Monsieur Bandit Blogozine

The Dumpster Project

2011-08-24T19:58:00.001+02:00

Mr. Mac Premo does collage and assemblage and has amassed a huge collection of, well, stuff… Now he has to move to another, smaller studio. In stead of throwing all the… stuff… away, he decided to make art out of it. What a good idea!

He’ll tell you all about it in the video below…

Oh, and before I forget… He’s not only going to make art out of his stuff. He’s also painstakingly documenting all the stuff on a blog. You can check it out here… If you want.

The Dumpster Project from mac premo on Vimeo.

(Found via Notpaper)

Tattoo Age: Grime

2011-08-23T17:22:00.001+02:00

My friend P., who’s an aspiring tattoo-artist send me another suggestion for a post on tattoos (See his previous one here). He added:

The tattoo-series of VBS “Tattoo Age” is looking real promising… These are the films on “Grime”, one of the best West Coast tattoo-artists. The guy is very modest, but has lots of skills.

The film also gives a pretty good impression of the dynamics at a tattoo-shop…

The film is in two parts. It’s one of those docu’s which manage to make you see a subject with different eyes. At least, it did for me.

Check it out…

If you want to see more, you can find some other tattoo-related videos on www.vbs.tv. Or you can take a look at our own small but growing collection of tattoo video’s here.

Animation: The Just City

2011-08-22T17:47:00.001+02:00

The Lifelong Friendship Society (a design driven, live action and post production company from Brooklyn, NY) was asked to make an animated visual to be used as the opening of a lecture series by the Ford Foundation.

They made the piece by mixing graphics with watercolor and collage, a “painterly abstraction that gives way and expands”.

Check out the video below and if you want to find more work by The Lifelong Friendship Society, go to their Vimeo pages or to their own site at www.tlfs.tv.

(Found via BewareMag)

Ashley Wood Special (4)

2011-08-21T16:41:00.001+02:00

WARNING: If you take offense in pictures containing nudity and strong language, which could be considered in bad taste, I suggest you just skip this post.

Ashley Wood’s painting style could be seen as a direct descendant from painters like the impressionist and expressionist movement. A touch of Monet and Toulouse-Lautrec, a good dollop of Schiele, you get the idea… No surprise then, that he has a more than fleeting interest in the female form…

Shea Hembrey: 100 artists

2011-08-18T14:16:00.001+02:00

A wonderful TED-talk by Shea Hembrey. It’s more fun if I just don’t say too much about it and let you go and watch it for yourselves…

It’s about art.

As often, there is a very lively discussion going on in the comments beneath the video on the TED site. Check it out if you’re interested.

Find more info on Shea Hembrey at www.sheahembrey.com

Paper View (7): Bryce Wymer

2011-08-15T15:37:00.001+02:00

Great little time-lapse registrations of Mr. Wymer (a NewYork artist and creative director) doing some pretty neat illustrations in his sketch books. I couldn’t resist posting several of them, but there are a few more to be found on his process blog.

Animation: Hezarfen

2011-08-14T12:05:00.001+02:00

Very funny slapstick. Ideal for Sunday mornings…

(Don’t worry if it’s not Sunday morning when you see this, it’ll probably still be funny…)

Hezarfen from Hezarfen on Vimeo.

Find some more info and lots of sketches and stuff on www.hezarfen-themovie.com

(Found via R1cardo on StumbleUpon. Thx man!)

Björk: Biophilia

2011-08-10T12:18:00.001+02:00

There once was a time people just bought a 45rpm single if they wanted to buy some music. Well, that’s not going to fly anymore. Today, you need to maneuver crystals around the universe if you want to hear some music. At least for Björk’s…

(Found via SubmarineChannel)

Igniting Imagination

2011-08-09T15:18:00.001+02:00

“Igniting Imagination” is a four part series of short documentaries about individuals who are “counterclockwise to society”. A painter, a printmaker, a dancer and an industrial designer.

I wanted to show you the industrial designer. I liked him. He seemed to me at the same time very passionate about what he was doing, yet also very down to earth and matter-of-factly.

In the beginning of the video he says: “I feel I have a terrible imagination. Sometimes, when somebody asks me: ”When you close your eyes, what do you see?”, I just go…: ” Nothing…”

His work didn’t seem to come from “somewhere deep inside of him”, yet was a result from the process of creating something.

For some reason, I tend to like that. It’s an interesting point of view, another way to look at “being creative” which goes against what I (and perhaps most people) have been told creativity is all about. I’m not saying this is necessarily a better way. It’s just a different way. Worth exploring.

Find the other three short docu’s here if you’re interested or go here for more information on the maker of the films.

Another, longer documentary, which also touches on the importance of process in creativity, can be found here in an earlier post on Monsieur Bandit.

Terry Gilliam Animation

2011-08-08T10:55:00.001+02:00

Terry Gilliam is perhaps widely known as a film maker but shall also be remembered as the guy who did those strange and crude but devilishly funny cut-out animations for the Monty Python shows.

When I was a kid and I saw Monty Python on TV, I hated it! I thought it was ugly and the colors were off and I didn’t understand any of the jokes. Seeing the animations now, I’m amazed how well they actually work. As you will see in the video’s, they were done with the simplest of means and oh, yes, the jokes are crude and childish, but the timing is so spot on and the animation, however simple, really works wonderfully for this kind of humor.

Two videos: the first gives you a short introduction on Terry Gilliam and Monty Python. But the second is the real treat: young Gilliam actually shows us how he did the animations and gives countless little tips and tricks on how you could do it yourself. More importantly, he also talks about how the limitations of the technique actually defined the outcome and how all he was doing was try to find ways in which to make animation as fast and simple and with the least amount of work as possible.

Enjoy…

(Found via Drawn!)

Ashley Wood Special (3)

2011-08-04T12:47:00.001+02:00

One of the nice things about the work of Ashley Wood is the consistent graphic design it seems to surround itself with. What I didn’t know is that often, someone else happens to be responsible for the graphics, and that someone else happens to be a Belgian: a guy named Tom Muller. Take a look at the work here (probably not all of it is by Muller, I’m not always sure…) and if you want to see some more, check out Tom Muller at www.hellomuller.com.

And if you just came in, also check out part 1 and part 2, the previous installments of the Ashley Wood Special.

Paper View (6): John Perry

2011-08-03T14:10:00.001+02:00

It’s been a while since we’ve had another entry in the series “Paper View”, so I’m happy to have a real nice one today. John Perry is a New York City based artist who draws and paints. Check out his website to find more pictures and even some more videos of him working.

