Four Things
Here are four things I found while thrifting on Fyn, one of Denmark’s many many islands. The shop I stopped by was sadly closing by the month’s end since some new construction in town had decreased foot traffic. Ah well, captured here for internet eternity…
Me and My Pioneer Rabbit, Infiltrating the Danish Army
Outfit No. 57
Graffiti Type
AIGA Portland is currently showing an exhibition of letters inspired by graffiti as part of Design Week Portland. The 26 letters of the alphabet, each interpreted by a different artist, are on display at Ziba HQ in Portland, Oregon, and my letter K is among them. The show is in conjunction with the premiere of GRAFT by director Jared Levy.
I’ve recently been drawing things with a tribal and mitochondrial patterns in them. The style felt appropriate to the theme – interpreted as a sort of original graffiti, a mish mash of elemental inspiration. I also signed off my letter with my personal tag in hieroglyphics: a fossilized leaf from Oregon, a rock with a hole in it found on a Danish beach, a heart shaped rock my mom found and gave me, and a figurine of the Black Stallion.
Drawing patterns in things has become a sort of relaxing meditation time for me – once the basic form and complexity is decided, it’s pure patience and several CDs of Kurt Vile / Carla Bruni / Wilco to reach the end result.
A Flickr set of the entire alphabet can be seen here of the below participating artists.
A – Aaron Rayburn, Portland
B – Jason Bacon, Portland
C – Scrappers, Hawaii
D – Mary Kate McDevit, Portland
E – CERN ONE, NYC
F – Cory Say, Garland, TX
G – Carolyn Sewell, Washington DC
H – Will Miller, Chicago
I – Rachel Caldwell, Philadelphia
J – Taka Sudo, BC, Canada
K – Mette Hornung Rankin, Copenhagen / Portland
L – Christopher Derek Bruno, Seattle
M – Lotta Nieminen, NYC
N – Roxanne Danner, Los Angeles
O – Keegan Onefoot-Wenkman, Portland
P – Bethany Ng, Portland / W+K12
Q – Tom O’Toole, Portland
R – Thomas Bradley, Portland
S – Dana Woulfe, Boston
T – Alanna MacGowan & Cassie Klingler, Seattle / New York
U – Anne Ulku, Minneapolis
V – Dave Foster, The Netherlands
W – Adam Garcia, Portland
X – Zach Johnsen, Portland
Y – Blaine Fontana, Portland
Z – Stephen Holding, Brooklyn
Dream Maker
Three Things
Going to thrift, antique, second-hand and used-stuff-for sale stores has long been a fascination of mine. Not only are all of wares ridiculously inexpensive (if you know which locales to visit), they all have hidden histories and a varnish that beckons a fantasy-filled story to be told about them. These are my three latest finds, bought for just a few coins.
Myopic Fields of Study
As a designer, et cetera, I usually follow the simple logic of…Do I find it interesting? Sign me up! I guess you could call me a generalist. That’s why I build derby cars, make 3D paper raindrops and go to postcard shows. A wide selection of topics, all of which itch the need of delving into the specificity of a subject. Even though I don’t make my living out of it, spending these short bursts of time on a super-focused theme is very rewarding to me.
I find it fascinating that some people can find a niche so narrow and burrow down so deep, that their entire plane of reference is altered and a new little world is created to support the peculiarities of their interest. This hyper focus not only makes them brilliant (at times), but also creates their myopic perspective. Well, at least that is how I explain these research titles a friend sent me…
Effect of Adjuncts on the Color Stability of Bologna and Fresh Beef Sausages
Calculation, Qualculation, Calqulation: Shopping Cart Arithmetic, Equipped Cognition, and the Clustered Consumer
Making Time: Reciprocal Object Relations and the Self-legitimating Time of Wooden Boating
After reading these and making a few snarky comments, said friend and I spiraled into an email thread trying to best each other with fake inane research titles. Generally specific, or specifically general – you decide. Below I present you our first three topics.
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THE DETERMINED GERMAN
Symbols of Virility and the Cultural Resurgence of Lederhosen
KAMMERJUNKER OG DET DANSKE SAMFUND
Forskning og Teori om Størrelse og Knuse-metode i Forhold til Klasse, med Hensyn til Smag og Behag
THE PICKLED HERRING: Red or Otherwise
A study of Northern European migration patterns in relation to banal influences, with a special forword by B. Jean on cloud cover and pesky bugs.
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Perhaps this should be part of a series called “I’m smarter than you” that is geared toward academia, executed as book slipcovers that hide the fact that you’re just reading the latest Malcolm Gladwell bestseller. Have any research titles up your sleeve that I should add to the collection?
In the process of researching these titles, I came across this photo. Which is just too good not to repost. What is going on? What ISN’T going on? Rocking out in lederhosen never looked more hardcore. In fact, I have danced with a man in lederhosen, and it was all you can imagine and more.
From the Archives: PSU Shirt Illustrations
Found these in the archives and I thought I would share. These illustrations were created while I worked at Sockeye Creative for Art Director Rob Wees. The starburst was printed mint-teal on a gray shirt and the noodle blob was printed gold metallic on a brown shirt. Rob personally chose the mannequin, Brenda, to sell this short run of custom shirts in the Portland State University bookstore. That’s one hot date, Rob!
Me and My Pioneer Rabbit, Messaging Via Bottle
