Relaxation Room

Another still from the "Avalanche" episode of Captain Scarlet.

Twenty Years Ago

Twin Peaks: April 8th, 1990 - April 8th, 2010

Jeremy Blake films at Ubuweb

"Liquid Villa", 2000



"Guccinam", 2000

Jeremy Blake, Century 21, 2004

These films are available to watch or download at Ubuweb. I played "Century 21" on my tv when we had friends over the other day and it instantly turned the monitor into a colorful morphing painting. It was a nice way to transform a black rectangular box into something aesthetically pleasing but not as distracting as something with sound or a narrative. I've mentioned Blake's work previously - they are rewarding and beautiful films (including parts of Punch Drunk Love and Beck's Round the Bend video). Ubuweb describes "Guccinam" as being, "Like a slow-burn acid trip, Blake's kaleidoscopic morphings are gorgeous and mesmerizing - digital wallpaper at its best."

Twin Peaks Fashion/Art

Ahren Hertel, "Ms. Horne", Oil on Panel, 7.5 x 10 inches - from the Idiot Box exhibition

Audery Horne from the Twin Peaks image archive

A Twin Peaks fashion story in the August-September issue of Bust Magazine from 2008. Photographs by Gabrielle Revere. Found here.

Captain Scarlet; part two

While I do enjoy the slow-paced plot lines on Captain Scarlet, the real reason why I watch it is because something blows up on just about every episode. There's something about model planes and toy cars blowing up that really does it for me.

Film Still Friday: Captain Scarlet - part 1

Here are some of my own screen-caps of one of my favorite tv shows; Captian Scarlet -a Gerry Anderson series from the 1960s. These landscapes are fantastic. Some of these shots look a little like my paintings. I found so many great shots from the series I'll be (auto)posting a 'part two' tomorrow.

Twin Peaks

I watched a lot of Twin Peaks this weekend because a trip out of town got rained out. I was happy to find out that Twin Peaks is on hulu - where you can stream every episode for free. There are a couple of really brief commercials during play, it is well worth the slight interruption because finding dvds of season two is pretty difficult locally. I ran across these great Twin Peaks paintings by Jesse Riggle upon scouring the internet for Twin Peaks info:

Bill Wray

I love the show Ren&Stimpy - and the paintings of Bill Wray really enhanced the show:

Bill Wray, "Ren and Stimpy in: ‘Space Madness." Cover art
He also does non-cartoon paintings like these:

Bill Wray "Michigan" Oil on Canvas, 12x12"

Bill Wray, "Sunland and San-Fern"

I like these two paintings especially - they remind me of James Howard Kunstler's work in his choice of subject matter. Both artists depict the landscape as it is, without editing out less attractive elements like McDonalds, power plants, and automobiles. These are the things that we see the most - it should seem obvious for landscape painting to incorporate these places and things. I often eliminate the excess of the landscapes I choose to paint, but I admire the honesty in these.

James Howard Kunstler, "Off-ramp at Exit 29 of Interstate 87"

Guest Blogger: Dan Swartz

Dan Swartz, "I'm So Good Looking"
Mixed media on bristol paper, 2007

My guest today is Dan Swartz, a artist, curator, and fellow
Fort Wayne, IN area native. Dan has recently moved back to Fort Wayne
from New York, where he will be making our great hometown into the next
Marfa, Texas with the help of the boys at Soma - the newest artist-run
contemporary space there.  You can read Dan's recent editorial on the
promise of a "thriving art community" in Northern Indiana here.

Dan's shortlist for influential and monumental visual artists includes:


1) Marcel Duchamp:  He should always be at the top of the list. Wit,
Materiality, and Alchemy. No one gets better.


2) Bas Jan Ader: Questioning the intent behind an action is always
very important to me.


3) Felix-Gonzalez-Torres: Beauty, Relationships, Subversion.


4) Judy Pfaff: Freedom, Charity (to the viewer), and Sensuality in use
of materials.


5) Rachel Foullon: I am slightly hesitant to put her on my fav's list,
because I know and worked for her for a bit, but I cannot deny my
endless fascination with her work and process.

As for Music:

-Michael Jackson: The Duchamp of 20th century music? He
pioneered most of the trends that we value currently, and
most of his music has only ripened with age. Perhaps he was
just a bit ahead of his time?

-Madonna: Close second. For all reasons.

-Destiny's Child "Writing On The Wall" Album:
The best in guilty pleasures.

-John Frusciante: Apart from Red Hot Chili Peppers,
he is an amazing artist in his own right.

-Kanye West: after doing everything but claiming to be
the second coming of Christ, then succeeding in staying
relevant for more than another couple of months, I think
Kanye is pretty great.  I expect people to lighten up on
him and give more kudos in the future...hopefully that won't
spoil the quality of his music.

TV:

-The only good things on TV right now are
Charlie Rose on PBS and Conan O'Brien.

-Film

-6 degrees of Seperation
-Spanglish
-Dangerous Liaisons
-Contact
-Closer