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The Art Of David Lynch

posted July 10, 2017 #

This VoorDeFilm video essay on The Art of David Lynch is a short piece but does a fascinatingly good job of showcasing how many of Lynch's ideas stem from fine art. In a world where Everything is a Remix, it's nice to see that directors on the scale of Lynch are paying homage to their favorite works in this direct of a manner. The Bocklin and Edward Hopper tips of the hat were especially pleasant to see.

Spoiler alert, if you haven't been watching Season 3, you'll see plenty of footage in here that you might want to wait on.

Accidental Wes Anderson

posted July 10, 2017 #

The Subreddit Accidental Wes Anderson captures images from locations around the world that seem to be lifted directly from the director's work. They are often highly saturated, monochrome (one color, not b/w) and extremely symmetrical. They are exactly as you'd imagine them to be with a title like "Accidental Wes Anderson."

This gallery is a nice place to start for many of the Best Of images that really seem to evoke the Anderson style but there's plenty of submissions to wade through if you're looking for more. There are lots of gems and it's a nice reminder that the fantastic visual elements of those films do exist out there among us, you just have to be looking for them.

Perky Bros LLC

posted July 10, 2017 #

I recently came upon the Nashville design firm Perky Bros, a small shop making some excellent work. Their work for NJ microbrewery Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing is particularly compelling as they've given it a strong modern identity but leveraged a lot of stick-n-poke style tattoo illustrations to tie everything together. It feels great.

Lots of other fine work to peruse as well - such as the Woodland Wine Merchant, No 6 Depot and Run Mfg but I suggest a cruise through every piece, as they've all got something good to see.

posted July 7, 2017 #

Suddenly I understand why he won't have dinner with a woman who isn't his wife. https://t.co/Vk2BLDRadR

Friday Videos - July 7th, 2017

posted July 7, 2017 #

I mentioned this on Twitter but before you dive into your deluge of Friday Videos, please take a moment to read this Naomi Klein interview that The AV Club posted recently. I get worn down by the daily barrage of awful news stemming from our country these days but Klein does a phenomenal job of articulating how we got here and how it continues to happen. They only ask her a handful of questions and she really runs with it in the most rewarding way.

I know politics are depressing so let this list of videos be your cleanser.
  • Can Stomper - this Letterman appearance of Line Dancing fused with Can Stomping is entrancing. Thanks to Geoff for helping me unearth.
  • Country Hip Hop - I also stumbled on this horrible instructional video. It's longer than your attention span but worth a scrub.
  • John Wick is Michael Jackson - I watched this and thought it was impressively stupid. Then I watched it again. Then I couldn't stop thinking about it and watched it again. Still stupid but worth a romp.
  • Eid Mubarak Dance - sometimes the Internet delivers the perfect gift.
  • Garth Brooks on Facebook - Cringe videos are all the rage. Never forget this 2014 missive from Chris Gaines.
  • What Year Is It? - a promo video for this rather bizarre 17776 art piece from SB Nation on Sports in the future. I'm not sure what to make of it but the video is oddly engaging.
  • Bigger than a Train Horn - I can't explain it but this guy has outfitted his truck with various train and ship horns. He drives to isolated areas and records them being played. It's a massive sound and a seemingly bizarre hobby. But who am I to judge? I loved watching it.
  • Bjork DJ Set - here's 9 minutes of Bjork being a totally regular, normal person but in the best Bjork way possible, DJing a party and dancing in full Bjork gear.

Sam Alden

posted July 7, 2017 #

This Sam Alden Garfield comic is a bit of a misrepresentation of his body of work as a whole but it's so well executed and perfectly creepy, it's a good starting point to familiarize yourself with more of what he does.

Alden's Tumblr is filled with full short stories of original characters traversing the world encountering oddities and the occasional hardships. It's not a panel from a thing he might make one day, it's the full thing.

Overall, he's probably most likely known for his work on Adventure Time or that Garfield comic but there's a lovely world of work to explore here if you're intrigued.

posted July 7, 2017 #

I just want to be in a band whose biggest hit's song title is also the name of the band.

