see you in april, suckaz

Now that the contest is over...I need to get back to school. I hope the internet understands.

bloc party: music for feedback

DOWNLOAD: BLOC PARTY- The Prayer (Hadouken! remix)
(Courtesy of hupendi musiki, how is this shit not already on hype machine?)
- pre-order it - site it - space it / space it - read it - youtube it -

I finished cutting the inside of the George Jetson block. Basically, it asks the question, "What if the style of the future IS just like The Jetsons?" You never know. I'd totally buy those boots.

WHAT IS THIS? WHERE ARE THE REGULAR POSTS?

kotki dwa: music for feedback

DOWNLOAD: KOTKI DWA- Nearly Go
(delightful UK electro indie-pop)
- buy it - site it - space it -

Ok, so no feedback is actually necessary here. I've been putting off my robot block for a while now, and I think kotki dwa's picture is a sign from the gods of art that I need to go forth and work on it. I will be sharing a delightful tribute to George Jetson with all of you tonight/early tomorrow. As Scar once said in The Lion King..."BE PREPAAAAAARED!"

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don lennon: imagi-fridays.

DOWNLOAD: DON LENNON- Young People Need Guidance
(Poppy rock tune, off of his new album Radical)
- BUY it - SPACE it - SITE it -

No, this isn't going to be part of my thesis...yet. To gain inspiration for the rest of my project, I went through my house over winter break to find old drawings, school projects, and photographs. The excerpt below was written by me as a 7 year-old on October 15, 1992.

"Joseph's Island"
One day Joseph was walking and he met a witch. The witch gave him a ride to an island. Nobody was there to do some thing. He tried to make a boat, but that did not work. Then he met a friend. The friend left. and Joseph swam back. Then he wanted to go get something to eat and drink. He got Kool Aid and pretzels. He was so happy. He jumped out of his shoes. Everybody cheered.

Some things will never change.

I still love pretzels so much that they make me jump out of my shoes in happiness. It's hereditary...My grandfather loved pretzels so much that he would keep a stash in the front pocket of his shirt.

I still have problems. With punctuation. And punchy sentences. You may have noticed. Possibly.

Unfortunately, some things do change. My imagination. I will never again write a story like that in my lifetime. I've lost that spontaneity. Everybody cheered.

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pineforest crunch: music for feedback

DOWNLOAD: PINEFOREST CRUNCH- Barbie Girl (Aqua cover)
(Beautiful, Swedish indie-pop group covers '90s dance hit)
- website - myspace - buy -

Much like the song above, I didn't expect to like this as much as I do. Basically, this block is just of a plain t-shirt. I'm going to be printing this multiple times and playing around with different designs, including the Raven idea.

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betty harris: music for feedback.

DOWNLOAD: BETTY HARRIS- Show It
(super-rare recording by a 1960s New Orleans soul goddess)
- buy it - read up -

I wish I owned this suit. Just finished up this cardboard cut last night, though it had been on hold for a while. This image is the unfinished version, because you KNOW I'm too lazy to take a new one.

I'm still in the process of figuring out how to format these posts. I'll keep 'em coming as long as I can.

WHAT IS THIS? WHERE ARE THE REGULAR POSTS?

music for feedback: toys, turning off the lights, and music usage in art.

DOWNLOAD: BEDTIME FOR TOYS- Say BOOM
- website - myspace - read that - cop that -

I have to confess that I escaped to Foxwoods today for dinner, so I don't have much to share but some ideas.

I'm kind of anti-gambling so my time at Foxwoods was spent eating and walking around, though I did play some skee-ball in the arcade. More importantly, Foxwoods has one of the most amazing contests going on. You swipe your "Wampum card"* and see if you get the opportunity to, wait for it...

Play tic-tac-toe. Against a LIVE chicken.

This isn't a joke, and I wish I had my camera with me so I could prove it to you. If you win, you get $10,000. If you lose, you get a t-shirt that says "I lost to a chicken at Foxwoods". In other words, if you are eligible to compete against the chicken...you are a winner no matter what. Seriously. I wanted a chicken t-shirt so badly that I almost asked them if I could buy one. Perhaps someone is selling one on e-bay?

