Visual Treasurez: my art/craft quest

I'M NOW MOMMYBLOGGING!

2011-09-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

check out my new blog-->

lazerbaby.blogspot.com

The Colouring - another joseph pelling animation

2011-03-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

The audio is from the Shining!

The Colouring from joseph Pelling on Vimeo.

Boy chopping ghosts in half in "The Lost Coin" awesome animation

2011-03-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

The Lost Coin from joseph Pelling on Vimeo.

FRUITCAKE FRUITCAKE!!

2010-12-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

I'm crying after watching Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love

2010-11-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

I LOVE THIS FILM

Nuit Blache

2010-10-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

MY PICKS FROM NUIT BLANCHE TORONTO 2010.
I copied this text right from the Nuit Blanche website. Please excuse the quality of the photos and videos. They were taken with my crappy fake blackberry.

Bellwood Trinity Dry Stone Bell

DSWAC - Port Hope, Canada
Installation, Sculpture, Performance Art, Light Installation
The Dry Stone Wall Association of Canada will build a large stone bell structure without cement, mortars or glue. This ode to craftsmanship will be rung in at 7pm and rung out at dawn. As quickly as it will be built it will disappear like the clanging of a bell.

DSWAC is committed to educating the public and promoting the art of dry stone walling. In a world where structural masonry has vanished, and energy consumptive cements, glues, plastics, and high tech materials are the norm, rejuvenating this craft has become ironically innovative. This method uses a structural and environmentally friendly medium, avoiding toxic materials, extensive industrial processes, and limited CO2 production. Like the bell, stone walls are a ringing in a new ecological age.

Ruby Venus

Michelle Debrouwer - Toronto, Canada
Monica Dottor - Toronto, Canada
Sunshine Horvath - Toronto, Canada
Nicole Rush - Toronto, Canada
Jennifer Helland - Toronto, Canada
Installation, Performance Art

Ruby Venus is a physically interactive dance installation. A highly sculptural work involving 15-30 identical women clad in long red velvet hoop dresses and blonde wigs, the dancers move to a symphony of heavy metal violins in a foreign land. Exploring their surroundings in childlike fashion; afraid to wander too far from the clan. Every hour on the hour they gather to perform a highly choreographed piece and then disperse among the observers again.

-Following the performance of Ruby Venus, a spokesperson for Virgin Airlines gave away plane tickets

Sight unseen, 2010

(Seeing Lee Ranaldo perform made my night. I was so mesmerized I may have peed my pants... almost.)

Lee Ranaldo - New York, USA
Leah Singer - New York, USA
Multimedia Installation
Small moments loom cinematic. A pin drops. An exploration of image and sound celebrating the hidden, the lost, the invisible.
Lee Ranaldo is a writer, visual artist and a founding member of musical group Sonic Youth.
Leah Singer, is a visual artist and filmmaker known for her performances using modified film projectors and 16mm film shot with a still 35mm camera.
Their collaborations include: DRIFT, a live film and music performance first premiered in 1991 and recently included in the Biennale for International Light Art in Ruhr, Germany; iloveyouihateyou, a digital video and sound installation, Magasin3 Stockholm and Water Days, a CD+book.

Auto Lamp, 2009

Kim Adams - Toronto, Canada
Dodge Ram van 96
A vehicle is supposed to light the way ahead and signal its presence to those behind. Adams shifts Auto Lamp's original functionality to a kind of lighthouse on land, or for this occasion, an oversized lamp for night owls. Placed on a rotating display, the Auto Lamp is signaling in place guiding the viewer to both stay and go. Turn off the car, turn on the light. Turning 360º, the road's line is revised to a slow whirl, a traffic circle of light. Adams' work frequently involves vehicles, but often his sculptural intervention is additive, the vehicle outgrows its bounds and becomes a bemusing behemoth. Staging a surplus of scenes colliding in a multitude of scales, the resulting sculptures are pure excess. Auto Lamp suggests a new direction for Adams, here the process of subtraction he employs similarly produces an excess, but of the immaterial. Light beams puncture the auto's body and pour out in all directions — the patterned pores of all sizes create a mesmerizing decorative display. The vehicle's consistency is compromised, it's barely there, it's more holes than whole.

Church Intent

John Notten - Toronto, Canada
Installation
Using the vocabulary of camping equipment, Church Intent recreates a Gothic Cathedral. The glowing interior invites participants on an all-night secular pilgrimage into a space with towering, vaulted ceilings made of simple dome tents and adorned with camp stoves, coolers and canoes. The heavy permanance of cathedrals are made portable and lightweight, as common camping gear is re-fashioned into 'sacred' objects. Nuit Blanche's nocturnal ebb and flow of a virtual sea of people transform the space into a 12 hour performance as the long, stop-and-go procession of the 'faithful' through this 'church' casts shadows on the translucent walls. Exploring perceptions of faith, spirituality and institution, Church Intent playfully celebrates the ironic relationship between the Church and the tent.

