Stop-Motion / District 9 CSUSM projects

Self-Portrait w/Personal Logo

Self-Portrait Shepard Fairey Obama Style

Rolling Mesh Hills with Rays/Bubbles

California Indian Day

Art Events

Who: James Nachtwey

Where: My Residence

What: Documentary

When: November 26, 2009

War Photographer

War Photographer is a documentary by Christian Frei about the photographer James Nachtwey. I decided to watch this documentary as soon as I saw it was on the recommended films list because I had actually just seen a great movie called We Were Soldiers starring Mel Gibson about the Vietnam War and in the movie there is a photojournalist named Joe Galloway and he plays a very important role in the film, and in the end Mel Gibson’s character Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore asks him to show the World what he saw. I’ve always thought it was amazing how war photojournalist can go into places where others wont go with guns armed with nothing but a camera and film. I thought this film was amazing and prior to watching this documentary I went on James Nachtwey’s website and took a look at some of his photography and saying it’s amazing is simply an understatement. He captures so much emotion in his photos, it blew my mind how he was able to take these pictures of people going through so much agony with out being removed or even killed. As the documentary starts off you see him in post-war Kosovo snapping pictures of these grieving men and women, and they look like they are going through so much pain. These people are clearly suffering from the worst heartache ever and yet he’s right there in the mix snapping pictures with his camera making these loud snapping sounds and it reminded me of the paparazzi and how insensitive they can be sometimes. But then he explains how “In a war, the normal codes of civilized behavior our suspended. It would be unthinkable in so called ‘normal life’ to go into someones home where a family is grieving the death of a loved one and spend long moments photographing them.” James explains how those pictures could not be made unless he was accepted by the people he was photographing, and the fact that they welcomed him and wanted him to be there is what made those pictures possible. These people being photographed understood that a stranger who shows up there with a camera to show the rest of the world what has happened to them gives them a voice in the outside world that they wouldn’t normally have. This documentary actually has a lot to do with the relationship of the people and the photographer and it allows those who have experienced injustice and unnecessary violence to make their own appeal to the outside world and to everyones sense of right and wrong. I wish I could write more, because this Documentary was really moving. Unfortunately I’m limited to one page so all I can say is that this was an incredible and eyeopening documentary.

Who: El Mac & Retna

Where: Robert Berman Gallery

What: Art Exhibit

When: October 10, 2009

Vagos y Reinas

I finally made it up to Santa Monica to see probably one of my favorite artists of this millennium. The Vagos y Reinas exhibit was a collaboration exhibit featuring the work of graffiti artists, and muralists El Mac and Retna. I’ve been a huge fan of El Mac for quite some time now. I first heard about him about 4 years ago when I read a book by a graffiti artist who goes by the name of “Saber.” Saber and is famous for his LA River graffiti piece that is about the size of a football field. Saber and Mac are both from the same tagging crews in LA called AWR and MSK. I finally saw Mac’s work, and it wasn’t his graffiti that got my attention, but rather his paintings and murals. Mac’s photorealist murals have become well known local landmarks around the world. He has his own unique style, and all his work is done with spray paint. Retna on the other hand uses paint brush to create this large abstract pieces in a calligraphic font in latin. The two of them have worked on a number of murals together now, and their styles help bring out the best in one another. I was just truly amazed by how realistic these murals came out. At the gallery they had a lot of paintings done by both artist as well as photos from murals they had done around the world. The scale and accuracy of these murals is amazing and I have a great respect for both these artists, but I truly do admire Mac’s work. I want to say about 90% of his work is of beautiful women in these classical divine poses, some with beautiful line work and patterns on them. He explains how he is heavily influenced by Renaissance and Byzantine art, as well as the work of Gustav Klimt. I was thrilled to finally get to see one of my favorite artists work in person and it really makes me want to go to the Louvre in Paris. I mean you see all these wonderful works of art in books and on the internet, but it doesn’t even come close to the experience you get from seeing these works of art in person. I can’t imagine how incredible it would be to see the Mona Lisa or Starry Night in person. Before Leaving the gallery I bought El Mac’s and Retna’s collaboration book titled Alianza which features both artists work, and if you ever want to see it just let me know. I usually have it with me in my backpack at all times and there really is some fantastic works of art featured in this book.

Who: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Where: Edwards Cinema San Marcos

