I seem to be off my game lately.....

I have a new charcoal here. It's a still life of Petey the Styrofoam Head, which is, as the name would imply, a styrofoam head. The first image is the entire drawing--- the second a detail. I hate the drawing. It kind of embarasses me, to be honest. But you know what? That happens sometimes and I have to learn to accept it.

The drawing is hugely abstracted. It's not based entirely on accuracy--- really based on planes of light. I also used a different kind of paper and a different side than I usual do to give it a grainy effect that you can see in the second image. So this was experimental for me more than anything.

On a different note, I'd like to take a moment to briefly mention a couple things that I saw this week. One: I went to the Museum of Russian Art on Wednesday for the first time ever. The current exhibit is entirely realistic oil painting (some with roots in impressionism). I actually really enjoyed the museum and I would highly recommend it. It gave me a new appreciation for realism, oil, and Russia.

Second, I saw a lecture on Friday featuring the filmmaker Pat O'Neill. His experimental fine art films are intriguing and worth looking up, but the lecture was a little brutal. He kind of drones on a bit, but that could be because he made his first video in 1963--- therefore, OLD. But hey; that doesn't make his videos any less good. In fact, I think it makes him more experienced and that makes him more credible. Side note: he works in traditional film, not digital, which also adds interest.

Ugh. Too many words. Comment!

Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program

Checked out the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program [MAEP] at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts [MIA] yesterday. [haha I had those written out as abbreviations and then changed them because I realized that maybe not everyone knows the abbreviations xP]

Back to the MAEP. I hadn't had the opportunity to see that particular show yet. If you're not familiar with the show, it's a competitive exhibition that chooses nine artists each year to create an exhibit at the MIA. Anyone can apply, but it's hard to get in, so the work is always top-notch.

The show is marvelous. To me, the interconnecting theme between the four artists is their attention to detail. I can't/don't want to fully explain the work, but I highly recommend the exhibit. It's probably one of the best exhibits I've seen in awhile.

So I recommend you take a look--- or maybe YOU AND I could go check it out TOGETHER? It's not a huge show, but I'd love to see it again, personally =P

The schedule for the show is as follows:

• January 30-March 16: Nicholas Conbere, Michelle Johnson, Jack Pavlik, and Sonja Petereson
• April 3-May 31: Sara Belleau and Nancy Robinson
• June 19-August 9: Cheryle Melander and Don Myhre
• August 28-October 25: Roxanne Jackson

The solo exhibitionist--- Roxanne Jackson--- is actually my 3D teacher, and Don Myhre is MCAD's head woodshop superviser guy. So that's pretty neat.

I posted a lot of stuff in this past week--- please take a look at some of my other blogs, where I actually posted my own work! Comments make me happy! =D

Thanks!

I must admit; a lot of effort was put into this.

And despite all my effort, I'm still not really happy with it =P

This sculpture is the product of three weeks of hard work and a lot of frustrating trial and error. I wanna give a shout out to my boy David for being my saviour with this project. Thanks, David!

Made for my Foundation 3D class at MCAD.

Medium: Pink styrofoam and vinyl spackle. And a LOT of different types of glue.

Questions? Concerns? Thoughts? Comment!

Horrible, terrible, no good very bad day.

The weather was absolutely terrible on Tuesday. Horrible. There was nothing pretty or attractive about it, and just walking outside to the car was a challenge. So I decided to go for a walk because that was obviously an awesome idea xD

Well, I brought my camera with me, even though everything was ugly and gross. Usually, I can see the beauty in things, but it was just in such a bad mood that I couldn't... it was a bit cathartic to go for that walk though, I suppose. As Jenna knows, I slid down a pile of mud. It was gross. And kinda fun =P

These photos are the product of that terrible walk. They're nothing special, but I post virtually anything I have. Comments?

I should have another post up later today, actually... Or maybe tomorrow depending on my mood. I'm finishing up a sculpture I've been working on FOREVER, and it's ruining my life and putting me in a terrible mood because it's terrible and ugly and terrible and terrible and I hate it because it's terrible. Mhmm.

So you'll get to enjoy that later =D

Haha

Another mish-mash of stuff.

I had a fairly interesting weekend... Nothing too out-of-the norm, but some interesting stuff worth sharing. Also, I'm really bored right now. Just got home and now I'm all alone....... All..... alone......

