Creators talk about their art

Here's a random jumble of creators talking about how they make stuff and think of ideas. I like how they're all pretty down to earth and direct about it. I often hear art making discussed as if it's something closer to spiritual sorcery, and while I appreciate that it is meant to be inspiring I just can't identify with that perspective. Enjoy!

Quentin Blake illustrating:

Eric Carle talking about making The Very Hungry Caterpillar:

Charles Bukowski on writing:

Lisa Hanawalt, a cartoonist or animator or...?... talks about creating the concept art for Bojack Horseman. If you've never seen the show, it's an excellent cartoon for adults about a fading TV star battling addiction. The show is both very sad and serious, as well as absurd and slapstick. Like Don Draper meets The Far Side. I've included a clip from the show below Hanawalt's speech.

and a clip from Hanawalt's show Bojack Horseman:

Nathalie Djurberg's "The Parade"

This exhibit, Nathalie Djurberg's "The Parade" (2011) at the New Museum in NY, looks quite worthwhile. I especially appreciate Thomas Micchelli's vivid descriptions and thoughtful interpretation, especially since I'm guessing the show won't be stopping through Charleston any time soon.

Nathalie Djurberg's "The Parade" 2011. New Museum, NY. This shows only the sculpture; there were also claymation films projected on all the walls. [Image: cavernous white gallery filled with colorful sculptures of exotic or tropical birds ranging from knee- to head-height, standing around in pools of light cast by spotlights. The birds look quite solid, like they're made of metal frames, then covered with textures-- the feathers stick out individually-- and cloth and painted to be somewhat cartoonish while retaining a theatrically realistic look.]

China, IL

I think I was alerted to Brad Neely's new show, China IL, on Adult Swim through some sort of newfangled subliminal advertising because one day Creased Comics popped into my head for no reason, then I remembered how awesome it was and felt compelled to tell other people, then the George Washington and Wizard People things came up in conversations, then when I was strolling along some street in Atlanta I saw an awesome mural painted on the side of a shop advertising the show. But that is OK because I am SO EXCITED. If you've been reading this blog for a long time-- and you probably haven't-- I've had a link to Creased Comics as one of my favorites for EVAH. My husband and I are always whining to each other, "don't be a shit in my cut!" Sometimes when I am experiencing social anxiety I sing to my self, "be... agressive! B-E-agressive!" Yes, I said it.

[Image: Cartoon drawn crudely but with smooth thin lines and colored with mostly pastel solids except bright red blood. An anchorman with puffy yellow hair and a serious, bland expression reports live in front of what could be a sidewalk full of dead or injured blood-spattered people with a giant baby and a plume of smoke rising in the background. Image is very ambiguous.]

The animation is a little smoother, and the pictures actually move. I miss the old animation, but that's probably really hard to do in large quantities so I forgive Neely. It's also not quite as strange, unfortunately, but it still has plenty of stream-of-consciousness near-logic and near-slang. Hulk Hogan plays the voice of the Dean. I don't have a TV, I don't have cable. But I saw a few clips of it on YouTube. I am cautiously hopeful that it will be the best thing ever.

Oorutaichi

The blog Contemporary Japanese Art has a post about Japanese musician & performer Oorutaichi that's worth a look. They describe him as performing, "his own progressive form of ‘drifting folklore music’ combining elements of dance, folk and pop. Singing with a palpable joy in his own invented language, while at the same time mashing and mixing driving base-lines with disco-kicks and synthesized freestyle beats." The second video is probably a good description of an annoying circular dream experience I have a lot, where you're trying to do something and all these obstacles come up that you have to deal with but you're never really done, just on a loop. Anyway, I think it's funny that "folk" can be this digitally sophisticated but I guess that's an honest description for someone that age in Japan in 2011, with "folk" being the flip-side of terms like, "crowd-sourcing," "networking," "DIY/guerrilla," etc.





Here's what this looks like live:

Cool Graffiti Animation

http://www.blublu.org/sito/video/muto.htm

Wow, this is so cool! I don't want to think about how much work this took.