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April 14, 2008 10:30:30 AM
Posted By Tom Deacon
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| If you're a fan of fantasy illustration, then there's only one name that you absolutely must know: Frank Frazetta. |
From barbarians to movie stars to softcore porn, Frazetta stands above all others in the field. Cathy and Arnie Fenner have given him the tribute he deserves, with a lushly illustrated tome featuring the best of his work, as well as insights into his life.
Completely essential for fans, but worth a look for newcomers, too! |
| Official Website: http://www.frazettaartgallery.com |
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April 11, 2008 23:07:18 PM
Posted By Tom Deacon
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| The
Semi-Permanent design conference was established in
2003 by Design
Is Kinky's Murray Bell and Andrew Johnstone to provide
a platform on which industry leaders, members, students
and enthusiasts could come together to educate, inspire
and network. From its beginnings in Sydney, Semi-Permanent
has expanded across Australia and worldwide with events
taking place in Melbourne, Perth, Auckland and New York. |
This year Semi-Permanent will be held in Brisbane for
the first time. The event will take place on Saturday
April 12 at the Queensland College of Art. The day-long
conference will feature six industry leaders from disciplines
including graphic design, photography, animation and
art. In collaboration with the event, on April 9 Valley
fashion outlet The Outpost will be launching the latest
edition of Curvy - a publication celebrating outstanding
female artists - with an exhibition of artwork from
across the globe. Semi-Intoxicated will cap off the
event at Alhambra Lounge providing attendees a chance
to relax with a cold one, check out artwork by names
such as Nic Plowman, Lachie Goldsworthy and Benjamin
Constantine, and listen to excellent local band I Heart
Hiroshima.
Among the conference's speakers is Ben
Frost, a Brisbane ex-pat whose distinctive artwork
explores the underlying evil of contemporary western
society through use of juxtaposition of pop-culture
motifs and visually confronting collages. Frost graduated
from QCA in1996 with Bachelor of Visual Art in Fine
Art, and remembers his time in Brisbane fondly.
"My time in Brisbane was awesome," he says.
"I used to live in a little shoe box apartment
in Fortitude Valley. My house got raided by the cops
once when I was in university and they took my computer
and all my books because they thought I was subversive.
It used to be pretty easy to get into trouble in Brisbane
- the cops were total nutcases - it's probably still
the same," he laughs.
Frost has exhibited his work in galleries around the
world, including Tokyo, London, San Francisco and New
York. Recently, a piece of his hanging in Fortitude
Valley store Ultra Suite created a ruckus in mainstream
media - with even Sunrise debating the work, which commented
on drug use and youth.
Controversy comes as no surprise to Frost, who finds
pushing the envelope somewhat liberating. "I've
always tried to find gaps in any kind of project to
dig my nails in - otherwise you may as well keep painting
landscapes. My work is about the fine lines between
attraction and repulsion. Some people take the repulsive
elements to heart, and that's pretty hypocritical considering
the acceptable repulsive things I see on the telly every
time I turn it on," he says.
Hearing Frost's tale of moving from BNE to the big time
will be a treat for local attendees, with Frost identifying
his achievements whilst in Brisbane as a foundation
for his current work. Furthermore Frost will give insight
into the current state of the Australian art scene and
it's relativity to the international platform. Speaking
of the current art scene Frost says he finds inspiration
from fellow artists, and namechecks young locals such
as James Jirat Patradoon, Renee Herd, Jeremy Piert and
Trent Whitehead as artists he respects. When asked about
the importance of the event, Frost states, "Semi-Permanent
champions the crossover between art and design, which
for so long has been considered an unholy partnership.
At the end of the day street artists, pop artists and
all those that fly away from the radar of academia are
the new rock stars of the 21st century."
Ben Frost is definitely a speaker not to be missed,
and will present at 2pm.
Also appearing at Semi-Permanent is album artwork graphic
design duo Debaser.
Debaser was formed by David Homer and Aaron Hayward,
who met in 2000 while working for the Sony in-house
art department. The pair discovered that they not only
worked well together, but both shared a love of music
and an increasing frustration with the corporate system.
After talking often about breaking away from the corporate
environment and starting their own creative studio,
the pair decided to commit the idea fully in 2004 -
albeit drunkenly at a Jebediah concert.
Making good to their word however, Debaser was born
soon after. "Money was the biggest hurdle,"
says Aaron of the initial difficulties. "We couldn't
afford office space, so had to work out of my home for
a while, which wasn't easy. Getting used to not having
a regular pay packet in those first few months was daunting."
By using existing contacts, and emailing, phoning and
meeting like crazy, the pair established themselves
in the field and have since become industry leaders,
with their high reputation reinforced by their back-to-back
win at the ARIAs for album covers in 2006 and 2007.
Album artwork is an immensely powerful tool, providing
a visual component which is often as potent as the music
contained within. Speaking of the process involved with
creating the perfect cover, Aaron describes the difficulties
- "Finding the balance between getting something
that keeps the muso, the record label and yourself as
a designer happy is always a challenge. Sometimes it's
a breeze, when everything clicks, but other times it
can be a long process of back and forth until you've
either convinced everyone your idea is right or they
have convinced you their idea is right." Of the
creative process Aaron states, "Dave and myself
work differently which makes for a great relationship
as we both bring something different to the table and
aren't too precious about our ideas. I tend to research
books and websites for inspiration and then begin to
mock-up ideas. I do scribble away like every other designer
but not as much as Dave who is a lot more hands-on,"
he says.
