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The musician shares the tools of her trade at her Montreal studio
We recently visited the acclaimed Canadian singer Ariane Moffatt at her Montréal studio in the Mile End section neighborhood of Plateau-Mont-Royal just days before she launched her latest album, MA. Having written in both French and English, Moffatt holds an eclectic, multi-genre appeal, incorporating elements of folk and jazz into her distinct electro-pop sound. With seemingly so much of her musical inspiration stemming from her creative space, we asked Moffatt to show us her favorite instruments. Here she explains how she used these tools to develop some of the brightest songs yet.
Supro Dual Tone Electric Guitar (1960)
This electric guitar is the first instrument I ever bought on the Internet. It was purchased specifically for a performance at Victoires de la Musique (France's equivalent to the Grammys) in Paris. I love its retro punk look, its heavy shape and dark tone—David Bowie agrees! We sometimes call it the baseball bat because of its thick, heavy neck. While recording MA, every time I had an idea for a riff, I couldn't help myself from grabbing this baby and plugging it in to my small Vox amp. A really good-looking electric couple.
Steel Drums from Tobago
I bought these pans during a trip to Trinidad and Tobago. I always loved Calypso music and the warm sound of this metallic, percussive instrument made from old oil drums. It always surprised me how such warmth could come from a metal surface. I always wanted to transpose that magical aspect into a different style of music. I tweaked the sound using different effects, and played the instrument instinctively, since I have no formal training.
Even before leaving for my trip I had the idea to bring home pans in my suitcase. I bought mine from a young, talented player who was moving away to attend university in the U.S. He delivered them to my hotel room late one night, and included a case, the drums, stands and proper sticks. I was all set to bring them back to Montreal's -25-degree weather! I have never been able to tune them properly since.
Roland Jupiter-6 Synthetiser (1983)
This was bought off of a friend of mine a while ago. It took me a long time to get used to this '80s tank of a keyboard. It really is the main player on my most recent album. I love playing with its big buttons while crafting my sounds. It's a huge machine that is totally impractical to bring on tour, but it represents the audio aesthetic of my album and I am profoundly attached to its infinite creative possibilities and strong personality.
Roland '70s Beat Box
On the road I have a habit of shopping for vintage instruments the way some people shop for antique furniture. Finding a hidden shop or market where you can get treasures at ridiculously low prices is totally satisfying. That's how this old wooden analog beat box and I met. It emulates beats from the foxtrot to the rhumba in a full and soft way. I can sample its different parts and construct my own beats to integrate into my songs anyway I want. During an acoustic set a few years ago the audience and I baptized it with the name "Tapageur". It is the grandfather of all the toys in my studio.
Heintzman Upright Piano (Toronto, 1877)
There's an old piano shop in near my home called Montreal Pianos. The owner's son, JR, restores old pianos and brings them back to life. My Heintzman was a love-at-first-touch encounter. I keep it at home and only half-dressed to show off the gold keys and hammers inside. I find a piano in one's home to be an important decorating element by bringing calm and openness to a room. This inviting instrument is not only an inspiring friend for songwriting, but playing around on it keeps our home feeling alive!
Photography by SPG LePigeon
Ethereal neon and abstract forms in new work by Evan Gruzis
Opening tomorrow at Duve Berlin, an exhibition of new work by Evan Gruzis explores the interstices of waking and dreaming life. "Alpha Wave" derives its aesthetic from the afterimage effect—the "burning" of an image on ones vision after the original image has disappeared. Gruzis—a young artist whose resume already boasts work in the Whitney Museum Collection and a solo show at Deitch—presents a series of hauntingly minimal works on paper and through video.
While his past work bears the mark of nostalgia for Hollywood of the 1980s—a byproduct of his time spent in LA—this collection marks significant growth. Gruzis ditches pop elements in favor of a more streamlined look, going beyond gloss and neon to convey the "alpha wave" narrative throughout the work. While he made a name for himself based on his masterful employment of india ink, the artist has turned mainly to watercolor in this collection. Gruzis uses a liberal amount of water in the creation of his gradients, which are painted on "arches aquarelle" paper. Stretching the paint, he slowly builds layers to create his transitions. The photorealistic effect looks to be the product of a neon light show or early digital design. In addition to watercolor, Gruzis employs graphite and acrylic into most of the works that are included in Alpha Wave.
One of the standout works, "Movie", is a purple canvas of watercolor, gouache, india ink and spray paint. Highlighted with pinpoints of star-like specks, the somber, glowing piece conveys a unique effect that serves as testament to Gruzis' curious experimentation.
The exhibition also includes "TV", an abstract video work of projected LED lights. Interpretive and hypnotic, the installation carries Gruzis' dream-like sensibility. Gruzis first made his way onto our radar last year in his collaboration with Rafael de Cardenas called Exotic Beta, though this exhibition certainly sets him apart in his own right.
"Alpha Wave" will be on view at Duve Berlin through 20 April 2012.
Duve Berlin
9 March - 20 April 2012
Invalidenstr. 90
Berlin, DE 10115
Instinctual layered paintings driven by process
As soon as you enter Puerto Rican artist Angel Otero's Brooklyn work loft, the intense smell of paint nearly stops you at the door. Shelves housing copious tubes of oil paint and rows of Montana spray cans lining the back walls allude to the strong odor, but it's the stacks of work drying on wooden pallets surrounding the space that are really the culprit. But the extraordinary aroma is actually the upshot to Otero's distinct artistic technique, one which involves an extensive process of building up layers of paint on plexiglass before methodically scraping them off.