The video below shows Perry drawing on the subway and in the second one he talks about life drawing. Worth listening to…

John Perry: Series Subterrania from EverandThen on Vimeo.

John Perry from thisartist on Vimeo.

The Secret Bookshop

2011-08-02T13:31:00.001+02:00

In New York City you can find the Secret Bookshop Brazenhead Books. That is, if you know where to find it. It is tucked away, somewhere, upstairs… They’ll let you in if you ring the doorbell. The owner is really friendly. But… you first have to find the doorbell…

A film from the Etsy blog, made by Andrew David Watson.

The complete Setola “Jazzed”

2011-08-01T12:33:00.001+02:00

Because the film was still touring the festivals, Anton Setola didn’t want to put his animated short “Jazzed” online. Up till now, that is! Finally, we can all enjoy it from the comfort of our own workplace.

Setola is an animator, illustrator and comic artist from Ghent, Belgium. His film has been shown in over 60 festivals and won him several awards. It is now also available in a beautiful packaged DVD.

More info? Go to his blog or check the earlier post on Monsieur Bandit here, where you can even find a video interview with the man himself.

Enjoy the video.

(Found via The Curious Brain) – The blog, I mean. Not mine.

James Victore Live

2011-07-31T16:02:00.001+02:00

Haha! You know, I think this guy is great. I mean, he’s probably intolerable face to face and day to day, but people like that, who are just that little bit too much, I think they are swell.

And he does have some real sensible things to say, doesn’t he?

Film made by Hillman Curtis. More on James Victore? Try his site.

(Found via The Donut Project)

Animation: Second Hand

2011-07-31T13:49:00.001+02:00

Great visuals, great story, great everything. Superb short animated film by Isaac King.

A History of the Title Sequence

2011-07-30T21:14:00.001+02:00

A short film by Jurjen Versteeg, designed as a possible title sequence for a documentary on tile sequences.

(…) This film shows a history of the title sequence in a nutshell. The sequence includes all the names of title designers who had a revolutionary impact on the history and evolution of the title sequence.

Georges Méliès - Un Voyage Dans La Lune, Saul Bass - Psycho, Maurice Binder - Dr. No, Stephen Frankfurt - To Kill A Mockingbird, Pablo Ferro - Dr. Strangelove, Richard Greenberg - Alien, Kyle Cooper - Seven, Danny Yount - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang / Sherlock Holmes

Find some more info on Forget the film, watch the titles.

(Found via The Casual Optimist)

Brian Dettmer

2011-07-30T12:20:00.001+02:00

OK, I’m sorry. I know you probably have seen this before. It has been all around the internet, I know, I know… But I only saw it yesterday, and I’m still wowing, so I simply couldn’t resist posting this. So there you go.

He has been called “the book surgeon” and “the book slicer”, but his name is Brian Dettmer. You could say he’s a sculptor, making three dimensional objects, but at the same time he’s making images and making texts appear, so perhaps he is also a painter or a poet. Or a dada-remix-archeologist.

This is what he has to say about his working method:

In this work I begin with an existing book and seal its edges, creating an enclosed vessel full of unearthed potential. I cut into the surface of the book and dissect through it from the front.

I work with knives, tweezers and surgical tools to carve one page at a time, exposing each layer while cutting around ideas and images of interest. Nothing inside the books is relocated or implanted, only removed. Images and ideas are revealed to expose alternate histories and memories.

My work is a collaboration with the existing material and its past creators and the completed pieces expose new relationships of the book’s internal elements exactly where they have been since their original conception.

Two videos: an interview and a presentation of work with comments by the artist himself.

One more video, worth checking out, which I couldn’t embed (for some reason?): Find it here.

What did I say? Amazing work, isn’t it?

For more information find an interview with Brian Dettmer on www.mymodernmet.com or visit his own site at briandettmer.com

Ashley Wood Special (2)

2011-07-29T14:23:00.001+02:00

Besides being a prolific comic book artist, Ashley Wood is also a painter. On his blog he regularly posts what is on his easel that day. Finished pieces sit happily next to work just started. It seems he’s always working on something. He says:

I have to paint everyday, one day out, and it will take a week to get back into the zone, and that’s a week of self hate I can do without !

I love these photographs. Not only do you get a glimpse of the guy’s studio, you also get to see lot’s of the work up close and in different states of completion.

In case you are wondering: yes, I do know most of the paintings have robots, warriors or scantly clad ladies as their subject matter. Did I suddenly turn 16 again?

I remember reading about a painter - although I don’t remember who it was, sorry - who explained why he liked the sort of paintings he liked most. He said he didn’t really enjoy abstract paintings, because he missed the subject matter, the possibilities of a story that a more figurative painting could have. And he didn’t really enjoy highly polished hyper-realistic paintings either, because he missed all the more abstract, painterly qualities like smears and brush strokes which often are so beautiful to look at. He liked work that had both: figurative work with a rough touch, so you’re mind could shift between seeing a yellowish stroke op paint and seeing the painted knee that the yellowish stroke evoked.

Scantly clad ladies, huge robots and blue that can’t decide whether it would turn red or not, what more can you want from a painting?

Find the first part of the Ashley Wood Special here.

To me, graphic design is…

2011-07-28T12:12:00.001+02:00

This short documentary - actually more of a series of short interviews with different design clients of the Vostok Studio (who made the film) - manages to get on my nerves pretty quickly…

Oh, perhaps I just have to admit there is a bit of a contrarian in me. But when I have to listen for the umptiest time to the mantra that good design is simple and clear and rational and purposeful, I just get the heebie jeebies!

In the interviews someone states: “Everything in a design has to be there for a reason! When you ask why something is there, “because it looks good” is not a valid answer”. (Another one I’ve been hearing countless times since my unsuccessful passing through art school.)

“Because it looks good” is the number one reason I’ll put something in a design! If it doesn’t look good, out it bloody well goes!

“Because it tastes good” is the number one reason to put something in a dish. “Because it feels good” is the number one reason to caress your loved one.

Can’t we just have a little fun, please?

Still want to see the video? Of course you do! At least Buckminster Fuller seems to be on my side…

(Found via Cosas Visuales)

Denny Khurniawan

2011-07-27T14:41:00.001+02:00

Indonesia born Denny Khurniawan likes the beauty and simplicity in the graphic shapes of retro imagery. He’s an illustrator and animator worth checking out…

A short animation piece. Perhaps the space ship is a shuttle? Or is it a rocket? Little late for shuttle references? Well, nevermind….

The Earth & The Moon from Denny Khurniawan on Vimeo.

