Followed the Waves

Right,

Things are going well at school, though group projects are doing my head in. Too many issues. Some unavoidable of course but frustrating regardless.

On a happy note I am doing my second sale -ever- this weekend! I’ve been making so many things and I am hoping they sell well. If not, I will pop everything that doesn’t go onto Etsy and save some for Christmas gifts. Some things I’ve made are lego and scrabble tile rings, embroidered stockings, doilies and some other things. I’m also tossing in some photos that didn’t sell during Art Walk in July.

This sale is supposed to be busy during the 5 hours so I hope that stays true. Lots of traffic is always good.

School wise things are getting busy. End of the term is coming crazy fast. A couple friends and I are planning a podcast which should be a great ongoing project. I’m really looking forward to recording. The first episode is “Space.” Everything to do with space wether its outer space, negative space, how art uses space, head space as in thought and so on.

Assignment wise i have a Zine which I’m trying to get people to contribute to, that second group project which is a cd cover for a band, a month long project which I am going to attempt to make a fibre book for, a recreation, an editorial… There is a bunch of stuff. A lot of my plate but it keeps me out of trouble which makes my mother happy.

I will update once the sale is over. A big success it will be! (Here’s hoping)

To Lose My Life

Last time I was talking about the “she’s crafty” assignment. I still lack a group, hopefully that will change today sometime. I’m still sticking with the cross stitch idea and will somehow incorporate that into the final plans. I’ve narrowed it down to 4 out of the 16 songs.

Coors Lite – Japanese Motors
Heart Skipped a Beat – XX
Shampoo – Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Tooth Decay – Eating Us

I’m going to have to listen to the tracks again and later come to an agreement with my group about which song we are doing and then we can go from there. i would ideally like to do a little pattern of some kind. really simple and straight forward as we also have to format it for iTunes and so it has to be recognizable when small as it will also need to translate on an iPod. I would also want to rephotograph it so the texture of the cross stitch is seen.

The rat traps went well. I would probably do some changes but overall keep it the same. I have yet to post a photo of them anywhere. Not many other projects are going on currently. I started a personal work of more post-it notes with strange but useless facts I know. Inspired by a friend, Lucas, I think it’s pretty good. Just trying to think of those things is difficult to do on the fly.

A Great Big Sled

Note to the two readers I’ve got: My blog titles will now be song titles I am listening to during bloggin. This blog is not about a great big sled, though, that would be awesome.

Question: How do people feel about group projects? I haven’t done one like this in years. 4 week project based around the idea of adaptation. Right when i start to feel excited about where we are going, we still aren’t at 100% consensus. We haven’t been at a consensus since we started. Which is quite unfortunate. I also think the bigger the group the harder it is to make everyone happy or at least at a compromise that they can live with.

In the class these group projects for we have another group project and I am preying that everyone keeps to the 3 people in a group. I’ll be upset if I’m in a large group again. Don’t get me wrong the people I’m with are lovely and very bright and talented, the lack of consensus frustrates me to no end. If i get the opportunity to work in the right group size with different people I think it will change my perspective on group projects again. I’m really dreading presenting our final result for the adaptation knowing one or more people, and i could be one of them too, aren’t happy with the end result.

Anyways, the next group project is titled “She’s Crafty.” We are supposed to come up with an album cover. (not an anal bum cover) for one of the tracks that the teacher has selected. One thing I’m really happy about is I haven’t heard any of these songs but one, and the one is used in part for a commercial. I have yet to listen to all the tracks in full or get a group but I think it’s going to be a sweet project. It’s supposed to have some kind of craft aspect to it. Like, a diorama constructed around whatever the song talks about taking into consideration the scale for the CD cover, iTunes album art as well as how that album art will show up on an iPod and still be seen clearly.

Right off the bat I’m thinking a cross stitched EP cover would be bad ass. It might be a bit complex as what I would do if i were working solo would be constructing my collage/mini set etc… photographing it then plugging it into a program I have to change it into a cross stitch pattern and then rephotographing that. Depending on the detail it would take a while, but would be so sick. I think having an EP cover with some cross stitch elements such as the text or something would still be pretty rocking. I mean, to admit being a total nerd (Or Keaner as LR has dubbed it) I am cross stitching a pattern used by Keane for their newest record. The coloured triangles. It looks so awesome. As long as having cross stitched text would fit into the feel of the song and the band of course.

On a side note I’ve somehow downloaded a Ricky Gervais Podcast I’ve never listened to. Completely missed out on Series 4. So I’ve been listening to that on and off enjoying hearing Karl spout of things I haven’t heard until now. I do love listening back to the old podcasts and audiobooks but there’s nothing like unheard content.

That’s enough yammering. In the words of Wesley Willis: Rock over London. Rock on Chicago. Heinz, it’s America’s favorite ketchup

crit + lensbaby

It’s been a bit since the last post. I’m trying to think of everything that has gone on since the last ramble.