Bit-52s--> a true robot band plays rock lobster.

2010-09-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

The Bit-52's consist of:

Fred's Vocals - TI99/4a computer, speech synthesizer and terminal emulator ii module
Kate and Cindy's Vocals - Two HP Scanjet 3C scanners, UBunto and sjetplay written by NuGanjaTron
The Guitar, Keyboard, Cow Bell, Cymbal and Tambourine are all controlled by various types of push/pull solenoinds for a total of 23. The Solenoids are powered by four ULN2803 darlington drivers and everything is controlled by two PIC16F84A microcontrollers.
(straight from the description on YouTube.)

I'm going to go figure out what a solenoid is. In high school a boy who i was NUTS about (I never did tell him!) and I would hang out and try to make music together. He suggested we call our band The Solenoids. I was too embarrassed to ask him what a solenoid was. We didn't get much further than driving around listening to the b52s, eating onion rings in a diner shaped like a flying saucer, and designing an ad for a drummer.....

Mennonite land

2010-09-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Joe and I went to our friends Bob and Jenny's wedding in Waterloo last weekend and left early Saturday to St. Jacob's Market. For those of you who have not been, it's a HUGE farmer's market and flea market near Kitchener/Waterloo, where most of the old order Mennonite's of Ontario live. Many of the vendors at the market are run by Mennonites. We bought back bacon sandwiches and maple syrup.

Across the street from the huge market there is a big consignment antique store the size of a small arena. Joe and I bought a huge, pull-down Ontario school map form the 50s for 30$. The colours of the map are bright and saturated pastels and almost neon-y colours. I'll post of photo soon. We're planning to hang it in our living room.

We also saw these two racist figurines. I almost didn't post these seeing as they're so weird and racist. Take note that the first figurine says "You-R-Next". I believe they're from the 1930s. The second one has a tag that reads "Black woman on toilet, salt and pepper". EEK!

Laugh-crying: a man and his dog perform a 3-minute merengue routine.

2010-08-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

i am laugh-crying after watching a 3 minute merengue dance routine performed by a man + his golden retriever. I urge you to view the entire video as there are a few choice moves towards the end.

thanks to alex for showing me this... you made my afternoon, and also inspired me to spend half an hour watching more dancing dogs on youtube.

i have a doppelganger

2010-08-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

I officially have a doppelganger.

i hope she's not evil. Apprently, seeing your own doppelganger can be a "harbinger of bad luck" or can be an "omen of death". However, her face is pretty friendly. I think she may be saying something such as:

Hello there
Finish reading that book you've been reading for too long
Take your allergy pills (signified by the grass all up in her face)

I can't stop looking at her. eek!

Cactus Crotch

2010-08-26T16:38:00.000-07:00

My librarian friend Caroline Twittered (I refuse to use the word "Tweet". It makes me feel weird.) a link to a post on a blog called Awful Library Books. The book below was written in 1991.

Here's another one...

Goodbye, I'm getting off the internet to listen to the riot grrrl comp "Free to Fight" compilation from 1995. Two 12" record where all the songs are about empowering women with self defense. You can download the entire double 12" compilation here. My favourite song on there is called "Target Practice". It's kind of poppy.... the chorus is... "Eyes, ears, nose, throat. the eyes are easily poked, ouch!... i forget the rest" ... and says something about how to violently attack each body part.

Riot Grrl was so awesome. I need more of it in my life.

In high school I copied this onto sticker paper and stuck it up in my high school. Actually, Caroline and I would do this together. We would also rollerblade a lot, pretending to be aliens (with our other awesome friend Amy).

I wish I could go back to that tine when I had a more f-u attitude about my own body. I wish riot grrrl was still alive or relavant so that my students could get that angry f-u attitude. I know I sound so adbusters right now, and it's not really cool to talk like this anymore, but I can see my students are being eaten alive with jealously and self-hatred.

my name is lindsey and i live on lindsey ave

2010-08-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

I've decided to be a bit more personal in my posts here. I've decided to begin to show you some photos of my beautiful mini house, built with square nails, covered in layers flooring... sticky tile on worn oak hardwood. I took the photo above from my front porch. More to come...

I learned how to treat a stab wound today

2010-08-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

Did I tell you that I am teaching an alt ed program for pregnant teens and teen girls with new babies this September? I started a 2-day first aid course today so I feel a bit more prepared to deal with.... well, the numerous possible emergencies that may happen in my class of 14, 15 and 16 year old pregnant girls.

Strange and beautiful colour photos from Russia 1900-1915ish

2010-08-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

These photos are from the Denver Post website. Here is the introduction that accompanies the photos.

