WHEN DINOS RULED RVA!

Friday, Sept. 4th
7PM-11PM
at the Lucent Phoenix Resource Center
located in Gallery5
200 W. Marshall St
Richmond, VA 23220
804 644 0005

When Dinos Ruled RVA! is a publics arts project as faux archaeological dig. There Once Was A Rebellion's (T.O.W.A.R.) Public Arts Collective has buried 20 sculpted ceramic "dinosaur bones" around the city of Richmond. Maps of the bones' whereabouts will be placed near the dig sites - as well as The Lucent Phoenix Resource Center - with clues to help the People of Richmond find them. People are then to take the bones to the Lucent Phoenix before or during the opening reception, Friday, September 4th, to receive a prize. The opening reception of When Dinos Ruled RVA! will include dino themed refreshments, cartoons, prizes, shirts, posters and more! Please joins us in this fun adventure to promote the public arts and acknowledge our magnificent predecessors whom have shared our planet earth.



Below are jpgs of the maps to find the dinosaurs. Just click on them to see a larger image.

X MARKS THE SPOT!

Two tales of art unfortunately disregarded.

"In A Dream" trailer. A film about Philly Mosaic Artist, Isaiah Zagar. To be realeased Sept 09.



Feels like Richmond. D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner is upset about stunning mural. Some people seem determined to be contrived.

New Work!

Posts have been scarce lately because I have been working on a lot of projects as well as course development for the three schools I teach at. However, I am optimistic due to the overwhelmingly positive response from my students last year. Many students stated that I should be out in the world creating work instead of educating; others say that I am the best teacher/professor they have had. Their comments encourage me to continue teaching and make me feel as though I am doing something important.

Anyways, here is some recent work.


The above project is for a musician whom is trying to entice people to take private lessons from him. The first image is intended to show what life is currently like and the second - when it is finished - will exhibit what life could be like. The final product will be in the form of a guerrilla marketing campaign similar to the tear off the phone number system seen in laundry mats, on telephone poles, etc.I will post the finished image shortly.





This poster was recently hand-screen-printed for an exhibition opening September 4th at The Lucent Phoenix Resource Center (located at Gallery5 200 W. Marshall St Richmond, VA 23220). I have been working with a great team of individuals developing ceramic bones, prizes, shirts, maps and stencils. The system will be posted in it's entirety by the end of this week.




Poster for Embedded Narrative, an art exhibition. The exhibition opens 7pm September 4th at Gallery5 (200 W. Marshall Street. Richmond, VA 23220).




Of course, I am still working on the little black fish. Recently, I have completed pencils for the cover. Otherwise, finding time to work on the comic has been difficult with all of the current work and course development. Please keep an eye out for updates on these projects!

David Kinsey Interview

Dave Kinsey - Interview
by on-point

I found his discussion of fine art works vs. design interesting.

Inspiration, Cool Stuff, Etc #8

Animated short by Rebecca Sugar.

Humorous "Balancing life with media" graphic from Wired Magazine.

World Wants to Know, a data visualization suite of questions being asked by rural populations around the globe.

Lost photos from the bombing of Hiroshima I would also suggest reading, photojournalist, John Hersey's book "Hiroshima."

Shepard Fairey interviews Banksy

Turtle flip interesting public art campaign about sea turtles for IFAW in the Netherlands.

Confesions of an Iranian political cartoonist

Maya Neyestani illustrated a series of images regarding the current Iranian elections with some very impressive metaphors about resistance in a totalitarian state. One can empathize with such cartoons without being directly involved in the situation.

The illustrative style hints at a sincere statement against authority. The rapidly drawn hatching implies something of dire consequence. The raw aesthetic reminds us of cartoonists such as Harvey Kurtzman, originator of "Mad Magazine.", and R. Crumb, famous for his provocative comics and social commentary.

Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed Neystani's series, which can be found in it's entirety here.

Inspiration, cool stuff, etc #7

Climat Change Chocolate campaign using chocolate as a way to raise money and awareness of climate change.

Ripple Effect Design firm, IDEO, talks about water distribution.

No More Posters! interesting critique of designers only committed to producing design works as opposed to participating in action.

Jay-Z explains the Blue Print 3 cover design and Public Enemy's connection to graphic design.