I got a crit (critique) on the “nothing ordinary” shot. The way crits are tending to work is the group talks first about what they like, don’t like and the message if there is one and so on. I found it amusing that there was a short discussion on the invasion of privacy and how we are always watched. When I explained what it was and the “meaning” much lighter followed by some laughs that made me happy. It also made me happy that some people saw it so different than what i was thinking. I understand it is an “invasion” of sorts but there is no actual recording device on it. I never saw it as something that deep. That is one thing about the critiques as its a conversation around the work and you can see how other people think and feel about it.

I’m not sure i mentioned on here before but i am cross stitching Warhol’s banana. It is going well. I’ll be happy when I’m finished with all the dark browns and move on to the yellow. The small portion of yellow i have done looks really nice on the bright pink fabric i dyed before starting. I’m also starting a geometric pattern borrowed from a band i quite like and a portrait of Daniel Radcliffe. Reason for the last one being that the pattern was in a cross stitch magazine i bought and i thought it was hilarious. It will be about 4×6″ in size so why not.

Apart from all that classes are pretty average so far. Not much work is really developing in them as of yet as the “nothing ordinary” was the first assignment that wasn’t purely technical. In the Devices and Processes class we have had to produce a contact sheet using equivalent exposures to demonstrate different f/stops with the right shutter speed will yield the same photo in tone but differ the depth of field. We’ve had to do another but with a moving object as the subject. Of course the slower the shutter speed the more blurred.

I have been playing with my Lensbaby Composer a fair amount. Just taking photos of nothing in particular. The two i like the most are below. That is really it for now so until then…

That is really it for now so until then…

Birthday + Concert + Nothing Ordinary

This past little while has been quite busy. I drove back to Edmonton on the 11th of this month for my Oma’s 80th birthday. It was a really nice night with lovely food and conversation. Her youngest brother even came form the Netherlands a second time this year for the occasion. Which was a very pleasant surprise for Oma.

Dinner was at the Manor Cafe. I had the Steak Fritz. Very good fritz with an interesting garlic mayo dip. Dark chocolate mousse for dessert. Tre good.

On the Monday after that event I went to a concert, which is a fairly rare event as not many musicians I enjoy come anywhere conveniently close. Luckily Keane were paying a visit to Calgary which was pretty amazing. First that they were bothering to come out here and second I was going! I paid a bit more for my ticket which allowed me to get early entry, thus me being right up against the barrier. I have never been right up front like that. I’m not sure I can go back to anything else. Being up front was so amazing. Being that close and just getting the energy off them first and being able to give it back to them “first.” They can see you as the stage lights do hit you, you aren’t part of this huge noisy black mass with no identity. You can make eye contact. Just so genius.

I am not a crazy fan, if anything I really admire what they do on an artist-to-artist level. I appreciate their music and what they do. After the show i had the pleasure of meeting the band members, getting a photo taken with everyone, as one must do. As well as getting the little tour photo book signed. A little fan girlish but when in Rome…

Another great thing about the show I was super excited about was the opening act. LIGHTS was the opener for the Canadian dates which is pretty rad. Again, not a super crazy fan but I like her songs and am looking forward to hearing her record when it comes out next week. She sounds sweet live and it’s always neat hearing songs live before they are out on a record. Plus a pretty girl playing the keytar is always rad.

This doesn’t really have much to do with school but it’s fun to avoid “work” sometimes. I’m also really happy with most of the photos I took so this is a good place to just put them out there.

Tonight we are required to see a film called Cremaster 2 at The Uptown. I’m not really sure what it’s all about though I suppose it’s good to get out and see things to gain knowledge about it and form opinions etc… I will update this later with the review most likely.

Update: Some parts of Cremaster 2 were visually interesting. For the most part the film was a bit too far out of my box.

Tomorrow the “nothing ordinary” photo is due for critique. I have settled on this:

This is a little thing my grandfather, Harry, has made. It is in their basement bathroom and isn’t very easily seen when you walk in. It’s only until you sit down to do your business that you see it. Everyone’s first time is usually followed with laughter. It isn’t a real camera of course. Just an old lens of some kind mounted onto an aluminum plate that is bolted to a bit of wood. It’s been hanging there for years, you can see some red crayon I myself applied to it when I was quite young.

devices + processes + magazines

Today was the first day of “devices and processes.” A mostly technical course that should prove to be quite interesting and an essential foundation. We do have an assignment a few of them. Reading chapter one from the required text “A Short Course in Digital Photography” written by Barbara London and Jim Stone. Then we need to come up with a recipe for a photograph. Any photograph. I’m planning on writing mine like an average food recipe. With light, charisma and all the rest being ingredients. We also need to bring in an image we appreciate and our camera bags for a little show and tell of equipment and what we are working with to date.

As for the image I appreciate I have no idea where I am going to go with this. I might very well end up going with something I have just seen or a classic photo that I’ve always been drawn to. Problem is I’m not exactly sure what these things are going to be as of yet. I have a week to think about it and execute, plenty of time in school terms.