ANYWAY. Basic calender of things that happened this weekend that may be of some interest to somebody somewhere:

• FRIDAY: After class, I checked out the current exhibition that's up in the gallery at school [being the Minneapolis College of Art and Design]. The opening was that night, but I didn't stay for it. I just lingered and checked out the work that's up and then left. To summarize, the show is in honor of Kinji Akagawa, who is a retiring teacher at MCAD. The work consists of MCAD alumni who studied under Kinji, most having got their masters of fine arts at MCAD. The show is wonderfully impressive. The show's not huge, so it's not necessarily worth a long drive out to see it unless you're in the area--- but I'd definitely recommend checking it out. It'll be up at the MCAD gallery until February 22nd. If that's not enough to entice you, the Scholastic Awards are up in the second and third floor galleries as well--- and, although high school art isn't quite as breathtaking as people who received their masters twenty years ago and have been in practice for a long time, it's really fun to see student work =]

Here's a link with more info about the Kinji Akagawa show: http://www.mcad.edu/showPage.php?pageID=1119&eventID=372

• SATURDAY: Saw Waltz with Bashir. The movie was extraordinary: definitely one of the best of 2008. If you're not as huge of a geek as me, Waltz with Bashir is an animated documentary about the Lebanese war--- so it's entirely in Hebrew. It's won awards [including the Critic's Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, and soon the Academy Awards] for best foreign film of the year as well as best animated film of the year. The film was aesthetically stunning and very moving and powerful. It follows the perspective of Israeli soldiers in the war--- the lead role is actually the filmmaker who made the movie--- and everyone interviewed for the film plays themselves (voice).

HIGHLY recommended. If you haven't yet, watch the trailer. NOW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylzO9vbEpPg&feature=related

• SUNDAY [today]: Went to an art history lecture at the College of Visual Arts. Diane Mullen, a curator from the Weisman museum, was the speaker. She spoke about the Norton Gifts exhibition, which, although not the most exciting lecture I've ever seen, was incredibly interesting. While the lecture started out slow, it really picked up the pace when she showed each individual piece of work and gave background on it. The work spans the spectrum from well-known artists such as Simpson, Murakami, Morimura, Eno, and Walker as well as fresh emerging artists. It was a good time. There are still two lectures left, one next Sunday and one the Sunday after, to be given by Dennis Jon and Elizabeth Carpenter. So if you're looking for something to do next Sunday at 4:00, it's not a bad idea =]

More info:

http://cva.edu/programs/pro_summer.htm

So... that's my weekend in summary. Hopefully I peaked your interest about something or another =] Leave me a comment and let me know if you think any of this is kinda cool!

Also... This is my second post in a row that's about stuff I didn't make... That's lame.... Sorry xP

Just Because.

This is gonna be kind of a boring blog, but that's alright. I just felt like sharing some info about a few artists I like... I was inspired to talk about them because I checked out some books/interviews with them for fun yesterday, cuz I was bored. So now you get to hear some more stuff about stuff I like.

First of all, this first image is of a Scottish artist you may be familiar with; Jim Lambie. I believe he's most well-known for Psychedelic Soul Stick, which I'm sure you'll recognize if you google it. The piece above is an installation called "Mental Oyster", which I think is really neat. Obviously, this fills the entire room and is really overpowering. I'd love to see this live.... Or any of his installations, for that matter.
The next artist I wanna talk about is Elliott Hundley, who is an American artist. Not quite as well known as the other two I'm talking about today... But I absolutely love his work. I'd highly reccomend a quick google image search of his work. His work often combines both sculpture and painting, like the one above.

And now for something completely different: Cai Guo-Qiang. The piece above is a panel piece made out of gunpowder. This guy blows stuff up to make his art! How awesome is that?! I was watching an episode of Art 21 about him yesterday, and for the first time I got to see him in the process of making his art. And things wuz gettin' blowed up. And that made me like him more. He does A LOT of other types of work too, but his gunpowder will always be my favorite. It's a really cool episode... I can rent it out for free at the MCAD library if anyone ever wants to watch it with me =D hahaha

Like I said, boring. I didn't really say much of anything. But hey; I'd like to know what you think of some of these artists. Sometimes I like talking about artists who are infinitely better than me =D

Watah

First of all, I had the opportunity to work on a test shoot with Eleven, a design firm in Minnetonka, and it was super fun =D I don't wanna talk about it too much, though. I will tell you the commercial is for Vision Ease LifeRX glasses, which are the "transitions" lenses. I think it's gonna turn out pretty tight! The commercial is in stop-motion, so that makes it more fun!

BUT ALAS. It has to be a secret, I guess xD

And nobody wants to hear about that anyway, hahaha xP

The images I posted aren't anything too special.... Just a packaging design I made in my Graphic Design class. It's a redesign of a Dasani label, but, obviously, not a Dasani bottle. Cuz they're ugly and I hate them. Although this bottle is ugly too, but that's not the point xD

I was thinking about posting the progress of the sculpture I'm working on in my Foundation3D class at MCAD, but I think it'd make more sense to just post it when it's all done.

So that'll be up in a week or two.

...

Mmhmmm.

Nothing more to say.

=]