"I've always been intrigued by process," says Otero. The artist, who received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, typically allows materials to inform his work. While there is substance to his paintings, he's not driven by the challenge of depicting a personal narrative. Instead his work reflects his ambition in taking painting to another level and his ability to work successfully off of sheer impulse.
"The process kind of starts with usually me painting on plexiglass," he says. "After I do the painting, I cover it with more oil paint, the whole thing. And then I do more layers of oil paint. Then eventually it goes to the floor and I cover it with a black color, a pigment of oil paint. The pigment of black is the most rubberish one. Pigments come from rocks, so that means they are all different types of materials which dry differently toward the different oil mediums. Black is the one that when it's dry, stays the most malleable. So the last layer of all the paintings I do, I cover with black—a thick layer of black—and then they go to dry.
Otero initially came to this process by recycling paint as a way of saving money and resources while he was in school. He would scrape the paint off works he was dissatisfied with and add it to a growing mountain of remnant oil paint. Eventually, he started to form the clumps into flower shapes and spray paint them silver, which on the canvas created the illusion of working with tin foil. "From there it developed slowly, in some way," he explains. "But it felt good because I was using a material that I wanted—oil paint—and at the same time I had found a great process that is pretty unique, and whatever I do, people are going to be more attracted toward 'how did you do it' rather than 'what is it about'?"
While this was an important stylistic shift for Otero, it also laid the foundation for what would become his signature technique of creating oil skins on glass. After his mountain of dried paint diminished, he began putting paint in glasses to dry. He noticed, when reusing the glasses for the first time, that some of them were stained from the paint before it. "When I scraped that second layer, I noticed that it transferred the stains. I was like, 'oh shit, I could paint on glass, cover it with paint and then scrape it, and I would have a full sheet of paint that would have the painting that I did'", he reveals.
After several experiments Otero found specific types of oil paint that he could combine that would give him the tactile surface he desired, and one that would last for a long time. Once that process of strategically scraping layers of paint off of glass inch by inch using doctor blades was in place, he was able to begin playing with the leather-like layer of dried paint. After applying a thick layer of epoxy to a canvas, Otero and his two-person team would transfer the heavy skin to the canvas and begin folding in loose wrinkles.
Although his style is certainly contemporary, Otero is interested in experimenting with compositions that contrast the old with the new. He will recreate a work by French classicist Nicolas Poussin, painting it to detailed perfection on glass. Then he covers the painting in more oil paint that "will eventually be the background", lets it dry, possibly repeats this step and then begins scraping the skin off the glass in a way that exposes the various layers at different points in the composition. In this way, the painting becomes almost like a print or a collage.
Otero's approach has been attracting attention since his days at art school. Having honed his technique with confidence, he is able to keep experimenting—both with painting and his second love, sculpture—producing works that are meaningful in both appearance and form.
His latest body of work will soon be on display at Istanbul '74, his first solo show in the Turkish metropolis. The exhibition, put on in partnership with NYC's Lehmann Maupin Gallery, opens 23 February 2012 and runs through 17 March 2012.
Photos by BHP. See more images of Otero's studio in the slideshow below.
The studies that inform Arne Quinze's monumental installations
Best known for massive, vibrant wood canopies installed in metropolitan locations, Arne Quinze presents "My Home, My House, My Stilthouse", a collection of smaller works that helps to explain his larger undertakings. On view now through 31 March 2012 at the Vicky David Gallery in NYC, the new pieces explore themes of escapism, order and voyeurism. The exhibition gives a fascinating glimpse inside the quiet studio work that underpins Quinze's precariously balanced structures.
While many see his work as chaotic, Quinze is quick to correct. "I don't believe in chaos," he says. "There is absolutely no chaos. There is only structure. I don't believe in chaos in life." His work is a constant building, whether that be structures or relationships, and it seeks a democracy in art that confronts and challenges. As people build fences and walls to keep things out, stilt houses to keep things below, Quinze seeks to restructure the world in a manner that is open and engaging.
Lamenting the shortage of markets, squares and other places of interaction, Quinze aims to force the issue through public art. "Today we live in a world where everything goes very fast. People are not used to saying 'hi' in the streets." The victory of his work, he explains, is inspiring a dialogue: "They have a kind of openness in themselves, they have a smile, they have something to share, something to communicate with each other. For a moment they forget who they are and they communicate so much easier with each other."
If the large works explore interpersonal interaction, the studies encourage an interface with the artist himself. "My Safe Garden" is a work enclosed in glass and backed by a large mirror. At once inspecting the work and becoming part of it, the viewer is meant to feel a connection to the locked-away corners of Quinze's imagination. This is only possible to an extent. As he explains, "I give more questions than answers because the safe secret garden is very personal. I will not tell you what is happening in my safe secret garden, but you can be like a voyeur."
The signature bright vermilion hue of Quinze's work, he notes, is a color of contrast. As blood, it is both life and death; as fire, both warmth and burning; in nature, both attraction and warning. The majority of the artist's works are constructed from wood, a "warm" material that gives flexibility and strength to his technically complicated installations. While working with a small team and city engineers, Quinze hand-builds small models to plan each project. The result is then rendered on a computer and adjusted to accommodate structural considerations.
Quinze sees his art originating from the "safe secret garden", a concept essential to his works. For him, it marks the deepest place a person can go, one that is often hidden from the rest of the world. This theme fits with the city installations, inspiring openness and communication.
