Catastrophe

Superb video - feels like a real trip/voyage.



Videoclip made by Niwouinwouin and Jean Jullien for the latest niwouinwouin 7inch "Catastrophe!"

Creative Process

There's a great post on 99%, Behance's Think Tank, about the three core processes that creatives need to coordinate and incorporate in their work: routines, systems and spontaneity.

There exists a neurological reasoning behind the need for daily patterns when it comes to fostering creativity, where, Circadian rhythms of arousal and mental alertness mean that certain times of day are especially conducive to focused creative work. The effect is magnified when familiar objects, surroundings, and other stimuli become associative triggers for creative states of mind.

A case in point: Stephen King's morning routine unfolds something like this:

There are certain things I do if I sit down to write. I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning. I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon. - via Daily Routines

I recently read his book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, his autobiography and writing guide, which I have to say, is quite inspiring and instructive. Casting initial skepticism aside, I dove right into the book, and really enjoyed it. He demystified the novel writing process, making it feel achievable and doable.

Besides achieving a harmonious, interlocking balance between routines, systems and spontaneity, I think being surrounded (whether in real life or in pages of books or on the net) by supportive creatives, who are trying to get there or who have already gotten there, is not only beneficial, but vital. Viva la communidad creativo!

If you want to build your creative support network, check out:

The 99 Percent, focus on what happens after inspiration—researching the forces that truly push ideas forward. Our profiles of proven idea makers, action-oriented tips, best-practices sessions, and annual conference are all designed to help you transform ideas from vision to reality.

Daily Routines cull routines from books, newspapers, magazines, and Web sites, showing how artists, creatives, and other interesting people organize their days.

43 Folders: Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Paris Interviews: Q&A encounters with the great writers of our times have come to be recognized as a sort of literary genre unto themselves: the Paris Review interview.

Born in the Streets

I've been fortunate enough to recruit Chris Aylen, creative and friend, to write a guest blog post on his recent trip to Paris to see the graffiti exhibit at the Foundation Cartier pour l'art contemporain.

The once-edgy concept of putting on a graffiti exhibition in an official gallery space has slowly become less and less provocative over time. Gone are the days when a corporate space could inject some life into its stale roster simply by throwing some spray painted canvas up onto the walls. To be honest, most times I see graffiti in a controlled gallery environment, I throw-up a little in my mouth. One of the most appealing aspects to graffiti is the fact that it's confrontational and uncontrolled: paying an admission fee to look at something that was never intended to generate money doesn't seem quite right to me.

So, when I heard that the Cartier exhibition space in Paris was planning to put on a show that covered the history of graffiti - 'Né dans la rue' (Born in the Streets) - my heart didn't exactly pound its way out of my chest. It was only when I started seeing reports of the show and began to see imagery from the opening night that I began to get interested. It certainly seemed that there had been some genuine effort put into making this a credible event. Traveling to Paris isn't something I do very often, but incorporating a visit to the show with a little excursion around the city seemed like a nice idea. And so it was done.

Finding your way from Raspail Metro station to the front gates of the Cartier space is as easy as following the trail of destruction: everything in sight has been liberally covered with a layer of spray paint. I'm not sure what the local residents think of this, but it definitely made my journey easier.

The exhibition certainly has some pulling power in terms of the artists involved. Whilst many will be attracted by some of the more high-brow (ie. 'socially acceptable') artists such as Shepard Fairey, it was the informed decision to include work from pioneering graffiti writers such as Seen, Part2, Dondi (R.I.P.) and others that pushed my initial scepticism aside. The ground floor is primarily a collection of free-standing pieces, with a few wall-mounted posters. It's nice enough, but the graffiti on the outside of the building is more interesting and relevant. Downstairs is where the real action is.

Descending into the basement of the gallery, I immediately realised that this was where the real meat of the show was hiding. Initially, it doesn't seem like there's that much to look at, but as you go around the pieces and exhibits, it's easy to get consumed by what you're looking at. The cultural relevance of seeing something like Seen's original sketch for his iconic 'Hand Of Doom' whole car (a train carriage, covered from top-to-bottom and end-to-end) is hard to put into words. Likewise, Henry Chalfant's photographic contributions (many of which featured in his 'Subway Art' book) are also of immeasurable importance: without his documentation and subsequent publishing of these photos, graffiti would have never reached a global audience so quickly. My only gripe is that unless you knew what you were looking at, it would be easy to disregard some of the exhibits as 'just photos' or 'just sketches'. Whether something was lost in translation, I'm not sure, but I felt that a little more time spent putting these exhibits into context would've really helped clarify their status.

In the next room, scenes from 'Wild Style' and 'Style Wars' played: both essential viewing, especially the latter documentary, which is perhaps the most informative and 'genuine' glimpse into the subculture ever produced. It might be over 25 years old now, but 'Style Wars' is still the defining film of the early hip-hop movement. The walls in this room were covered in canvas paintings from some of the best early writers and other ephemera - all very nicely laid out and exciting to see in the flesh.

I'm not usually one to giving a summarising paragraph at the end of a review (I mean, c'mon, who doesn't skim through the piece just to read the verdict at the end?), but I'll just say that if you fancy seeing something rather special, you could do a lot worse than hop on the Eurostar to Paris to see this show.

Good:
1) A chance to see some amazing original artifacts from graffiti's history.
2) Easy to get to and reasonably priced admission.
3) A nice gallery space.
4) Fantastic gallery bookshop with over 100 different graffiti publications available to browse and purchase.

Bad:
1) No photography allowed. If I'd have known this beforehand, it'd have put me off making the effort to go.
2) Not enough information on what is displayed.
3) A couple of questionable inclusions to the overall high standard of exhibits.






Chris Aylen works as a creative at Experience and has also worked as Head of Innovations at U-Dox for five years. Chris has a strong portfolio of creative work for Adidas, Nike, MTV and Ralph Lauren. He utilises his thorough understanding of urban culture and knowledge to reach young audiences through participation.

Chris also has a wide-range of digital experience including setting up of the online sneaker resource www.crookedtongues.com and music news website www.spinemagazine.com.

Pre-Playboy: Classic Pin-ups

I came across this great pin-up series circa 1947 from George Petty, who left an indelible mark on American culture with his Petty girls. "From 1933 to 1956, she was seen on tens of millions of calendars, magazine centrefolds, advertisements, posters, and billboards as well as on all sorts of speciality products." The Petty girl made covers of magazines, including Time, but perhaps her biggest contribution was building morale during wartime.

Petty's illustrations and design of his girls helped created the image of the ideal American girl (Thanks Petty), by combining the best features of several models and by making their heads smaller and their legs and torsos longer. As one critic put it: "When you touch the wrist of a Petty Girl, you almost expect to feel a pulse."










Images via the Animation Archive.

In the 1960's artist Mel Ramos took the genre of pin-ups and gave it his own humorous twist, placing his girls in strange positions with iconic brands.







Images via Trendland.

Magic & Mystery

Haunting, yet enchanting, futuristic photography with mysterious historic backdrops and influences by Eugenio Recuenco. Recuenco uses classic Spanish painters, like El Greco and Goya, as sources of inspiration for this series.







Via Fubiz