Eponymous (roughly: self-titled)

Using picnik again, I have been creating some new ways of self-promoting. I treat picnik as a sketchpad of sorts. The images came from a site I stumbled upon (it's in Portuguese).

All in the Family

Click on the photo above and vote! The photo is of my cousin Samme and was taken by her sister Becca. The contest could help Becca with scholarships for college.

Anatomy in the Gallery

The International Museum of Surgical Science (IMSS) will soon be having their annual series called Anatomy in the Gallery (note: that link is for the show being taken down today and tomorrow, so read on!). There are a remarkable amount of photos on the MySpace page.

The opening for Dominic Paul Moore and Laurel Roth is from 5-8pm Friday January 30, 2009. The show will remain in the gallery through April 17th 2009.

These photos also have links to the artist's sites. I recommend you browse both. I am enamored with the concepts and aesthetic of Moore; the materials and details of Roth.

Dominic Paul Moore, "You're Gonna Love It Here"

Laurel Roth, "Norethindrone" (Which is a female hormone since I already googled it)

Fan Art

I am picniking again. Here are some of my more recent ventures in digital design. I have decided to call them "fan art" because these are of bands that I like. Each photo is linked to the group.

I have also decided to try and make these posts more pithy (when possible) and have pictures when applicable. I think that will make this please my readership as well as more reasonable for me to update regularly.Shown above is my edited image of 1/2 of the band, Gregory and the Hawk. I apologize for not crediting the original owner. I will do so if and when I find it's place of orogin.

This is Luiza Sá of CSS, a brazilian band. The photo is my own and was taken when they played at The Metro in Chicago (12/08). "CSS Suxx" is one of the things they have the crowd chant.

texture

The photo above was taken at my grandparent's house (Chicago, IL). I adjusted the colors, as you may imagine. Please do not use or change without my permission, thank you.

DNA poem 12.08

Above image shows a fragment of a poem I am working on. It is inspired by DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic acid, which is made up of four bases: Adenine, Thyamine, Guanine and Cytosine (hence "ATGC" is the title of this poem).



Above is the complete poem. I intentionally left Microsoft Word's underlines (indicating a misspelling or fragment) on the image. Also note that in the previous post I wrote about VAS: An OPERA in Flatland--thus the opera theme of this somewhat logically follows. Also, I recently saw the opera: Porgy and Bess.

Favorites

I am rarely audacious enough to pick a favorite of anything. A proud assertion that I "have no favorite [color/song/genre of anything]" is far more likely to escape my lips than a sweeping preference selection. I feel like that could 'pigeon-hole' me into some category. That somehow I would be a less interesting individual if I picked favorites.

Putting my worries of lacking dimensionality/interest aside, I actually asserted a "favorite" last night. At a small holiday gathering with friends, I endorsed a book so strongly that I uttered the phrase: "probably my favorite." Even I was stunned by my (contextually) grand gesture.

With all that to preamble my grand endorsement, I will not delay the disclosure any further. VAS: An Opera in Flatland is the book that, above all others, I would want to share, discuss and to emulate. The text is a collaboration between Steve Tomasula (let us call him the author in the traditional sense) and Stephen Farrell (who did a brilliant job with the graphic arts and design). The book has excellent art and writing; a beautiful balance is struck between the two in a way I have never encountered in all my years in school (I read this my senior year in college for a Postmodernism course). This opened my eyes to a book's potential. It is a stage for multiple modes of communication; this makes the book more relevant in our increasingly technology-driven age.

(Somewhat tangentially) I am currently a volunteer at the International Museum of Surgical Science (IMSS). VAS enters the territory of science, eugenics, and surgery from an creative perspective. My propensity to view the history of medicine, surgery and science as inspiring and thought-provoking was what drew me to contact IMSS.