Dallas Clayton, Author Extraordinaire.

The Greatest Writer Alive from Dallas Clayton on Vimeo.

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.

Oh Minnows: You'll Never Know Us.

Everything, yes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Michel Michel

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

Cutting cookies, copying carbons.

The new Arcade Fire music video for The Suburbs, directed by Spike Jonze, was released today.

Also, read this: Why Does Hollywood Hate the Suburbs?

You and me, let's be friends ok?

Parlovr - Pen to the Paper from *safe solvent™ on Vimeo.

Giving credit where credit is due.

Now, my only brother and I are very different in almost every way imaginable. You know, the little things in life; ie : careers, life paths, activities, interests, location, etc.

HOWEVER, this same brother of mine, who lives in the DC area (like I said - we're even very different in terms of location), recently turned me on to a new musician that's leaping onto the music scene in his city. (Baltimore, sure. But DC? I'm starting to notice, there's more creative presence coming out of DC than I've ever seen before, causing me to rethink my take on that seemingly linear place.)

His name is Matthew Hemerlein, and he recently landed the Young Performing Artist Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to use towards recording his forthcoming album. A grant well deserved, indeed. I expect there will be an endless supply of amazing things coming our way soon, and I have every intention to follow this fellow, and his home, very closely...and perhaps you should too.

Matthew Hemerlein performs "Gyllenhaal Sandwich" :

Johnny on the spot.

Forest Fire :: Fortune Teller

I'm losing my mind.

Terry Gilliam directed Arcade Fire's concert at Madison Square Gardens this week, and partnered with YouTube for a new concert experience that is up for viewing: www.youtube.com/arcadefire. Aside from Terry Gilliam being a god, I can't imagine a better band for this project; in fact, I think it's safe to say that Arcade Fire is one of my generation's greatest products, ever.