Tangential Vignettes

Alternate Universe Movie Posters

2012-01-28T08:31:00.002+01:00

I enjoyed this collection of alternate universe movie posters... there's a lot of them!

Pretty cool...

2012-01-11T16:14:00.000+01:00

DYE "Fantasy" Official Video by JEREMIE PERIN from TIGERSUSHI on Vimeo.

Bladerunner sketchbook

2012-01-09T13:18:00.000+01:00

This is cool stuff, great visualizations!

Weekend WTF. Nightmare fuel.

2011-12-30T11:09:00.001+01:00

Only two posts in one month is an all time low... in before the end of 2011 with a delightful Weekend WTF. Or: "Meanwhile, in David Lynch's unconscious."

Reached a million!

2011-12-06T23:19:00.001+01:00

Huzzah! http://youtu.be/iIq89Fftrd4

Dennis Moore

2011-12-02T11:02:00.001+01:00

Monty Python clip of the week is making a guest appearance here again with the classic "Dennis Moore" bit. I love John Cleese's casual naturalistic acting in this.

List of Fictional Diseases

2011-11-26T15:52:00.001+01:00

This List of Fictional Diseases on Wikipedia is very interesting and could probably form the basis for some interesting artistic projects.

(Via BoingBoing)

Lichtspiel Mutation 1: Whitechapel

2011-11-23T12:17:00.001+01:00

I finally (finally!) got around to uploading the piece I wrote for the Unsound festival in Kraków last year. This version is based on a recording of the rehearsal with the Sinfonietta Cracovia the day before the actual performance, and has been painstakingly edited, processed and tarted up to sound as good as possible, along with the electronic music track which is loosely based on audio from the original film.

Long story short: The work is based on an old "Jack the Ripper" film from 1953, "Man in the Attic". I've used footage and audio from the film and then remixed it into something completely different, and on top of this I've composed a score for 45-piece string orchestra. The resulting work is way more abstract than the actual film it's based on, more suggestive and dreamlike. I've slowed down the footage and utilized extreme contrast and darkness to create something more like a 'shadow play', if you catch my drift.

I'm planning on making more works in the "Lichtspiel Mutations" series, all based on old films in the public domain but hopefully they'll all be very different and for different constellations. My next planned 'mutation' will probably be for solo violin, electronic music and animation. Looking forward to that!

Das Ding

2011-11-10T12:33:00.000+01:00

Soon to be released, the prequel of The Thing, the John Carpenter movie from 1982. And the director is a Dutchman! Matthijs van heijningen has made some pretty entertaining commercials and I love his entrepreneurship. He just took off to chase his dream in Hollywood and got the opportunity to make a tribute to his favorite movie. Good luck to you Matthijs!

and some commercials, very filmy:

Alan Moore interviews Brian Eno

2011-11-02T12:40:00.001+01:00

This is a radio interview from 2005. I've always enjoyed hearing Alan Moore speaking, and I've always enjoyed hearing Brian Eno speaking. So what could be better than the two of them in conversation? 28 mins. Enjoy!

http://n3ta.com/radio/?p=46

via Coilhouse

atelier olschinsky

2011-10-31T00:12:00.004+01:00

See more of these very inspiring images at atelier olschinsky! I particulalrly like the "cities" and "metamorphosen" galleries.

Weekend WTF

2011-10-28T21:44:00.001+02:00

Yes.

2011-10-26T13:53:00.001+02:00

YES. The eminent chamber quartet The Peärls Before Swïne Experience, who commissioned "Odboy & Erordog episode 2" a couple of years back, has now secured funding to commission episode 3 as well as an introductory prologue to ep. 2 to create a 'triptych' for quartet, film and electronic music that they will bring on the road. Furthermore, it will be promoted by the Swedish Film Institute, so chances are good it'll reach out to a decent audience. Very happy about this; happy about working with them again, and happy to revisit the world of Odboy & Erordog once more!

Celebrate with me by rewatching the first two episodes:

Amer (2010)

2011-10-15T12:39:00.000+02:00

This is apparently a 2010 film made in the style of a 1970's 'giallo' film, i.e. Dario Argento, Mario Bava... Love the poster and the trailer seems intriguing enough...

Weekend WTF (and 200th post, hooray!)

2011-10-07T17:49:00.003+02:00

Last wednesday's weirdo film was the Japanese 1977 WTF-fest 'Hausu' -- a film unlike anything anyone has ever seen, ever. This scene in particular found its way to my heart. Enjoy! (And here's to the next 200 posts.)

Wesley Allsbrook

2011-10-05T17:22:00.000+02:00

Hey Guys,
since I've been working in my studio I don't spend so much time surfing the internet anymore, which has reduced my posting and commenting on our blog... NOT GOOD! I'll be catching up, keep my contribution alive. For now; meet Wesley Allsbrook. Great dynamic work with a lot of energy, lovely looseness and a sweet mix of digital and traditional media.

Kilian Eng

2011-10-02T23:30:00.002+02:00

Just discovered Kilian Eng, a swedish guy (I guess) who just graduated from theUniversity College of Arts in Stockholm (Konstfack).

Very inspiring stuff, check it out: http://dwdesign.tumblr.com/

Weekend WTF: Ninja Terminator

2011-10-01T12:01:00.002+02:00

Olivier Schrauwen: The Man Who Grew His Beard

2011-09-26T15:39:00.000+02:00

Berlin-based Belgian comic book artist Olivier Schrauwen created one of my favourite recent comic books, the Winsor-McCay-meets-Eraserhead-ish "My Boy", published in 2008. I've been waiting for more than a year to read his latest opus, which up to this date hasn't been available in English.