Find more work by Denny Khurniawan at www.dennykhurniawan.com

Photography: A Study of Legs

2011-07-26T13:28:00.001+02:00

I found a little gem of a film yesterday…

For one month, during the transition between winter and spring, a Japanese man photographs the legs of unsuspecting women, during his lunch break. Does he consider himself to be a voyeur? He claims to be “innocent”, but also thinks about himself as a “hunter”.

Direct, sensitive, funny and thought provoking. A film about looking.

Because yes, we do look…

Don’t worry.

A film by Jim Helton.

Find more info on Jim Helton at jimmyhelton.com

Find more work by Atsushi Nishijima (the photographer) on www.jimagraphy.com

Lucio Arese: You

2011-07-25T18:05:00.001+02:00

Lucio Arese has been featured here before (see his unofficial Auterche video here). This time his work is even more abstract. The music is by Nobukazu Takemura. Here is what Arese has to say about his working methods for this piece:

The audiovisual flow is organized in repeated micro sections of a few seconds each, everyone with his own life, linked together to form a modular structure.

The realization is characterized by a variety of techniques including 3d rendering, painting, a complex editing process and multilayered compositing.

A particular color treatment has been used on the whole film in order to obtain a burned out b/w photography, contributing to create a dense, dark, organic and somewhat indecipherable world where music and motion picture meet each other in a very intimate way.

One warning: I guess if you can’t stand stroboscopic lightning effects, you might not like watching this. Other wise, enjoy…

More work by Arese can be found on his site at www.lucioarese.net

(Found via The Curious Brain)

Where Good Ideas Come From

2011-07-25T14:51:00.001+02:00

Are you in desperate need of a good idea? Steven Johnson spends his time thinking abut where good ideas come from. So there you go…

If you are interested in a more thorough expose about this topic, you can find an almost hour long talk of Steven Johnson here.

Animation: The Shadow

2011-07-24T16:22:00.001+02:00

Aha! This is how I like my animation! Flat, graphic, inventive and playful imagery (even despite the gruesome subject…)

For the past hour or so, I’ve been looking at some of the animated shorts the students of the Gobelin School made this year (see links below). They are all superb, of course, but somehow I just don’t seem to get the same thrill watching them as I get from something like this.

See, I’m just not interested in how well you can draw rock texture and how life-like your shadows glide across the face of our hero. I’m much more interested in shapes and color and composition. Yeah, I know, I’m funny that way.

This short piece is made by Igor Coric for the Aniboom Awards 2007. Aniboom is a “virtual Animation Studio” (I’m not an animator, so I’m not really sure how that works, but you can check it out at www.aniboom.com).

In the mean while, enjoy the video…

And here are some links to the Gobelin videos I was talking about. Actually, they are pretty neat, I guess. Check them out:

Fur - by Benoit Tranchet

A travers la brume - by Théo Boubounelle

Who's afraid of Mr. Greedy - by Maxime Mary

Jazzin' (Gobelins opening for Annecy Festival 2011)

Ashley Wood Special (1)

2011-07-23T13:02:00.001+02:00

Ashley Wood is an Australian (comic book) artist who’s work has ranged from the UK and US comic book market over to everything from toys, computer games, film, TV and advertising to fine art gallery shows.

This might just be me, but I found him to be an artist who you never could quite grab hold of. His work was always around, in my local comic stores for example, but it seemed to appear and disappear without any rhyme or reason. One day there would be a new comic series but you would find two issues and then: nothing. Or suddenly there would be four or five gorgeous art books, all hugely expensive (for my budget at that time), which you would thumb through every time you visited the shop. It seemed he was always doing something cool, but then something happened… Did he quit? Did the series get cancelled or was put on hold? I don’t know. I soon gave up on trying to figure out what exactly was happening and contented myself with what I could get my hands on (or could afford).

I’m delving in the big pile of work and projects of Ashley Wood in this x-part series of specials. I’m not going to even try and be somewhere near complete. There is too much stuff (like the toys) that don’t really interest me. Luckily there is also heaps of stuff that does.

As an introduction, today, a random selection of comic books to get acquainted…

You’ll notice Wood is not the man to go to for delicate rendered artwork. Most of his drawings are rough and sketch-like. He explains (in an answer to an emailed question, on his blog):

I use markers and calligraphy pens, some watery paint and ziptone on paper.

There are no sketches as they are the sketch 99% of the time ( sometimes I’ll doodle a small rough, really basic if its a dicky compostion ), they are drawn directly onto paper, light-boxing is for lesser types plus its more to draw twice :)

Thats the skill to me, not the final image, but the process of making it. Its where the fun is and the danger…

Sometimes these sketches end up as the final artwork, often they are accompanied by or enhanced by some painted stuff or digital effects. At first glance, you would think this makes for comics that aim to impress, but I’ve found that Wood very often manages to produce some very good storytelling with his way of working.

Can’t wait? Check out Ashley Wood’s blog or site ( or toy production blog if you must) for lot’s more work. Or check back here once in a while for the next installment of the series.

Photography: Curtis Mann

2011-07-22T15:12:00.001+02:00

Curtis Mann creates his images by physically erasing and manipulating found amateur snapshots. In this video, he shows us some of his techniques and shares the insights he has formed while developing his work.

Find more on Curtis Mann at www.curtismann.com.

John Lasseter from Pixar

2011-07-21T16:52:00.001+02:00

Almost an half hour long documentary where we get to follow Mister John Lasseter around Pixar as he is working on Cars 2 and hugs an awful lot of people.

Enjoy the video…

(Found via The Daily Cartoonist)

Meathaüs

2011-07-21T11:29:00.001+02:00

If you love drawings and illustrations, you are going to love Meathaüs. Just be warned: you’re not going to get much more work done today, if you decide to head over there to take a peek. From good old fashioned drawings to weird and wonderful zines. Comics, illustrations and prints… You name it, they’ve got it.

Once more: meathaus.com. Visit at your own risk.

Magick: Marco Tempest

2011-07-20T10:34:00.001+02:00

Now here is something we’ve not had before on Monsieur Bandit: a magician! Marco Tempest does old fashioned magic tricks but with a twist: using modern day gadgets and technology (in this case: three iPods).

In the following video Tempest talks about his passion for magic and you’ll surely notice that you could easily replace the word “magic” with the word “art” in many cases. Or “magician” with “designer”, “writer” or “artist”,… Are not all these things variations on the idea of “storytelling”…?

He also talks about something which seems a very strange concept at first: open source magic.

Check him out…

MARCO TEMPEST – OPEN SOURCE MAGIC from Marco Tempest on Vimeo.

