Fallen in love.

WE ARE AUGUSTINES :: CHAPEL SONG.

Every picture tells a story.

Other Lives :: Tamer Animals

The luckiest.

While at work today, I received an email from my boyfriend (Captain Amazing) that included a link to the video below, and said:

"This reminds me of you for a bunch of reasons. It's from the south, it's beautiful, artistic, complex and admirable. Just to name a few."

Aside from indulging in how unbelievably sweet my boyfriend is, I couldn't not seize the opportunity to share this beautiful video and project. The video is apart of a campaign to raise money for an artist's work, entitled Boxcar Fair. I've included information "about the project" and a link to the pledge page below the video - if you are so inclined to support this beautiful and poetic work of art.



ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Hello. Thank you for taking time to look at our project.

My name is Brock Scott. I am an Atlanta based artist / musician who lives for making cool things. I love using collaboration as a way to bring different artists and mediums together in creative ways. I studied sculpture in college and while there became really interested in artists who create unique kinetic systems in their work. i.e. Arthur Ganson and Theo Jansen who were artists that took the ideas of traditional mechanical engineering and adapted their own style to how we have perceived things to work. You could imagine how ecstatic I was to find that one of the most amazing kinetic sculptors I have ever seen lived just down the street! His name is Tom Haney. Tom is an artist who creates beautiful automata vignettes depicting figures performing random and often beautifully mundane actions. The delicateness of the pieces mixed with Tom’s amazing craftsmanship and ingenuity creates a window into his intricate world.

5 months ago, I approached artist Tom Haney with an idea for a unique project that was part puppet show, part kinetic sculpture, part musical performance and immortalized on film. I called it Boxcar Fair. The piece will follow a wandering explorer who stumbles upon a magical fair in the middle of a desert.

The explorer interacts with many characters along his journey including a giant anglerfish a fortuneteller an ornate elephant an enchanted mouse and a high diving dame, each of whom is more fanciful and elaborate than the last.

The video will last the duration of one song (approx. 2:30) that my band, Little Tybee, will compose and record. The entire sequence will be shot in a single take, with no cuts, panning from left to right (Similar to the platform view of the Super Mario Brothers game). The set itself would be approximately 45 feet long. The camera will be mounted on a robotic motorized dolly fixed to a rail that allows filming the entire length of the set smoothly. Tom and I are extremely motivated and itching to bring our vision to life. We have hired an amazing artist from LA named Ram Bhat to paint the backdrop for the entire 45 foot long set. Ram Bhat is a truly incredible artist and has worked on many amazing projects collaborating with Bjork, Black Eyed Peas, Greenday, Ozzy Osborn and Nintendo just to name a few. Ram has a very unique style that will compliment Tom’s figures and our musical score perfectly.

We have received amazing support from the local puppet and artist community and from the center for puppetry arts here in Atlanta. We are getting incredibly close to finishing this project but are asking for your help in raising funds to make sure this project will reach the potential we think it deserves. The money that you donate will go towards materials needed to finish the set, supplies needed to make the puppets, paying all of the artists involved in making this vision come to life and reserving a space large enough to house our ambitions. With your help, lets make something beautiful together.

Thank you.

You can follow the progress of the project here.
You can pledge a small (or large) amount to the project here.

Current favorite.

Young Galaxy - Cover Your Tracks

(Hint: Click the arrow to download.)

Oh Minnows: You'll Never Know Us.

Everything, yes.

Talk to Me?

An art exhibit entitled Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects is showing at MoMA in New York between July 24 – November 7, 2011, and it deeply pains me to be missing it. I implore any New Yorkers who stumble across this little place to take the time to stop by.



About the exhibit:

Talk to Me explores the communication between people and things. All objects contain information that goes well beyond their immediate use or appearance. In some cases, objects like cell phones and computers exist to provide us with access to complex systems and networks, behaving as gateways and interpreters. Whether openly and actively, or in subtle, subliminal ways, things talk to us, and designers help us develop and improvise the dialogue.


The exhibition focuses on objects that involve a direct interaction, such as interfaces, information systems, visualization design, and communication devices, and on projects that establish an emotional, sensual, or intellectual connection with their users. Examples range from a few iconic products of the late 1960s to several projects currently in development—including computer and machine interfaces, websites, video games, devices and tools, furniture and physical products, and extending to installations and whole environments.



The Department of Architecture and Design is documenting the process of organizing Talk to Me from its early stages through its opening in July 2011 and beyond via an online journal. The site features projects we are currently studying and some we have already selected, along with relevant references and feedback and suggestions from designers and writers. Since we always cast our nets very wide and count on suggestions and opinions from the design community, this step comes very naturally. Besides, communication is what this exhibition is all about. Visit the online journal at wp.moma.org/talk_to_me/.



Visit the exhibit site online:
http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/talktome/

Splitscreen: A Love Story.

Winner of the 2011 Nokia Shorts competition, directed by JW Griffiths:



Absolutely brilliant.

The Horrors :: Still Life.

Their new album 'Skying' will be out this month.

Hurry up, I must be dreaming.

I first discovered the French electro-dreampop god M83 (aka Anthony Gonzalez) back in 2005 with the release of his Teen Angst EP. Suffice it to say, I fell head over heels with his uniquely electrifying stylings - and every day since, I continue to fall further. Much to my overwhelming excitement, it was recently announced that M83 will release his new double (that's right, I said double) album, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming on October 18, 2011. For a taste of what's to come, I suggest listening to the track below, which it just so happens, that you can also download the track 'Midnight City' for FREE right here, right now.

M83 (aka Anthony Gonzalez) will release his new double album, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming on October 18, 2011.