But now, according to Amazon.de, "The Man Who Grew His Beard" will be available next week in glorious comprehensible English for non-flemish buffoons like myself. So looking forward to this, I can hardly wait!

Harry Smith: Heaven and Earth Magic

2011-09-24T16:44:00.000+02:00

The first 9 minutes from Harry Smith's 1962 film "Heaven and Earth Magic". I find this absolutely amazing. Read more about Harry Smith here.

Weekend WTF: プリルラ　ステージ3

2011-09-16T21:57:00.000+02:00

As one YouTube commenter puts it; once again the Japanese have outjapanesed themselves. I'd like to play this game.

Weekend WTF: Microsoft Songsmith

2011-09-09T22:55:00.002+02:00

If THIS was a finely crafted satire of how painfully awkward, oblivious and unhip Microsoft's marketing tends to be, I would've applauded it. Unfortunately, it seems like it's just plain painfully awkward, oblivious and unhip Microsoft marketing.

UPDATE: Here's a wonderful parody of the above.

Sam Bosma

2011-09-06T12:55:00.001+02:00

Look at Sam Bosma's work. Awesome! Also don't forget the sketchbook section...

Weekend WTF: Going to the Store

2011-09-03T23:58:00.003+02:00

Via Coilhouse.

Jerry Williams: Number One

2011-09-03T17:49:00.002+02:00

Ever since I was a kid back in the 1980s, I've seen Swedish rock'n'roller Jerry Williams as something of a pathetic, chubby, middle-aged rocker trying to relive the 1950's in the most embarrasing way. And truthfully, I still feel that way about him to some degree.

But I have to admit that this video and song -- from 1963, way before I was born -- has got to be one of the most wonderful songs and videos ever to come out of Sweden. Both unintentionally silly and unintenionally nightmarish, it has a hypnotic, dream-like David Lynch quality to it that transcends the sum of its parts and becomes something absolutely sublime. I love it.

Upcoming Digital Drawing Tool

2011-08-31T08:10:00.004+02:00

This seems really interesting and I think everyone here could find a use for it... The Wacom Inkling will be sold at the end of September for € 169,90. Check out the ad:

Weekend WTF

2011-08-26T16:57:00.001+02:00

Happy b-day, Aphex!

2011-08-19T16:56:00.005+02:00

Ok, I missed it by one day, but nevertheless: one of my biggest musical and artistic inspirations, electronica artist Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin, turned 40 yesterday. I thank thee for thine legacy, here's to a long and healthy life.

For those unaccustomed to his work, check out this short film directed by Chris Cunningham:

(Monster)Movieposter art of Reynold Brown!

2011-08-18T22:25:00.005+02:00

Check out this documentary on Reynold Brown, it is a must see for illustrators and a great film for everyone else interested in monstermovies and monstermovieposters. Awesome!

Tadanori Yokoo

2011-08-13T21:41:00.005+02:00

Described by some as the 'Japanese Andy Warhol', Tadanori Yokoo is apparently one of Japan's most successful and internationally recognized graphic designers and artists, but I had unfortunately not heard of him before. Just found an article and some of his images online, and I'm very interested in pursuing more of his work. It seems like he fuses 'traditional' Japanese art and print with Gilliamesque collage and Heinz Edelmann-like illustrations, and I really like the results. Note to self: pursue further.

Weekend WTF

2011-08-12T16:24:00.005+02:00

Terry Gilliam's animation craft

2011-08-11T12:33:00.006+02:00

This wonderful clip shows a Python-era Terry Gilliam explaining his cut-out animation craft, as used in the Monty Python's Flying Circus series. I've always wondered how he was able to make such fantastically beautiful (lo-fi, but stunningly beautiful) animation with such limited resources, and I was delighted to find this clip, which explains the process in full. The beginning of the clip is a bit tedious but starting at the 4:20 mark we get into the actual hands-on process -- both the simplicity and the tenacity of it. Simply genius.

Via Coilhouse.

Daniel Castan

2011-08-07T23:04:00.003+02:00

The use of color and contrast in this somewhat impressionistic manner really impress and interest me. At the moment I'm also very curious how far you can actually push a realistic painting into the abstract spectrum before it just becomes abstract. I think Daniel have found the perfect balance here.

More paintings:

http://www.castan-daniel.odexpo.com/

Weekend WTF: Spookies (1986) trailer

2011-08-06T11:43:00.001+02:00

If we can find this movie, it'll definitely be a good contender for a future wednesday horror film evening.

Bas Jan Ader

2011-08-05T18:01:00.012+02:00

Bas Jan Ader is the second artist that I present today, that inspired me a lot at a turning point, just in the phase, when I stopped painting and was approaching more conceptual art.
To me it's one of those artists, that seems to express exactly what you're feeling, like meeting something familiar, that was already there, that just had to be uncovered, something that you think you knew already from before.
I realised then, that making art can be also something that needs no skills and that stories can be told in a total different way and still make sense and touch you.

