So, since I missed nearly a month of class for surgery, I feel like I have been working non-stop to catch up and keep up simultaneously. I am still so utterly behind it's disheartening, the most in Illustrated Story II. I feel as though I am finally making headway though, as I've at last finalized and fully developed my five characters, so I can begin actually writing comics about them!
Here they are (click to embiggen):
This is an assignment on a reading about the history of type. We had to condense around 5000 years of typography and written communication into 15 steps, so I chose to do a comic instead of the standard bulleted list, albeit that would have been far easier and I may have slept more last night if I had.
For this assignment, I had to take the first letter of my last name and morph that into an object beginning with the same letter in six steps. I think this would look cool as an animation, but as it is, it's probably the most fun thing we've gotten to do in Design Systems I thus far.
With everything that happens automatically, why is it I still have to keep track of my money?
The 12th Annual Indie Memphis Film Fest is well underway and so far, though I'm there open to close, I don't really get to watch many of the movies. But today I got the chance to watch Stingray Sam, a six episode installment of the adventures of Stingray Sam, an outlaw cowboy lounge singer in outerspace in the future. And he's my new favorite hero.
Really nice looking black & white 35mm live action mixed with colorized collage sequences, illustrative animations, and robot hand puppets. Also, the writer and director, Cory McAbee is also the lead role, and the lead singer of the band who wrote & performed all of the music, The Bily Nayer Show. Oh yeah, did I mention it's a musical?
I can only describe it as like Monty Python meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets the Firefly series... meets Idiocracy... Did I mention it's a musical?
I got a chance to meet Cory and he's a very cool guy. His film, the American Astronaut, is screening at the festival Saturday night at 10PM, and I'm going to use every volunteer I have to keep the fort held down while I slip into that one. You should make time and put aside a few bucks to do the same.
I'm the type of person who likes to go into a movie completely blind and dumb of what I'm getting into, and that's means two things: firstly, I wandered blindly into a badass surprise this time, and secondly, I'm not going to ruin a damned thing for any of you that might want to see it.
If you're interested in researching a little more about Mr. McAbee, or downloading Stingray Sam, check out: http://www.corymcabee.com/
[ crossposted to livefrommemphis.com/holtermonster ]
I'm not trying to piss anyone off by writing this---I'm really not. But it's an issue that has irritated me for a while now, and having discussed it with others, I've found I'm not alone in my irritation. Memphis is a great city, at least I think so. Yeah, we've had a shitty mayor for 18 years straight, a crime rate through the roof, high infant mortality and murder rates and the absolute worst drivers in the country, but the arts scene, albeit small is strong and usually cohesive.
Perhaps its the fact we don't have a big booming art scene like the metropolises of the East Coast that has spurred on so many locals and undergrounds to strive tirelessly to get things happening in this city--like Live From Memphis, or Indie Memphis, or Odessa, or Five In One. In a lot of ways, it's an uphill battle. Since Rozelle Artists Guild starting in 2006, it's always been a struggle to do something cool enough for people to pay for that doesn't solely revolve around alcohol. You oftentimes end up having to trick your audience into showing up. You're constantly fighting for people to give a shit or give a dollar, and more often than not, we all end up being each other's support group. I mean, if the guys from Marshall Arts and Material and the Brooks and MCA didn't come out to our fundraisers, who the fuck would?
So in a city with an art scene entirely interdependent, why would anyone grow an ego about what they're doing as compared to anybody else's creative efforts? Why would anyone think the seeds they're planting are any more important than the others being sown all over Memphis? I'm not going to get all middle school and name names, but I've heard some disappointing encounters between art gallery/organization owners butting heads and refusing collaboration. We do not have the luxury of being picky. If we, as this hodge-podge group of artists & art advocates, really want to see our collective goal of art flourishing in Memphis, everyone should be chomping at the bit to get another party into what they're doing.
Now, I'm obviously of the opinion that all the art orgs--MCA, MBMA, LFM, RAG, VINI, Material, Odessa, Marshall Arts, PHM, ArtsMemphis, NOMM, Pink Palace, AMUM, etc.---are after the same bigger picture endgoal, but I also respect everyone has their own individual subgoals. The Brooks & MCA are looking to engage international artists with an older, more sophisticated, more financially generous demographic, while people like VINI & RAG are aiming more for the younger, amateur, post-grad art kid crowd. Whether it's Cabernet Sauvignon in a Riedel or Pabst Blue Ribbon in a Solo, we're all respectively contributing to a nice well-rounded arts community, but we've got our own agendas.
And like I've already mentioned, not everyone is up for collaboration and cooperation. That's fine. To each his own. I was personally very supportive of the talks of a collective arts entity for the city that were happening at Material several months back, and equally as disappointed to see them bear no fruit for lack of agreement between all the reps. What I'm saying is, it's okay that some are open to joining forces, and others aren't, but it seems there isn't always the courtesy of respect either.
We are all so eager to draw the rest of Memphis into our events (although I'd like to think we all appreciate the interdependent proxy art crowd that show up to most of them), but we've got to make it easier for the rest to show up. No one between all these awesome arts entities is going to agree on a standard means of attracting outsiders--and rightly that we shouldn't. The diversity is what makes our tiny bubble so interesting. But can't we all at least have the courtesy to check each other's calendars?