More on Marco Tempest at marcotempest.com

(Found via CreateDigitalMotion)

India Block Printing

2011-07-19T15:30:00.001+02:00

It’s all in the rhythm, apparently…

(Found via Happy Mundane)

Studio Garcia again

2011-07-19T12:47:00.001+02:00

The work of Jose Luis Garcia Lechner has been featured on Monsieur Bandit before (see?). A few days ago, the Spanish/Dutch freelance illustrator send me an email he just finished an exciting project. For the famous Swiss Chef Meta Hiltebrand he made all the illustrations for her new cookbook. A cookbook with nothing but illustrations! What a delight…

Here are some examples of the stylish illustrations Garcia made. If you want to see more of his work visit his site or his blog. If you want to get your hands on the cookbook, visit the publishers site at www.waldegraf.ch

Way to go, Jose Luis!

I’m feeling a bit peckish now… How strange.

ROA

2011-07-18T10:30:00.001+02:00

ROA is a prolific street artist from Ghent, Belgium. If the name doesn’t ring any bells, seeing the work surely will. The film focuses mainly on a recent gallery show he did at White Walls in San Francisco. Be warned, however, some parts are not for the squeamish!

ROA street artist profile film by filmmaker Colin M Day - Warholian from Warholian on Vimeo.

Find more work from ROA on roaweb.tumblr.com or his Flickr photostream.

(Found via BloudyLoud)

Font Generator Prototyp-O

2011-07-17T13:10:00.001+02:00

A web-application, built on the Processing language (see: processing.org ) by a student from the “Arts Décoratifs” in Strazbourg, Yannick Mathey, intended to design letterforms. Explaining it would take far too long. Just take a look at the video to see how fiddling with the different parameters changes the attributes of the letters.

Yannick explains (in the comments on the Vimeo-pages) that of course he didn’t intend to replace the type designer, yet his app is designed to facilitate experimentation. For every parameter markers are set up to indicate trespassing the rules of what is commonly considered good design, yet the markers are also there to be crossed, opening up the possibilities to generate extraordinary forms.

If you are interested in following the development of the app, you can subscribe to a newsletter on byte-foundry.com or you can follow @bytefoundry on twitter.

If you speak French, you can read an extensive interview with Yannick Mathey on CG-Blog, where I found this.

(And if you didn’t know: CG-Blog also did a rather nice interview with yours truly, a while ago, which is also available in English. Go check it out! )

“The Avengers”– Premake

2011-07-16T11:17:00.001+02:00

A premake is an exercise in what-if-ness: What if a film was made before it was made?

You can find a whole lot of these premakes at Whoiseyevan's YouTube Channel. (Ghostbusters, Raiders of the Lost Ark, you name it…)

Below is “The Avengers” again, this time an annotated version.

(Found via the lovely The Ephemerist blog)

Helen Dennis

2011-07-15T14:43:00.001+02:00

The work of Helen Dennis seems to balance between street art, photography and drawing. She is originally from the UK but now resides in The United States, in Brooklyn.

The two short videos below are quite similar to one another. In both, the artist talks about her work and we get to see how she does what she’s doing. I decided to post them both because I think they complement each other nicely and together give a good impression of Helen Dennis her work.

Check out some more of her drawings below. If you want more info, go to the Helen Dennis blog or the Helen Dennis website.

Michael Cina

2011-07-14T12:25:00.001+02:00

Michael Cina is a designer. And an artist. Perhaps. Oh well, let him explain it himself…

Source:Gestalten.tv

(Found via GestaltenTV)

Cina started YouWorkForThem together with Michael Paul Young, but in 2009 Cina left to start his own design company Cina Associates, leaving Young in charge.check out these lovely little motion-thingies for the YWFT OneCross font and the Agostina font, made by Cina together with Michael Paul Young.

(Found via YouWorkForThem) Check them out. Plenty more nice Font-based little videos worth watching!

Cina’s work often incorporates design, photography and painting, which results in abstracts like these:

Find more on Michael Cina on michaelcinaassociates.com and lots of those beautiful abstract works on cinaart.com.

Harry Diaz

2011-07-13T13:23:00.001+02:00

Harry Diaz is a Guatemalan born artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. In his work, which includes screen printing, drawing, painting and digital media, he often uses symbols and patterns that have references in Mayan textiles and hieroglyphs, but also playful characters and imagery from 50’s and 60’s American cartoons.

Find out more about him on his site and his blog.

(Found on Spaghetti)

Studio Visit (20): Tom Sachs

2011-07-12T12:05:00.001+02:00

And what an impressive studio it is! The laboratory of a bricolage-genius and his crew, where leaving a pencil mark is an aesthetic decision and the reward for work is more work.

This film was found via The Selby, which, by the way, you really really have to check out if you don’t know them and you like these kind of semi-voyeuristic peeks into artists homes and workplaces!

Learn more about Tom Sachs at www.tomsachs.org

Paul the Clumsy Robot Artist

2011-07-11T11:09:00.001+02:00

Patrick Tresset is a scientist/engineer/artist who built a robot who can draw portraits. In this day an age, we’ve come to a point where something like that isn’t all that surprising. Cute. A robot who can draw…

The interesting part, however, is that he deliberately programmed the robot to draw kind of clumsy. Why? In an interview with Co.Design he explains:

"I try to make robotic installations that touch people. I believe that a robot that slightly fails is more interesting, more touching -- it encourages empathy in the viewer."

Isn’t it strange, that the closer we seem to get to some kind of “perfection” (being able to build ever more precise machines, for example), the more we seem to cling onto this notion that imperfect somehow stands for “more human” and is therefor desirable? “Old” technologies, like letterpress printing or vinyl records are ever more popular. A cinema that doesn’t use digital projectors but relies on actual human beings in the projectionist booth, seems like a place where you would like to go an watch an old detective movie, on a mild summer evening, after a walk alongside the river, no?

Hey, I’m not saying this is silly. I’m just as susceptible to all this as anyone.

We’re all bloody Romantics, that’s what we are…

Now let’s watch a robot draw a portrait.

More Info here at the Aikon Project.

(Found via Co.Design)

Camerabag.tv

2011-07-10T12:26:00.001+02:00

The posts on photography are few and far between on Monsieur Bandit. It is such a broad field of interest, there is so much going on there, and quite frankly, I just don’t know enough about it to pretend to be of any value as a tour guide in that world.