Speaking of things I have recently seen I made a trip to a local book store to check out magazines and some books. Magazine wise I picked up a couple usual ones. Varoom, and print. Non-regulars are (t)here and GUP. (t)here seems to be a bunch of location photos of interesting and bizarre things. Run down buildings and the like. GUP or Guide to Unique Photography is odd to me to say the least. I like some of the things in it. But overall it’s a bit too much of a shock factor and without explanation for what the photos are about I’m a little lost in translation.

I did buy one book of interest which is called “Rest is Up to You: A Boy Named Cohen Morano, 118 Artists, and a Watercolor Revolution.” The concept is great. This is the product description from amazon.com:

“Like many kids, first-grader Cohen Morano likes to watercolor. What’s different about his paintings is that his father, Aye Jay, sends them out into the world to be added to and altered by a stellar roster of lowbrow artists, children’s illustrators, and street and graffiti artists. The resulting collaborations between Cohen and everyone from Gary Baseman to Shepard Fairey to Paul Frank form a stunning and playful body of work, with a focus on the creativity of childhood.”

One thing I really like about the book is that on some of the works you can read a transcript of what Cohen thinks of the finished work. Some of the things he says about it are quite amusing.

Second Day

Today I had the first class of my Location Lighting class. Most of it was introductions to the teacher and the like. Basically what we wanted out of the class. My want, trying to bring up something else that no one before me had said was “low tech.” Pretty much me, walking around, with my camera. I see something i want to shoot so I set up the camera or very portable lighting kit. set up and take it.

We did get an assignment in the photography class. The subject is “Nothing Ordinary.” Find something interesting in an ordinary place. I have no idea what I’m going to do for this one. Two weeks to tackle it should be good.

First Day to the Future

Today was the first day of school. Which also means it’s the first day of a 3 year trek to becoming a bonified “photographer.” There are 18 people in my class. This means these 18 people are in all of my classes, everyday for the next 3 years. That in itself is intimidating. I already know 4 others which is comforting. The four others are in my year, meaning it is their third year at ACAD but they are second years in the major.

Today was the first class of “Visualization Processes for Photographers.” After all the standard going through the outline, meet and greet stuff and lunch we got together to watch a film. Blow-Up. I had never heard of this but apperantly the main character is who Mike Myers based part of Austin Powers off of. In some of the scenes that is very evident. I’m not sure what to think of it so far. We only watched the first hour and it’s a little confusing. I suppose i’ll have a better opinion on it after next Wednesday when we finish watching it.

We did get an assignment already. After buying either vellum or mylar we need to print out one of our own photos and trace it in three different ways. You do have the option of using the three different drawings to layer them together at the end. so… one could be line, another texture and the last colour or something along those lines. I have a photo in mind, but I would like to look through everything I’ve ever taken to see if something else might be more interesting. I’m also not sure what 3 differences I want to do. We just have to buy supplies this week and we will be working on it in class next week.

This might be turned into a weekly blog… probably on Saturdays. Full of a run down of what the week entailed and so on. But I will play it by ear. If anything amazing happens I will be sure to update. It would be cool if this turned into an idea blog or a reference point not only for my but other people wanting to do what I am doing.

Shout Out

One thing I love about the Fringe festival here in Edmonton is the rich abundance of lovely hand made items. One thing I didn’t know before this year is that everyone selling items during the festival must have hand made items. I met some lovely people and I wanted to use this blog (which has a few readers) to give these guys a little shout out.

First up is GEEKWARE.

Run by Nicola Harper, she goes out of her way to find old computers and keyboards and makes a bunch of things ranging from keyboard key cufflinks, circuit board earrings and motherboard clocks. It’s a great and unique way to recycle e-waste that is becoming a bigger issue in today’s world.

Next we have Majesty inc.

Lovely handmade things bags, pouches, keychains and other fun stuff sewn with care by Julie. “All items are made with Naugahyde VEGAN VINYL because we love animals here at Majesty and think they are the bee’s knees.”

Her best selling item are these moustache keychains. I bought a couple off her (as well as a couple bags and a wallet) in the brown as shown which is sparkly gold on the other side and orange which is, of course, sparkly orange on the other side.

If you’re in Edmonton both of these girls do numerous shows around town. Nicola does the Art Walk and the Fringe for sure. Julie sells at the St. Albert farmers market regularly. Both these lovely ladies also have blogs which will have updates and all that fun stuff. I’m loving joining the handmade wagon!

Project #1 beginnings

I like the idea of collections. How we humans have a weird way of collecting stuff we don’t really need but expresses something we are passionate about. The only collection I have that I can really think of that doesn’t have any real practical use is my Chaplin collection.

I have collected strange bits and bobs. Many books and DVDs of Chaplin. Some of the things in the series to follow is a rubber duck and a clock.

Family Portrait