Beautiful works by Josh Keyes

"Entangle 1" by Josh Keyes

This particular image reminded me of a video montage I have recently seen. The montage was accompanied by Song on the End of the World by Czeslaw Milosz and produced by Adbusters (it begins at about minute 10).


These experiences, combined with watching a local women's clinic protested and counter-protested, brought forth a melancholy state of mind. It is quite conceivable that we will destroy ourselves. Not because we mean to, but out of a result of "doing the right thing" and the world will only thrive because of it.

More information about Josh Keyes and his next show can be found on Juxtapoz' website.

In a weird mood...

cause/affect: graphic design competition

The cause/affect Design competition is back with the due date of June 19th

cause/affect is a biennial graphic design competition which celebrates the work of designers and organizations who set out to positively impact our society.

All work entered in the competition must promote or support social good and actively engage in enriching our lives. It can raise awareness about a cause or condition. It can celebrate an arts institution or event. All we ask is that it doesn’t contribute directly to the profit of a commercial organization.

This is a competition for do-gooders, who do good work. And it is open to all.

More info, proper forms, past winners, etc can be found at the The San Fransisco Chapter of the AIGA's cause/affect site

Lucent Phoenix T-shirts Are Now Available

Photo by Jordan Ashe


Lucent Phoenix T-Shirts Now Available for Donation!
Designed and printed by my Gallery5 design intern Nolan V. Clarke.

Lucent Phoenix Resource Center t-shirts are now available for $10 and come in several sizes. All proceeds go to benefit the Lucent Phoenix Resource Center located in Gallery5. Your support will help us continue to provide much needed resources to our community and provide for the necessary tools to make the center more accessible and easy to use. Shirts are available at Gallery5 (200 W. Marshall St. Richmond,VA 23220).

Also, a special thank you to Jonathan Rowland whom donated the shirts.

Google Earth and social change.

Recently, I have become aware of some ways people are utilizing Google Earth to encourage social change. I am quite torn with how I feel about this. The fact that Google has become a monolith of information is overwhelming and scary - as it is always threatening when something begins to monopolize how we view information. Such powerful media outlets can create contemporary myths for the good and the bad of humanity.

Anyways, below is an example of their mountain top removal project. Click here for more information.



Also take a look at the recent Map The Fallen Project that maps fallen troops in Afghanistan.

May Day bandanas to be reprinted.

We are reprinting the bandannas I designed!


Due to the overwhelmingly positive response to the bandannas made for Repressed IV: May Day, we have decided to reprint another run of 100. The new bandannas will be hemmed, hand-printed with black ink on red fabric. They will be available at Gallery5 starting this Wednesday, May 27th from 11AM-6:30PM for a suggested donation of $4-10. All proceeds will benefit Gallery5 and There Once Was A Rebellion to continue to hold collaborative exhibitions and extend their mission each year. Your response to these exhibitions, projects and campaigns drive our volunteers to continue their efforts in organizing and executing this form of public art. Please stop by the gallery this Wednesday, Thursday or Friday from 11AM - 6:30PM. For all other hours or questions about reserving a May Day bandana, please email gallery5@gallery5arts.org or call us at 804 644 0005

Thank you for your support.

Gallery5 and T.O.W.A.R

Free Film Showing

"A Little Trip of a Dream" A film premier presented by the Lucent Phoenix Resource Center

FREE June 9th
Potluck begins at 6pm
Film begins at 7pm

At the Lucent Phoenix
Resource Center
Located in Gallery5
200 W Marshall St
Richmond, VA 23220

A documentary that portrays the experience of a U.S. woman who travels to Mexico and gets to know the village of Ocotitlan, the home of her undocumented co-workers back in Richmond, Va. Through interviews and encounters with community members in Ocotitlan, Jen begins to understand her friends’ migratory motivations.

With much curiosity, Jen goes to the U.S./Mexico border to see the conditions in which undocumented people migrate. After exploring the border and its different manifestations, Jen returns to Richmond to share her experience with her friends, who she sees with new eyes. “The Little Trip of a Dream” is an experience where connections between two worlds become stronger and solidarity tears down walls.

Local media activist, Jen lawhorne, will be available at the premier for questions.

"El Viajecito de un Sueño:
un estreno presentado por la Biblioteca Lucent Phoenix
Gratis 9 de junio
la comida empieza a las 6 p.m.
la presentación a las 7 p.m.

en la Biblioteca Lucent Phoenix
ubicado en
Gallery5
200 W. Marshall St.
Richmond VA 23220

más informes:
www.gallery5arts.org
804 644 0005

Un documental que cuenta la experiencia de una mujer estadounidense que durante un viaje a México, conoce el pueblo de unos amigos indocumentados con quienes trabaja en Richmond, Virginia. En entrevistas con la comunidad, la mujer, Jen, va entendiendo las motivaciones migratorias de sus compañeros. Además, Jen se encuentra con ex-colegas de trabajo y los parientes de sus amigos que se quedaron atrás.

Con mucha curiosidad, Jen se va a la frontera de México y los Estados Unidos para ver las condiciones en que viajaron sus amigos. Jen explora la frontera y sus manifestaciones distintas y cuando regresa a Richmond para compartir su experiencia con sus amigos, ella los ve con ojos nuevos. “El Viajecito de un Sueño” se trata de una experiencia donde las conexiones entre dos mundos se hacen más fuertes y la solidaridad derrumba muros.

La realizadora del documental, Jen Lawhorne, será presente en el estreno para discusión.

Dinosaurs!

Working on these four illustrations for an interactive exhibition coming up.

The idea is to:
1. Sculpt several dinosaur bones and bury them in various places in Richmond.

2. Hand out "treasure maps" for people to find them and bring them back to the exhibition. (The bones will have an attached tag explaining the project and exhibition details.)

