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Occupy Art

November 23, 2011 in Art by Brian | No comments

I’m somewhat sympathetic to the notions behind the Occupy movement that’s swept the globe in the last little while, though temperamentally and intellectually I have reservations about it, but this isn’t going to be about the economic and social arguments.  It’s about the art.

A recent post on The Beat pointed me towards a Guardian post that shows off some of the poster art associated with the movement, and the combination of influences makes for some very striking visuals.

Classic designs, 20th century propaganda images and comic-book stylings all get reworked into elegant, memorable forms. Like this use of the famous Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta:

or this homage to Power Rangers, or Japanese giant monster movies, or whatever it is:

or what looks like something straight from the files of some retired 1960s revolutionary:

or straightforwardly beautiful design work:

Check out the Guardian post for more examples.  Whatever you think of the movement and its demands, it’s fascinating to see such diverse and culturally-imbued art/design coming out of it.  A 20th century artform – the political/proaganda poster – brought up to date with pop culture, hash tags and web addresses.

The revolution will, of course, be televised – or at least youtubed; how could it not be, nowadays? – but it will also be accompanied by some very sharp design, apparently.

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Ent Encounter

June 27, 2011 in Art, Cryptozoology, Photos, Scotland, Wildlife by Brian | No comments

Was on holiday last week. Here. The only report of consequence I have from a jolly pleasant week is this: I met an ent.  Cool dude.  Didn’t get formally introduced, unfortunately, so I don’t know his name, but I’m guessing it’s Willowthatch.  Something like that.

A fine looking fellow, whatever his moniker.  He’s currently calling the Cairn O’Mohr winery home.  I’m not sure they even know he’s an ent, to be honest, and I didn’t mention it, in case he preferred to remain incognito.

Actually, I do have something else to report, but I suspect it’s of more interest to me than anyone else: best sighting I’ve ever had of a wild otter, paddling about in the River Earn one lunchtime.  I say best sighting – it was only a couple of seconds, but that’s still better than I’ve ever managed before, as far as I can remember.  Still, never mind all that.  Ent!

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A Pink Tentacle Promotional Post

October 26, 2010 in Art, Blogs, Clips by Brian | No comments

The Pink Tentacle blog, which I’ve mentioned before here, has become one of my favourite providers of internet-based ‘Huh-Would you look at that-How weirdly interesting’  moments.  So today is Pink Tentacle Day in these parts.

It provides a reliable stream of interesting snippets in support of its mission to sample the unique charms of Japanese culture, particularly as it relates to technology, sf, fantasy and so on.  Like lots of people, I’m fascinated by Japan despite never having been there: it’s got an intrinsic interest and appeal as a highly distinctive culture that had economic and historical foundations deep enough to armour it, at least somewhat, against the homogenising spread of US and Euro cultural hegemony over the last fifty years.  The world needs diversity, and Japan definitely provides a bit of that.

I’m similarly fascinated, these days, by the rise of places like China and India, and – setting aside all the complicated economic, political and environmental issues that rise presents – the slow but steady spread of awareness of their culturally distinctive products and habits.  It seems at least possible that twenty or thirty years from now these Asian giants will be setting the cultural agenda – particularly the pop culture and genre agenda – on a global scale to a far greater extent than they are now.  They’re the future – not all of it, of course, but a big part of it.

What I’d really like is to find blogs that do for China and India what Pink Tentacle does so well for Japan, but I’ve not managed it so far.  Until I do, a sampling of Pink Tentacle’s recent, typically varied, output:

Kijimuna – Okinawan tree sprites, part of a series of folklore-based paintings by Matthew Meyer

A dancing humanoid robot at the Digital Content Expo in Tokyo (creeping into uncanny valley territory, if you ask me):

The things anime and manga fans do to their cars.  Apparently these eye-popping vehicles are called itasha, and personally I think a few of these rumbling around Edinburgh would be a great addition to the streetscape.

And finally, How To Drill a Hole in Someone’s Head, from a late 18th century Japanese medical treatise.  The full array of historical medical illustrations is very definitely not for the squeamish (you have been warned).

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The Art of Scaring Children Senseless

July 30, 2010 in Art by Brian | 2 comments

Stumbled across this out there in internetland, and liked it.  So here we are.   1970s illustrations by Gōjin Ishihara for ‘The Illustrated Book of Japanese Monsters’.  Fantastic.  Also makes me think (a) the Japanese have very cool monsters, and (b) if I’d been reading this stuff at a tender age, I would have really liked it, but I’m pretty sure my dreams would have been impacted in some non-trivial way.  Just a few to whet your appetite, then a link to the rest:

Me like.  Full gallery, taken from a wider range of publications, is at Pink Tentacle, a rather good blog of Japanese culture and technology, which is well worth more extensive browsing.  Check out, for example, the cool rice paddy art and the sfnal mega-projects proposed by Shimizu Corporation.

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