A Sorry State of Affairs

Apologize [from The Unreasonable Triptych] » 20"x30"

I'd managed to work out one set of demons with Doomed when immediately another crept in. In starting to work on a third piece, I realized I was already starting to think about this new creative endeavor like a marketer – something I decidedly do not want to. At least not yet.

Apologize, is admittedly the most contrived in that I'd begun to think of the "King" featured in the previous two pieces as a "brand". A nagging – and slightly annoying – vestige of my recently exited career. So to exorcise that demon (or at least to placate it), I decided to face it, to embrace it, and give the "King" his own piece (ultimately the centerpiece). As for expressing regrets, I'm not sure who deserves the apology. Or why exactly.

Having at least temporarily subdued the notion of creating to create "product", what I found was that there were creative tropes of marketing consumer goods that when mutated and obscured a bit (or possibly beyond recognition) were actually liberating. Embracing this notion early has serendipitously proven invaluable in developing an evolving vernacular that I've continued mix and remix in subsequent pieces.

Anyway, the first three pieces weren't really intended to be a triptych but retroactively organized as such. That the individual declarations formed a somehow disconcerting directive when combined confirmed the decision.

The Unreasonable Triptych] » 60"x30"

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While, I'm pretty sure writing a blog means never (or is it "always"?) having to say you're sorry, here's a different apology: I realize that for some of my limited readership, the new direction of WTF may be a bit tedious. A bit too self-serving. Sorry.

I wasn't really doing much with WTF anyway and my Twitter feed is better suited to post the cool/funny/clever/arty videos I'd been posting here (Join Twitter people. I'll be more than happy to discuss how to get the most out of it – with very little effort on your part.)

So, for the foreseeable future, this is what's going to happen here. I'm going to post stuff I've been designing and talk about it. These first tentative efforts may seem a bit awkward – they certainly feel awkward – and not particularly "artful" but you're seeing a process – not a product. I'm hoping that over time I demonstrate progress and growth in both the visual and verbal efforts here. But, you'll have to wait and see. Or not.


Next: Curiouser and curioser...

A "History" Lesson

Doomed [from The Unreasonable Triptych] » 20"x30"

It’s a particularly daunting task setting out to create solely for the sake of creating – with no real purpose in mind. Particularly when if you allow yourself to be distracted by a lack of any obviously remunerative purpose. Purpose can be a significant deterrent to progress.

Having found the process (and result) of working on The Unreasonable Man so gratifying, I found myself briefly paralyzed by an irrational fear that I couldn’t do it again – that I wouldn’t find the tabula rasa from which to work again. The sensation of channeling something, rather than composing it was one I didn't realized I'd missed until I'd experienced it again. I very much want the work I do to be imbued with meaning I just don't want to be guilty of consciously producing something that might be viewed as precious or contrived – I don't want to be too sure of what I'm trying to say.

So, simply to keep working the “muscles” I was using I decided to use another artist’s work as inspiration. To "do an homage". So, I spent a morning looking for inspiration both online and off until ultimately finding it right in front of me (behind me, actually). I found my inspiration in a 7"x10" ink and marker "portrait" of stoic rooster incongruously dressed in a tuxedo and possessed of a gaze as cryptic and iconic for me as La Giaconda's smile. A 28 year-old piece by my Dad (an accomplished and prolific artist himself), Hol and I have a print of it framed and hanging in our kitchen. “Doomed” is a reinterpretation, a repurposing – if it was a movie it might fairly be considered a remake. So, while I tried to keep any real intent from creeping in as I worked, stealing quick glances over my shoulder to be sure I was doing the source material justice, I found myself thinking of the oft-misquoted George Santayana quote,

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Next... an apology.

The Unreasonable Man

The Unreasonable Man [Panel 1 of The Unreasonable Triptych] » 20x30 inches

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." — George Bernard Shaw

Though I'm ashamed to admit I know next to nothing about GBS, the above quote has been a favorite of mine for sometime. Some might say argue that I fancy myself the Unreasonable Man. Some might say I'm just unreasonable.

Regardless, the quote has recently inspired me to be at the very least a bit headstrong. Having recently lost a position doing something I've done reasonably well for over a decade, I found myself with no desire to pursue doing it any longer. Arguably an unreasonable attitude. Particularly when one considers that I haven't known with any certainty what I am going to do. The inspiration I found in the quote – and it is certainly a self-serving reading – is to embrace this lack of reason in the interest of progress. And on a very gratifying personal level it's paid off. Over the past month and a half I've found myself gradually pulled, almost imperceptibly at first, (back) towards a desire to produce art. Not necessarily to create Art with a capital "A" mind you (I wouldn't be that presumptuous), but simply to create solely for my own gratification and edification. And that's progress.

