incotro

The new Romanian Visual Survey 2009 is now online: a nice project from Tudor Prisăcariu.

The second edition of Romanian Visual Survey gathers some of the best visual works produced in 2009 in Romania and by Romanian visual artists in general. This year’s selection includes the work of 49 visual artists active in the field of photography, graphic design, illustration, painting and digital animation, among others. Although it is representative of the Romanian visual universe, the selection is not exhaustive.

Link here for another compilation of Romanian artists: 100ToWatch

próximo oriente - auditory treats from asia

I've recently come across a wonderful Portuguese blog that features alternative musical inspiration from China and Asia. The program is called "Próximo Oriente/Middle East", it is created by Hugo Pinto and runs on Radio Macau. Have a listen, it is definetely worth it: an unexpected breath of fresh air, well-documented and with a lot of information on the musicians, if you understand Portuguese. Highly recommended!

Here's just a taster: All mixtapes are so good that I did not know which one to pick. I embedded the most recent one below:

Próximo Oriente - Edição 27.03.2010 by Hugo Pinto on Mixcloud

Become a Fan of Próximo Oriente on Facebook

fleet foxes- mykonos

See below for a wonderful paper art/origami-style stop-motion animated video for Fleet Foxes' 'Mykonos'.

shallow sleep

It's saturday morning, it's cartoon morning!

Link here to watch a fantastic animation titled “Shallow Sleep” created by Beijing-based Little Kong and Feng Ling.

The eight-minute short invites viewers to follow the adventures of a young girl as she explores her dream universe and meets incredible creatures, bizarre machines, and singing robots. The short is characterized by resourceful transitions, beautiful coloring, and a story-line that manages to ingeniously diffuse the boundaries between reality and the surreal realm of the subconscious.

The animation’s soundtrack is by Neocha.com-user The Curry Soap and Cha Liangfen.

This post has been originally posted on NeochaEDGE, a bilingual blog showcasing creative content from China that I contribute to. Picture source: Little Kong on NeochaEDGE.

nuit blanche

Nuit Blanche explores an experience many of us have lived before – a fleeting yet powerful connection with a perfect stranger. Set in a dark cobblestone street in the 1950’s, a man catches the gaze of a woman in a cafe across the street. This split-second moment becomes suspended in time, as the two gravitate towards each other in a hyper real fantasy where nothing can hold them back:

Watch the making of here. via KoiKoiKoi

interview: pingszoo

I've recently had the great pleasure to chat with a very talented L.A.-based illustrator and she agreed to answer a few questions for a short interview on Jellyfish Tales. She has started Pingszoo in 2009 as an online portfolio and, more recently, Pingshop, where one can not only view but also buy her prints. The name Pingszoo comes from her own name, Ping Zhu: "It's a fun way to give my illustrations a place to live, very similar to a zoo environment, some sort of plethora of different types of animals."

Ping likes to paint in gouache on BFK Rives print paper and she does it beautifully and with a great sense of humour. One of her major sources of inspiration is Charly Harper's work. Other things Ping loves are the animal kingdom, food, enthusiastic people, Katamari Damacy and Futura. See below for a short interview with Ping and some choice pieces:

Please tell us something about yourself and your background!

I am based in L.A., and my parents came here from China in the 80s to go to school in America. I grew up with mostly Chinese traditions, but had to learn about cultural differences just by living and interacting in America, where I was born. It was strange as a kid to straddle two different cultures, but I think it has helped in being more open in terms of perspective.

Do you have any formal art training? Where did you go to school?

I took art classes when I was in high school, and also the Saturday High classes from Art Center College of Design. After graduating from high school I came to Art Center for my Bachelor's degree in Illustration, and I'm graduating in a month!

When and how did you start illustrating/painting? What attracted you to this medium?

Trying not to sound like every person on earth...but I've drawn since I was young, and my motivation back then was just trying to be able to draw better than other kids. Eventually, in my Junior year in high school I seriously started considering pursuing art or design as a career, and I was introduced to the possibilities of what that job market could do. Plus I was terrible in all the academic subjects in school, so I was pushing to almost prove to those professions that art and design is just as important as being a lawyer or doctor. I am really attracted to inventions, whether they're physical or visual. Being about to tell a story or draw something silly, the freedom in being about to create something new is extremely attractive to me.

You mainly paint in guache. Do you also work in other mediums?

I've been working with sculpture recently, but the forms are still decorated with paper painted with gouache. There is something really appealing about gouache because it retains really vibrant pigments, but dries flat enough to look almost like a silkscreen. I really love painted textures such as dry brushing, which shows great gestures on a flat graphic surface. I painted with brush pens which look very graphic novel-y because it's just in black on white paper. For now gouache seems to be floating my boat really well, so if I do ever mosey away from it, I'm sure it will still be related to painting....but for now that doesn't seem likely!

skateboard animation by tilman singer

See below for a wonderful stop-motion animation by Cologne-based Tilman Singer which he created using photographs and papercuts from various magazines:

via Das Kraftfuttermischwerk

i'm here

'I‘m Here' is a 30-minute robot love story celebrating a life enriched by creativity and set in contemporary L.A. The film is written and directed by Spike Jonze. Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory are in the lead roles, and the soundtrack includes original music by Sam Spiegel and orginal songs by L.A.-based art musician Aska Matsumiya and other emerging musicians.

You can watch the entire short movie here.

yeasayer - one

See below for the new video for Yeasayer's 'One':

the head

This post was originally posted on KoiKoiKoi, a visual arts magazine I contribute to.

See below for a fun and up-beat hand-drawn animation short from Argentina: 'The Head'. By Matias Vigliano(character/art/composition) & Dante Zaballa (traditional animation). Sound design by Ariel Gandolfo.

(found via demo.creatia)

red jellyfish

photo by Li Wei

gorillaz- plastic beach

NPR allows listeners to stream the entire new Gorillaz album "Plastic Beach". I highly recommend the tracks "Superfast Jellyfish" :) and "On Melancholy Hill".