Girl Talk

Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk from Pittsburgh PA turns 28 tomorrow.  So this post is a tribute to him and his work.  For those of you that don't know about Girl Talk or haven't heard his work, he is a DJ that takes popular songs and creatively and masterfully pieces them together to create something new.  He is very talented at what he does, but his work raises an important question.  Does taking someone else's art and manipulating it turn it into your own?  I'm still not sold one way or another, but i'm open to your comments on the matter.  

Anyway, Girl Talk has four albums out on Illegal Art, with his latest work feed the animals available for free here.  You just have to name your price and it will take you to the links to download the album, but you don't even have to go through with the payment.  

Feed the Animals follows his mashup style of his previous three albums, and is very catchy, upbeat, and fun to listen to.  The only downside to it, is that to me there is no real difference in his music from one album to the next in my opinion.  But hey if you have something that works, why change it.

What is most impressive to me though is that Gregg Gillis studied engineering in school, and actually worked as an engineer before quitting to work full time on music.  Knowing a bunch of engineers, it is rare to find one with such a large creative side.  But all in all, whether or not you agree with Girl Talk's work as art or just stealing other people's art, his work is definitely worth a listen.  Plus you can't beat free.

Lucas Henderson

Lucas Henderson is an artist from Knoxville Tennessee.  His work has a lot to do with tension and the body and how the two interact. from his art you can tell that he is pushing the limits of the human body and the tensions that those limits form with the body.   Although he claims to be a sculptor, he is more of a performance/mixed media artist in my opinion.  Having worked with him doing the video work for two of his performances, and collaborating a show with him and others I appreciate his work ethic and what he puts into his art.  I definitely feel like his performances are his strength and they are very intriguing to watch and experience.  However i regret the fact that we aren't able to experience his thought process and the actual event while it is taking place, when creating these works of art.  instead we have to be content with watching a documentation of the performance pieces.  at his website you can look at his sketches, as well as his sculpture/performance/mixed media pieces.  In addition to sculpture, he does photography as well.  check his stuff out, it is worth your time.

Joshua James

So sorry for the long hiatus, but i have been quite busy graduating from college, traveling the country, spending time with the fam on vacation, and searching for a real job.  so hence the lack of new posts.

Anyway, for today's review i am going to review a singer songwriter from Utah Joshua James.  His album "The Sun Is Always Brighter" which just came out this year is all that i have been listening to in my ipod for the past month.  James' song writing ability is impressive but even more impressive when you learn that he has been playing the guitar for a measly 4 years.  He has a soothing folksy voice that is unfortunately better live than on the album, but that may just give testament to how talented he really is, and that an album may never be able to capture his true essence of his live performances.  James' talent of being able to write songs that touch the heart and soul (tell my pa), and tell stories (FM radio) shows his youthful song writing talent that is way beyond where it should be at only 4 years experience.  It is hard for me to conceive where or how James' song writing will mature or go from here, but wherever it goes i don't want to miss it.  definitely worth the cost of his cd and or ticket price to one of his shows.  gotta go listen now, thanks for reading and checking out the site.  speaking of site, check out his site at:

http://www.joshuajames.tv/

ps. on a side note, the girl on the album cover in the front center looks a lot like how my sister looked when she was that age.  like almost identical 

Eric Knowles Painter

So i'm not really sure of the titles of these works of art, but i think that the art speaks for themselves.  This first painting to me, if i didn't know anything about it, would be very visually interesting to look at on it's own.  But since i do know that this was made in part through an art performance by the artist, that makes it that much more interesting.  I know that Eric used himself and a pair of punching gloves dipped in paint to apply the color part of this work.  I may be completely off on this, but to me it is almost as if Eric himself was boxing Ali.  I like how this is just tacked up to the wall, and not on a stretcher.  it gives this work more of a unconfined, non-static feel to it, like Ali is moving in reaction to Eric's punches.

Eric's other two painting obviously deal with football.  The first being a painting of a play, and the next of a UGA football player.  With the playbook painting, i found it particularly intriguing in that Eric uses what is typically a quick sketch and done by people who don't consider themselves to be artists, but rather coaches, and he turns it into a fine art painting.  The UGA football player painting is interesting in how he uses only white highlights on the school's primary color to make the painting.  Eric also doesn't try to do too much, adding just enough for the viewer to make out what it is.  What i like about these two paintings is the fact that Eric attends a SEC school, which is usually known for their sports, and less about their academics.  This to me shows what Eric is surrounded with, and wether he likes the sports or not, it does come out in his work.

Overall, i think that Eric is really pushing himself and his art, and is using his life and his experiences in his life as a well in which he draws out of to create his art.  I appreciate how with just the three paintings that i have shown here, it is evident that he doesn't stick to just one style of painting and he varies his technique to accomplish what he wants in each work of art.

Michel Gondry director/video artist

the dvd The Work of Director Michel Gondry contains music videos, short stories/commercials, and a 75 minute film with interviews of Michel called I've Been 12 Forever.  

With Michel Gondry being known for his music videos, these are obviously a highlight to this dvd.  For me personally, I find the White Stripes Music Videos to be the best, but all of them are visual masterpieces.  

The short films and commercials are also what you would expect from Michel Gondry.  Well produced and containing Gondry like aesthetic to them.  I found "La Lettre" to be particularly interesting.  

However, the best part to me was the film I've Been 12 Forever.  This film allowed me to get a glimpse into Michel's head, and get a feeling for what he thinks, and the process of his creativeness.  

While watching the dvd, i found it very interesting with Michel's obsession with large hands.  Over and over again in the different music videos and shorts, is the use of large hands.  I had first noticed this in a scene from his movie The Science of Sleep, but while watching the dvd, i noticed that he has been using them from his very first shorts.  

Being a video artist myself, i really appreciate what Michel Gondry has done for the advancement of video art, and i enjoy his aesthetic, animations, and creativeness.

Other work by Michel Gondry:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The Science of Sleep

Be Kind Rewind  

The Book of Joe

For my first art review, i'm going to review a literary art piece.  Yes, i do think that novels, poetry, and film can be art just as much as the traditional art (ie. painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, etc.).  So with that said, with this blog i will review all types of art.

anyway, The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper.  

This is a novel about Joe, a lonely successful best selling author who writes a novel belittling his small home town of Bush Falls, and the people in it.  Then after his father has a stroke, Joe is forced to come back to Bush Falls after 17 years and face a whole town that is outraged by his book and is seeking revenge.

On the surface, this is a humorous, and touching, story.  It is very well written, and touches on a lot of contemporary issues such as homosexuality and AIDS.  But it is so much more than that.  It is ultimately a story about the power of ones words, forgiveness, love, and most importantly facing the giants of your past before facing the future.  

Overall, i think this is a very good novel, and would recommend it to anyone who wants a good read.  

Other books by Jonathan Tropper that i have enjoyed are:

How to Talk to a Widower

Everything Changes

Hey Hey

This blog is not going to be an account of what is going on in my life, but instead i am going to try to make it more of an art critique, which will contain my opinions on art.  you are welcomed to disagree with me and question what i have posted, and i will read all your comments, and i understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but that does not mean that i won't think you are a complete idiot that has no clue what they are talking about and doesn't have an appreciation for art.  i will decide what i critique, but am open to suggestions.  and i don't promise that my grammar will be correct, so get over it.  i could if i wanted to, but to be honest i don't really care and its my blog, so deal with it.