Presidential Approval Tracker

ACCION Street Marketing interesting marketing campaign to bring awareness of Alzheimer's disease.

Do you pee in the shower?

Honorable Mention from the AIGA's XCD Contest

Our project, "I Dream of a Richmond . . .", received an honorable mention for the Cross-Cultural Design Competition.

Our project will be published in the October 2009 edition of China's Package & Design Magazine and featured in AIGA XCD'S online publications.

Competition Details:

"Celebrating the Role of Culture in Design
How do you express the intersection between Culture & Design in Today's World?

AIGA Center for Cross-Cultural Design (AIGA|XCD) is an AIGA National Chapter established to foster greater communication between designers across cultures, as well as a better understanding of the interwoven experience of design and culture in our lives.

After six years of working to connect culture and the design community, AIGA XCD wants to experience your version of the role that culture plays in design. Submit your print, video, photography or interactive pieces that you feel best answers the question: How do you express the intersection between Culture and Design in today's world?

We have gathered an unique, international panel of judges to review submissions. True to AIGA XCD, this panel was selected for their contribution to design and branding work across cultures and the globe."

Information taken from the official XCD website.

Free Film Showing!

Unfortunately our August film showing has been canceled. Here is what to look forward to in September.


The Lucent Phoenix Library presents a FREE film showing of:
Popaganda: The art and crimes of Ron English
located in Gallery5
200 W. Marshall St.
Richmond, VA 23220

FREE
Tuesday September 8th
Potluck begins 6PM
Film begins 7pm


For more info:
804 644 0005
www.gallery5arts.org


About:
POPaganda: The Art & Crimes of Ron English is a film about the culture-jamming and billboard-liberation antics of Ron English. The modern day Robin Hood of Madison Avenue, Ron paints, perverts, infiltrates, reinvents and satirizes modern culture on canvas, in songs, and directly on hundreds of pirated billboards. Shot entirely guerilla-style, the film chronicles the evolution of an artist who offers an alternative universe where nothing is sacred, everything is subverted and there's always room for a little good-natured fun.

The original 30 minute version has recently been expended to a full-feature documentary running time 82:00 minutes. This film is in competition for the Golden Gate Award!

Following the film there will be a discussion about statement focused are moderated by your friends at There Once Was A Rebellion.

Little Black Fish pencils finally finished!!!

I have recently finished the pencils of a comic - what I have mostly been doing this summer -, based on an Iranian children's story, The Little Black Fish by Samad Behrangi. Behrangi wrote this story to inspire children to question Iran's education system and authority. Many of these children became key figures (and leaders) of a communist guerilla group which later contributed to the fall of the shah of Iran.

The point of Behrangi's story was not just to inspire actions like these, but to insure dissent amoung future generations. He was so dedicated to this mission that he traveled from town to town with frostbitten toes to teach in village schools. Due to the radical nature of his teachings and political actions he was considered a threat to the shah.

My original concept:
I was hoping that there would be interest in a compilation of subversive children's stories narrated by a character that is a storyteller. Each comic would be divided with short comics of the narrator running from authorities and introducing each comic. The narrator has acquired tattoos on his skin as a way to remember the stories he has told. The tattoos also serve as a means to evade authorities by disguising the subversive paraphernalia.

Diversity of comic style can be justified because the storyteller is constantly traveling, therefore, different tattoo artists would be illustrating the tattoos.

However, there didn't seem to be much interest in this project. So I plan on doing other stories by Samad Behrangi coupled with stories from leftist students and guerrillas - pre and post '79 revolution in Iran.

Right now I am not very set on anything, but a format proportionate to the size of what I have already illustrated.

Example of the style I am using for "my story."
The style is based on Bizhan Jazani's (one of the guerrillas) paintings.


Pencils from comic.

"Footprints of the heart" by Erjun Zhao

Erjun Zhao painted this portrait of me about a year ago. I know it doesn't look like an oil painting, but it is. Zhao has a really interesting process and level of technical skill yet to be matched by anyone I have personally met.

This is my first time seeing the portrait - quite an incredible resemblance. She asked me to model for her after meeting during an exhibition of her work at Gallery5. I feel like there are some more images of me hidden in the background of paintings (in the recent works section), but the face is hidden too much to be completely sure. You can find more of her work here.