"The studio is what is really happening in my mind—my safe secret garden," explains Quinze. "And I think from my safe secret garden I create my own world, my own vision of how I perceive, how I absorb the world and how I want to create." Mapping his own obsessions, Quinze uses elements of these experimental pieces when thinking about how to confront viewers in his installations. Invariably, the audience is transported into his vision, forced from their own consciousness to engage with that of the artist.
My Home, My House, My Stilthouse
2 February - 31 March 2012
Vicky David Gallery
522 W. 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011
All images courtesy of the Vicky David Gallery and Arne Quinze Studio.
A new show curated by Sarah Schmerler sheds light on the luster of four artists' work
In the forthcoming group show "Gʉilty / (NOT) Guilty," art critic and curator Sarah Schmerler brings together four talented artists for a cohesive display of works surrounding the play on words that the title implies. Turning guilt instead into a word synonymous with a gold surface, the exhibition explores the luster of an artist's work in economic downtime and questions what makes a piece of art attractive in the eyes of society. Or, as Schmerler explains in her curatorial statement for the show, "I think of this show as my own kind of illustrated 'Fuck U'."
Originally debuting in May 2011 on Schmerler's virtual exhibition space 45projects (which she curates with the industrious design director Paulius Nosokas), the physical manifestation of "Gʉilty" on view at Brooklyn's Norte Maar will keep the same foursome on roster, a group of established yet emerging artists Schmerler says have been "hiding in plain sight." The lineup includes Ellen Letcher, Francesco Masci, Alfred Steiner and Pablo Tauler, who will each show the works included in the online version as well as new pieces.
In his spare time, copyright lawyer Alfred Steiner creates works that Schmerler considers "visually arresting" in their own right, but at the same time reflect a fascinating narrative. Steiner beautifully entwines various body parts like eyeballs, noses and even muscle tissue to create impeccably rendered silhouettes that transform the sum of its parts into an incredible whole.
NYC-based Chilean artist Pablo Tauler uses just a ballpoint pen for his meticulously drawn illustrations on display at Norte Maar, which turn ethereal scenes and abstract forms into bold, large-scale works of art. The airy depictions he presents for Gʉilty / (NOT) Guilty are only a small facet of his work, which spans painting, digital photography and video.
Schmerler describes Francesco Masci as a classic Renaissance artist who can really paint, but one with no misgivings about crossing boundaries. In addition to his Twitter-inspired portraiture, Masci will show his 2009 "Totem" series, comprised of images created from hundreds of digital files procured through Google searches and stacked to make a wildly emblematic statement on modern obsessions. Masci's formal training allows him to move seamlessly between subjects and styles, executing his work with a fresh perspective for his medium.
Ellen Letcher cuts and pastes in the physical realm, arranging images pulled from periodicals and magazines into perceptive collages adhered together with paint. The slightly ominous subject matter only backs up already engrossing compositions that toe the line between fact and fiction.
Gʉilty / (NOT) Guilty opens 1st January 2012 at Norte Maar with a Champagne brunch to celebrate, and will run through the end of the month. Check out the online catalog—created by Nosokas, who will also have a few works on display concurrently at Norte Maar—for more on the show and the four New York-based artists it champions.
Norte Maar
83 Wyckoff Avenue, #1B
Brooklyn, NY
11237
+1.646.361.8512
Life lessons from legendary photographer Mick Rock on the eve of his New York exhibition
Mick Rock is probably not the first name that pops to mind if you're thinking about seeking some career advice. Dubbed the world over as "the man who shot the Seventies," Rock is known as much for his own rock star reputation—he claims his biggest achievement is that he's still standing—as he is for the photographs he took of countless lead singers and wayward musicians during the indelible era of punk. While that might be the timeframe that catapulted his wild success, Rock has endured through it all and continues to be one of the most sought-after lensmen in the music industry today, shooting everyone from Lady Gaga to Tommy Lee.
However, when we caught up with the man himself to discuss the opening of his NYC exhibition at the W Downtown—aptly titled "Rocked"—the legendary photographer inadvertently shed some light on the keys to remaining so relevant over the years. Describing himself as "some leftover from a forgotten era, way before rock 'n' roll ever showed up," his surprisingly humble attitude sends an even more powerful message.
One of the most valuable snippets of wisdom we gleaned from the conversation sums up the passion that Rock's portraits exude. He sagely imparts, "Follow your obsession, because at worst you'll build up a collection. Down the road that collection could have a value. You might make piss-all money right now, but one day you might make a bundle." Rock's obsession found him touring with bands like Thin Lizzy, be-friending Syd Barrett and becoming David Bowie's official photographer. His personal relationships with the bands undoubtedly played a part in his success, but for Rock it's as simple as this: "I like to shoot, it's good for my psyche, it's good for my fucking soul."
For a fan of music in general, photographing any budding musician can still be an exciting moment, but it's not their actual tunes that pique Rock's curiosity. "I'm not looking for the truth, or reality, I'm interested in their aura, what the music gives off, and what their consciousness gives off as performing agents, as artists." Despite his genuine ability to connect on a creative level, occasionally paying the bills is also a factor. Another lesson Rock offers is essentially to learn the dance but don't sell out.
Likening himself to an "uptown prostitute" at times, he extends this insight: "As like any great hooker, if you pay her enough money she will be in love with you for a certain amount of time. Well, I can be in love with you." The magic he seems to impart while shooting, the work he allows himself to take, all of this boils down to a man who knows his craft extremely well. Claiming his rich career was in no way built by design, he also claims you have to study your profession and be willing to compromise.