3. Participants will receive a prize if they bring the bones back.

4. Bones will be exhibited in their respective places on blown up dino-illustrations.

Anyways, not completely happy with these yet. Still working on how to compose the stampede and imply depth with a limited color palate. A composition similar to this will be screen-printed in 3 colors for the exhibition poster.

Exhibition is yet another project from the There Once Was A Rebellion public art collective.

Chess as a metaphor for the contemporary struggles.

Speechless.

Video on climate change

Very economical use of youtube time bar to create a psa about climate change.

Online game trying to bring awareness of epidemics

Interesting info-graphic/game on the powerful affects of the swine flu. Check out the actual game here.

Reflection on the Berlin Wall "Abstract City"

Interesting editorial on the Berlin wall by Christoph Neimann. Check out the whole article at The NY Times Website

"I saw pictures of people dancing on the wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Millions were out in the streets of Berlin, complete strangers were falling into one another’s arms, smiling and weeping at the same time. The images could not have been more emotional, but since I lived in southwestern Germany and we had neither friends nor close relatives on the other side of the wall in East Germany, it remained an abstract event." -Neimann

Green Peace Video

Not that I support all of Green Peace's tactics.....
However, this Green Peace advertisement is quite inspiring and makes you wonder why they enjoy climbing things so much.

Inspirational stuff

Article/memoir on the speedball text book here

Interesting guerrilla campaign to combat deforestation here



Anti-war poster campaign for The Global Coalition for Peace by Big Ant Advertising.

Potential reflections on the May Day Parade success soon.

Good 50X70 Contest

My poster will be exhibited at La Triennale gallery in Milan from June the 19th to July the 22nd and included in the catalogue containing all the posters selected by the jury this year.

I submitted to the topic of global health care.

More info about the contest can be found at good50x70.org

Inovative Salvation Army Advertising Campaign

Very economical ad campaign for the Salvation Army -dontated by the VIA Group. The ad appears not just as this viral online video, but in multiple chalk boards, pizza boxes and, of course, windows. More information is on their site www.salvationarmydonate.org/

Baby photos!

Ellie Bolton offered to take beautiful photos of our baby, Azadeh. Above are a couple of the results. More of her work (and photos of baby Azadeh) can be found at www.elliebphotography.com

Workshop with the YMCA

To coincide with the MAY DAY exhibition; we assigned kids from the YMCA (3rd to 5th grade) to make watercolor paintings and color pencil drawings of what they wanted to be when they grew up. The children were briefed not to restrict themselves to a known occupation, but to invent an ideal one. Then we gave them a second project.

For the second project, students were to illustrate people they would help - as the invented occupation - on a card. We explained to them that their philanthropy should not be restricted to something within their field. To better illustrate this idea, we gave examples of how some volunteer their services outside of their professional skills. One of the examples we gave was: "In Iran the wrestlers are generally the first to help during natural disasters (ex: earthquakes). They feel compelled to help because of how physically fit they are as well as they are taught to do so." The finished card is then intended to be presented to someone within the field - or closest to it - with the idea that it might inspire them to help others.

The majority of the students chose a teacher as their occupation. The most interesting invented occupation was a pastry chief astronaut.

Scans of their illustrations will be posted soon.

http://www.eyeoverfishing.org/index.html

Interesting website about the fishing industry in the UK. The website is still in the works - making it one large infographic.

$100 Million Budget Cut

Somewhat improvised video visually explaining Obama's proposed $100 Million budget cut. The video really puts the proportions of government expenditure into perspective.

(Seen on the infographics blog, Information Aesthetics.)

Latest Gallery5 Exhibition Poster

This one was on the quick with poor quality images and not much of a brief from either director. The color in the jpeg betrays the vibrant fabric in the photo.

FREE Film Showing

Potluck begins at 6PM
Film begins at 7PM

At The Lucent Phoenix
Resource Center
Located in Gallery5
200 W. Marshall St.
Richmond, VA 23222
804 644 0005
lucentphoenix@gallery5arts.org

Burning the Future: Coal in America examines the explosive conflict between the coal industry and residents of West Virginia. Confronted by emerging “clean coal” energy policies, local activists watch a world blind to the devastation caused by coal's extraction. Faced with toxic ground water and the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, our heroes launch a valiant fight to arouse the nation's help in protecting their mountains, saving their families, and preserving their way of life.

Gallery5 Identity Revisited

So I revisited the Gallery5 logo. The new version is more elegant. Easier to reproduce and formally more economical.

Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre

Absolutely beautiful design using the silhouette as a medium for comical imagery. You can find more here

May/June 2009 issue of Adbusters Magazine

Our design for Adbusters "One Flag Competition" was featured in their latest May/June 2009 Issue of the magazine. Find more info at www.adbusters.org.

May Day Poster Printing

May Day poster design. (Sorry don't have scans of the actual print yet.)

May Day: Repressed IV

This years Repressed IV was quite a success. Photos below. Photos of us screen printing the poster soon . . . really soon.


Some of my students' work


Live screen-printing of bandannas



Power To The Poster Exhibit



Photo from the May Day parade courtesy of Hassan Pitts


NOBS Brass band!!!

AND THE PARADE!!!
Photos by Hassan Pitts click here.

Photos by Jennida Chase click here.

Photos and blog entry by Wendy Hsu click here.

Richmond Illustrators Club: Annual Juried Show

Two Mended Arrow pieces will be exhibited in the Richmond Illustrators Club annual juried exhibition. For more information goto http://www.ghostprintgallery.com/


Opening reception:
First Friday, June 5th

At Ghost Print Gallery
220 W. Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23220

Time to blog

So we finally have our blog setup. Expect blogs about various design events, contests, and innovative projects. Also expect updates on our own recent projects, process work, awards and other related information.