Look at this weekend. We have the kick-off weekend of Indie Memphis' 12th Annual Film Festival (a date which I've had in my iCal for over six months) the same weekend as National Ornamental Metals Museum's Annual Repair Days (also a weekend long event) the same weekend at the Memphis College of Art Reunion the same weekend as the AIGA Design Conference (which can carry no blame as it is a nationally sanctioned event, not a local organizer) the same weekend as Rock O Rama at Odessa---and these are just the events I know of off the top of my head, having been isolated in Cordova recovering from back surgery the past two weeks.
Come on, people. Visual arts, live music, filmmaking, designing---it's the same crowd. I will be at IMFF this weekend as I'll be receiving a paycheck for it, but this is the second year in a row that the Film Festival and Repair Days coincide. I love metalsmithing! I was looking forward to attending this year and soldering some old lady's jewelry box hinge or retinning another copper platter. And the design conference which I will miss approximately all of? I'd love to go. I'm majoring in Design Arts and I have awful taste in fonts. It would have been a lovely educational experience. I'd also love to go schmooze with MCA alum from the 1980's or see my buddy Travis play at Odessa.
But poor planning like this weekend doesn't help anyone, it just splits up the already slim pickins of an audience. Three of my four roommates who would love to hit up IMFF will be at AIGA, because they're designers. Bill Price who probably wouldn't be opposed to hanging out with oldschool MCA students will be at Repair Days, because he's a metalsmither. Why don't we just throw in a couple art openings and a theatre event too?
I'm not blaming any one specific AO here. I don't know who scheduled what first and it's not really the point of this schpiel, but come on, Memphis. We've got to work together, if only just a little bit, at least when it comes to scheduling.
With all that being said, go to at least one of these things this weekend, and if you can, make it to more than one. Everything going on will be amazing and you'll be impressed wherever you go.
This past Saturday was the first ever Edgefest, an art sale, outdoor music show, and general good time at the Edge Coffeehouse at 1400 Overton Park. Although it was small, it was fun. Alex Harrison from the Warble played live, local artists came out to set up tables and booths, and the Edge got a bit more business for the day. I even made $50.
Amoung the vendors: VINI's Alice Laskey-Castle & Michael Andrews, Rozelle Artists Guild's Lauren Rae Holtermann, Shea Colburn, Derrick Dent, Taylor Martin, & Markece Brown, and others, Meaghan Chadouin, Alex Warble, & Rachel Holtermann.
Watch the local news in Memphis and you get damn depressed. I can't watch it everyday. A bombardment of stories about dog fighting rings, stolen babies, corrupt politicians, drive-by shootings and stray bullets killing innocent kids, and even the good stories like the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center's billboards celebrating National Coming Out Day are ruined by ignorant hate crimes ripping them down.
And then there's Something Good.
Something Good In Memphis is a website that showcases the good stuff happening in Memphis. From filmmakers helping to document this city's musical history in the making to volunteers keeping non-profit organizations open to 80-year old MIFA Meal's delivery guys.
Check out the website for a pick-me-up next time the news brings you down. I've been nominating people for a while. Christopher Reyes has already made it up on the board:
I'm still in post-op recovery, which means I'm still at my dad's house unable to drive and out of school, which means I'm spending a lot of time bored on my couch. So I made this vector of myself today:
Live From Memphis, or as I affectionately refer to them, Chris, Sarah, Brad & sometimes my roommate Tommy, have been doing Flipsides for the past year now? Maybe two? They're mini-documentaries of people and groups in Memphis that are doing cool shit, originally billed as a side-project branch of $5 Cover, hailed Memphian director Craig Brewer's latest claim to fame. I don't think a single one of them actually ever aired on MTV, or its website, or even had a sad link in the sidebar of $5Cover, but they are still really badass little videos that pretty much sum up why Memphis is cool, and why LiveFromMemphis is cool. They're helping us--the big us, the collective of creatives of Memphis us--look important, and feel important, and letting other people know, whether in this city or another, that Memphis is home to a lot of really creative and driven people, despite our mayor and crimerates. LFM is kinda like a motivational speaker for our city. They're that dude in the back of the crowd flailing his arms incessantly until people look, saying "No! Stop watching the news! Start watching this band!"
Anyway, point is, LiveFromMemphis is doing a lot of good in this city, and making a lot of shit happen, whether or not you're paying attention. Here's the Flipside LFM did of my little collective, Rozelle Artists Guild:
I have never heard of Sport Stacking. There is apparently a league for the sport of speed stacking plastic cups. Seriously. And it's actually kinda cool. What's even cooler is that the second place winner for the World Sport Stacking Association's 2008 Championship and the American Egg Board's newest spokesman is this 14 year old kid named Luke Myers. He's also the first person to get a "5" on camera, or a perfect stacking routine in less than 6 seconds.
BONUSES: Kathy Ireland is half naked most of the film, if you care about that; This is Thalmus Rasulala's last film before he died, and he sports a pretty sweet pre-Wolverine flarey sideburn beard. 
So, usually I try to keep my blog limited to updates on my work and opinions on stuff going on in the world. Not that I don't think what's happening in my daily life isn't important, but it isn't necessarily important to anyone else but me. However, given the nature of my present situation, I thought I might break the mold and update the world on my life as it stands.
On Monday, I had surgery on my spine to repair a herniated disc. I've been lounging around my dad's house since. It's been... boring. Thankfully, I have a squishy couch, a decent stash of pain medications, HD cable television, my laptop, and a stocked fridge, so I'm more than set in creature comforts. But I am quite bored, nonetheless. I have another week and a half of takin' it easy. We'll see how it progresses.