Arguably a huge part of what allows Rock to transcend time is his ability to go with the flow. He doesn't totally even completely understand his own celebrity, but rather than become reclusive or keep his surplus of unpublished photos to himself, he rolls with the hand life continues to deal him. Slightly puzzled at the recent French Vogue feature on his oeuvre, he embraces his "ghosts of yore" and says poetically, "The past has paved the way for me to come again."
In addition to the traveling exhibition on view at the W, for which he specifically shot Janelle Monae, Theophilus London and several other contemporary stars, Rock plans to publish a set of limited-edition books that will unearth archived photos. First will be a dedicated book on Thin Lizzy (for which he's chosen to get the approval of Phil Lynott's daughter Sarah before publishing), followed by a book with Lou Reed called "Believe It or Not: Transformer" and finally a book on the godfather of punk rock, the iconic Iggy Pop. In the 1970s, there wasn't an abundance of outlets like today's blog-fueled industry, so for Rock, this is a chance to "get all these pictures out there that people haven't seen."
"Rocked" will be on view through 29 December 2011 at the W Downtown before moving on to W Hotels in Washington, D.C. and Seattle.
Our look at the illusory works found at Art Basel and the surrounding fairs
Many themes emerged from the various galleries converged in Miami for Art Basel and the surrounding fairs this year, but unsurprisingly the one that stood out the loudest among the crew from Cool Hunting was work that played visual tricks on the viewer. Whether eluding us with clever technology techniques or purely an abstract form of painting, below are the pieces that grabbed our attention through some element of subterfuge.
Hans Kotter's 2011 "Tunnel View" series features LED lights between plexiglass, which are amplified by a metal mirror. The two mind-bending works featured here were on view through Priveekollektie at Art Miami.
Anish Kapoor dazzled the crowd with his stainless steel "Untitled" 2011 work, on view through Lisson Gallery at Art Basel.
"Lover's Quarrel" is the work of media artist James Clar. At first glance the piece appears to only say the word "leave" but further inspection reveals the subliminal "don't" behind it. The playful lighting installation was on view at Blythe Projects at Pulse.
Two different 2011 works that are less smoke-and-mirrors but equally entrancing are Michael Eastman's "M1" (at Barry Friedman at Art Miami) and Karen Gunderson's "Divergent Sea" (at Waterhouse & Dodd at Scope).
Eastman used simply a wide-angle lens and pushed the depth of field to create this image, which seems like it would have physical depth but is really just a trick of the eye. Gunderson's paintings of water also challenge the eye's understanding of space, but through her detailed brush strokes. Depending on the position of the viewer and the angle of the light refraction, the water seemingly moves like nature intended.
Also on view through Waterhouse & Dodd, Patrick Hughes' 2008 work called "Sea City" is arguably the most staggeringly trippy piece we saw. This oil and photographic collage toys with the mind through "reverspective"—a concept he created in which the portion of the picture that appears furthest away is physically the nearest, painted on protruding blocks.
Have a look at our rough cut video above for a full realization of how delightfully confusing his works really are.
Known for his unusual approach to currency, Mark Wagner's 2011 work "Gale Bills" puts real money on wood panels. Twisted to a perfectly odd degree, the latest from Wagner was on view through Pavel Zoubok Gallery at Pulse.
Catherine Opie's computer animated sculptures were on view at a few galleries, but we first took notice of these optical illusions at Scope, where the various works of people walking took us by surprise as we moved around the corner where they were hung at Gallery Biba.
Mia Rosenthal exhibited several new pieces that demonstrate her adept talent for sneaking graphic design symbols into her fine art works. The Philadelphia-based artist aptly showed through Gallery Joe, on view at Pulse.
Contributions from Josh Rubin, karen Day and Jonah Samson
A conceptual artist's first solo show explores the duality of human nature using hairnets, fish hooks and more
Rubber dairy hoses, human hair, fish hooks and other oddities serve as standard materials for Manchester-based artist Susie MacMurray, who explores the human condition with a beautifully eerie approach. Curious about life's delicate balance, MacMurray explains she is fascinated by "how amazing and successful we are" and yet how "fragile and weak" we can be, and her unsettling compositions and shapes poetically express this duality.
MacMurray often experiments with concepts in her studio, but much of her work is site-specific, making her current London exhibition at Agnew's Gallery the first to encompass a range of her talents in one location. "The Eyes of the Skin" showcases various drawings, sculptures and large-scale installations which give physical form and emotional context to her questions about seduction and repulsion.
The symmetry in her work serve as a metaphorical seesaw, representing the ability we have as humans to easily shift from one point to another, from calm to chaos. It's this type of tension that captivates MacMurray, and from her thoughtful nature comes meaningful, striking work. Household gloves turned inside out, hairnets and Saran wrap are transformed to make ethereal statements about what it means to celebrate life when death is an inevitable outcome.
Her painstaking production methods and theatrical executions mark the upshot of her former career as a professional bassoonist, during which she gleaned insight on the importance of creating a piece that reaches people viscerally, not just as an intellectual narrative. In an effort to explore her own concepts instead of following the lead of a conductor, MacMurray retrained as an artist and struck out on her own in 2001.
Ten years later, MacMurray's oeuvre contains an impressive array of works that turn banal objects into elegant displays of thought. "The Eyes of the Skin" is on view at Agnew's Gallery from 09 November through 04 December 2011. Those in London can also check out her piece entitled "Widow"—an evening gown made of black leather and nearly 100 pounds of dressmakers pins—at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the group exhibition "Power of Making" through 02 January 2012.
