Three Art Blogs You Should Know

One of the best things about the technological age is the availability of information.  But that can often be more overwhelming than anything.  So I am going to keep this simple.  Here are three of my favorite art blogs I highly recommend to anyone interested in the current art scene.

Art 21

PBS created a series by the name of Art 21, profiling hundreds of living, working, artists from around the world.  This sparked their art blog with up to date profiles, show reviews, and interviews with these artists.  

Curbs and Stoops

Geared more towards the youthful rebellious types, curbs and stoops provides not only provides great interviews with working artists but also flawlessly balances the abstract, realist, conceptual, and political  works they profile on their page.

Vandalog

If we haven't realized by now, I have a sickening love for the street art movement.  

Stay educated.

Code Poetry

Since we are all working on designing our nameplate pages, I thought I'd share this book that I stumbled upon. It is, as the title suggests, a collection of poems made from...code! I need one.

Ishac Bertran began this project in February, 2012 by asking people to send him poems written in coding language. But why? Bertran explains, "Code can speak literature, logic, maths. It contains different layers of abstraction and it links them to the physical world of processors and memory chips. All these resources can contribute in expanding the boundaries of contemporary poetry by using code as a new language. Code to speak about life or death, love or hate. Code meant to be read, not run". After the invitation, Bertran received over 200 submissions, but chose 55 to include in the book called code {poems}.

Some of the "coding language" featured in code {poems} is HTML, C#, SQL, C++, Objective C, Applescript and Java. 

I think the entire concept of this book is beautiful. I've been playing around with HTML since I was 13 years old--and while I have much to learn, coding is something that is close to my heart. While there were only 100 copies of the book printed, the project site suggests that there will be a second edition of the book in the future.

(For more information and pictures, check out the project site.)

Until next time!

ARART: An Augmented Reality Application

Kei Shiratori, Takeshi Mukai and Younghyo Bak recently created an application that brings famous works of art to life! When a mobile device is held to a piece, "a new story will unfold, as if time trapped inside the painting has been stirred alive".

Additionally, ARART animates the illustrations within Alice In Wonderland as well as common objects such as records and CDs. The app uses the camera of the device to detect the objects, and if it is registered, the image will move. Watch the video below to see ARART in action.

This is incredible! What I really love about ARART is the use of technology to add depth, and potentially redefine well-known masterpieces as well as the world around us. Soon ARART will be available to download for free at the iTunes App Store. The creators plan to add even more features than what is shown. (I can't wait!)

(For more information, check out the project site.)

Until next time!

3D Street Art: This is Awesome!

3D street art is an emerging art form that is totally cool. These artists, known as "chalk artists", draw two-dimensional paintings using the street or sidewalk as their canvas.  When completed, the paintings give the viewer a 3D perspective when looked at from the right angle. Here are some of my favorites that I have found. Enjoy!

Edgar Mueller's "Hot River"

Julian Beevers "Coca-Cola"

Joe & Max's "Ninja Turtles"

Zeon Santos' "Pac-Man"

Manfred Strater's "Be careful where you park your car"

Julian Beevers "Crazy River"

Here is a video of famous chalk artist Julian Beever, aka the Pavement Picasso, drawing his "Crazy River" piece: 

And a link to a collection of 3D street art. Thanks for checking it out!

Jay-Z x Jack Johnson-Good Praying People. My mash-up.

Good Praying People

This is a mash-up of mine using Jay-Z's "Pray" and the instrumentals from Jack Johnson's "Good People".  Jay-Z is one of my favorite artists and I thought his smooth flow went nicely with Jack Johnson's acoustic guitar playing.  Enjoy!

My Mash-up

Here is my mash-up project. 

 It is a graphic portrait of Marilyn Monroe using quotes from Princess Diana. 

Hope you like it!

"Bad 25": A Review

"Bad 25" Album Cover

25 years ago on August 31, 1987 Michael Jackson released his third solo album (not including his solo work with Motown), "Bad". At the time of its release, "Bad" was not received as well as his previous album, "Thriller". However, it still managed to sell an impressive 30 million copies worldwide.¹ Additionally, "Bad" was the first album in music history with five consecutive number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man In The Mirror" and "Dirty Diana"). It also debuted number one on the Billboard 200, and remained within the top ten for 38 weeks.² The King of Pop moved into an edgier direction musically with "Bad", which proved how versatile Michael Jackson was and is as an artist.