Bas Jan Ader worked mainly with photography and video work. Being a part of the whole conceptual art movement in the late 60ies, early 70ies, his art is dealing with failing and falling.
He was the founder of the "Gravity Art", what's about giving yourself over to Gravity, to let go (of your control) and to find and define this one moment and turn it into eternity. His works have titles like "Fall I", Fall II", "Broken Fall (Organic)", Broken Fall (Geometric).
Born in 1942 in a village in the Netherlands, he moved to USA in the 60ies where he was studying art and starting his carrier. Unfortunately his Oevre is not very big, since he died (or disappeared) already in 1975, during his last project "In search of the miraculous", a try to sail over the Atlantic Ocean in a really tiny boat, to go back to Holland. It was planned to be a Trilogy. The first part showed the preparations for the trip, the last part should be his arrival in Holland. Apparently he died on the trip, even if his body was never found and the circumstances of the trip were quite mysterious. He might have planned his death or his disappaerence, but it's staying unclear. But nevertheless, this work can be seen as a masterpiece in a row of art works dealing with failing and falling and the romantic strive towards the unreachable horizon.

Remedios Varo

2011-08-05T16:07:00.010+02:00

Today I want to present two artists, (very different ones) that kind of inspired me in different life phases and funny enough, that I saw much later in Mexico-City at the same day (in two different solo shows).
Here's the First one: Remedios Varo, a (post-) surrealistic painter from Spain, being part of the circle among Max Ernst, and later immigrating to Mexico.
When I first saw her picture "Solar Music" (the first one below), at the age of fourteen or so, I fell instantly in love with it. As far as I remember, I even ripped the side out of the book, that I borrowed from library, just to own the picture, and it made me also want to create things like that.
Well, now after all that time, I still like her stuff, even if I changed a lot and I think now, that her style is a bit too "mannieristisch" (mannered?) and kitschy for my taste. But I like the subtle humor and the hidden stories in her paintings, especially together with the titles ("Vegetarian Vampires" is just such a great idea, or "Exploring the source of the Orinoco"),
and of course she still has a special place in my heart, being one of my earliest inspirations :)

If you want, google for her name, she did a lot stuff.

Great Stephen Fry interview

2011-08-02T17:38:00.001+02:00

No matter who you are or what you do, Stephen Fry is very difficult not to like. In this fascinating 30 minute interview he's discussing Star Trek, his Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression), jail, Douglas Adams' "42" question, and much more. Just listening to him speak is a pleasure in and of itself. It's worth it!

Happy b-day, Jenjen!

2011-08-01T00:54:00.002+02:00

This one's for you.
¨

“Surrender, or I’ll release the lesbians”

2011-07-31T16:12:00.005+02:00

I found this animation and it the original post said it is awesome. I saw it was 17 minutes and was about to let it pass. SEVENTEEN MINUTES! CRAP, AS IF I CAN FOCUS FOR THAT LONG!!!! I've got many more websites to browse on this lazy sunday afternoon, slightly hung over, before I start doing something constructive today. But it really is worth it. You might even want to see it twice, that would be 34 minutes. Crazy.

The External World from David OReilly on Vimeo.

Happy b-day, Grandert!

2011-07-23T00:28:00.000+02:00

This one's for you.

Andrew Hem

2011-07-20T11:32:00.005+02:00

I love these paintings! Andrew Hem makes such awesome use of the material, great vibrant colors and superb loose style. He comes from a graffity background, but made it to the regular fineart galleries. There is also a lovely sketchbook section on his website and more high resolution close-up snapshots of his paintings on the blog. I'd love to see some originals of those paintings, I'm sure the detail and texture must be stunning.

click to enlarge!

Alan Moore Interview

2011-07-18T22:29:00.004+02:00

I just found a one and a half hour interview with Alan Moore from 2007, on resonance.fm. It's a very interesting listen and I think I'll have to listen to it all over again at least once.

During the course of the interview, Moore discusses (of course) his comics, his thoughts about art and magic (and why they're the same thing), and why low-budget B-movies are more imaginative and magical than big-budget blockbusters. And much more. He's a fascinating person indeed.

You can download the interviews in three parts here:
Part one
Part two
Part three

...or listen through Youtube, part one of nine starts here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNLwTwVbkng

Data Is Nature

2011-07-16T10:53:00.003+02:00

I don't really know anything about this blog, just discovered it by accident, but it seems interesting enough! I think especially Jenjen might be interested in the aesthetics and concepts? www.dataisnature.com

Weekend WTF: Peter Serafinowicz

2011-07-16T08:53:00.001+02:00

WTF?

Westpakete - Heaven And Hell Machine in a box

2011-07-14T02:53:00.011+02:00

I finally finished my Art Care Package today: Heaven And Hell Machine in a box :)
For the project "Westpakete" - initiated by friends of mine, the artist group "Microwesten" - 50 artists were asked to create their own version of an Art Care Package"/"Art West Package". This is mine: A (much) smaller version of my recent installation "Heaven And Hell Machine".

Here you can also see a little slight show of all the different packages.

Nice trick or great work?

2011-07-13T10:22:00.003+02:00

I came across these cool portraits by Gium Tió Zarraluki and I think they are really cool. They have a lot of expression and a weird feel to them. I only noticed after a while that they are painted on magazinecovers and parts of the faces are leftovers from the underlying phtographs. This partly makes them so weird, but it also makes the works less special I think. On one hand I like the idea of distorting the 'perfect' portraits on glossy magazines, on the other hand by doing it over and over again it might become a trick. I wonder if the works are created from a certain feeling or from the posibilities the original image offers. Probably both. But i'd like to see what happens if those characters would be recomposed, interact together and become more than a funny portrait. Still very inspiring work all together! Here's lots of 'm!

