an electric violin.
Fairy tales are among our most beloved stories, ones that we grew up with and lovingly tell to the next generation (and reread ourselves). I just found a group by the name of Whitestone Motion Pictures who love to tell these stories, but do so in a way where the moral of the story shines through visually. They tell stories that confront some of our most troublesome characteristics in such a powerful way that you simply can’t ignore the lesson. They’ve done a slew of stories that run the gamut of the complexity of human traits, but the magic somehow draws you past the lesson into the land of “make believe”. This is story telling at its finest, by a group of some incredible creators that need to be followed and talked about.
Watch their production of “Heartless”, the back story of how the Tin Man was created, and then go back to see their many other creations that you will first watch in awe, and then stop to think about what’s really important. That’s all a good story ever does… make you think about what you’ve learned. Whitestone Motion Pictures is story telling with a soul. They’re a group that wants to encourage change through a most powerful medium, and boy have they done so…magically.
– thanks Vimeo for this amazing find. These guys make you want to use the power of creation for good! Absolutely incredible!!
If you’ve always wondered what some people see in books, then you must see this video, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, by Moonbot Studios. Writers, like all creators, are dreamers first and foremost. We have words in our heads that want to take on a life of their own, so that a most wondrous story might be shared with a curious reader. All those creations are hands stretching out towards someone who wants to have a conversation with these creators.
Sometimes when you place a hand on a book, or look at its cover, you can almost feel that life contained within it. A tentative opening of a book cover releases the magic that will immerse us into a time of wonder, specially crafted by one unique person. No matter how many times a story is told and retold, it will always be something different because it takes on the character of that creator. No two people are alike, so no two stories will ever be exactly alike. And that means that there will always be a story that will fascinate someone somewhere, allowing a book to take on a life of its own. THAT is the magic of books, told in a most charming and touching way by Moonbot Studios. Be sure to have a tissue nearby, as it’s quite an emotional telling. What a perfect way to describe the love people have for books.
– thanks again Vimeo for sharing this beautiful tale
I’ve always had a weakness for supernatural figures, and angels rank up there with those characters that fascinate me. Going through the Creative Finder, I stumbled on a UK illustrator who goes by the name of Miss Led. The first image that caught my eye was different from the one above. But the image above drew me not only because of the image, but because of the message, Even Angels Will Fall. It kind of takes a little pressure off knowing that no one is perfect. Anyone is capable of falling…even an angel. And we know about that story.
If you haven’t done so, go read a story that was run in the Hollywood Reporter: The SOPA War
btw – they changed it since I read the original, taking off the Sara Arnell’s campaign (those are her bulleted ideas below) thoughts and adding an opinion piece by a “top public affairs consultant“:
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Here’s a picture that the Hollywood Reporter put into it (from their online post). I’m don’t know how to credit the image, because they didn’t put one on their page. Nice way to disrespect the original creator by not acknowledging their identity.
Honestly, this is what the war of legislations is turning into on just about every topic, but especially the topic of Intellectual Property which has broad ramifications on personal liberty. What is causing this post is their solution to spin a message that will be a fresh sell for Hollywood. Things like a few ad campaign ideas suggested by Sara Arnell, CEO of the Arnell Group:
These “campaigns” are supposedly aimed at respecting creativity. But if you look at the laws in this country and around the world regarding IPs, then you will see that there is little incentive to respect the creativity because it’s all about monetizing it. And this is where the arguments derail. Yes, there is a problem with piracy, but it’s been around in one form or another since as long as man has been on this planet. Do we really expect that a change to a technological venue will suddenly bankrupt a system that has been bankrupt for a millenea? Think about this: In order to win the royal navy wars, countries hired pirates to protect their ships while plundering in the name of their crown. For ages, governments have used mercenaries to fight for their side in exchange for money – it’s even happening today. Even as The Pirate Bay indicated, Hollywood bent rules in order to get to the top, and then made rules to prevent others from doing the same. Our history is all about piracy in its many forms. Continue reading
It really is good to know that not all government officials will bow down to the shrine of censorship to protect $$ (or insert your money denomination). Here’s an image that is getting circulated showing that members of Palikot’s movement in the Polish government were not happy about the decision to sign ACTA, the international treaty on ant-counterfeiting. They were joined by a lot of citizens outside – read a personal account here (forwarded by Techdirt).
At least the European Parliament is willing to hear arguments from the public. Read a note from Marietje Schaake on Reddit with instructions on how to participate to stop ACTA. The final EU vote will take place in June, but there will be a live stream of the public hearing will take place in April. This is another threat to the Internet on the level or worse than SOPA / PIPA. There are also petitions for the White House and on Avaaz to help stand against this latest threat, which won’t be the last.
p.s. If you’re curious why I’ve been pushing these issues a lot in my writing, then please read my next post this afternoon. Thanks.
The first time you see these caricatures by Alex Pardee, you’re not sure what to think. Until you read the message the artist gives behind his series, ICANS:
Why am I calling them “Icans”? Glad you didn’t really ask, but I’m telling you anyway. Well, because whether SOPA passes or not, I will continue to take any licensed character, or pop culture icon and do whatever I want with it for art’s sake, because ICAN. Also, I just want to conduct an ongoing experiment to see if ICAN take any cool icon from pop culture and make it way shittier by “re-imagining” it. So far, much like Hollywood does most of the time, the experiment is a super fun success!
Just goes to show you that you really don’t want to piss off a creative. Their responses can be so much more than you can ever imagine. Because they’ll do it in a much bigger way than you ever didn’t hope for. So, Governments everywhere, is this really where you want to take your copyright fights? Because they are a whole lot of creative people out there, and they’re just waiting to be heard.
– thanks DesignTaxi -> Alex Pardee