The iconic lean from "Smooth Criminal"

The short films for the album, such as "Smooth Criminal" and "Bad" were equally as impressive and memorable as the album itself. These films not only showcased Michael Jackson's talent as a singer, but as an actor and dancer as well.

"Bad 25" is an amazing re-release of one of my favorite albums. The four-disc deluxe edition of the package consists of three discs of music and a concert DVD. It also includes two booklets of behind the scenes photos and stills from the Bad Tour, a double sided poster, and a sticker of the album cover.

Awesome Illustrated Quotes From Famous Authors

Here is the link to the blog:

I stumbled onto this web page and thought it was relevant to our current mash up project. Definitely, these illustrations enhance the words they portray, and the drawings feel literary because of the words.        

Renan Ozturk

Renan Ozturk

This past weekend my friend and I were passively discussing my new found love of rock climbing which I began doing this summer.  She started talking about a friend of a friend whom she had met a few years back that was a professional rock climber and a skilled artist.  Was there a more perfect match?  I did some more research and learned about Renan, the rock climber, artist, filmmaker, from Boulder Colorado.

It is possible I have fallen in love.

You can check out some of his films, more of his art work and a few of his sketchbooks at http://renanozturk.sites.livebooks.com/

These Are a Few of My Favorite (Art) Blogs!

The Internet is filled with many great art-related blogs, but I thought I would share with you the three I visit the most.

1. My Modern Metropolis: My Modern Metropolis is fantastic because it is not only one blog--it is an aggregate of multiple blogs. The site describes itself as: "a collage - our very foundation is made by the people, for the people. We're a hub to gather and share the little, intricate things that we find creative and inspiring in this world". Anyone can create a blog through theMET, and contribute art-related posts! What I love about this blog(-hub) is that it truly does rely on its contributors, and fosters a sense of community through sharing artistic discoveries. The large number of people who post to the site keeps the main page moving and updated--so you can learn about a new piece of art just about every day. I can spend hours going through the different pages and reading through everyone's posts!

2. Pretty Much Amazing: I discovered Pretty Much Amazing fairly recently, but I totally had a "where have you been all my life" moment when I read through it. The contributors of Pretty Much Amazing post regularly about artists that I'm familiar with--and artists that I want to listen more to! One of my biggest problems is when I become obsessed with artists or bands, while I love their music, it takes a lot for me to go out and research news about them. PMA is my hero because it keeps me updated! What I really love about PMA is that it covers news about a variety of musical genres. Pretty Much Amazing has detailed album reviews, general news about artists and bands, music video posts, and much more.

3. My Eclectic Depiction Of Life: What drew me to this Tumblr blog was its simplicity. Appropriate to the simplistic nature of the blog, the blogger only provides a short blurb about the pieces of art posted, along with links to the artist's website (if they own one) and the site where the work was seen. What I love about the blog (along with the fact that the blogger links back to the original source) is the layout. It is incredibly minimalist-ic--which lets the pictures do all of the "talking". The choice of layout makes the blog look visually appealing because it clearly emphasizes the art. The blogger manages to post about a wide range of artistic mediums. I definitely recommend checking out MEDOL if you're looking for a quick update into the artistic community.

The Rocks And The Rivers

When was the last time you thought of the rocks and the rivers? 

This blog is about art.  There are thousands of divisions and sub divisions within the term, all that should be treated with at least some semblance of respect.

  

One concept that I had never really considered until today was art within the natural landscape.  Thanks to StumbleUpon and Science Dump I took on a whole new perspective.  Now don't get me wrong, I have always thought of Earth as beautiful, but never as an entity of art itself.  

I mean there is no denying that the Earth is extraordinary (not since "Planet Earth" at least).  But now, try looking at it as a work of art. 

 I cannot help but focus specifically on the rocks and the rivers.  From the shifting plates that crash into one another and force towering mountains skywards to the small streams that over thousands of years carve away at the rock to produce vast canyons extending beyond where the eye can see.

I went digging on the glorious National Geographic photography page for a few examples I thought best illustrate my argument.

 Have a look and let me know what you think!

Rio Negro, Brazil

Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

Eroded Landscape, Madagascar

Arizona Butte

Hot Springs, East Africa

Landmannalaugar, Iceland

Rice Terraces, China

Nature itself can be the greatest artist.