Weekend WTF: Ittma Hohah

2011-07-08T10:23:00.005+02:00

Ok, here's a Swedish classic from 1947 (edit: the song is from '47, this film clip is from 1956)... Povel Ramel in yellowface performing his song about Ittma Hohah Om Butn Baba, self-tormentor. I put it under the WTF header especially for those of you who don't speak Swedish, for whom it must be quite the incomprehensible mindfuck... but I couldn't resist providing a (rough, flawed and 'liberty-taking') translation of the lyrics below. Enjoy!

Wherever my skinny body is shipped,
it does not need protection,
I can withstand all of life's pains

Of all the people I know,
nasty neighbours and enemies,
no one can torment me like I can.

For I am Ittma Hohah Om Butn Baba, self-tormentor
and I come all the way from Chitn Potn Bah,
just south of Potn Chitn Buh, in India

It would take several days to list all I can suffer
Every saturday I burn myself at the stake
I eat glass and I love soup made out of nails
In my breakfast sandwich I put arsenic

For I am Ittma Hohah Om Butn Baba, self-tormentor
and I like it better here than in Chitn Potn Bah,
just south of Potn Chitn Buh, in India

I was going to show you two or three of my favourite tricks
but at the moment my cobra, who bites, has a cold
my fire breathing technique is very refined
but at the moment my throat is ruined from hard liquor

So you won't get to see any tricks today, cause I'm not feeling well
But if you doubt me, then you can all go to Chitn Potn Bah,
just south of Potn Chitn Buh, in India

Botlek

2011-07-07T11:08:00.006+02:00

Meet illustrator par excellence Daan Botlek. He studied in Rotterdam too, a few years before me, and you'd meet him every now and then at the bars, always with his sketchbook ready, no matter how late or drunk. He never felt comfortable in the 'classic' illustration business, he was more of an autonomous illustrator and over the years he has devellopped a very unique and recognisable style. His drawings look simple, but are extremely complex. The clear lines and subtle use of shading, combined with a great sence of composition reveal a huge knowledge of form and shape. He can be funny in a slapstickish way, but also graphicly intelligent like Escher. Who knows one day he will be the next Escher. Or the first worldfamous Botlek maybe? He has tons of work on his flickr, his website doesn't seem to work right now. Enjoy!

click to enlarge!

Nice cover

2011-07-05T17:19:00.003+02:00

I like it.

Weekend WTF: Maruosa

2011-07-01T13:43:00.003+02:00

The WTF to end all WTFs. (Warning: make sure to turn down the volume a bit first)

Awfully funny or funnily awful

2011-06-29T23:40:00.004+02:00

I almost thought this was satirical comedy at first. Am I the only one who thinks this looks just like a very well made parody of sentimental Hollywood Oscar-flirting cheesiness? Am I just getting old and cynical?

Trailer here.

Google Image Search Improved

2011-06-26T14:30:00.003+02:00

Hey, good news, you are now able to search Google with images instead of words. This is great news for anyone who found an interesting image somewhere but can't find any information about it... this is bound to open up new areas of interesting inspiration and research. Just go to Google image search, then drag-and-drop an image in the search field, and behold... Nice!

Adolescence and transgression

2011-06-24T22:30:00.002+02:00

This is a fascinating full length documentary about the infamous Norwegian black metal scene, which, beside the actual music, is a scene of church burnings, suicide, murder and prison sentences. What fascinates me most about all this is what can happen to a person during adolescence, this window of time in a person's development where he or she is not quite a child and not quite an adult, but still has the characteristics and abilities of both, and the possibilities to take life into any of millions of radical and transgressive directions.

For most people, this is a 'phase' that runs its course and then they enter the 'normality' of adult conformity. But some people stay there, way into their teens, their twenties, sometimes their whole life. I am fascinated by these people. These are the people who have the potential to become great artists -- or, just as easily, cult leaders, conspiracy theorists and mass murderers.

At the moment I kind of see adolescence as the transgressive and 'magical' (for better or worse) period in one's development where all windows and possibilities are open, when values are questioned and new values formed, when everything is possible and anything can happen. It is what drove two adolescent girls (portrayed in Peter Jackson's wonderful 1994 docudrama Heavenly Creatures) to both experience the most magical aspects of life but also to commit the horrible crime they did. I also think it is what transforms some well-off, well-bred Norwegian boys into what they become, as shown in this documentary.

Or maybe I'm just full of it. In any case, if you have the 90 minutes, this is an interesting documentary to watch.

via Coilhouse.

GAME & WATCH

2011-06-24T02:35:00.005+02:00

The sounds - blip-blop, the beautiful design, the frustration and joy these little gadgets brought to me as a kid! All these memories are brought back on the this wonderful site with a nice collection of handheld electronic games:

http://www.pica-pic.com/

Above is the one I remember most - Donkey Kong. Didn't use the "watch" part of it, but I sure played the game a lot...

My mix on Fluid Radio

2011-06-23T12:44:00.003+02:00

I was recently asked by Fluid Radio to compile a playlist of music for their website -- if you're looking for some 90 minutes of weird and wonderful music, head on over here!

Weekend WTF: Charlie White

2011-06-18T19:56:00.002+02:00

WTF?