Temporary tattoos for the modern design nerd
A giant leap beyond the rainbows and skulls procured from grocery store vending machines, Tattly this week released a series of fun temporary tattoos with plenty of personality, each individually designed by emerging artists from across the U.S.
Among the fifteen different designs offered by Tattly, we were immediately drawn to the "I Heart NY" stamp (by James Victore) and Julia Rothman's "Late" watch . Made stateside, these playful temporary tattoos sell from Tattly for $5 each or $35 a pack—perfect for creating your own full sleeve.
An alphabet book illustrated entirely with stones found washed up on the shore
Ten years in the making, Leslie McGuirk's latest children's book, If Rocks Could Sing is now available. A simple A-is-for-apple approach to learning the alphabet is enhanced by the artist's imagery of rocks that take form of both the letters and the words they describe.
The project started when McGuirk moved to Florida and began taking long walks on the beach looking for shells. "All I found were rocks," the artist recalled in a recent chat. "But then I found one that looked like a letter and the idea for the book came to me instantly." From there she began collecting letters and shapes. She recently found a K-shaped rock—the last holdout—and the project was complete.
If Rocks Could Sing is available at Amazon.
L.A. Times photographer Mark Boster shares tips and his new travel series
Most days find Los Angeles Times photographer Mark Boster on what he affectionately calls "the crash and burn shift," taking photos of courthouses, accidents and crimes to accompany the news of the sprawling metropolis of Southern California. But ask Boster about travel photography and you'll get a twinkle in his eye and his unabashed enthusiasm for the subject. Born and raised in Fullerton, Boster has lived in California all of his life and considers traveling around the state to be one of the best ways to see diverse topography and unique vistas. His love for adventure led him to his latest project, a feature series for the Times showing the Yosemite's seasonal changes that will run on the first day of each new season.
With almost as much relish, Boster's eager to talk shop with just about anyone who will listen. Last month that was a large audience at the L.A. Times' Travel and Adventure Show, where, armed with a slide show of his favorite images, Boster talked about everything from how to follow the rule of thirds to not forgetting to pack extra digital cards, batteries and chargers. We followed up with Boster to learn how football, Cesar Chavez and nature has inspired his career.
Do you remember your first camera?
My first camera when I was in college was a Minolta SR-T 100x film camera—it was just a big metal tank, but it was great and a lot of fun. My fist big serious camera was a Mamiya RB67, which was a big giant 15-pound camera. After that I had a series of Nikon cameras.
What do you shoot with now?
All Canon digital. Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a Canon EOS 7D because they both shoot 1080p HD video as well. I transition both of those back and forth between video and still.
Can you remember the first image you took that inspired you to think, "I really want to do this"?
I went to college to play football at Cal State Fullerton. I started messing around with photography and I really loved photojournalism. I thought photography was more fun than getting my head bashed in everyday on the football field. I met people in the photo department who I thought were cooler than cool. Those days a long list of well-known people visited college campuses, including Cesar Chavez, Jane Fonda in her Hanoi Jane days, Russell Means from the America Indian movement. They all came to campus and we got to practice our portraiture.
During my college years I ran into Chavez again on the streets of San Francsico. I started photographing these people and my friends. I met Buckminister Fuller. I couldn't even tell you where all of the pictures are right now, but it launched into what I am doing now. My photography started progressing and football became less and less in my life and photography became more and more important to me. I dropped one for the other because I got a really bad concussion in football and the doctor just flat out said, "You're done or you are going to be a vegetable."
Where did you work before the Times?
I have worked for three other newspapers. I did a nine-month internship at the L.A. Times in the Times Orange County Edition. From the L.A. Times I went to work as a staff photographer at the Whittier Daily News for two years, then graduated to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for two years. After that I went to the Orange County Register for 4-1/2 years. I have been with the L.A. Times for 28 years.
How did the Yosemite project come about?
The Yosemite project came about very innocently. About a year and a half ago I went there on vacation and the water was gushing. The waterfalls were full. The rivers were roaring and I took a bunch of pictures for myself and really had a good time documenting the water. I went back and showed them to the editors at The Times. They suggested that I go back for all four seasons. Then it went from being really fun to being really serious and I thought, "this is pressure!" Now I realize it is going to take the rest of my life to really do it justice. There is so much there. There are photographers who live there and specialize in photographing Yosemite.
Where do you love to go in your off time to shoot photos?
Besides Yosemite, I really love the Carribean Islands. I love traveling here in California. There are so many amazing things to explore here. California is my place, I love it here.
Can you share some advice for people who want to improve their travel photographs?
—Buy a good camera and familiarize yourself with it before the trip. Don't forget to bring extra batteries and digital cards.
—Invest in a good camera . You've paid a lot of money for the trip. Make sure you have great equipment to document your adventures.
—Keep the camera steady. Buy a small light tripod that you can throw in your suitcase.
—Take the time to think in black and white. Since black and white employs the use of subtle tones, gradations, and contrast can be more mysterious and dramatic.
—Embrace the light. Sunrises, sunset and nightfall are the best and usually render more interesting colors.
—Organize your old photos including scanning the ones with slides and negatives.
—Store everything on Gold discs to ensure they last.
Moody sculptural paintings by an emerging NYC artist
Stark yet colorful works that fall somewhere between painting and sculpture, NYC-based artist Eli Ping's practice is a study of unexpected tension in form, subject and tone. Ping says he's "ultimately interested in materials and process, and accomplishing a form that conveys energetic resonance to the viewer," a feat accomplished by keeping spontaneity alive in otherwise highly-considered compositions.