For those who are eager to catch the pair's tale, Aaron
gives some insight into what to expect. "The talk
will involve the story of the studio and both our backgrounds
in the design industry. As well as showing artwork highlights
of the last five years we have decided to concentrate
on five main projects. These include the creative for
Powderfinger, Faker, End Of Fashion, Kisschasy and Jackson
Jackson. These are all quite diverse in what was involved
in bringing the art to life; each had unique challenges
and rewards."
Debaser will speak at 11pm, and for those who are wondering,
yes it's a Pixies reference, and for the record the
pair rate Beastie Boys - License To Ill, Rage Against
The Machine (self titled) and Sonic Youth - Goo amongst
the best album covers of all time.
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| Further
Info: http://www.semipermanent.com/brisbane |
| Source:
Interview
by SUSAN MILANOVIC for RAVE magazine
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April 10, 2008 09:41:53 AM
Posted By Tom Deacon
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I discovered M83 for the first time the other day, a band whose music touches upon all genres, from ambient electronica to shoegaze and pop...
M83's distinct sound emerged after just one album: both modern and melancholic. The group makes machines seem human by endowing them with a mysterious and innocent character, one that mirrors the personality of it's primary creator, Anthony Gonzalez.
In 2000, at the tender age of twenty, Gonzalez and his friend, Nicolas Fromageau from Antibes, France, decided to lift their eyes from their guitars and turn their gaze towards the stars (the band's name is that of a distant galaxy), via ambitious inter-galactic compositions influenced by Tangerine Dream and Mogwai.
Highly recommended to anyone who likes electronic/ambient music.
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Saturdays = Youth (2008)
The fifth record by the French electronic group M83 was released in April, 2008. The album delivers the rich sonic textures for which M83 is well known, but with a more focused approach to song structure and form. The song "Couleurs" was released as the first single. |
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Digital Shades Vol. 1 (2007)
All of M83's work is mood music, but the mood is usually one of passion and intensity, which can occasionally be a bit enervating. For those who crave the M83 sound but feel too nervy for all the pageantry, this album is a perfect fit: grand and beautiful, but also retiring and relaxing. |
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Before the Dawn Heals Us (2005)
This third album features 15 cuts of dreamy electronica interspersed with buzzing guitars, acoustic drums and some vocals resulting in a glorious mechanized choir. The track "Teen Angst" featured in trailers to the 2006 film "A Scanner Darkly". |
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Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (2003)
The second album by the French electronica group M83 was released to positive reviews. "Unrecorded", was used in the theatrical trailer of Night Watch and "Be Wild" was used as a concert introduction by the band Deftones in 2007. The last track, "Beauties Can Die", contains an untitled hidden track, that starts at 11:17, after a period of silence. |
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M83 (2000)
The debut album by M83. It was recorded in 2000 and released in Europe and other areas in 2001 by Gooom. The album was reissued in North America by Mute Records in September 2005 and is thus sometimes referred to as 0905. |
| Official Site : I Love M83 |
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April 6, 2008 22:20:00 PM
Posted By Tom Deacon
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An Indian girl, born with four eyes, two noses and two mouths is watched by another child as she rests on a cot at the Saini Village of Noida, some 55 kms from New Delhi, on April 5. The parents of the girl say that the toddler is doing well and that they have no plans for a surgery.
NOIDA, India (AFP) - The parents of an Indian infant girl born with two faces say that she is eating and breathing normally despite having two pairs of eyes and lips and two noses.
The baby, who is yet to be named, was born to factory worker Vinod Kumar and his wife Sushma three weeks ago in northern India and has been drawing a stream of curious observers and others who consider her a deity in this deeply religious Hindu-majority country.
"I had never seen something like this in my life so naturally I was a little scared when I first saw her," her father said at the weekend at the family's mud-and-brick house in Noida town, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northeast of New Delhi.
The girl has found easy acceptance in Kumar's large, extended family, who say they have no plans to consult doctors to check if the girl can receive treatment or corrective surgery.
"The doctor said everything is normal when she was born. So where's the need to get medical help?" said the child's father.
"She's fed through one mouth and sucks her thumb with the other. We use whichever mouth is free to feed her," the 24-year-old Kumar told AFP, adding she is eating and breathing normally.
Doctors said it was an extremely rare case, with the girl having two skulls joined together, and that separating them was out of the question.
"Since the heads are fused, separating them is not possible," paediatrician D.K Gupta of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences told the Hindustan Times newspaper on the weekend.
But doctors said the girl should be examined thoroughly to study the possibility of complications.
"Clearly the child is in no immediate danger but it has to be checked whether the oral and nasal cavity and other passages" are functioning properly, paediatrician Gupta said.
The case comes just months after Indian doctors performed a rare, marathon surgery to remove the extra limbs of a girl born with four arms and legs.
Two-year-old Lakshmi Tatma's case captivated the nation last year as domestic and international media focused on her complicated surgery performed in southern Bangalore city in November.
This year, Lakshmi started taking her first steps with the help of a baby walker, delighting her parents and doctors.
Lakshmi, named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth, was born fused to the pelvis of a twin that had stopped developing in her mother's womb -- a condition that occurs once in 50,000 conjoined twin births.
Kumar said he had heard about Lakshmi, but did not want to change anything about his daughter's features.
"Whatever God has given me is acceptable. What can we do about it?" he said, lifting the baby to take her away after allowing a brief glimpse of her as neighbours crowded around her cot.
"This child is very special to us," the baby's grandfather chimed in, gazing lovingly at the infant.
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Categories:
News,
Weird,
Strange
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April 6, 2008 18:37:17 PM
Posted By Tom Deacon
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