Weekday WTF: The 4th Dimension

2011-06-15T16:44:00.002+02:00

WTF? The style, the video, the music; it's pretentious 1980's "video art" meets Tim & Eric cheesiness. I find it hilarious.

A Family Portrait

2011-06-08T11:21:00.002+02:00

A Family Portrait from Joseph Pierce on Vimeo.

A nice subtle short animation. Nothing's mentioned but everythings told. Very clever.

Scientific Illustration

2011-06-05T01:14:00.003+02:00

Here is a nice little collection of scientific illustrations - illustrations we all love and adore:

Weekend WTF: She is your grandma.

2011-05-28T10:14:00.001+02:00

Salad Fingers 9

2011-05-27T12:43:00.001+02:00

It's out of the bag:

Dutch Classic: Jan van Haasteren

2011-05-23T11:15:00.010+02:00

You might be familiar with the funny jigsaw puzzles made by Jan van Haasteren (JvH). His drawings are part of our Dutch collective youth memories, and known all over the world. Born in 1936 he is an old man now, but still produces three puzzles a year. To me, he is a hero that has had a big influence, I remember being utterly fascinated by his posters, at the butchers, in the hospital, wherever I saw his posters I would stop and try to find all the hidden jokes he squeezed on the paper.
He started out as a comic/animation artist for the famous 'Toonder studios' and worked on the various projects they produced, like Donald Duck magazine, the Smurfs, commercial illustrations, mostly anonymous in others' styles and set formats.

He got more and more credit for his work and started creating his own series in which we can see his his style devellop into the one we know.
But far more than for his comics, he is famous for his posters and puzzles. With his vast imagination he makes every scene he draws into a hilarious chaos, adding jokes and funny details in every small space available. But he does this with great craftmanship, superb drawing skills in terms of placement and perspective, character design and use of color. It is always a chaos, but never a mess. He has some copycats trying to do what he does, but he is the master, and always recognisable by the shark fin coming through and the hands coming from everywhere since those are registered trademarks!

Do you know Theo Jansen? (not the soccer player!)

2011-05-22T21:27:00.003+02:00

This is amazing stuff; ingenious, marvellous, beautifull and spectacular. Dutch artist Theo Jansen creates creatures that roam the beaches in Holland, gracefully moving around, driven by the wind. His works are a wonderfull fusion between art and engineering. I'd love to see his monsters in real life once!

not to be confused with the other Theo Jansen:

Weekend WTF: He loves to laugh

2011-05-21T11:47:00.001+02:00

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Michael J. Anderson.

(UPDATE: The original is almost as nightmarish.)

Up for some food?

2011-05-15T11:47:00.001+02:00

Weekend WTF: David Lynch Signature Cup

2011-05-13T19:56:00.005+02:00

As some of us already know, David Lynch has been selling his own brand of coffee for some time now. He's now produced a commercial for his coffee. He's voicing the Barbie head as well as himself. Well, er... enjoy.

Poor thing.

2011-05-10T19:31:00.002+02:00

Interview

2011-05-09T15:33:00.001+02:00

I got interviewed for this blog. Interesting questions and a lot of other interesting interviews there as well!

Weekend WTF

2011-05-08T01:39:00.001+02:00

WTF?

Mangelos

2011-05-05T13:56:00.014+02:00

And manifesto of the day

Mangelos, a great but for some reason not really well-known artist and art historian inspired me a lot when I started turning to a more conceptual direction with my art.
His work is both, conceptual and very sensual at the same time playing with material and thoughts (represented by texts in different languages).

Born as Dimitrije Basicevic, 1921 in Sid, Serbia (died in Zagreb, 1987), he made art under the pseudonym Mangelos. The name is taken from a village close to his hometown Sid.
He divided his life in different "Mangelos", each Mangelos lasting 7 years (the period for all body cells to reniew). As he predicted, his life took 9 1/2 Mangelos.

His work contains different technics and media, such as drawings, collages, watercolors, paintings, altered books and especially his "globes", ordinary globes that he used for his drawings and collages. They are often inscribed with his manifestos and "no-manifestos" concerning philosophy and art.

A manifesto was for him a kind of a vehicle transporting a thought concept without any metaphorical meaning.
The postwar thinking was to him represented by a functional, direct thinking, the manifesto per se.
A manifesto to him is this functional thinking, including systems like alphabets, mathematical proofs, scientific theories and perceptual schemas.

He was against all kind of metaphorical thinking and emphasises at the same time the rational side of the art. He tried to bring the information to its most laconic form, to a clear and prezise thought (that he called "Super-Wittgenstein-Thought").

His work can be seen in the context of the absurd feeling in the existentialist Nihilism. It's marked by a freedom of expression and a transzendence of media as found in the fluxus movement, as well.
He turned against all what seemed to be exhausted und senile and created in his art his own point of view, called No-Art.

As mentioned before he was also art historien, critic, curator and part of the "Gorgona"-artgroup, organising exhibitions, creating concepts, projects and new forms of artistic communication and publishing the Anti-Magazine "Gogona".

Matthew Smith

2011-05-04T16:46:00.008+02:00

British computer game programmer Matthew Smith was 17 years old when he programmed the legendary early platform game Manic Miner, back in 1983. I spent a lot of time playing Manic Miner and its sequel, Jet Set Willy, as a kid way back in the 1980's, and it's been a huge and direct influence on my Odboy & Erordog series.