The piece above represents the initial expression of that desire. The first piece of "design for art's sake" I've produced in years, it is maybe rather obvious, maybe not. The first panel of the first of two triptychs I've completed so far, it was effectively produced out of a stream of consciousness sort of state with the whole never predetermined. So too much shouldn't be read on the surface. However, anyone looking at it – and familiar with Shepard Fairey's iconic and ubiquitous Barack Obama "Hope" poster – would be forgiven for reading it as an obscure homage or – in a less sympathetic reading – a clumsy rip-off. It's neither. And, as much as I like the man, Obama – contrary to popular belief – does not own "hope". However, if it is either, it is only through a surreptitious act of my sub-conscious. And, I'd hate to dismiss all the other influences that seem to have informed – some more sublty than others – the piece as a whole.

In the recent past, when I've been inspired to design with "art" as the intent (in the last twelve years, an act typically undertaken with keyboard and mouse), the work has generally gone unproduced – destined to spend it's life as a series of 1s and 0s on some harddrive or another. This time I've decided to change that and have vowed to myself to produce work – to bring the work to life in a tangible form.

So, with no expectations of what may ultimately come of it, I'm talking with a former co-worker, designer, print-maker extraordinaire, Billy Baumann of Delicious Design League to help me begin by producing the above as an edition of 20"x30" silk screened posters. Panels 2 and 3 of The Unreasonable Triptych – Apologize and Doomed, respectively – to be produced soon thereafter followed by The Substantial Triptych.

Here's to being unreasonable...

Word.

The Beautiful Word – Ogilvy & Mather (Paris) produced animated vids for Scrabble's 60th Anniversary.

More, here, and here.

I tweeted this earlier today, but realized that I have some followers here at WTF (that I don't have on Twitter and that may not even glance over there on the left to check out Fresh Tweets) that would appreciate these.

Face the Nation

"Untitled" © Carmen Troesser, Missouri

British photographer, Stuart Pilkington has organized fifty photographers (one in each of the fifty states) to take one picture every two months on a different subject. The first assignment "People" is up now at the 50 States Project. It's a compelling – sometimes surprising – look at the state of the states.

[Via VSL]

A Wolf Loves Pork

Very clever stop-motion featuring a "wolf", a "pig" and a lot of photos.

You Can Tune A Piano, But...

Japanese "sound artist" Daito Manabe tuned his face. Electrodes hooked up to his face deliver shocks associated with the music he's playing — allowing him to play his face.

Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu! To Me.

We spent today in and around Roppongi Hills. An area of Tokyo I first became aware of years ago through it's graphic identity – a brilliant typographic system developed by British designer/typographer, Jonathan Barnbrook .

Like each day before it, today was a long day packed from one end to the other with blog-worthy stuff. Today also shares the problem of the last few in there's been either no time or I'm too tired at the end to craft a post that would do justice to the day. So, here are the three highlights among highlights.


The astounding show, The Messengers, by French artist Annette Messager at the Mori Art Museum on the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower. A show we missed at the Pompidou by a couple of weeks on our honeymoon.


The Tokyo City View on the top of Mori Tower. Absolutely spectacular views of the whole of Tokyo. You get one view from my iPhone.



Dinner at Gonpachi in Nishi-Azabu, just West of Roppongi Hills. (Gonpachi served as the inspiration for the set in the Crazy 88s fight scene in Kill Bill: Vol. 1.)

Oh, I almost forgot. At lunch Hol – for the first time ever – surprised me by asking for the smoking section and we ended up sitting in what was basically the coat room with another (smoking) couple. Seriously. It was absurdly hilarious. I can barely stop laughing as I write this. It was truly absurd and slightly surreal. This view just gives you the "hilarity" of Hol getting smoked out in the "hotboxed " coatroom – but behind me is a coatrack and to my right is a closet. Maybe you had to be there.

Vote For Hope

MC Yogi and Shep.

"You might never look at toothpaste the same way again"

So, just as Hirst's haul was causing me to reflect on choices made, acknowledge the negligence with which I've nurtured my "Art" and lament the lack of any real "new ideas" with which to make one's artistic mark, I saw the above image. New York-based artist Erik Boker has taken scalpel to tube, pinned the "skin" back and exposed the innards – the guts, if you will – of toothpaste brands. Part of his "Product Dissections" series I found the images striking, inspiring and... "new". My faith in the potential of Big-A Art restored for the time being.

At top: Aquafresh Extreme Clean Empowermint – 2008
Headline from: Creativity, Peeling Back The Product; Sept. 16, 2008

While "Banks Fall Over, Art Triumphs"

Damien Hirst's unprecedented two-day take for his dealer-eschewing Sotheby's auction: $198 million.