Once in a while something does catch my eye or peeks my interest and I can’t resist wanting to tell you about it…

Camerabag.tv is a site which collects interviews with photographers. They get to talk about how they got started and their approach to photography and they get to show off their work and their studio and their equipment. You know how I like studio visits, so it’ll be no surprise how much I enjoy this stuff…

I’ve got one example of an interview right here, featuring Frank Ockenfels. For the others, check out Camerabag.tv

Everything is a Remix

2011-07-09T19:04:00.001+02:00

The latest installment in this documentary series is out. Very interesting stuff. If you haven’t seen the previous two parts you can do so here. You’ll also find tons of links to references and sampled material on that site, so be sure to check it out.

Find more info on Everythingisaremix.info

Allain Moose: Bird Villages

2011-07-09T10:08:00.001+02:00

Allain Moose also has books and cards and prints on his site World of Moose. Me, I immediately fell in love with his Bird Villages watercolors.

(Found via Eclectica)

Christoph Niemann again

2011-07-08T11:35:00.001+02:00

Christoph Niemann is a NewYork/Berlin based illustrator and designer. We’ve had this guy on Monsieur Bandit before here, where he talks about visual reduction and he was one of four illustrators in a roundtable discussion here, filmed by Hillman Curtis.

Today, however, you can hear him talk about what a joy it is to be creative…

This talk is part of the Creative Mornings series, where you can find all kinds of interesting people giving a short lecture. Do check out this site. Plenty of cool stuff!

Rimino - The E-paper Mobile

2011-07-07T13:02:00.001+02:00

This is a concept, not an actual product, but I’m already sort of falling in love with it and hope the tech people would lean more towards creating devices like this...

Check out the video for an impression of the possibilities…

Find more information on Rimino.com

(Found via Fubiz)

New York Close Up – Art 21

2011-07-06T12:18:00.001+02:00

Art 21 is a nonprofit organization (founded in 1997) which has been making documentaries to increase knowledge of contemporary art, ignite discussion and inspire creative thinking.

The New York Close Up series is devoted to artists in the first decade of their professional career who are living and working in New York.

Which is a long and somewhat tedious way to say that they have a whole bunch of really nice “studio visit”-type of videos on their site. You know I love that stuff. Who doesn’t? Satisfy your artistic thirst for knowledge and insight and your base voyeuristic sentiments all at once! What more can you want?

I’ve selected three videos. My favorites. The first is about a photographer who makes stunning color photograms and has to wear a complete bodysuit and gasmask to do so. The second is about someone who makes rather violent animated films which are shown during a live performance with musicians. And the last one is about a painter who prepares for a show, but somehow is even more about the people who take care of moving the artwork from the studio to the gallery.

If you want more, visit the complete Art21-site or the New York Close Up-section or even check out their Vimeo-pages. Plenty of other great stuff there! Do check it out…

Anthony Lister

2011-07-05T11:54:00.001+02:00

Anthony Lister is an artist from Australia, who lives in New York. His work is low brow, his imagery comes from popular culture: comics, television cartoons, street art and youth culture. Lister works in several media: paintings, printmaking, sculpture, installations, performances and graffiti.

Check out the video below, showing him at work on the streets of Berlin, to get acquainted. Then take a look at the gallery, which shows several of the diverse media he works in. At the end of this post, you’ll find two more videos with interviews.

(The video was made by Rogier Postma, the same guy responsible for the Japanese Tattoo video earlier. Find more of his work on rodgezooi.com.)

The first interview below is somewhat older (2007), but shows Lister talking about his work… The second is slightly more recent (2009) and has a time laps thingy where he paints a female superhero on the wall.

More stuff on Anthony Lister's site

Find some more interviews on SeptagonStudio and FecalFace

Shift by Mirari & Co

2011-07-04T15:44:00.001+02:00

I seem to be a bit on an oriental trip, lately…A short but beautiful, Japanese styled animated experiment…

More about Mirari & Co.

(Found via Fubiz)

* The Shrine

2011-07-03T12:24:00.001+02:00

The Yard (2)

The Yard is the category for posts that don’t really fit in this blog but somehow manage to make it in anyway. This is its second installment…

It’s about a box.

I once dreamed I had a box pretty similar to this one. So I couldn’t resist posting this…

It was created by Danish-born designer Sigurd Larsen and it contains 13 different compartments, each with a key, to hide your private possessions.

Find more of Sigurd Larsen’s work on his site here.

Stuxnet

2011-07-02T10:36:00.001+02:00

Stuxnet: Anatomy of a computer virus is a gorgeous infographic/motion graphic video. Changes are you’ve seen it around before, I know, but it was just too nice not to post…

Made by Patrick Clair. Visit his site for more of his work

(Found via The Donut Project)

Curt Merlo

2011-07-01T11:18:00.001+02:00

Strong grid-like compositions, muted colors, geometrical shapes and distressed textures. What’s not to like about the work of Curt Merlo?

Discover more about him on his portfolio site and on his blog.

Onko Chishin – Japanese Tattoo

2011-06-30T12:23:00.001+02:00

In this documentary we follow Dutch tattoo artist Rob Admiraal on his trip to Japan where he goes to have a huge dragon tattoo on his back finished, do some tattooing himself and visit other leading Japanese tattooists.

Admiraal gives us a guided tour of Japanese tattooing and explains how traditional art and modern, Western influences each play their part in what tattoo in Japan has become today. He also talks about his personal tastes and preferences and does not hesitate to go deeper into more theoretical aspects of the art, such as the balance between representation and abstraction, typical for Oriental art.

An intriguing scene in the documentary is that in which Admiraal gets the very last part of his huge tattoo done: the eyes of the dragon, which will “bring it to life”. It is nice to see how this Dutch fellow at the same time acknowledges the importance of this almost magical gesture but also stays clear-headed and never seems to get carried away by all the “Orientalism” in which he is surrounded. I don’t know the guy, but I already like him…

The film was made by Rogier Postma. You can find more of his work on his blog.

And you can find more on Rob Admiraal on his website.

Dripped – Jackson Pollock

2011-06-29T15:28:00.001+02:00

This animated short is not too concerned with historical accuracy, but is great fun to watch… It’s called an “homage” to Jackson Pollock, but I’m not really quite sure they are not just taking the piss…

An official selection for Annency 2011.

(Found via Brain Pickings)

James Bond Illustrated

2011-06-28T11:35:00.001+02:00

Looking for the album cover art for the James Bond Thunderball soundtrack (see yesterday's post) made me stumble across this great blog with tons of lovely Bond illustrations: posters, foreign language book covers, comics, fan art, you name it.

Check out some of the stuff I found and then visit illustrated007.blogspot.com for more…

Do visit illustrated007.blogspot.com. It’s “loaded” with great stuff.

Yeah, sorry about that.