I just recently found this wonderful fairly recent video interview with the guy, who seems like a fantastically likeable guy with a mildly autistic-seeming manner. It just makes me very happy to watch. :) The interview starts at 3 minutes in.

Computer Beat -- Ja

2011-04-27T19:24:00.000+02:00

Black Sunrise

2011-04-10T23:31:00.002+02:00

Master animator Nick Cross, I mentioned him before in this post, is working on a feature length animation; Black Sunrise. Looks like his usual theme, oppression of the working class, world disorder, government violence etc. Can't wait to see it.

Black Sunrise - Trailer from Nick Cross on Vimeo.

April Fools

2011-04-01T19:03:00.005+02:00

My favourite April Fools gag of the day. Ties in with my previous post on Comic Sans. Also, google "Helvetica" today and see what happens. :)

UPDATE: Apparently David Firth (or someone posing as him) is also in a jocular mood today.

Upcoming project...

2011-03-28T22:29:00.004+02:00

Since David Firth has now publicly announced this on his Twitter, I guess I won't have to be secretive about it any more; I'm composing the soundtrack for the next episode of his popular and creepy "Salad Fingers" cartoon series, the first new episode in four years. This'll be my first collaboration with Mr. Firth since 2008's stop motion "Crooked Rot", which I wrote about earlier on this blog.

Not familiar with Salad Fingers? Familiarize yourself with this, a representative early episode from 2004.

balance

2011-03-28T15:02:00.002+02:00

Balance Study, Heel-Toe from Jacob Tonski on Vimeo.

This balance study by Jacob Tonski looks amazingly strange.

punchy art

2011-03-24T10:50:00.004+01:00

This is a nice art installation that is bound to interact with the audience. It might be more of a technical gimmick than a deeply thoughtfull work of art that works well at a festival, but it would be awesome in a museum too I think, stir things up a little. The only thing is that you are not likely to get the hilarious drunk polish badass guy of the last round in a museum. Or... you never know!

The work is by Stefan Gross, whose other works are fun as well:

Blödes Orkester

2011-03-22T09:59:00.002+01:00

Blödes Orchester from white tube on Vimeo.

“Angeordnet wie ein Sinfonieorchester verwandeln sich rund 200 historische Staubsauger, Mixer und Waschmaschinen in Musikinstrumente. Sie bilden ein Ensemble, das der Dirigent, Cembalist und Komponist Michael Petermann alias Weisser Rausch nach acht Jahren Vorarbeit nunmehr vollendet hat: Das Blöde Orchester.”

This might be interersting for you experimental musicians out there. I think the idea is cool, although the music is not so much my cup of tea. But funny anyway!

Midnight Films at MaerzMusik

2011-03-21T17:45:00.004+01:00

This week, as part of the MaerzMusik festival for experimental music, Babylon Mitte are screening interesting films at midnight each night. Tonight they'll screen Greenaway's amazing ZOO (A Zed and Two Noughts), tomorrow Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9, and on wednesday one of my all time favourites, David Lynch's Eraserhead. I haven't seen it in a theatre before so I'll be all over it.

If you're in Berlin, be sure to check out the program! Tickets are 6.50 EUR.

Francoise Gamma

2011-03-20T21:58:00.005+01:00

This is some wonderfully strange, mysterious and beautiful stuff. I love it.

UPDATE: More (colourful) work here!

Four Color Fear

2011-03-16T16:38:00.005+01:00

Boing Boing has an article up about a book, Four Color Fear, that seems like another item that should be in Bart's library. There's also a flickr collection of some pages from the book.

Slow month?

2011-03-12T18:49:00.003+01:00

Here's a nice, cosy picture to look at until the next post.

Limbo

2011-03-08T17:07:00.004+01:00

Watching this trailer for the Xbox game 'Limbo' makes me enthusiastic about modern computer games for the first time since... I don't know, 1991?

Meatcleaver Massacre

2011-03-01T11:27:00.005+01:00

Found this film poster by accident... the film has only got a 2.6 out of 10 on the imdb, but I don't care. I want to see it anyway.

UPDATE: What really cracks me up is that according to reviews, there is not a single meatcleaver anywhere in the film.

Cute Monsters

2011-02-24T10:32:00.003+01:00

My virtual friend from The Groovy Age of Horror post mostly interesting articles about film, comics, tv and books. Sometimes it's a little boring, sometimes more like this, or really cool like this, but today they have a discussion about cute monsters like this lovely Lovecraftian Cthulhu guy right here.
I don't want to go into details about this topic, if interested you can dive into matters with the other Groovy Agers, but this explanation is, as a birdlover, too good not to share. I love it!

'A young raven, confronted with a new object, which may be a camera, an old bottle, a stuffed polecat, or anything else first reacts with escape responses. He will fly up to an elevated perch and, from this point of vantage, stare at the object literally for hours. After this, he will begin to approach the object very gradually, maintaining all the while a maximum of caution and the expressive attitude of intense fear. He will cover the last distance from the object hopping sideways with half-raised wings, in the utmost readiness to flee. At last, he will deliver a single fearful blow with his powerful beak at the object and forthwith fly back to his safe perch. . . .' In the end 'he will grab [the object] with one foot, peck at it, try to tear off pieces, insert his bill into any existing cleft and then pry apart his mandibles with considerable force. Finally, if the object is not too big the raven will carry it away, push it into a convenient hole and cover it with some inconspicuous material.' [quoted in Arthur Koestler's Act of Creation]

Beautiful Copperplate Logos

2011-02-22T22:10:00.005+01:00

Late 19th century copperplate prints have always been a fascination for me, the extreme attention to detail is just incomprehensible to me and creates a very distinctive and powerful aesthetic.