This ruminative approach to art-making shows up in his current solo exhibition at NYC's Susan Inglett Gallery, but also signals a shift. Where he previously worked heavily with resins, Ping found that their toxicity was a "major impediment to accomplishing intimacy" with his materials and switched to applying paint-soaked cotton to canvas.
The resulting fluid shapes have a sense of order without appearing overly worked—a tipping point for Ping. If a piece becomes too "fussy," he will often flip it over or turn it upside down, a technique borrowed from Impressionism. Ping explains, "they would often paint over an entire area, some people would say that is a waste of energy but even if it's not visible, it still informs the work."
A painting resembling a classic Rorschach test clearly illustrates Ping's labor between intention and impulse. While symmetry abounds, he likens the unbalanced composition's structure to that of nature. Repetition develops organically without feeling forced, the result of a process that, like contemporaries such as designer Maarten Baas, lets ideas evolve over time.
A photo of a church steeple shot through a drinking glass several years ago, now appears as a "stretched from the top" form in some of his sculptural pieces. Ping stresses that he doesn't set out to replicate what he sees, adding "I have a sense of what qualities I aspire to, usually in response to a feeling of lack in a previous piece. Any pre-envisioning doesn't go farther than that."
Looking to the future however, Ping says his work will fall more in line with his simplified lifestyle. Moving forward he will create pieces that, unlike his current complex and often quite fragile works, need not "to be handled with kid gloves" and can instead become a part of a person's life, rather than just hung on a wall.
Eli Ping's third solo exhibition runs through 4 June 2011 at Susan Inglett Gallery.
Our video exploring the colorful history of tattooing in Copenhagen
In this video author Jon Nordstrøn brings his book Danish Tattooing to life by visiting Copenhagen's most famous tattoo shops, telling stories along the way about the artists who made the subculture so significant there. From homemade tattoo guns to the influence of psychedelics on more recent styles, Nordstrøn's colorful history is a must for anyone interested in the origins of the artform.
In this video author Jon Nordstrøn brings his book Danish Tattooing to life by visiting Copenhagen's most famous tattoo shops, telling stories along the way about the artists who made the subculture so significant there. From homemade tattoo guns to the influence of psychedelics on more recent styles, Nordstrøn's colorful history is a must for anyone interested in the origins of the artform.
Tattoo fans will also want to know about the book's follow-up, Nordic Tattooing, which looks at the development of that region's styles through the tattoist's original drawings. Both books are available by contacting Nordstrøn's imprint Nordstroms.
Heritage seeds, the definitive Lee "Scratch" Perry film, Vimeo's app and more in our week in review
1. The Upsetter
Billed as "the definitive life story" of dub godfather, Bob Marley mentor, and living music legend Lee "Scratch" Perry, the trailer for The Upsetter hints at a film that explores reggae culture through the many sides of one of its greats.
2. Alphabet Series
Brooklyn-based graphic designer Mark McGinnis humors adults with his flash card-inspired Alphabet Series. Custom silkscreened, the 23" x 17" prints are a framable way to add a little levity to a wall.
3. Hart's Heritage Seeds
A family-run business founded Wethersfield, CT in 1892, Chas. C. Hart Seed Company recently culled their knowledge to create a seed collection of the most flavorful heirloom seeds, each featuring historical color lithograph artwork—an accurate reproduction of Hart's original packages from the turn of the century.
4. Teach 4 Amerika
A Creative Time project, NYC art collective Bruce High Quality Foundation recently set out on a national tour in a limo painted to look like school bus to cross "state lines and institutional boundaries to inspire and enable local art students to define the future of their own educational experience."
5. Vimeo iPhone App
Vimeo has just released their new iPhone app, which lets you manage your Vimeo account, watch vidoes, "like" other peoples work and easily share videos via email or social networks. In addition, the app lets you use your iPhone camera to makes videos and then edit them on the phone, adding titles, transitions and basic graphic effects. Check out the tutorial here.
6. Pinel & Pinel Trunks for Ricola
Pinel & Pinel customized one of their effortlessly classy trunks toforSwiss candy and lozenge purveyor Ricola, supplying 11 trunks for 11 Ricola flavors including Alpine Fresh Sea Buckthorn, Cassis, Lemon Balm, Cranberry, Eucalyptus & Plants, Flowers elderberry, Menthol, Orange Mint and Lemon Verbena.
7. Holocene
Matthew Davidson made this enchanting video using his Arc4 to demonstrate an app he created for the hardware. The app, tentatively called Dharma Wheels, lets you shift between harmonies with gestures.
8. Solar System Scope
Solar System Scope is a new web based interactive 3D model of our solar system. It lets you browse through the planets and surrounding stars in a super smooth and attractive interface. It's great for anyone interested in astronomy or for those of us who forgot Pluto is no longer a planet.
9. Supreme and Adam Kimmel Capsule Collection
Supreme tapped fellow NY menswear brand Adam Kimmel for a suit in Italian cotton twill just in time for wedding season. The unlined two-button suit jacket and custom fit pant has a contemporary cut and the breeziness to get you through summer formal occasions.
10. Victorian Dress Made From Insects
Covered in the naturally shed wings of the jewel beetle, the green gown worn by stage star Ellen Terry when she played Lady Macbeth at London's Lyceum Theatre in 1888 was recently restored, a project that took 1,300 hours to complete.
11. Folding Steel Grocery Bag
An experimental Tsteel grocery bag, developed by engineers Weina Wu and Zhong You, uses the principles of rigid origami to create a firm structure that folds completely flat.