Heroes

2011-06-27T13:23:00.001+02:00

Whooooops! I completely forgot to tell you about the new exhibition my friend Philip Paquet is having. Oh, boy, he’s going to be soooo crossed with me….

Well, you can forget about going to the opening. That was yesterday. But the work will be on display ‘till the 7the of August, so that gives you plenty of time to visit.

The works on display are portraits from some of his favorite musical heroes. Yes Jazzmen, of course, but also people like Bowie and Lou Reed, Flea and Frank Zappa. The man has an exquisite taste, what can I say…

Half of the pieces are “normal” drawings, but the other half are these strange multi-layered semi-transparent paintings made out of some see-through emulsion. I don’t know how all that works exactly, but he’s been experimenting with this technique since his previous show, and he’s getting better and better at it. If you are anyway near Antwerp, do stop by and check it out.

One more thing…

Paquet’s show is held at Tune Up, which is a record store. And I do mean a “record” store. The first floor shop is filled with nothing but actual vinyl records. No flimsy CD’s whatsoever. Nothing but big assed sleeves with analog information carriers.

It’s been ages since I have been to a place like that and man, it was awesome! All these beautiful designed sleeves, many of which I’ve only seen either as an online reproduction or resized for a CD-case. Here they were as it was intended: big and square and impressive.

One particular LP caught my eye: The soundtrack for the James Bond movie Thunderball. You can see a picture of it below but that’s of course not doing any justice to the experience I had.

Imagine holding this image in your hands, record-sleeve-sized, printed on sturdy cardboard. You can clearly make out all the details of the action scene. You can even see the brushwork of the illustration (by Frank McCarthy). You vaguely remember the theme song (big Tom Jones voice holding that last note: “Thunnnnnnnn… Der Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalll”. You remember nothing of the movie, you actually start wondering whether you’ve ever seen it and promise yourself to see it (again?) soon.

And you don’t buy the record.

You don’t even own a record player. Money is tight. It would be silly!

You leave the big, beautiful, square record sleeve in the store.

But maybe, just maybe, you’ll go back tomorrow and get it anyway…

Puño

2011-06-24T12:21:00.001+02:00

Puño, from Spain, but living in France, works for the press, advertising, books and makes comics. I love his happy-go-lucky style.

Check out kokokoko his portfolio/tumblr for plenty more of his work.

Old Fangs

2011-06-23T12:08:00.001+02:00

Intriguing, dark and beautiful.

Chinese painting docu

2011-06-22T12:28:00.001+02:00

I found this short docu to be quite interesting, not because I am such a fan of this style of painting, but because it raised a lot of questions, hearing the artist Wang Qing Ho talk about his work…

The concepts and principles he talks about and which are typical for Chinese painting are things which interest me a great deal: the calligraphical nature of these paintings and the emphasis on composition, the disregard for accurate representation of subject matter, the tension between observation at one hand and working from memory rather than on the spot, on the other.

But despite these interesting theoretical underpinnings, the actual result of the work is, to me, very often disappointing…

The result seems to me to always be “another Chinese painting”. Something I would be able to see in any book on Chinese painting. And while Wang Qing Ho talks about individual expression as something he puts great value in, I don’t see this reflected in his work.

Perhaps I am being unfair in my judgment? Perhaps it is my own inability to see these paintings in the context of their tradition which leads me to these conclusions? Perhaps it is simply because I am not familiar enough with Chinese painting which makes them look “all the same” to me? Or perhaps I can not see them but from a “western” point of view?

Of course I can see the great amount of skill the artists has in handling the brush. But skill in itself is not what makes a painting.

Now, somewhere in the docu the artist says that people often ask him how to better be able to appreciate Chinese paintings. His answer is that they should just look better. I think that is a cop out.

When someone is unfamiliar with art (or music, or architecture, or literature, or whatever…), he is not able to “see” (hear, read,…) what there is to be seen. He is not attuned to the signals the work is sending out. He simply doesn’t know what to look for. He will perhaps see there is a cute cat in the picture and therefor say it is a nice picture, but he will not notice how the composition could have been better or the colors could have been less muddy. It is only when someone more knowledgeable points out these things, perhaps even shows examples of a better composition or more vibrant use of color, that one can begin to “see”, and discover qualities which before remained unnoticed..

Therefor, simply saying you should look “better” is too easy. It only reinforces the pseudo-mysticism in which so many artists like to shroud themselves. “You either see it, or you don’t see it and if you don’t, well….bad luck.”

I think it’s a pity the artist in this docu didn’t take some more time to point out to us some of the things which are probably invisible to our western eyes if no one reveals them to us.

Check out the video. Take a look for yourself and hear what Wang Qing Ho has to say. If you want, let me know what you think about all this in the comments…

Spek

2011-06-21T17:06:00.001+02:00

"Can anyone imagine anything in the arts that would surpass the visible rendering of sound, which would enable the eyes to partake of all the pleasures which music gives to the ears?"
— Louis Bertrand Castel (French mathematician. 1688 – 1757)

(Found via Cromoart)

Lasse Skarbovik

2011-06-20T13:17:00.001+02:00

Lasse Skarbovik was born in Norway but has been living in Sweden ever since he graduated from the Berghs School of Communication. Oooh, his style is so minimalistic: very few colors, very simple shapes. Yet he works for The New Yorker, BusinessWeek , Time Magazine, IKEA, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, Unicef and does lots of murals and paintings for interiors and exhibitions.

If you like what you see, find some more over at www.lasseskarbovik.com.

The Children

2011-06-17T13:22:00.001+02:00

Made by Chia Yu Huang in 2007. Great colors, annoying kids…

The Return of Isidro Ferrer

2011-06-16T13:16:00.001+02:00

This weekend I noticed that the video on one of my posts on Isidro Ferrer (from the beginning of last year, the very beginnings of this blog!) was missing. ( See here and here and here for the other posts) What a shame! I so loved the little video which showed lots of work and a glimpse of the studio of this Spanish illustrator/graphic designer.

After I dried my tears I decided to try and contact the people who put the video on Vimeo in the first place. You never know, maybe they would put the video back up soon?

Nah. They won’t.

But…. they did point me in the direction of a rather new portfolio site Ferrer put up, one which I had never seen before and which had tons and tons of his beautiful work on display! Yippie!

So: time for a new post on Isidro Ferrer who is, you guessed that by now, one of my favorite image makers around. With many many thanks to ArtLab Huesca.

For plenty more examples of his work, visit Isidro Ferrer's portfolio site. Get some coffee first. And cake. You’ll be a while….