We Own This Town - Volume 88

posted July 6, 2017 #

Happy to be back in Nashville and continuing to compile some of the notable releases emerging from the city (and surrounding area). I will never tire of the notion that a town known for Country Music and Honky Tonks can also produce some of the finest 80's influenced Pop and fresh Kraut Rock. It's a diverse landscape and I'm happy to be shining a light on it with Volume 88.

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  • Steelism - Chartreuse
  • TRISTEN - Glass Jar
  • Los Colognes - Unspoken
  • NORM - Another Town
  • Kid Freud - Late (Lioness)
  • Woodsplitter - Song for Driving
  • Hammock - Things of Beauty Burn

Hate Plow

posted July 6, 2017 #

There's an ambiguity to the work of Zach Dougherty, aka Hate Plow, that I massively appreciate. This interview has him giving short responses to questions that many artists would gush over. His official site is just a gif emblazoned with the message "Not a real website." He isn't hiding but he isn't forthcoming either.

This leaves a lot of room for interpretation on his work - a mostly dystopian, hyper-realistic, view on the future and technology. Some of it is tongue-in-cheek mixing high art with VR, some of it is commentary on experiencing the world around us and some of it is a cheeseburger in a wind tunnel. Not to be too overly high brow about it but it manages to skirt that line between actual social commentary and a bit of a goof. It's funny but it also hits the nail on the head.

The archive goes back many years but it's worth the deep dive to discover some real gems.

Richie Brown

posted July 6, 2017 #

This Klutoo interview describes animator Richie Brown as the hypothetical son of Walt Disney, Robert Crumb and Andy Warhol. That's not too far off but leaving Ren & Stimpy's John K out of the mix would be an oversight.

Brown is responsible for one of my favorite GIFs and manages to create a slew of weirdo characters that skirt the line of sanity. There's tons of aliens, weird slime and enjoyable oddities throughout his site and an unbelievable amount of more to discover on his Instagram, Tumblr or his alternate portfolio.

posted July 5, 2017 #

Happy Birthday, Winamp https://t.co/vZZrOHjlSN

Won't Keep Me Up At Night

posted July 5, 2017 #

Vinyl pre-orders now available HERE: https://goo.gl/tQJAlp iTunes now available HERE: https://goo.gl/CvQPec Apple Music now available HERE: https://goo.gl/HNjuzq 1. Churchill 2. Biddeford 3. Won't Keep Me Up At Night 4. With Nothing But Our Last Words 5. Sunny Day Girls 6. Might Be Time

SETI vs METI

posted July 5, 2017 #

Find some time to read through this NYTimes Magazine piece, Greetings E.T. (Please Don't Murder Us) that runs through the history of SETI and it's more proactive, controversial, counterpart METI.

The gist of the article is that we've been listening to the Universe for a long time but only rarely do we intentionally broadcast messages out to the unknown (we unintentionally leak radio all the time) - a decision that should not come lightly. I was familiar with the Golden Record but was unaware of the Arecibo message - 168 seconds of noise that, when decoded, tries to communicate who we are, where we are and what kind of science we're working with. The information contained in each seems harmless enough but the mere fact that it establishes that we exist is the fundamental concern.

Some big thinkers of our time warn that this could be a dangerous undertaking; akin to being a Native American inviting Columbus to discover you. We may be better off alone on our pale blue dot but we're a curious species, often at our own detriment. It's a great, lengthy, read but I highly recommend it.

Factitious, The Fake News Game

posted July 5, 2017 #

I can only assume you've seen this floating around your social news feeds as of late but if you haven't taken time to check it out, please take a few moments to give Factitious a spin. It's a Tinder-style "game" where you swipe left for fake news, swipe right for real news. The idea here, of course, being that all news articles look the same when presented as headline and text, it's the content and the source that really matter. You know this. I'm not telling you anything new but I guarantee we all have family members that this would be fascinating to try out on.

posted July 5, 2017 #

The thing about birthdays is they are a sign of mortality. America has never felt more mortal. HBD, America.
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