Dallas Clayton, Author Extraordinaire.

The Greatest Writer Alive from Dallas Clayton on Vimeo.

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.

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.

Where I'd rather be.

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.

You probably won't see this. I probably will.

Steven Soderbergh directs a compelling new documentary based on actor Spalding Gray's performances of his own life experiences.

"From the first time he performed Swimming to Cambodia - the one-man account of his experience of making the 1984 film The Killing Fields - Spalding Gray made the art of the monologue his own. Drawing unstintingly on the most intimate aspects of his own life, his shows were vibrant, hilarious and moving. His death came tragically early, in 2004; this compilation of interview and performance footage nails his idiosyncratic and irreplaceable brilliance." (Written by Edinburgh International Film Festival)

Watch the trailer for "And Everything is Going Fine" here:
http://screenslam.com/index.php?vid=N3YWZ2MTpF_ymdDPeK-eHM-QinhYNgNh

Michel Michel

Amoeba Music sits down with director and creative sensationalist, Michel Gondry, as he discusses his band, visual effects, and more.

Some things only get better.

100 from Justin Baez on Vimeo.

All you need is love.

The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program is the largest public art program in the United States.

Learn more about Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program here: http://muralarts.org/

An amazing everything.

Holstee, a company that is dedicated to design with a conscience.

This is their quote.

"To deliver on this, we hold every design accountable for the impact it has for on all people, our planet and the product's quality. 10% of all Holstee revenue is used to empower entrepreneurs in the developing world through micro lending."

This is their manifesto.


This is their address.

http://shop.holstee.com/

This is what I love.

Don't worry, you'll get it.

Posthumous.

Mazel Tov!

If ever I create something as great as this, then I will have succeeded.

Patrick Watson- Luscious Life from Opak Media on Vimeo.

Made for me.

A Story : Last year, my dearest friend in the world (Amanda Rogers, a musician from upstate New York) was on tour for her most recent record, and was coming through Los Angeles on the West Coast leg. (It may help to note : Amanda and her boyfriend, Mike, lived with me for a few months while she was recording said album the previous year. While here, they met my closest friends, who naturally welcomed the two into our group with open arms. How could they not? Amanda and Mike are the cat's pajamas, and the absolute sweetest vegan, tree-loving hippies you could ever meet. ) It goes without saying that we all went to every show she played while in the city. For a group of people with a lot of issues (we're like family - love and hate, all ecompassing), we can surprisingly pull our shit together when it comes to supporting one of each other.

AN ASIDE : It's a funny story how Amanda and I know each other, actually. Ready for it? We have the same ex-boyfriend. Yep. Of course, he's long gone, but the best gift he ever gave me was introducing me to her. Amanda is probably the closest thing I'll ever have to a soulmate. She gets me, I get her, we're different and yet, I think we're exactly the same. We don't get to see each other often considering that we live on opposite coasts. So far, we've somehow worked it out to visiting about twice a year. We don't talk on the phone (we both abhor it) and we don't get the chance to email much, either. (Though lately, she's been way better about it than I have.) When we do catch each other, we mostly just fill each other in on the what-nots of the past week, month, whatever. But, when we get the chance to see each other it's like no time has passed. Some relationships I like to think of as a favorite sweater. It's comfy, it makes you feel good in and out, it fits you just right and you wouldn't trade it for the world. Amanda is my fuzzy red cardigan.: ASIDE END.

Back to where I was intending to go with this : During one of Amanda's shows in Los Angeles, she played a song that I had never heard before, but instantly seemed to recognize. After the show was over, she came up to me and said that she should have warned me, but that song was about me. It's interesting, because it's not really a happy song, but it's not really a sad song, either. But it definitely is a song that reminds me of how well she knows me and I couldn't ask for anything more.

I wasn't recording that night, so I don't have my own video to show. However, our friend Ryan managed to capture it live at a show a few days after they left Los Angeles to head back east.

Amanda Rogers, The Taming of the Lonely One :

Natural endowment or ability of a superior quality.

Last year, I briefly met an artist who, in passing, mentioned that he did artwork for a NorCal band named Tera Melos. With fairly limited knowledge of the Sacramento music scene, not only had I not heard them, I hadn't ever heard of them. I began scouring around the internet to get a glimpse of the artwork, which in turn led to me to discovering the band's music (that just so happened to be on the stellar indie music label Sargent House.) Let me assure you, no matter your taste in music, it's absolutely impossible to deny the talent that lies within Tera Melos. (Watch their cover of Hey Sandy here.)

Recently, one of the members of Tera Melos, Nick Reinhart (one of the yummiest creatures I've ever laid eyes on) paired up with Zach Hill (of Hella and The Ladies) to form their side project, Bygones. (Fun fact : Bygones' 2009 'By-' album features Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors on the cover.) Anyone with any interest in the math rock scene, and even those with no interest, would do themselves a disservice by not immediately dipping their feet into Bygones.

My personal fave of their recent album release : Click on That (Smash the Plastic Death): LISTEN HERE

Between Zach Hill's mind-numbing rhythms and Nick "the bod" Reinhart's insane start-then-stop-then-start guitar riffs, I honestly can't believe my eyes when I watch these two play. (Besides, I'm a total sucker for a hardcore talent-crush.)

What's even better? The art doesn't stop there. Apparently, a group of Reinhart's friends pulled together recently to write, produce, shoot and star in a movie entitled Snakeville. From IMDB.com, "Snakeville is a town in the middle of wherever you are and wherever it is you are going. Its denizens are odd, their hopes and dreams are small and big. This is a day in their lives." A look into the ridiculous minds of it's creators, Snakeville leaves me feeling that I'm not the only one who's enamoured with all things wonderfully strange.

-C.

Watch Snakeville now :

Dear Lemon Lima

Thoughts.