Briskey in Sin City

2011-06-15T13:06:00.001+02:00

Briskey is a Belgian Jazz (Big) Band with a cinematic noir flavor. Check out the video for “Le désir de l’autre” or discover some more of their music here and here.

Sin City, I probably don’t need to introduce, now do I?

Somebody called sangrepeligrosa on YouTube thought the two would work well together. Let’s find out…

Tom Bachtell caricatures

2011-06-14T14:36:00.001+02:00

The New Yorker has released a special issue with “Talk of the Town” pieces from the past decade, which were each week illustrated by Tom Bachtell. They had this little video on their site showing Bachtell at work in his spacious studio…

Find more work of Tom Bachtell at his portfolio site.

(Found via Drawn)

The Visionaries

2011-06-13T10:07:00.001+02:00

Nice site. A collection of video portraits of creative people. One time it’s a graphic designer, then a street artist, a musician, a fashion designer or what not… In their own words:

a creative series of video portraits that portrays individuals telling passionately their story about their art, passions, interests and on how they make their dreams live, to make them real.

Check out their trailer and below, the latest installment. If you like what you see, you can find more on www.the-visionaries.com.

Emmanuel Kerner

2011-06-10T10:49:00.001+02:00

The idiosyncratic work of Emmanuel Kerner has adorned the pages of The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and Libération. Here is a small selection of his illustrations. For more, check out his site at www.limprimante.com/kerner2.

OYKOT: Hybrid Face Installation

2011-06-09T00:02:00.000+02:00

Sorry, busy day today. Gotta run! Nevertheless: nice little video… More info here.

Sfar: The Rabbi’s Cat (teaser)

2011-06-08T10:48:00.001+02:00

Remember the post on Joann Sfar’s movie “Gainsbourg”, a while ago? Well, our beloved French comic artist slash film maker has a new film out: “Le Chat du Rabbin” based on the popular comic books with the same name. It’s an animated movie this time. Check out the trailer below…

If you want more, here you can find a “making of” of sorts (in French) or a longer trailer (also in French).

Frame of Mind

2011-06-07T12:29:00.001+02:00

Often when you get artists talking about their work, the results are unbearable. They start going “blahblahblah”. I have very, very little patience for artistic blahblahblah.

Now, please, don’t get me wrong. I do know it actually is difficult to talk about art in an honest and precise manner. And when you try, more often than not, you fail and you start rambling. I don’t mind that at all. I have a huge amount of patience for honest rambling.

In this short documentary, three artists from Baltimore get to talk about the process of their work. Two of them are painters, one is a sculptor. Yes, they do ramble. They stumble and fall. But they try.

This is a nice little docu. I wouldn’t mind seeing more like these.

Edit: seeing the video again after just having posted it, I’m struck by the awesome photography work in it. You could isolate numerous stills and just admire them for their almost painterly sense of composition. Man, why didn’t I notice that the first time? Nice!

The Books of Irma Boom

2011-06-06T10:56:00.001+02:00

Dutch designer Irma Boom makes books. She has made over 250 of them, 50 of which are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Check out the following video to see her at work…

Cesar Barceló

2011-06-03T12:09:00.001+02:00

I love the work of this Spanish illustrator. He does a lot for magazines and posters but also some things for children’s books.

Find more work on his blog and on his portfolio site.

Animation: Cliché

2011-06-02T12:51:00.001+02:00

A delightful retro-styled animation which sums up all possible clichés going around about the French. Of course, all of them are absolutely true.

There is one thing about French fries actually being Belgian which…. well…which I, being from Belgium am not going to get into. Just come and taste our national dish and then taste those so called “French” fries anywhere else in the world and the case will be closed.

“French” fries.

Puh.

(Found via Drawn)

Heavyweight

2011-06-01T12:12:00.001+02:00

This seems to be an older video but I thought it was quite interesting nevertheless. These three guys calling themselves "heavyweight” do live painting sessions in clubs and at parties, working simultaneously on the same painting.

I like the mix of energy and skill they seem to bring together.

What they are doing is probably not new, but they’re doing it just fine.

The “What Is?” Project

2011-05-31T13:02:00.001+02:00

What is the “What Is?” Project?

The “What Is?” Project is an ongoing series of interviews asking universal questions.

Our goal is to capture and share the beauty and diversity of viewpoints on each subject.

Can you give us an example?

Sure. Here you go:

Thank You.

Oh, That was kinda interesting. Do you have more?

Of course. Please visit www.thewhatisproject.com

Thank you very much. Good bye.

Aesthetic Apparatus

2011-05-30T13:06:00.001+02:00

Posters, posters, posters, posters and some more posters… Check them out!

(Thx to Rayman for the find)

(Found via Planetary Folklore)

Odio (Hatred)

2011-05-27T14:58:00.001+02:00

A documentary about Victor, a talented street artist from Valparaiso, Chile. Not a happy guy. Restless. Confused, maybe. Not sure where he wants to go, who he wants to be. He marks the streets with his tag “Odio”, which means “hatred”. And yet, all the while, there’s his soft spoken voice, carefully choosing his words…

Made by Norwegian film students in Chile in 2010.

Eric Dolphy Graphic Novel

2011-05-26T13:10:00.001+02:00

Comics and Jazz. We seem to keep returning to this happy combination of art forms…

Yesterday, Mr. Keith H. Brown told me he was planning on making a graphic novel about Eric Dolphy. Looks like an interesting project. The artwork is not only reminiscent of 40’s and 50’s album cover art, but also has a distinct feel of its own. I particularly like Mr. Brown’s “line”: full of life, searching, but not hesitant.

Check out the Kickstarter-video below. he’s still looking for people to back him up…

Find out more on Kickstarter

Milton Glaser on Fear of Failure

2011-05-25T13:35:00.001+02:00

The Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm, Sweden has put up a site around its 2011 exhibition which focuses on the topic of failure and how overcoming fear of failure is the only path if you’re aiming for success. The site features a series of video interviews with people like Michael Wolff, Stefan Sagmeister and even Paulo Coelho (amongst many others) but the best one, I found, was the one with the ever eloquent Milton Glaser.

Akira Nagasawa

2011-05-24T16:08:00.001+02:00

The Mythical creatures Akira Nagasawa refers to as “tigers” verge on the edge of abstraction. Sometimes they unmistakably are indeed tigers, but often they could just as well be any sort of feline creature made out of not much more than a few shapes which, yes, could be some kind of cat, perhaps…

But always, always, they are powerful and mysterious and primitive. Painted in earth tones and royal reds and blues and golds. Grinning and looking stupid like only a mythical tiger dares to look nowadays.

Are you gonna tell him he looks stupid?

