Interesting Art

So Emily and I were at Ohmega Salvage in Berkeley recently, and we saw this amazing and bizarre piece of artwork for sale…

Mounted in a wooden box, this curious diorama was made of wood, mechanical parts (possibly from a clock?) rocks, dried flowers and clay… with stamped metal numbers and letters at the bottom… and most interesting of all… a metal space ship firing a bunch of arrows at some kind of animal.

This psychedelic crafts project was just a bit too expensive for me to justify purchasing… but for some reason i really wanted to.

Pecha Kucha @ The Improv (10-20-09)

http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

“usually pronounced in three syllables like “pe-chak-cha”, is a presentation format in which content can be easily, efficiently and informally shown, usually at a public event designed for that purpose. Under the format, a presenter shows 20 images for 20 seconds apiece, for a total time of 6 minutes, 40 seconds.”

Every so often you have to try on a different hat. So I’ll be putting down the dj gear and performing a little monologue for you at Pecha Kucha, on October 20th at The Improv in downtown San Jose. Myself, a few others from work, and many other enthusiastic speakers will be taking turns, delivering high-energy, fast-paced presentations. Come be part of the fun. =)

The Case for Working With Your Hands

Props to Resynthesize for finding this…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?_r=1&em
a FANTASTIC article in the New York Times about the intrinsic (and often overlooked) value of working with your hands. Authored by Matthew B Crawford, whose new book, Shop Class as Soulcraft sounds equally impressive.

“In the boardrooms of Wall Street and the corridors of Pennsylvania Avenue, I don’t think you’ll see a yellow sign that says “Think Safety!” as you do on job sites and in many repair shops, no doubt because those who sit on the swivel chairs tend to live remote from the consequences of the decisions they make. Why not encourage gifted students to learn a trade, if only in the summers, so that their fingers will be crushed once or twice before they go on to run the country?

On a related note, I recently read a piece suggesting that art students are subject to a similar style of “life-training.” For example: when you set out to draw a portrait, there are no set rules for where to begin or what style it should be rendered in. When you are moving the pencil, you are making hundreds of tiny decisions per second without any detailed instructions. Only you can decide what strokes are “right” or “wrong” or when you are “done.” In this respect, art teaches us confidence… how to make your own decisions and stand behind them… and just like in a repair shop, if you screw something up, the feedback is instantaneous, tactile and measurable. You can’t fudge numbers or lay people off at the end of the quarter to cover up the fact that your kerning sucks.

For this reason, it’s a shame that the art programs are usually the first to get cut when the budget is looking lean. But I digress… if you have time, read this article.

Here For Now (almost here!)

Music – Complete!
Album Art – Complete!
Mastering – (almost there!)

Friends… I am deeply deeply deeply satisfied with how this whole thing has played out.

Historically, I have had a hard time finishing personal projects… but as I’ve matured I have discovered new heights of patience, focus, and dedication. The last few tracks are off being mastered, and already this is the THE most complete production that has ever sprung from my brain. Nothing was rushed or compromised… but somehow I managed to avoid falling victim to my own ADD nature. For the first time, I have nitpicked the shit out of every detail of something, (from the music to the message to the album art) for years and actually finished what I started. I am still sort of shocked, to be honest.

I’ve spent virtually every free moment for the past 2 years working on this thing…  and now that it’s over, I’m not quite sure what to do with myself.

Oh and did I tell you that it’s coming out on Muti? (www.mutimusic.com)

I couldn’t be happier about that.  =) <– beaming swami

Only a few more weeks until the official release! Stay tuned… and thanks for all the love, support, and inspiration!

~S

Pecha Kucha Tonight

Going to Pecha Kucha tonight!
www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/san-francisco
more: pechakucha-sf.com/
(voted “BEST HYPERINTELLECTUAL SHOW-AND-TELL” in the bay area by the San Francisco Guardian!!)

Sounds like an interesting event… kinda like ADAC but on more of a sharing level. I’m going to be interested to hear what some of these people have to show. Maybe someday i’ll show some work there.

Also… THIS: sdo.seoul.go.kr/english/index.html seems like a good enough reason to go back to Seoul for a visit! I like how there is a picture of the olympic stadium they built in 1988 (the last time i was there) and right next to it it says that it’s going to to be held in the Jamsil Sports Complex Main Stadium… conference hall. =(

Killer Motion Graphics

I saw “The Kingdom” a few weeks back… and even though the movie was kind of “ho hum” sensationalism, the intro blew me the fuck away. It is an amazing blend of info graphics, motion graphics and video footage… seamless and powerful.

luckily, the design group has it online for us to view =)
www.picagency.com/kingdom_movie.html

I am especially impressed with how there is 2D type floating in 3D space… and when the camera moves it creates differing text sizes that align in typographically sound ways on the horizon line. Also the 3D oil consumption bar-graph for the United States turning into the WTC was pretty clever.

Hand Shadows

Holy Crap:
www.youtube.com/watch

That’s it… i’m selling all my music gear and buying an overhead projector.

I’m gonna be like the dude from Being John Malkovich and start a revolution of DJs-turned-puppeteers. By January of ’09 even Oakenfold will make the switch. I’m tellin ya…

Want It! – Now With Less Poison! (10-06-07)

poi

This is definately my favorite flyer i’ve done so far… i had the most fun ever with this concept.

For those of you not in the know… This is Want It’s annual decompression party; formerly “Rawktoberfest”… last year we kicked it up a notch and the turnout (no small thanks to you) was PHENOMENAL… Ambient Mafia hosted the chill area, and Want It’ers in the main room…

Blurry-eyed and psyched, I was dragging my gear up to the main stage to play right after Forest… and right as i was setting up, this unbelievable smell hit me… my eyes started watering and my throat started to close up… I looked around and everyone was scrambling to get out the emergency exits…

We had talked to the whole complex about the fact that we were going to throw a party that night but some fucked-up tenant had just moved into a small room that shared a wall with our main stage… and nobody knew he was there… after calming him down several times, he went completely fucking apeshit and apparantly ran out into our party and broke open a gallon of ammonia, officially ending our night.

It’s still surreal to me… that some copper-plated douche bag would actually resort to chemical warfare and risk the health and lives of hundreds of people… for WHATEVER reason. Clearly, the guy was unstable. After a long discussion, it was decided that we wouldn’t call the cops on this guy… we’d let him get evicted and avoid the possibility of another incident. Nobody got hurt… just our feelings.

So now.. without further ado… Want It proudly presents the sequel… Two areas of completely mind-melting music on decompression weekend… don’t worry about blowing your wad the night before SF Decomp, as this is a donations-only event. Costume-up and come rawk out with us on saturday night and then wind up at decompression on sunday!

Or don’t … your call… but you may regret missing this one!

Oh My GOD