Oh, and to my fellow Los Angelinos, M83 will be playing at the Music Box on November 9th...you can bet your sweet buns I'll be there.

Midnight City by M83

If you keep spinning the dime...

Eventually it will land heads up.

This, unlike many other things, will never, ever grow tiresome to me.

Going Awol.

Aaron Bruno, formerly of Under The Influence of Giants and a founding member of Home Town Hero, has thrust himself into an indie rock solo project he calls Awolnation.

2010 proved to be a good year for Bruno, between signing to Red Bull Records and touring with both Weezer and MGMT, while releasing his first EP, Back From Earth. In February 2011, the band's first single, "Sail," debuted at #30 on the U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs chart and by March, Awolnation had dropped it's first full-length, entitled Megalithic Symphony.

The album boasts an incredibly impressive mixture of influences: electronica, hip-hop, and punk rock, whilst peppered with a persona of pop that is only to be countered by the gritty wails of Bruno himself. Don't be surprised when you find yourself dancing, fist-pumping or even scratching your head as you try to make sense out of this auditory genius...

C.

AWOLNATION - "Sail" (Official) from AWOLNATION on Vimeo.

AWOLNATION - "Burn it Down" (Official) from AWOLNATION on Vimeo.

Where I'd rather be.

Hooray, indeed.

Every once in a while an indie band of this caliber goes undetected on my radar for longer than I can appreciate. Hooray For Earth, an indie quartet hailing from the east coast, surprisingly had it's beginnings all the way back in 1996, though the current lineup has only been together since 2006. I came across them last year after the release of their EP entitled "Momo," specifically with their track "Surrounded By Your Friends."

Hooray For Earth with be touring with Architecture in Helsinki this summer and their new full length LP is set to release next month.

In case you were wondering what you've been missing...

Space Age (i) Love (this) Song

I've always loved The Kills. My l'ove affaire continues.

Don't ever say I never gave you anything.

I haven't posted in a while, so I knew that whatever my return post would be, would have to be a good one. But then I got distracted by this.



You're welcome.

Not Sowwap.

Relatively speaking.

Would you care to meet one of my most recent favorite bands? Of course you would.

Back in September, Shaking Through did an episode on Twin Sister. This is that episode.

And here comes a song I really like, too.

Papercuts: Future Primitive.

Last night I lost a family member.

(I took this photo 3 weeks ago.)

Thank you for 15 1/2 years of nothing but friendship and love, Boo. As a dog, you'd never understand the joy you brought to our lives, and that is something we will carry in our hearts forever.

Caught in an underlie.

Disclaimer: Let it be known that I don't post this to pass any judgment. Well, that's entirely false. But, what I mean by that is, that I mean no harm to the parties involved.

Fact: I've never watched one single episode of Glee.

This is a badge I wear with honor. It's true; I was/am a theatre geek myself (seeing as I acquired one of my undergrad degrees in said subject), even musical theatre, as much as it pains me to admit. However, I feel like a good bit of theatre is more or less identifiable as "fluff" and I really have no interest in anything that exists solely for the purpose of my mindless entertainment. (I appreciate the reality that most people don't feel this way.) There have been times where I have been moved in inexplicable ways by certain theatrical "acts" so to speak, even musical ones - depending on which ones we're referring to - therefore, I know firsthand that something seemingly vapid can have layers of depth hidden between it's foundational cracks. Yet, I find myself consistently resistant to the pop-cultural trend that is Glee, and therein lies the true answer to my resistance. I'm much more apt to remove myself from anything (or anyone) that appeals to the masses, for (lack of a better quality) a self-admittedly sense of superiority in taste. This is not to say that reaction is always well deserved - in fact, I'm fully aware that it's probably to my own disadvantage - and very well may be the case in my case of Pundit VS. Glee.

As luck would have it, one of the facets of my job landed me face to face with an interview that one of my co-workers did with a Glee cast member at last night's Golden Globes.

I felt like everything about this particular interview embodied my ongoing distaste with this show that I, as I stated before, have never seen one episode of.

I will not name the actor, not only out of respect for partial-anonymity, but also because I don't have the slightest freaking clue who this kid is, anyway. All I know about him is that someone coached him on how to answer in sound-bytes, instead of speaking in complete thoughts, and that he was too much of a piece of shit to take off his pink-rimmed hipster sunglasses while answering questions about his Award winning show.

Actor: “Well I think there’s a lot of basic um, ideas that Glee really celebrates and that is sort of all-inclusiveness and acceptance, and then you throw on the garnish of songs, and music and dance which transcends language and ideology and I um think it’s a worldwide success because people really respond with this very carnal celebration of life and basic values, so uh, I think it’s really great that people have responded well to it because that tells me that the world’s in a really cool place."

Listening to it was probably worse than reading it, or at least that's what my initial reaction of horror makes it seem like, before I - to my own surprise- settled in to listen more closely. I liken it to like walking into a dirty bathroom stall where the walls are covered in crap stains smeared on top of Nietzsche quotes. His response was not well-delivered and his point was not well made, but if you swim through the sea of structural sludge, you can clearly uncover the meaning of what he is saying. It's a good reminder to myself that just because something comes in a personally objectionable package, that perhaps it doesn't deserve to be dismissed.

Perhaps I'll watch an episode of Glee. Or perhaps I'll at least consider it.

RIP Trish Keenan.

Filed in my cabinet...

Under "shit to see." It's actually quite a crowded little place but everyone knows these guys don't take up much room.

By far my most anticipated film of the upcoming year.

Sorry suitors, but this heart belongs to Terrence Malick.

Sometimes stepping back is the only way to move forward.