Didn’t think so.

Akira Nagasawa is represented by Galleria Grafica Tokio

Matter Fisher

2011-05-23T14:25:00.001+02:00

I have no idea what this is all about. If you do, feel free to tell me. I just like the visuals too much not to post it…

SupaKitch & Koralie Mexico

2011-05-22T17:40:00.001+02:00

It’s nice to see how these two keep putting out nice videos of their work. This time they went to Mexico where they were invited by the art promoter Mamutt Arte and the Antique Toy Museum of Mexico to make a mural.

You can find previous videos here and here on this blog.

Or you can visit www.supakitch.com and kogaylou.free.fr for more of their work.

(Found via Wooster Collective)

Tim Enthoven: Binnenskamers

2011-05-20T13:30:00.001+02:00

Tonight, Dutch illustrator and comic creator Tim Enthoven presents his new comic book at the Bries Space in Antwerp (Belgium). This small but always surprising new venue for graphic art will be transformed into the room of the graphic novella. If you are in the neighborhood, go check out the original drawings shown there. The exhibition only runs for today, tomorrow and Sunday, but the artist will be present the whole three days.

The comic book seems to be the kind of delightfully experimental comic publisher Bries really has a knack for. I haven’t read it yet, but it looked mighty promising. To wet your appetite, here are some pages from the book…

Check out some more of the work of Tim Enthoven as an illustrator on his portfolio-site www.timenthoven.nl

The Bries Space can be found at :

Lange Scholierstraat 10, 2060 Antwerp, Belgium.

The opening starts today at 20h.

Saturday and Sunday you can visit from 12h till 18h.

Jazz and Draw

2011-05-18T11:23:00.001+02:00

Jazz and Draw invites you to send them an illustration you made to accompany some of your favorite (jazz)music. Simple. Check out some of the diverse work here and on their site. Nice stuff! And a good way to discover some new tunes as well…

Letterpress by Naomie Ross

2011-05-17T10:22:00.001+02:00

An “instructional” video by New York-based (motion) designer Naomie Ross.

(Found via The Casual Optimist)

PressPausePlay

2011-05-11T10:29:00.001+02:00

I stumbled across the trailer for PressPausePlay for the first time this weekend whilst the film has already seen its debut on film festivals since March this year. Shows you how up-to-date I really am, doesn’t it…

Anyway, I think this might well be a very very interesting documentary. It deals with the the impact of digital media on culture and seems to present the pros as well as the cons (hence the “hope” and “fear” in its byline). Check out the trailer, but also take a look at both of the other two videos which illustrate these two points of view well.

If you can’t get enough, visit www.ericsson.com/campaign/presspauseplay to find a whole lot of short little video interviews on the subject. People featured here and in the film include Moby, Seth Godin, Andrew Keen, Scott Belsky and Hillman Curtis, amongst many other well known creators of this digital era.

And best of all: somewhere this summer the whole docu should appear online, for free.

For now: take a look at these to wet your appetite…

Studio Visit (19): Dick Bruna

2011-05-10T12:05:00.001+02:00

Of course, everybody knows Dick Bruna, the creator of “Nijntje” (aka Miffy). In this selection of videos you get to see him at work in his studio…

Ephameron at Coney Island

2011-05-09T12:33:00.001+02:00

Antwerp-based artist/illustrator/designer/curator Ephameron at work together with OverUnder and Veng at Coney Island…

More at www.ephameron.com. Check some of her books at www.bries.be

(Found via Wooster Collective)

Mata Mata Tattoo Shop

2011-05-08T13:15:00.001+02:00

Mister P., the aspiring tattoo-artist, liked the post on NY Adorned I put up a while ago, and replied by sending another tattoo-shop video. This one is more lighthearted and has a great soundtrack.

Ah, ça fait rêver, n’est-ce pas?

Thanks to Mr. P… Check out his site.

Eske Rex’s Drawingmachine

2011-05-06T11:46:00.001+02:00

Strangely hypnotic and powerful, these “machines”…

www.eskerex.com

(Found via It's nice that)

Heath Killen

2011-05-05T10:44:00.001+02:00

Oooooh! You just can’t help but fall in love with the gorgeous posters designed by Heath Killen, now can you? Idiosyncratic use of color, graphical textures, strong compositions. Yes. Yes, I say!

Find more of his work on madebyhk.com and also check his blog and the Theoryhaus-site where he posts interesting articles, interviews and talks about the process of graphic design.

How to Write Great Fiction

2011-05-04T10:39:00.001+02:00

A series of excerpts from “Big Think” interviews, full of advice for everybody who wants to write (be it a novel like everybody, or a screenplay like the rest…). These are the big guys, people: Salman Rushdie, John Irving, Jonathan Safran Foer, Yann Martel, Bret Easton Ellis, Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood and more…

Head on over to the Big Think site for the complete series, or check out this first one by Salman Rushdie, with the very sensible title “Inspiration is Nonsense!”, right here.

It’s a Book!

2011-05-03T16:26:00.001+02:00

This is a very cute book trailer…

(Found via Brain Pickings)

Toronto Comic Arts Festival

2011-05-02T13:02:00.001+02:00

“Pencil it in” is a promotional video for the upcoming Toronto Comic Arts Festival. The idea is really simple, but perfectly executed: show the artists, preferably in his or her own workplace, and let them talk about the material they use. That’s it.

Perfect little video.

In my opinion, they should make a two hour movie like this.

TCAF runs on may 7 and 8, 2011. More info? Check torontocomics.com.

(Found via Newfavorites)

Buster Keaton Docu

2011-04-29T12:10:00.001+02:00

I love old Buster Keaton movies. Not only because, after all this time, they are still perfectly enjoyable to watch, but also because they are top notch study material for everybody interested in storytelling. Keaton is a master. Impeccable timing, deadpan delivery. Whether you are a film maker, comic artists, cartoonist or whatnot, whenever you rely on visual storytelling to get your message across, you’ll probably benefit from studying Buster Keaton movies.

This documentary is not for wussies who suffer from that “short attention span syndrome” you hear so much about these days. More than two and a half hours! Yes, sir. But it’s Friday, no? The week is over. Relax. Get some friends to join you or invite that lovely girl from downstairs, why don’t you…?

And if not, there is always the weekend.

Enjoy.

The Three Muscles of Creativity

2011-04-28T11:32:00.001+02:00

Designer Michael Wolff (of Wolff Olins) describes creativity as the working together of three muscles: the muscle of curiosity or questioning and the muscle of appreciation or noticing both enable the third muscle, the one of imagination…

(Found via Brain Pickings)