Curatorialist

It’s funny. With advertisers leaving magazines these days, I am reminded of the Renaissance. That’s actually not funny, everything reminds me of the Renaissance. If you recall from history class, it went: Middle Ages, Black Plague, Renaissance. Some say that the plague left people thinking about their own mortality, empathetic to the human plight and that set the stage for more humanistic movements in art and patrons with the hearts to fund it. We might be in that Black Plague right now.

Nobody seems to be making this connection, but both music and magazines are both artistic expressions that have relied on some kind of business arrangement. As those arrangements and our economic structure unravel, the art just might be getting to a better place. The next stage very well could be patronage, especially if the art gets very good and reaches some kind of new height of personal expression.

This new book out, “We Make Magazines,” highlights a number of independent magazines who are doing their thing outside the mainstream. No coincidence that the sub-title of the book is “Inside the Independents” and that you could very well put that line underneath many of the new venues for music and film, as well. People are doing it on their own these days and, since the tools are all at our disposal, we simply don’t need the business to get published. And the decisions are, therefore, all our own. When you have a job working for someone else, you make what you make according to their vision. This is the draw of independent _____-making, be it film, music, magazines or whatever. We make whatever we want, according to our own vision. It’s a great time to be an artist, but what will you make? What is the new renaissance about? How will you be part of it?

More info on the book here.

Interesting news to comic book fans. For those of you who haven’t been keeping tabs on the Captain, Mr. America “died” a little over two years ago. The events of his death, and subsequent rebirth (“Rebirth” is also the name of the program that lead to his super human abilities, btw) are the subject of the upcoming series.

Captain America, as an entity, remains controversial. Born of an anti-Nazi sentiment, he represents America’s military at its most glamorous: protector of freedom, fighter of evil. As the definition of evil has become hazier, though, it will be interesting to see how the resurrection of Captain America reflects (or doesn’t) a renewed understanding of war and America. I, for one, like to follow history through the eyes of artists and comics are no exception. As our troops return from the Middle East, this will be a topic that affects all of us.

The first pages were released at the LA Times today, re-posted here for your perusal. The pages will be drawn by comic artist legend Brian Hitch and, aside from the political sub-text, it promises to be a whole lot of sweets for the eye.

The uprising will be July 1st. Official site here.

Danger Mouse is the guy who did that mash-up album of The Beatles’ White album and Jay-Z’s Black album. He’s back with another album ensnarled in controversy, called “Dark Night of the Soul.” But you knew all that. The album is a who’s who of musical and cultural importance; from The Shins’ James Mercer to The Strokes to Sparklehorse to Iggy Pop to. What was strange was that David Lynch’s name was also attached to it. That didn’t ever seem to make sense. Well, now, because of some potential lawsuit, the album has been released but with, get this, no music. That’s right, it comes with a blank CD. One guess what you’re supposed to do with that thing as, oops, the songs have somehow all turned up online. The thing you might not know is that there’s a show opening tomorrow night (May 30th) of David Lynch’s photographs that appear in the music-less album’s attached book. The show is at the Kohn Gallery on Beverly and is also called “Dark Night of the Soul.” And the music playing in the background will be, you guessed it, the unreleased music of Danger Mouse and crew.

The chaos of it all got me thinking about David Lynch movies, shows, photos and weather reports. It’s all stream of conscious. It doesn’t move in a linear fashion, or even in a temporally correct kind of way. Instead it meanders in and out of environments and realities, the only thing you have left to hold onto are themes, which you eventually come to realize, are the most important thing anyway. It seemed weird for him to be involved in a music project from the beginning, but now that it’s all so confusing, it’s actually starting to make sense.

Here’s where you can listen to the album

Here’s the gallery opening info

Here’s David Lynch’s weather report

“SKETCH BOOK. Conceptual Drawings from the World’s Most Influential Designers” just arrived on my desk. It’s a timely release, as much has been made about doodling recently. I’m in advertising, most of us in the creative department doodle constantly in meetings and sometimes are condemned for it. More often, though, it is accepted in our culture as, for the creative, it is sort of our way of taking notes, and sometimes even relaxing ourselves. Our ECD is well-known for drawing spheres that he shades to perfection. It is clearly a form of meditation for him and, well, he’s doing okay.

The hardest part about being a doodler is that you are not making eye contact with whoever is speaking. It’s a constant struggle because looking down and drawing is how I concentrated when I was a kid. I was deepest in my thoughts with a pen on a paper and still am. But it’s disprespectful to the other people in the room. But then so is interrupting and nobody seems to have any problem with that. Continue reading ‘Don’t call it a doodle.’