"The photographs of Russian chemist and photographer, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, show Russia on the eve of World War I and the coming of the revolution. From 1909-1912 and again in 1915, Prokudin-Gorskii travelled across the Russian Empire, documenting life, landscapes and the work of Russain people. His images were to be a photographic survey of the time. He travelled in a special train car transformed into a dark room to process his special process of creating color images, a technology that was in its infancy in the early 1900’s. Prokudin-Gorskii left Russia in 1918, after the Russian Revolution had destroyed the Empire he spent years documenting. To learn more about the Prokudin-Gorskii, the process he used to create the color photographs, and see his collection, you can visit the Library of Congress, who purchased his glass negatives in 1948 after his death in 1944."

gagging fathers, poop covered children....

2010-08-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

i'm not embarrassed that I choose watching american's funniest home videos on Youtube over going out on a Friday night. :)

This video is a long one, but it's worth it. It includes:

-numerous clips of fathers gagging while changing their child's diapers
-many strange videos of children smothered in unidentifiable substances (lotion, pen ink and poop?)
-an amazing sequence of babies projectile vomiting into their parents' mouths

the solar system

2010-08-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken from this website, Photo Tour of the Solar System. Beautiful images, although I don't understand how such detailed shots are actually taken.

Saturn

The Moon

This is what's called a Near Earth Object. This one is called Eros. :)

Now these images are of Jupiter, and they're blowing my mind.

The south pole of Jupiter. How did they take this perfectly centered image?

This is Io, a moon of Jupiter

Europe, another moon of Jupiter

Ganymede, another moon of Jupiter

esg

2010-08-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

As my twitter post (my tweet??) read, I am feeling sort of moody and just wanted to hear the ESG song "Moody". I looked it up on YouTube and found this amazing version from 2006, when ESG reunited.

and another one...

The I found a video of ESG from 1984

I just couldn't stop watching videos of ESG reunited. this one is awesome....

Mammalampa big hair braids pendant lights. YESSSS!!!!

2010-08-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

I came across these lamps in this Design Sponge post.

They're made by a company called Mammalampa.

Elwin Nicholais

2010-07-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

My mind is being blown by cheoreographer Elwin Nikolais.

My dancer friend Allison Peacock sent me a link to the video below.

Allison Peacock

LYTHIC
Nikolais Dance Theater.
Directed by Alberto Del Saz.
Performed by Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company

I was immediately entranced, and watched more dances cheorgraphed by Nikolais... This one reminds me of Kraftwerk: mechanical, light-hearted, quirky

Dime in the slot from MECHANICAL ORGAN
Nikolais Dance Theater.
Directed by Alberto Del Saz.
Performed by Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company

Clique from IMAGO

Nikolais Dance Theater.
Directed by Alberto Del Saz.
Performed by Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company

Dani Marti - Extreme weaving created from unexpected materials

2010-07-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

While browsing one of my favourite blogs right now, Apartment Therapy, I came across a post about the artist and extreme weaver Dani Marti's Rope patterned cement walls (here's the original post). I found out that his other works are just as impressive.

Image from Apartment Theapy.

The following images are from Dani Marti's website.

the pleasure chest, glasgow

second hand necklaces, rosaries, and tubular mesh for mussel farming on wood,
120 x 120 x 6cm

here's a detail of the piece above.

george polypropylene, nylon and polyester on wood, 200 x 610 x 8 cm

this one looks like it's made from synthetic yellow rope. Here's a detail of the above piece.

this is made of plastic scouring pads

Pres'Quille

2010-07-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

Artist Clare Graham - wonderama

2010-07-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

I learned of artist Clare Graham from this Ready for the House blog post, which pointed to an article in LA Times Magazine called Clare Graham: Wonderama. CG makes elaborate sculptures from recycled materials that he has obsessively collected. Interestingly, CG classifies his work as craft and not fine art.
Here's a selection from his mission statement posted on his website:

"Childhood rituals have grown with adult veneers and have turned into a manifestation of obsessive compulsive order. Art has been added as a legitimizing manifestation that allows a semblance of sanity. The collections themselves have become a source of raw material for manipulation. Materials are assembled in vast numbers so that they take on form and substance beyond the single unit appeal."

These are made from "pop tops" (as CG called them on his website). Otherwise known as pop tabs.

These are made from beer bottle caps. I love the rope-like quality of these ones.

CG is originally from Atikokan, Ontario.

death valley '69 video, made by richard kern

2010-06-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

rediscovering my teenage obsession with sonic youth.

2010-06-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

i forgot how absolutely sexy kin gordon is.

I think this video is gorgeous. The pinky colour of the blown out areas of the video of the sky, her arm and her face are mesmerizing. mmmmmm.....

Met a stranger on a train
Bumped right into me
Swear I didn't mean it
Swear it wasn't meant to be
Must've been a dream
From a thousand years ago
Kiss me
Kiss me in the shadow of a doubt
Kiss me

2010-06-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis