Monday, March 8, 2010

I liked this so much, I almost forgot I went for extra credit.


Thankfully, I went into the screening of Beautiful Losers with completely indifferent expectations so when I had that OMG I CAN TOTS RELATE TO THIS moment it was even more legitimate. I know several people have written on this already so I’ll keep the summarizing to a minimum. Artist, writer, curator and director Aaron Rose set out to make a documentary that was meant to inspire people to “make cool stuff” and to encourage their friends to do the same. The documentary was humorous, genuine, modest and interesting. I loved how the film explored the backgrounds of the artists in attempts to answer the question “Why do you make art?”…a daunting but ever-interesting question. For me, I came to USC without any intention of becoming an art major, but still wanted to take classes because I’ve always loved making things. I didn’t want to pursue art because I always thought in order to be successful nowadays in the art world you basically had to be a crazy person with some insane agenda. However, the film reaffirmed my current belief: if you have an innate desire to make art, than you are an artist. Art should be about making cool stuff because you want to and it feels like something you should be doing. I’ll figure out some way to make money (hence my business minor ew) but for now I feel pretty confident that being an art major isn’t completelyyy impractical because making art is never a waste of time. J

"Tarasaur"

My friend Tara asked me to do her hair one night so I gave her a 'do inspired by her favorite extinct animals. Just thought I'd post this picture of her trying to be fierce? haha...

Clever Things

I love it when people redesign a seemingly everyday, or practical object, that, once commonplace, become works of art that evoke a smile (and in my case, usually an "I wish I had come up with that..."). This website is full of things that are brilliantly simple and endlessly creative. Here are a few of my favorites!

I didn't mean for both of these to be drinking vessels, but you get the point. Check out the rest of their website! I think these products are great for cultivating inspiration. Enjoy!

A Little Bit Melancholy...



I suppose with Alice in Wonderland opening last Friday, I have Tim Burton on the brain... and when I was in a history class just now, his illustrated book "the Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and other stories" presented itself front and center. My suitemate (props to keemy if you ever read this) introduced this book to me.. and its kindof just the best example of Burton's twisted, black humor. The poems are depressing, yet simple and quirky. After reading it, I felt a sense of sadness, but at the same time... lightness? I don't know how to describe it really, but I thought I'd post about it because its an excellent piece of art that encompasses drawing, design and writing.. that doesn't require super special effects or mega-complicated stuff. If you've got an hour to kill, its a good read.

Here's one of the poems: 'Stick Boy and Match Girl in Love'

Stick Boy liked Match Girl,
He liked her a lot.
He liked her cute figure,
he thought she was hot.

But could a flame ever burn
for a match and a stick?
It did quite literally;
he burned up quick.



You can read it online!!! --> http://homepage.eircom.net/~sebulbac/burton/home.html

cheers,
Irene