This link will take you to a BibliOdyssey page filled to the brim with high resolution scans of finely crafted logotype prints from this era. Revel!

(Detail from just below the capital A in the above picture:)

Pink Armadillo?

2011-02-22T14:19:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since my last post. I haven't come across any mind boggling inspiration triggers lately. But this... is just too funny not to share. Behold the Pink Armadillo!

Odboy & Erordog, episode 2

2011-02-14T16:58:00.000+01:00

There's finally a good recording of the chamber quartet for my "Odboy & Erordog, episode 2" piece, and I'm proud to present the whole work for all to enjoy online. The possibility of a commission for episode 3 is around the corner, so cross your fingers and maybe we'll soon get to see what fate has in store for the poor boy and his dog.

(Thanks to The Peärls Before Swïne Experience, Studio Element and the Society of Swedish Composers for making the recording possible.)

Guy in Berlin

2011-02-12T14:11:00.006+01:00

For those who couldn't attend yesterday, here's a very low quality cell phone video of Guy Maddin greeting the people at the opening of his film installation at the Berlinale. It was great to see him in person, having been a huge fan for the last ten years. Will have to go back some other day and check out the installation when it's not so crowded!

PS. The 'presidente' he's referring to is Isabella Rossellini, this year's jury president, who was also present yesterday. Starstruck!

monster mash

2011-02-11T10:39:00.002+01:00

Check out this cool song by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett & The Cryptkickers from 1962. It was a reaction on the dance crazes that were around those days like the Twist and the Mashed Potato. He had a hard time selling it at first, but once it was out it became a million seller in the USA and UK. I love the parade of monster in this clip:

Guy Maddin's in town! Again!

2011-02-10T18:06:00.003+01:00

Three years ago, I neglected to thoroughly read the Berlinale programme and later found out -- a day too late -- that Guy Maddin, one of my favourite directors, had presented his latest film at the festival. Crap! Well, I've also neglected to read the Berlinale programme this year, but by accident -- while standing in line to return a defective computer keyboard at Conrad -- I spotted Maddin's face on a TV screen in the background, being interviewed with the Berlinale logo behind him. Maddin. Berlinale. He's here again.

I'll be damned if I miss him this year too. It seems he's presenting a new work (or collection of shorts or whatever it is, I'm not sure) called Hauntings I (fragments). And it's starring Udo Kier. And it's free. I pity the Berlin based fool who won't show up tomorrow (Friday), 19:00 at the Marshall McLuhan Salon @ Potsdamer Platz to see what Maddin's been up to lately.

Conlon Nancarrow and the Pianola

2011-02-05T12:15:00.004+01:00

As a big fan of mechanical devices I got fascinated by the pianola and the studies written for it by Conlon Nancarrow. Impossible to play by any human (possibly by 2) this 2 part canon slowly accelerates the voice of left hand and while doing the opposite on the ultra fast right hand they meet halfway through the piece. It's interesting to hear the rhythms that generates through the temporal dissonance .

A standard roll for the pianola, but can you guess which music piece this is?

The concept of temporal dissonance makes me think of another modern classic - György Ligeti´s "Poeme Symphonique" (for 100 metronomes).

POKK

2011-02-03T20:53:00.006+01:00

Some friends here in Stockholm just started a new blog - POKK, with a similar concept as Tangential Vignettes. And since they had the courtesy to promote our blog, I felt compelled to mention theirs. It is already filled with interesting stuff of different matters. Their blog also has some kind of connection to Berlin and the rest of the members of Tangential Vignettes in a far fetched way...

http://pokk.se

Oooh, fishy fishy fishy fish

2011-01-29T13:23:00.002+01:00

Meant to post this Monty Python Clip of the Week yesterday, to coincide with both friday and the fish theme of the day. The clip, taken from their 1983 film "The Meaning of Life", is -- hands down -- Monty Python at their weirdest and most surreal.

Archigram Archival

2011-01-27T11:40:00.005+01:00

Maybe you've heard from the architectural group Archigram? They invented city utopias in the 60ies, best known for great stuff such as "the walking city".
Here's a link to the Archigram Archival project where their projects were collected for public viewing. Absolutely wonderful!!!

about pigs and foxes

2011-01-25T12:24:00.004+01:00

Watch this interesting shortfilm by Nick Cross, great animation and awesome music in this dark tale of a pig society turning into a place where foxes rule.

The Pig Farmer from Nick Cross on Vimeo.

After I watched it I was confused a little, there must be some social commentary goin' on here, but I find it hard to see who's who in this story. First, the small pigman is a happy, hardworking man. When something gets taken from him he gets mad and goes out for retribution. So far, so human, I would say. When he leaves his farm it has the 'Arbeit macht frei' sign at the gates.

In the woods he finds the guys who stole from him, wants to make 'em pay for what they did, but instead he gets seduced into lustfull pleasures. Poor guy! The drugs they give him trigger the horror that follows, visions of pig-society flash by; Pig politicians rooting for war, pig bankers living large, corrupt pig general and banker dividing a chopped up girl. Then the twintowers explode. The foxboss whispers in piggy's ear and he goes off on a rampage, resulting in the killing of fellow pigs attending a snob-party. Piggy gets arrested, convicted and put in jail, where the foxes have already put lots and lots of them.

