Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Thursday by Matthias Hoegg

Thursday by Matthias Hoegg is a breath taking animated short which marries Corbu's Vision Plan and Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie into a Tati style love story that has everything from Space Elevator lounges to comm cable bird nests.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Ross Racine

A world of imagined landscapes and closed suburbs, Canadian Artist, Ross Racine's hand drawn digital artwork reminds use of a world that almost is.  Taking a cue from Google Earth and our contemporary ability to view our world from above, Racine re-imagines the suburbia into figural  symbols and patterns.  What is so beautiful about this work is that, if one had never seen the satellite imagery of suburbia, much of these worlds would be completely believable.  The inability to navigate endless winding suburban streets can easily leave one disoriented due to lack of legible landmarks or differentiated housing.  This lack of way finding tools can hamper one's ability to produce a mental map of a subdivision.  Perhaps it would be better to shape these areas into something reminiscent of their name.  Oakdale would be shaped like an Oak and Shepherd point, a sheep.



"Drawn freehand directly on a computer and printed on an inkjet printer, my works do not contain photographs or scanned material.
The subjects of my recent work may be interpreted as models for planned communities as much as aerial views of fictional suburbs, referring to the dual role of the computer as a tool for urban planning as well as image capture. Examining the relation between design and actual lived experience, the works subvert the apparent rationality of urban design, exposing conflicts that lurk beneath the surface. Beyond the suburban example, these digital drawings are a way of thinking about design, the city and society as a whole." Ross Racine Artist Statement

Check out many many more at his site http://www.rossracine.com/














Monday, January 23, 2012

Address is Approximate by Tom Jenkins

This breathtaking short combines stop-motion and time lapse to take a unique journey across the U.S.

Completely imaginative and inventive in its execution.

Address Is Approximate from sharp & jenkins on Vimeo.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Leather Cthulhu

These beautiful masks are made by Eden Bachelder of Toronto.  All hand shaped and painted in leather.  They can be bought at her Etsy page or looked at on her Deviant Art page.

Beautiful.


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Why Video

The Operable Window, from its inception in 2008, has presented a great deal of content in the form of short films and video. This is no accident or coincident. In fact, a great deal of discussion has happened between the contributors about video's roll on the blog and in the greater creative world.

At the Operable Window our general belief is that the video, of all other forms of the graphic arts, is the most suitable for viewing on computers. This is not to say that this is the best way to view video, but rather it is better viewed on the computer screen than, say, photography or the illustrated arts. With this said there is more and more, especially in the graphic design world, art that is made specifically to be viewed on a monitor.

But why? Why do we feel that the internet, and the means by which we access it, are so conducive for viewing video. It is rather simple actually. As a hardware medium argument, the computer screen is great for watching video because of its fairly high resolution and the fact that it is back-lit. As high as screen resolution is though, it is not high enough or have the color depth that a print of a photograph would have. We would also rather look at illustrations done with pen and ink on a nice Bristol, or a screen print on a heavy stock.

Simply put, the computer is the medium of video. Not the only one, but a good one. This is not to say that we don't spend a great deal of time enjoying other arts on the computer, but rather we enjoy them a great deal more in their respected, intended, mediums.

This discussion leads to others about the internet's roll and impact on the arts and the creative fields. With the proliferation of video sharing websites and "share" buttons, for the first time access to the motion picture medium is open to the masses. Think 35mm compact camera of another time, or the more recent drop in digital camera prices. Now anyone can make short videos and make them accessible to the world, for better or for worse.

Personally I would discourage the dismissal of this power. One might argue that for ever One well made, creative film, there are 100,000 horrible videos of teens lip-sinking to the Black Eyed Peas. True. Remember though, that ratio is exaggerated by thousands in the case of photography. There have been so many horrific images taken since the introduction of the consumer camera that it is unthinkable. With that though came the few good images and more importantly the forwarding of the field by those that would not have normally had access to the medium a generation before. So artist could start younger and take their cameras more places and practice more. This is exactly the case of Video today.

We would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

Proof of the point...
An excellent young Director/producer/editor/graphics artist Ninian Doff. Here is a fun little ditty...



http://www.niniandoff.com/