12. Glenn O'Brien Reads Hilarious Passages from His New Book
In anticipation of his forthcoming behemoth book "How to Be a Man: A Guide to Style and Behavior for the Modern Man," Glenn O'Brien gives a sneak preview in the form of a video reading.
Rapha rides for Japan, Maeda on craft, dry-transfer Field Notes and more in this week's online snapshot
1. Vinyl Factory
Celebrating "the tangible and the rare in an age of rapid digital consumption," the label The Vinyl Factory has popped up at London's St. Martin's Lane Hotel with a shop showcasing their extensive assortment of records and limited-edition box sets—from Bryan Ferry's Kate moss-graced albums to prints of Grace Jones by Chris Levine. The temporary store will be in the hotel's Front Room through 29 May 2010.
2. Wilhelm Scream
Playing to a sold-out audience in Brooklyn that included Bjork before inspiring more buzz at SXSW recently, 22-year-old classically-trained pianist James Blake has been winning music-nerd hearts with his ethereal dubstep and slow-paced riffs on soul and R&B that evoke everyone from Bon Iver and Antony Hegarty to Jai Paul. While we've been hooked on "I Never Learnt to Share," his new video for "Wilhelm Scream" makes a good excuse to check out his intensely-detailed production style and effective use of silence.
3. Rapha Rides For Tohoku
To do what they can in light of the recent disasters that continue to unfold in Japan, the bike gurus at Rapha have organized worldwide charity rides. If you can't cruise for a cause, you can still make a donation through the Rapha website, which they will match.
4. John Maeda: Atoms + Bits = the neue Craft (ABC)
Billed as an "interactive lecture," starting 23 March 2011 and running through 31 December 2011, Adobe's online museum presents an exhibit featuring a "digital representation" of RISD president and technology theorist John Maeda speaking on the relationship between old-world craft and our digital age.
5. Insight Lights
Belarus design firm Solovyodesign recently produced a very thoughtful lightbulb. Shaping the twisted contours of a normal compact fluorescent bulb into the shape of a human brain, the industrious design couple offer a beautiful rethinking of the CF bulb while making a humorous play on the classic "good idea" lightbulb bit from Saturday morning cartoons.
6. Doug Aitken’s Patterns & Repetitions: James Murphy
In a recent installment of artist Doug Aitken's video series (bringing conversations on "nothing less than the future of art itself" to the NYT), LCD Soundsystem James Murphy keeps it down-to-earth, opening up about the mundane sounds like refrigerator hums and snowbanks that inspire his music.
7. The Power of Babble
Deb Roy of MIT, has been videotaping the last three years of his son's life. In an effort to better understand how humans learn language and how to improve the ways we can teach it to machines, Roy has logged over 120,000 hours of footage from cameras placed all over his home. Wired talked to Roy about how the project has helped learning about speech and given birth to some interesting new methods for handling huge amounts of data, including fantastic search functions that have potential applications for research and online.
8. Any Color You Like (Pyramid IV)
Multidisciplinary artist Dev Harlan combines a foam and plaster sculpture with 3D video-mapping to fully-engaging psychedelic effect.
9. Hunter Outerwear
Any rainy day in NYC showa how successfully Hunter has been in helping to introduce wellies to the urban masses. Their Fall 2011 collection of peacoats, waxed-cotton jackets and trenches may see them similarly influencing inclement-weather toppers, posing the question, as a Twitter friend asked is it " like cooler Barbour?"
10. Dry Transfer Customizable Field Note Notebooks
Field Notes, known for their elegantly functional note-taking products, released a set that includes dry-transfer lettering, allowing users to customize the titles.
11. The Internet is Over
While Oliver Burkeman won't ruffle the feathers of anyone working in the digital space (or under 30), his reporting on SXSW's interactive festival this year addresses the many issues raised—from game theory to biomimicry—by the ever-more-tenuous division between offline and online life.
12. Bobos out. Huffington Post, Biz Stone and The Rise of the Crocus Class
Attempting to define a post-Bobo class in light of the recession, Haydn Shaughnessy explores a " new naturalism" that encompasses economies based on sharing like Zipcar and Groupon, signaling a shift away from a focus on ideas to personal responsibility and actions.
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A Parisian photographer's objective take on small towns in a dual retrospective
by Isabelle Doal
Upon first glance Eric Tabuchi's photographs merely feature disgraceful gas stations lost in no man's land, Chinese restaurants in improbable settings and skate parks where dull gray tones consume the entire landscape. His subjects seem like superfluous outcasts with to no real place in in the world. His curiosity instead explores the metaphorical confines of belonging to nature, by portraying these humble, fading buildings and objects he reveals realities about our surroundings with new eyes—as a foreigner would do—showing how the outskirts may tell something about the center.
Influenced by the works of Bernd and Hilla Becher, a German photography duo known for their depictions of industrial buildings as typology, Tabuchi—who formally studied sociology—draws attention to the tiny signs located in the margin of normality. He demonstrates how eventually, if not on purpose, things end up looking like each other through instinctive use of the same symbols and aesthetic.
An echo to each photo's outstanding simplicity and stark surroundings, the neutral positioning of his subjects tells about Tabuchi's point of view and approach, which is to remain objective and refrain from creating any amount of melancholy within the picture. He feels the best place for a picture is in a magazine, where it is printed, seen and thrown away. For Tabuchi, pictures are nothing but common everyday life items.
