Dodging Bullets in Space
Always on the lookout for new infoviz images, I came across this picture from NASA’s Orbital Debris Programs Office after hearing about the near-miss between the International Space Station and a piece of space junk (which measured about 1/3 of an inch.) It’s old news that our low-earth orbit is cluttered with useless and potentially […]
Genuine Snake Oil
The wall is down. Somewhere in the Book of Revelations there must be a line that goes “… and a comedian shall lead us.”
Tear Down This Wall…
…of pretending that the media itself isn’t a major player in American society, and isn’t a factor in most big stories. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I learned something important watching this brilliant bit of comedy. It confirms the cheerleading nature of the nation’s most-watched source for business news, even in […]
Valuism #1: Aren’t Limitations Opportunities?
Here goes nothin! I am stepping into the -ism ring yet again and it feels good to be back. Let’s hear from the ref real quick before we touch gloves:
MORAL HAZARD: You are not responsible for what you do.
Help me help you get away with attempted murder and extortion. Click and drag the two comic templates below, fill in the blanks of these desperate little melodramas and I’ll take full responsibility for them. Feel free to bring the pain or bring the house down. Email me your results at valuistics@gmail.com. While you’re at […]
Hanging With The Dude: An Interview with Jeffery Byrd
Jeffery Byrd received his BFA from the University of Alabama in 1987 and his MFA from the University of Florida in 1989. In addition to studying performance art with Rachel Rosenthal, Japanese Butoh, and music composition, Byrd is an accomplished photographer who has taught at the University of Northern Iowa Department of Art for twenty […]
Drawing Bush: Slate’s look back at the best W. caricatures 1999-2009
Just as the presidency of George W. Bush seemed itself to be just as hyperbolic as an Oliver Stone movie (which makes me wonder why one was even attempted in the first place) so does the man lend himself to a high degree of artistic caricature. Sure, Obama has inspired art of every type, but […]
And Now For Something Slightly Different
Fosters Australian Lager is perhaps the only beer to use contemporary art in its ad campaigns. Back in the 90’s I remember one of their “Fosters: Australian for Beer” commercials that featured a fly buzzing around an alkie apartment, only to be bashed with a large boot on the wall creating a huge spatter of […]
An Open Letter to a C Student on Christmas
Yes it’s Christmastime once again. Time for Adjunct Instructors of Art like myself to kick back by the roaring fireplace with their favorite yuletide libation and reflect upon the Fall Semester that was. Grades have been submitted, portfolios have been returned, and as ever always, those students of mine who are unhappy about receiving Cs […]
Frontiers at Dawn: An Interview with Mikel Bisbee-Durlam
“For me lately, I started to feel like my tentacles were extended beyond the point where I could see them, so I needed to retract and refocus.” -MBD
Fabrication and Existence: Crystal Wagner Interview
In the spring of 2008, Crystal Wagner earned her Master of Fine Art degree from the University of Tennessee. Currently you can find her large sculptural form “Conversion” at the Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville Tennessee as a piece of their permanent collection. She spent the month of July 2008 at the Joshua Tree […]
New Uses for Closed Big-Box Stores
I am definitely putting Julia Christensen’s new book Big Box Reuse on my Christmas list this year. The idea is so very satisfying. Slate.com just posted a great article by the MIss Christensen as well as a spiffy slideshow on the topic. “Hundreds of new big-box buildings are built each year—and hundreds are vacated. In […]
The Fluff Constructivists (will end your universe)
Back in my art school daze I loved attending visiting artists lectures because they would always motivate me to work harder, whether the art was something I thought was great or something I thought was… well, bad. The Fluff Constructivists, a loosely unified artmaking league begun by core members Mikel Bisbee-Durlam and Ethan Kruszka (both […]
Stroke of Insight- Something Everyone with a Brain Should See
Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard brain scientist, had the unusual opportunity of studying her own brain while she suffered a massive stroke. Losing all function in her left brain, she experienced what can only be described as nirvana- a complete sense of oneness and connectedness with the great universal life/energy force. While it took her […]
Banksy’s Pet Shop O’ Horrors
(from iheartchaos.com again) “Between now and Halloween, if you’re in Manhattan– 89 7th Ave to be exact– you can catch the latest artwork by legendary British guerilla artist, Banksy. It’s The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill, a trippy animatronic romp through the world of consumerism. He’s got chicken nuggets sipping barbecue sauce, fish sticks […]
Tilt-Shift Photography is Fun
Bathtub II from Keith Loutit on Vimeo. (from iheartchaos.com) Tilt shift photography is some really cool stuff– where you change the focus and the angle of a normal photograph or film image to make it appear to be built from miniatures. Australian photographer Keith Loutit has created several amazing tilt-shift time lapse videos, which you […]
Metallica Drummer Lars Ulrich to Unload Basquiat Painting
(from AP wire service) Friday, October 10, 2008 4:25:01 PM Lars Ulrich, songwriter and drummer for the heavy-metal band Metallica, is selling a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting from his art collection that could set a new auction record for the artist. “Untitled (Boxer)” was painted in 1982 by Basquiat, a graffiti artist who died of a […]
Not To Be Confused With… Part Deux
Remember when we were JaxCAL and all we had to contend with for name recognition was the Jacksonville Christian Athletic League? No? Well allow me to refresh your memory. Meet round two. For the record, Globatron Communications Corp, Miami, FL is not to be confused with us. But no worries, it looks like these guys […]