Projecting this on (American) society, one could say the average Joe is put to work (in a camp) while the ruling class enriches itself. This system collapses, change comes and by trickery the foxes take over. Now average pig Joe is working for the foxboss who turns the whole capitalist system to his own benefit.

I come to this conclusion: A bad functioning government system has been maliciously taken over by private corporations. Average Joe is, after a bunch of titties in his face, even worse of.

What do you think? Or are we thinking too much??

Victorian Infographics

2011-01-21T18:12:00.004+01:00

Ah, the beauty! This warms my heart and makes me happy. :) Victorian Infographics on BibliOdyssey.

(Via BoingBoing)

Meet Tavis Coburn

2011-01-21T13:27:00.009+01:00

This Canadian illustrator combines 1940s comicbook art with Russian propaganda styles and old printing techniques. This wonderfull mix makes powerfull, fat illustrations that explode right of the page.
What I think is really good on these works, is that from a distance they seem simple and clear. However, if you look closer you discover a ton of details, anatomical knowledge and sweet printmaking 'accidents'. Not only is it well illustrated, also very well designed. Typography, composition and use of color fits perfectly together.
What also works, and this is something I've been thinking about more often, is how his works look like they belong together, consequently the same style, recognisable and therefore probably better marketable. You call this guy, you know what to expect. It will spread his name easier and agents can promote him efficiently to specific jobs. This is hard if you look at my work, a mixture of everything more or less. I should keep this in mind and maybe slowly form a more united body of work.
I'm not so fond of his animations found on his website. I miss the printed feel and the time you can take to look at all the details. But take a look at his portfolio if you like the ones posted here. There's a lot more and all are great.

4CP/four color process

2011-01-13T10:42:00.007+01:00

I've been trying for a while now to create the old feel in my own comics. I love the dots Lichtenstein enlarged so prominently, I love the little errors of pre-computer printmaking techniques, I love the sloppyness that came with hand made massproduction. Marcus' previous post of the treasures to be found in the digital comic museum are great reference material, and now I found a blog dedicated to 4CP, four color process, the wonderfull technique they used to color the comics.

They even wrote those dots a loveletter:

Dots emit radiation. As you get closer to them, they begin to vibrate and pulse. Moving closer still, the color separations become dramatically separate: Solids become very solid and the black ink holds together, while the CMY dots fly apart. Foreground and background, positive and negative space, reverse unexpectedly. Orange, green, brown, and fake gray give up their secrets, and the basic building blocks of a universe reveal themselves. Unstable molecules, built of primary colored atoms, buzz at different frequencies. Vectors of visual force, experienced implicitly at original size, become intense. Behind everything is wood pulp paper, a still deeper layer of creation, with its own unstable properties.

Here are some of my attempts to get more or less the same effect. I think if this is printed, and than scanned again, it might be as close as I can get.

Eerie Publication Covers

2011-01-12T17:47:00.000+01:00

Something for Bart, this...

Tangential Vignettes

Alternate Universe Movie Posters

Pretty cool...

Bladerunner sketchbook

Weekend WTF. Nightmare fuel.

Reached a million!

Dennis Moore

List of Fictional Diseases

Lichtspiel Mutation 1: Whitechapel

Das Ding

Alan Moore interviews Brian Eno

atelier olschinsky

Weekend WTF

Yes.

Amer (2010)

Weekend WTF (and 200th post, hooray!)

Wesley Allsbrook

Kilian Eng

Weekend WTF: Ninja Terminator

Olivier Schrauwen: The Man Who Grew His Beard

Harry Smith: Heaven and Earth Magic

Weekend WTF: プリルラ ステージ3

Weekend WTF: Microsoft Songsmith

Sam Bosma

Weekend WTF: Going to the Store

Jerry Williams: Number One

Upcoming Digital Drawing Tool

Weekend WTF

Happy b-day, Aphex!

(Monster)Movieposter art of Reynold Brown!

Tadanori Yokoo

Weekend WTF

Terry Gilliam's animation craft

Daniel Castan

Weekend WTF: Spookies (1986) trailer

Bas Jan Ader

Remedios Varo

Great Stephen Fry interview

Happy b-day, Jenjen!

“Surrender, or I’ll release the lesbians”

Happy b-day, Grandert!

Andrew Hem

Alan Moore Interview

Data Is Nature

Weekend WTF: Peter Serafinowicz

Westpakete - Heaven And Hell Machine in a box

Nice trick or great work?

Weekend WTF: Ittma Hohah

Botlek

Nice cover

Weekend WTF: Maruosa

Awfully funny or funnily awful

Google Image Search Improved

Adolescence and transgression

GAME & WATCH

My mix on Fluid Radio

Weekend WTF: Charlie White

Weekday WTF: The 4th Dimension

A Family Portrait

Scientific Illustration

Weekend WTF: She is your grandma.

Salad Fingers 9

Dutch Classic: Jan van Haasteren

Do you know Theo Jansen? (not the soccer player!)

Weekend WTF: He loves to laugh

Up for some food?

Weekend WTF: David Lynch Signature Cup

Poor thing.

Interview

Weekend WTF

Mangelos

Matthew Smith

Computer Beat -- Ja

Black Sunrise

April Fools

Upcoming project...

balance

punchy art

Blödes Orkester

Midnight Films at MaerzMusik

Weekend WTF: プリルラ　ステージ3