life drawing 27-10-08

life drawing 27-10-08, originally uploaded by donshades.

the first rule of art club is you must not blog about art club

Life Drawing Class 01

Life Drawing Class 01, originally uploaded by donshades.

In my post-holiday drive to create things and make stuff outside of my workpace I decided to start a life drawing class on a Monday evening. It's good - it forces me to leave work on time and not end up in the pub. Let's see how long it lasts....

Nice Graff - Melbourne

Nice Graff - Melbourne, originally uploaded by donshades.

Lots of nice graff in Melbourne - more over at http://www.melbournegraffiti.com/

More Lynch

I'm addicted to this man.



But not because he talks in an informed way about creativity; I love him because he does bonkers things like this:

They are Watching

A while ago Ade pointed out his (in my opinion) well deserved anger at the Met Police coming out with this bullshit:



I know... I know... it's in our best interest. But what happens when you want to take nice photos of architecture in London and find yourself carted away by a SWAT team?

Well... here's a response, right near Dare, our friend Banksy has deposited this little gem, near the Post Office on Newman Street.




I'm wondering.... are we racing towards:

Just Do It, Tacheles in Berlin, Resolution and Poo

Everybody keeps asking me about new year resolutions. I thought I'd post here to say NO! I DON'T DO NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS. I think they're a silly idea and they just make me feel bad when I break them: i.e. I don't like unresolved resolution.

Where was I?

Oh yes, flicking through some pages in my diary from a recent trip to Berlin, I realised that I do have less a resolution, more a new mantra:

JUST DO IT

I've never been a fan of Nike (tho I like what they do on the web); their 'swoosh', which seems to get in front of me at every opportunity: however while sipping a beer in the Kunsthaus Tacheles squat I suddenly realised the true inspirational genius of the thought. Judging from the scrawl in my notebook, the inner monologue went something like this:

JUST DO IT.
Do What?
IT
What's IT?

Well, look about you.

You're in an artists squat in the middle of a city which 60 years ago was raised entirely to the ground and has suffered countless oppressions since.

Looking around I am overwhelmed by colour, vibrancy, emotion, contrasting perspectives and freedom of expression. I don't like all the work, but I love the fact that the work is being produced in such an uncompromising, edgy non conformist way.

Indeed the one philosophy uniting entirely the work of the circumcised-cunt sculpture artist and the painter of the most beautiful landscapes of mournful morning sorrow is that of JUST DO IT. Say what is on your mind, make what needs to be made and it's not the final result, but the process which is of upmost importance. Learning through doing, through making, through getting off your arse and putting yourself up for scrutiny by following through your ideas and translating them into tangible works.

This is a lovely contrast to an adverworld where we are at times so intent on hammering the idea into such a refined state, that any form of palpable execution will only go to reveal the gulf between the purity of that idea and the harsh realities of budget, time lines and squeezed delivery dates. Here our world inevitably diminished the importance of process in favor of product; with no space left for happy accidents, serendipity or just plane fucking around until you get to somewhere that you like.

Tacheles for me felt like I had come home. It reminded me that I need to spend more of my own time in the JUST DO IT frame of mind, putting results as subordinate to process; putting aside thinking in favor of creative impulse.

So, we're back to the new year and my lack of resolutions. Well actually that's a lie - I have 6 things noted down here:



What was the last thing? Oh yes. JUST DO IT and Poo. Well the poo bit came from all that crazy Wurst that I ate in Berlin - as a warning really. If you go to Germany, don't eat more than one Wurst in a day (I had 4 on one day), as it gives you... how shall we say... akward poo. Poo made me think of a funny Gondry film on the same subject matter; now there's a man who has truly taken the JUST DO IT Philosophy, and run with it:

Lo Fi on a grand Scale

I took this on my camera phone back in September.



Just thought I'd post it in the spirit of moving along my various Lomo projects.

Putting the Rock into the Roll

And Eggbox Creative has started to move out of the cellar and into the the music world. It's 1.50am and I've just got back to my flat after undertaking the co-direction of a 10 hour rock and roll photo shoot for star chamber with the amazingly skilled @_ade behind the camera and my creative partner Mikey mixing the colour pallet. A day of synergy, experementation and creativity; with the band at ease to let us explore our concepts of toying with light over long exposures, neon 80's glows, rich materials, movement and motion blur to our hearts content.

Today was testament to what you can achieve with no budget, a simple concept and a child like exploration of your subject matter. There's something about these no-budget lo-fi creative projects which brings a greater sense of satisfaction to their process; for me a nice contrast to the high-paying clients in the adverworld where budgets bring conformity and brand guidelines as often as they bring satisfaction. Either way you have to look for the rock to go will your roll; today I think we were lucky to have them both served to go. Hats off to all involved. Now if I can just get some sleep....

Art for All

Saw this on a wall in Soho.

Great idea, definitely improves the ambient atmosphere.

Blast Theory

These Guys are crazy. They mash up the interweb, reality, comptuers and a bloody good narrative game.

All Hail Jan Svankmajer

Darkness Light Darkness Jan Svankmajer
Uploaded by NilbogLAND

H. T. Harris ... 31 years closer to perfection.

Today I returned to H. T. Harris on Great Titchfield street; searching for art in tender food preparation. He welcomed me back like a Prodical Son - "I saw you get a sandwich over the street the other day, but I knew you'd be back. For you sir... Only the best" "What you do..." [I remarked], "...It's Art- it's amazing" Harris replied: "31 years my friend, 31 years striving for perfection"

Ade falls into a pool of water... a sexy ASCII chck watches.