What: Animated Film

When: November 27, 2009

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox is stop-motion animated film that is based on the book by Roald Dahl. It features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson to name a few. The film is about Mr. Fox, his wife Felicity Fox, and their son Ash. It follows Mr. Fox who is a Newspaper columnist and the trouble he gets into by raiding the facilities of 3 of the meanest farmers. As soon as I saw the trailer for this movie I had to go see it. I remember the Fantastic Mr. Fox book from when I was little, and the trailer looked really funny. I honestly wasn’t expecting much because I thought the humor was going to be aimed more towards children, especially since there were a lot of children in the theater. But honestly I thought this movie was hilarious, and it catered to both the young and old. A lot of the adult humor was similar to what you would find by watching shows like The Office or Seinfeld. One thing about the movie I really like was that instead of saying bad words the characters would say “what the CUSS” or “get the CUSS out of here” and I thought that was really funny. Another thing I really liked about this movie was that it was stop-motion animation. Im not going to lie, I’ve never been a big fan of stop-motion animation. I’ve always been into the Pixar and Dreamworks animation, but for my dance and video class my final project is going to be stop-motion animation. So I did a little research on the film and watched some behind the scenes of the making of Fantastic Mr. Fox. I was really impressed with how much work actually went into the making of this film. Each second of film required 24 freeze frame shots in which every character was manipulated by hand. Each character was crafted by hand, and their tiny little clothes were sewn by hand as well. The sets and miniature furniture and props were all created and painted by hand, and overall I was really impressed with how much time and effort went into the making of this film. These days everything is CGI and Computer animated, so it was good to see a good old fashioned film done the right way. This film really is proof that Pixar doesn’t have a monopoly on animated films. I really liked this film, and I saw that it came in 9th in the box office this weekend so I’ve been telling everyone I know to go see it. It really is worth the price of admission.

Who: Edward Burtynsky

Where: My Residence

What: Documentary

When: November 25, 2009

Manufactured Landscapes

Manufactured Landscapes is a documentary directed by Jennifer Baichwal. This documentary follows the work of photojournalist Edward Burtynsky on his tour of China. I had seen this documentary before about two semesters ago, but I was so fascinated by his subject matter. Edward Burtynsky isn’t your average photographer. You can categorize him as a landscape photographer, but his landscapes don’t contain plants, trees, or anything really organic for that matter. His photos are large pictures of industrial sites like factories, recycling plants, quarries, and coal mines. Edward’s photographs are meant to open up the viewers eyes to the large global cycles of energy, production, and waste. He prints are all large because he says he wants even the smallest details to be of significance. In the documentary Edward explains how he simply wants to show the impact of large scale industrialization and the effects human activity and consumption have had on these once beautiful landscapes. I really enjoyed this documentary, and one of the things that interests me the most and drew me in was that I am fascinated by the construction of large things. One of my favorite shows on television is called Build It Bigger on the Science Channel. This show focuses on the construction of large skyscrapers, bridges, dams, tunnels, and canals. I don’t approve of the large scale destruction of land, but in the show they do explain how the building of some large dams an canals will actually help the landscape and ecosystem. But getting back to the documentary, I really liked Edward Burtynsky’s photographs because they’re so simple, yet say so much. His photographs show a history of where things come from, and where things go. Often times we don’t know where the products we buy and consume come from or where they go after we throw them away. Sure a lot of us know that the majority of our possessions were made in China, but we don’t actually see where in China. Edward Burtynsky also says that his photographs are meant to be looked at in multiple ways and that you can get different readings from his work. An environmentalist might look at it one way, and an art historian and and industrialist might see it another way. His photographs are an open forum and I like that he is just giving you the truth, and it’s up to you to draw your own conclusions.

Who: Multiple Artist

Where: Malones (Santa Ana,Ca)

What: Live Art Show

When: November 21, 2009

Canned Goods

Canned Goods was an art show put on by this group called Girls Gone Graff. Girls Gone Graff is a group of female models that go to art shows and allow artist to paint body art on them. Their emphasis is on but not limited to graffiti artwork. A friend of mine has a girlfriend who is a model in this group and he invited me to come along to their Canned Goods even which was a fundraiser to bring in canned food and money for the homeless before Thanksgiving. I’m usually not a big fan of body art because I like permanent work that’s going to last, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see a couple female models get painted on. Needless to say.. he really didn’t have to put a gun to my head to get me to go, and it was for a good cause. I thought it was going to be cheap and tack to be honest, but there were actually a lot of good artist there. Im just always hesitant when attending graffiti related art events because these days everyone wants to be a graffiti artist just because it’s trendy and on t-shirts now at the mall. But there was a lot of unique artwork there, and there was live music and a Dj as well and I had a really good time. It would have been even better if I got to drink because there was an open bar, but I was designated driver this time and it was all the way in LA. This was my first time going to an event like this and I can see myself going to another one in the near future. My friend knows I’m an art major and that I like to paint so he said his girlfriend will probably be able to get me in as a guest painter next time so that should be fun and interesting.

Genre Gig Poster

My gig poster was influenced by the Art Nouveau/Cubism/Deco Propaganda Posters and 70’s style concert posters. Jesus’s pose was influenced by a picture of Johnny Cash holding a guitar.  Im actually not very religious, but I do consider myself a spiritual person. I thought it would be sweet if Jesus had a concert featuring some of my favorite artist including Infant Sorrow which is a fictional band led by Aldous Snow from the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  The date of the concert itself is on December 21st, 2012… which is the date the whole 2012 “doomsday” is supposed to take place.

Logo Concepts

Painting Project Video

Just a time-lapse video of me painting a girl wearing headphones I did for a project. Pulled an all nighter and got it done the night before it was do. Procrastination is in my blood. I embrace it with open arms as long as I get stuff done.

Bottles

Double Meaning