As a delayed secondary effect, the loneliness of these oft-abandoned remnants reaches the observer with their familiar shapes, like how going back home would do. For that reason, when Tabuchi exhibits his photos he always tries to merge them among other objects and forms so that it, as an overall picture, makes a new landscape and in the end a new picture.
The French photographer is also known for his books—most notably for "Alphabet Truck" and his interpretation of Ed Ruscha's "Twentysix Gasoline Stations." With both books and all of his works, Tabuchi did extensive traveling, documenting what looks a lot like America but is actually all shot "within a 250-km radius from Paris."
Tabuchi's extensive repertoire is on view at two galleries in Strasbourg, France. Creating one unified retrospective, "Mini Golf" opens at La Chambre 11 March 2011 and runs through 8 May 2011 while "Indoor Land" is currently on display at Le Maillon and runs through 29 April 2011.
A Parisian photographer's objective take on small towns in a dual retrospective
by Isabelle Doal
Upon first glance Eric Tabuchi's photographs merely feature disgraceful gas stations lost in no man's land, Chinese restaurants in improbable settings and skate parks where dull gray tones consume the entire landscape. His subjects seem like superfluous outcasts with to no real place in in the world. His curiosity instead explores the metaphorical confines of belonging to nature, by portraying these humble, fading buildings and objects he reveals realities about our surroundings with new eyes—as a foreigner would do—showing how the outskirts may tell something about the center.
Influenced by the works of Bernd and Hilla Becher, a German photography duo known for their depictions of industrial buildings as typology, Tabuchi—who formally studied sociology—draws attention to the tiny signs located in the margin of normality. He demonstrates how eventually, if not on purpose, things end up looking like each other through instinctive use of the same symbols and aesthetic.
An echo to each photo's outstanding simplicity and stark surroundings, the neutral positioning of his subjects tells about Tabuchi's point of view and approach, which is to remain objective and refrain from creating any amount of melancholy within the picture. He feels the best place for a picture is in a magazine, where it is printed, seen and thrown away. For Tabuchi, pictures are nothing but common everyday life items.
As a delayed secondary effect, the loneliness of these oft-abandoned remnants reaches the observer with their familiar shapes, like how going back home would do. For that reason, when Tabuchi exhibits his photos he always tries to merge them among other objects and forms so that it, as an overall picture, makes a new landscape and in the end a new picture.
The French photographer is also known for his books—most notably for "Alphabet Truck" and his interpretation of Ed Ruscha's "Twentysix Gasoline Stations." With both books and all of his works, Tabuchi did extensive traveling, documenting what looks a lot like America but is actually all shot "within a 250-km radius from Paris."
Tabuchi's extensive repertoire is on view at two galleries in Strasbourg, France. Creating one unified retrospective, "Mini Golf" opens at La Chambre 11 March 2011 and runs through 8 May 2011 while "Indoor Land" is currently on display at Le Maillon and runs through 29 April 2011.
A collaboration of industry insiders making the closed off world of London Fashion Week more accessible
One of the main criticisms surrounding the world of fashion and its 'special weeks' is that it's too insular for the everyman to access, too preoccupied with itself and veiled in a snobbery rivaled only by that of a Royal Family peerage system.
Having experienced it from the inside for many years, London-based photographer Christopher Sims decided to play the antagoniser and look to provide an alternative view on fashion and its grand menagerie with a collaborative agency and film unit under the name 55Factory.
As with many such enterprises, 55Factory operates as a collaborative hotbed - housing photographers, stylists, editors and creatives. However, this week 55Factory showed up at London Fashion Week to interview celebrities, fashion icons and style savvy individuals. The avoidance of the snobbery of fashion is central to the appeal of the short films from London's Fashion Week. With no prior preparation Sims speaks frankly to his subjects about clothes, parties and explores the uniqueness of London's premier clothes horse. Sims is happy to point out that the quality of the production is what one might expect from a camera and mic operation but stresses that it's the subject matter which is important and the way it is approached.
The initial response from its short films have been promising with 55Factory looking to spread itself out to some more of the world's fashion weeks in a continuing effort to break down some of the barriers between those on the inside and those looking from the outside of an industry which is still mystifyingly cloaked to the general public.
Artist Michael Riedel's first introspective show reinterprets source code as textual printed matter
A man seemingly obsessed with extraction, abstraction and repetition, Michael Riedel takes printed matter and toys with it until most sense is lost. With an almost "Matrix" style of approach, Riedel uses text to "write with writing," a technique in which he excerpts the works of others in order to make his own statement. His current work—on display at the David Zwirner gallery in an exhibition titled "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog"—finally sees Riedel use himself as his subject.
Culling HTML code from websites that feature Riedel (mostly MoMA and David Zwirner), the Frankfurt-based artist created massive linear collages by copying and pasting the text in InDesign. By layering and turning the text, the arrangement appears nonsensical at first glance, but there is a clear pattern defined on each canvas. There is also seemingly a theme for each of the silk-screened "poster paintings," with individual keyboard commands like "click," "print," "color" and "alt" highlighted in bold type.
Hung against a wallpaper backdrop of even more black-and-white code, the canvases are accented by colorful circles—a new foray for Riedel. The color not only helps to balance out the web of text, but with their geometric pie-like structure they also seem like the spinning beach ball Mac users encounter when their computer is processing.
A pangram used to test typewriters and keyboards, here "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" underlines the detached relationship Riedel found between text, canvas, paper, and architecture.
The exhibition opens today and runs through 19 March 2011 at David Zwirner gallery, where he will also be signing his catalogs on 5 March 2011 from 4-6pm.
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