More in the Guardian.

At top: For the Love of God – 2007; platinum, diamond, human teeth

Venn Wisdom

Or, Why You Drink.Le Grand Content by Austrian digital artist, Clemens Kogler.

Let There Be Barack!

From Maryland-based designer, El Jefe. Arguably not as "artful" as Shepard Fairey's contributions to the Obama effort, but certainly funnier. The inspiration for the homage. And also here.

Oily And Repulsive (But Also Kind Of Attractive)

"Ferrofluid" art from From Tokyo-based artist and professor, Sachiko Kodama.

"...electromagnets and magnetically-charged microfine particles suspended in oil set in motion through a computer controller..."

And then there's this.

Niki de St. Phalle

A couple of weekends ago, Hol and I went to the Niki show at the Missouri Botanical Garden. I've been meaning to post a gallery of the photos we took. And, finally, here it is.

My previous exposure to Niki de St. Phalle's work had been Stravinsky Fountain at the Centre Georges Pompidou and the pieces at St. Louis' own Laumeier Sculpture Park (one acquired and another two on loan for a number of years that happened to be in the MoBoGa show). I've been thoroughly enamored of that work I'd been familiar with but none of it prepared me for how absolutely astonishing a collection of this magnitude was.

If you're in or near St. Louis before October 31, I highly recommend you go.

Image: La Poète et sa muse

The Persistence of Television

Salvado Dali's very amusing 1952 appearance on What's My Line?.

Via VSL.

[The headline of this post is, of course, a (clumsy) play on the title of what is arguably Dalí's most recognizable work, The Persistence of Memory. – Ed.]

In-f*cking-credible

BMW's stunning GINA Light Visionary Model.
Read more here and here.

Thanx to Sang for the heads up.

"So good, so far?"

About midway through our CHI weekend our very friendly and attentive ESL waitress at Puck's in the MCA uttered the headline of this post. And indeed the weekend had been so good, so far. The Seed Conference was thought-provoking and inspirational. The Koons show we had just taken in was fantastic and extraordinary.

I'd only ramble if I started a post about Seed (the speakers provided sooo much to think about) , but I will give you this: if you're interested in wine and/or the power of self branding you need to check out Gary Vaynerchuk and his Wine Library TV. He was unexpected, impassioned and hilarious and possibly the high point of the conference.

Also of note, was the truly remarkable dinner we had at Japonais on Thursday night.

There was one clear highlight however. It was when our Puck's waitress asked us at toward the end of our lunch, "Did you make room for lunch dessert?" If you don't think that's hilarious – we did – I can't help you. [Of course, it would help if I told the story right. – Ed.]

The Chicago Two

We're headed to CHI today for a long weekend. Though I don't think we'll be inciting any riots.

I decided a month or two ago to attend the third annual Seed Conference – a "one day conference on design, entrepreneurship and inspiration" – featuring some speakers whose work I've been a fan of for quite some time – particularly Carlos Segura, founder of pioneering digital type foundry T.26 and Jim Coudal, founder of creatively inspiring Coudal Partners. I was sold when I read the following:

You should attend if you’re a designer (print, web or video) or a business-minded soul who is looking to take creative ideas and turn them into something SATISFYING & BANKABLE.

So, that's my Friday. Hol will be having a "spa day" at either exhale or the spa at our hotel, the James. She's been poring over the offerings of each for days.

Saturday, we're heading to the Jeff Koons show at the MCA. [Thx for the heads up dad!]

And, if I know us, we'll probably squeeze in a little shopping around all that. And, I may post updates during the weekend, but I can't say for sure.

Note: The image you may recognize as Bonnie and Clyde – who, as far as I can tell didn't operate much, if at all, in Chicago.

The Examined Life

"Yesterday I came across a slightly mysterious website — a collection of Polaroids, one per day, from March 31, 1979 through October 25, 1997. There’s no author listed, no contact info, and no other indication as to where these came from. So, naturally, I started looking through the photos. I was stunned by what I found."

Sound interesting? It is. One Polaroid a day every day for eighteen years.

If you want a synopsis of what the above poster discovered in looking through those eighteen years' worth of photos you can read the rest of the above post from mental_floss.

Or just head straight to the site and discover for yourself. But I highly recommend you go through the whole collection in chronological order – though not necessarily in one sitting.

BTW: Almost forgot. Polaroid announced on February 8, 2008 that they are ceasing production of Polaroid film. So, if you want future generations to know what all the fuss [You'll have to click the preceding link – it won't allow embeding. – Ed.] was about – stock up or join the effort to save the format.