With t-shirts in mind, I had planned on creating a basic t-shirt block today. With this block, I could print multiple images and play around with different t-shirt designs and colors. A shirt I am certain I will be using is one that reads "That's SO" followed by a picture of a raven, hence the image you see above. I know it's a corny pop culture reference, but it's a shirt I'd certainly wear next year and probably twenty years from now. I'm still receiving compliments on my text-only "I Snogged Ginny Weasley"t-shirt, so I think I have a good idea of what I'm doing, you know? I've always been a sucker for novelty t-shirts, but I haaaate running into someone who is wearing the same one. In seventh grade, I came into school wearing the same South Park t-shirt and pair of Jnco (don't laugh!) jeans as a girl in my homeroom. The entire day, people made fun of me...insisting that I called her up, asked what she was wearing the following day, and planned to match. It's not the issue of conformity that bothers me...the joke just isn't as funny when other people are in on it.

I have to confess that the South Park/Jncos incident of 1998 was a major reason that I became so self-conscious of what I wore to school. In high school, I used to keep a calendar tracking what I wore in a secret code for fear that I'd wear the same jeans or shirt in the same week. I admit that it's a little OCD, but people are mean! I didn't have the level of maturity back then to shake off the haters and do my thang. I was too busy being an angsty teenager. In any case, my documentation of my wardrobe got to a level of excess that during my graduation party, two of my cousins snuck into my room and added items such as "I Heart Men t-shirt" and "zebra thong" to the calendar. I can't decide if this was funny in retrospect.

1. MUSIC: I should briefly mention that the song I have posted isn't just coincidentally related to this post. Bedtime for Toys incorporates a bevy of visual elements into their live shows, which I have yet to see, including spectacular stage lighting and video elements. With that said, I am considering the incorporation of music into my thesis. Now, I'm not thinking of blasting dance-party ready jams like "Say BOOM" up in the gallery. I was thinking of going in the direction of more experimental tunes with fairly unclear subject matter, along the lines of the less lyrical compositions of Dave Doom, Twink's toy piano tunes, or Laura Goldhamer's instrumental works and interludes. Basically, I would like to use something that enhances the work without distracting the viewer...adding another level to the subconscious experience of imagining your childhood and the possibilities of the future. Do you think music would be overkill? If I can pull it off, I'd like the installation to feel like stepping into another world. I guess you could call it a birthday party of the subconscious? How important do you think it'd be for me to work with a composer to create original music rather than using unrelated tunage that just happens to work well with the pieces? Would it be overly corny to credit/market the artist in some way? Just some thoughts.
2. LIGHTING: There is a lovely wall of windows in the gallery space I'm using, but I'm considering covering them entirely and excluding all sources of natural light. I think this would enhance the feeling of "stepping into another world". There's also a glass door to enter my gallery space, and I'd love to keep it closed and covered. I don't know if this is against the gallery rules, so I'll have to talk to some people about it. I'd especially love to cover it with pictures children drew of what they want to be when they grow up. I wanted to be a doctor. HA!

Bring on some feedback. Seriously. I have an exciting post coming up tomorrow.

* The mere mention of "Wampum card" made me want to do nothing but listen to "Wamp Wamp" by Clipse & Slim Thug. Was I the only person who had that reaction?

music for feedback: elmo and animal hospital.

DOWNLOAD: ANIMAL HOSPITAL- Para Larva
- website - myspace - cop that -

This begins a series of posts that will continue up until April. What's the deal? I give you a tune a day in return for feedback on my senior art thesis. Hypothetically, this will allow me to share music with you AND encourage me to have something new to show to you every night. If you want to know a little bit about the tracks, you can check out the tags on the post. I won't have time to write much more than that, but I will direct you to websites, myspaces, links to purchase, and any press for the artists involved.

Perhaps I should explain what I'm doing art-wise. At Wesleyan University, art majors are required to complete a senior thesis exhibition. Essentially, this means that we work intensely for months and show the final product in a huge art gallery with a few other majors. I will be showing in approximately 3 months.

My thesis is composed of wood-block prints of a personal nature, exploring childhood, the imagination, the process of growing up, and the uncertain future. The future will be represented by a collection of garments for a single 3 ft. tall paper doll. The garments will span across a wall of approximately 150 square feet. They will detail various aspects of the future-- occupation, fashion, social standing, fantastical scenarios, etc. The block you see above will be used for a print emphasizing the bizarre possibility that I will wind up working at Sesame Place as Elmo.

I plan to complete the garments by the end of January and then focus on the second wall of the gallery. This wall will include prints detailing my growth as an individual. I know that this doesn't sound like the most intellectual or groundbreaking collection of art, but my hopes are that the piece will encourage others to revisit their childhood and remember the days of coloring books & imaginary friends. I feel like we grow up way too fast, quickly forgetting what made us who we are and worrying too much about what we'll become.

OH! And don't worry...I'll still be bringing you some exciting new stuff musically. Just wait.