But My Heart Wants So To Scream

'Excuse Me' is a collaboration between Dublin-based performance artist Xnthony Keigher and media artist Patrick Hough.

Everyone Is Good At Something...

For some it's eyebrow-grooming, for others it's producing deliciously sardonic cartoon strips. Natalie Dee falls into the latter category. I'm currently trawling through her extensive back-catalogue. Jackpot.

Glinting Like Cats' Eyes

I've taken a real, er, shine to these 'Celestial Moggies', created by Boya Latumahina, possibly because the above cat-like constellation bears a striking resemblance to my first pet, Tiger.

Yo, where's the 'saddo disclaimer' button on this thing?

Fluffy Mc Cloud

I really love this short film by recent IADT graduate Conor Finnegan. Combining stop-motion, live action and hand drawn animation, it tells the story of a man's mixed relationship with mother nature.

Papier Mash-Up

I'm sure this sort of thing has been done oodles of times before but Ben Heine's 'Pencil Vs Camera!' set caught my eye because it's just so well executed.

Art With Heart

I really like this 'Streetlove' collection of street art by Brusse. Strikes me as a sort of hybrid of the work of Banksy and Maser.

Spoonful of Sugar

In the aftermath of Paddy's Day celebrations, it's a pretty safe bet that many of us will be needing a recovery period.

If you fancy indulging in a bit of comfort eating, then I suggest you check out the launch of the 'Sugar Coated' exhibition this evening at 6pm in The Back Loft on Augustine Street. The exhibition is being organised by my friend Dylan and his classmates from Dun Laoghaire IADT and will kick off with a ‘sweet and drinks’ reception before the unveiling of selected work inspired by the theme 'Suger Coated'.

The event will be judged and curated by a group of artists and professionals, including Michelle Browne and Paul Lynam, who will decided the winner of €400 and the inaugural 'Sugar Coated Award for Visual Arts'.

Let It Bleedin' Be

I stumbled across this video, courtesy of The Hundred In The Hands' blog. Granted it's a little 'out there', but I can't help but find it a little mesmerising.



You've probably already guessed that it's a mash-up of The Beatles' 'Let It Be' and The Rolling Stones 'Let It Bleed'. It was assembled by artist Yoshi Sodeoka, whose other work is well worth checking out.

What Dreams May Come

I stumbled across the work of New York-based artist Robin Williams, courtesy of Be My Own Stylist. I find myself strangely drawn in by the bizarre awkwardness of his paintings, which mostly feature young children posing with inflatable objects or at play.

Static

I'm currently unhealthily obsessed with the work of graphic designer/art director Albert Exergian. I especially love his recent body of work based on TV culture:





See more of his work here.

Not Just Skine Deep

I'm currently somewhat infatuated with Quoteskine. The idea is pretty simple: graphic designer Lee Crutchley doodles on his Moleskine notebook with markers, then uploads the generally awesome resulting images and typography to his Tumblr account.

Destroy Everything You Touch

Over the past while, I've noticed a drastic increase in the number of arts-oriented club nights in Dublin. Honestly, I'd put this down to ignorance on my part due to my being perfectly content to get sloshed in the student bar at DCU.

However, the people behind The Destructors' Manifesto a once-off "non-profit celebration of everything that is great about Irish culture and art today" contend that there has indeed been a surge in creativity and that this is an inevitable state of affairs in the wake of the rather abrupt ending of our collective Celtic dreamtime.

"Out of destruction comes creation" is the group's mantra and they intend to showcase the creativity in various forms at their event in the newly refurbished Tivoli Theatre next Friday, the 30th of September from 8pm.

The brainchild of artist Maria Roche, the event will incorporate art, theatre, live music, film, photography, graffiti, story-telling and, of course, dancing. The full line-up of artists and performers can be found on the Facebook page and tickets are €10 (purely to help cover costs, I'm told).

Let me know if you're planning on checking it out. We can, you know, dance and pretend to appreciate art and stuff.

If Only My Procrastination Were This Productive...

I love this video, 'Deadline', directed by Bang-yao Liu. It's so good you can almose forgive the ridiculously obvious choice of Royksopp's 'Eple' as the backing track.




[via Devin Castro]

Arty Types Strike Back

Over the past couple of days, I've checked out both the National College of Art and Design and Institute of Art, Design & Technology degree shows and have been bowled over by the calibre of work on display.

I'm far from being a connoisseur of fine art but even I could see that there are some very talented artists about to be unleashed into the real world, specialising in areas ranging from painting and sculpture to fashion and visual communication.

The above image was inspired by a tongue-in-cheek piece in 'Le Cool' magazine that suggested the competitiveness between both these Dublin-based art colleges runs deeper than any rift between UCD and Trinity. Students I spoke to from both colleges dismissed notions of any such competition and the crossover of people I saw at the exhibitions suggests that, if anything, students from both colleges have a 'we're all in this together' mentality.

With so much work on display and so many people trying to see the exhibits, it was practically impossible to see everything at each show. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go back during the week and get a better look.

IADT Graduate Show runs until June 11th at IADT, Dun Laoghaire.

NCAD Graduate Show runs until June 14th at NCAD, Thomas Street, Dublin 8.

Eyes On The Skies

How fantastic are these?





"SKYplay depicts a composition dominated by use of the sky & real clouds at that moment with another object."

Click here for more.

[via Blog Del Hombre Perplejo]

French Fancy

Peep this lovely short film 'Le Sens Propre', directed by Cismo, for Adobe’s Shortcut to Brilliant campaign for CS4.

Très belle.

[via Devin Castro]

Crying Croissants And Muffins, Alive Alive Oh...

Nialler9 has kindly drawn my attention to weekly e-bulletin, Le Cool.

Le Cool is a 'free weekly cultural agenda and alternative city guide' and the good news is they've just launched a Dublin edition. Yes, the name is heinous but the bulletin itself, in terms of design and content, is quite brilliant.

Ckick here to view the first issue and, if you like what you see, click here to subscribe to the weekly newsletter.

Majik Melodies

Last Summer, I had a fantastic few days at the Europavox Festival in France, which is basically a showcase for up and coming European bands. One of the acts I saw perform was wacky French singer Camille, who delivered one of the most memorable live sets I've ever witnessed.

One of the most extraordinary aspects of the performance was the layering of acapella vocals and body beats, both from Camille and her backing singers, to produce wonderful soundscapes. When I was snooping around Camille's myspace after I returned home, I stumbled upon the page of Majiker and the origins of this unique live performance became clear.

Majiker was the producer of Camille's most recent album and his own project, 'BPM', takes the process to new extremes. BPM stands for Body, Piano and Machine and these are the only three instruments used in producing the music for Majiker's album (the machine being a vintage Yamaha keyboard).

This might sound a bit pretentious but you can't argue with the results. The tracks are unlike anything I've heard before, particularly 'Strings and Wires', which you can hear on Majiker's myspace. Plus, the knowledge that they were produced purely from Majiker's B, P & M certainly adds another dimension to the listening experience.

I also love the use of primary colours for all the promotional shots for the album, due out next month. It really fits with the concept.

Here's the video for the album's lead single 'Flesh and Bone':


[Image: Myspace]

Oh Karin, Karin Oh

Fever Ray is the new solo project by Karin Dreijer Andersson, vocalist with Swedish electro outfit The Knife.

The music is great, a little less 'industrial' than The Knife's sound but not really a huge departure. What's most impressive about the project are the videos that have accompanied the first two singles 'If I Had A Heart' and 'When I Grow Up' (rather disappointingly, not a cover version of the Pussycat Dolls' song of the same name). The creepy visuals look like something out of an indie horror flick and perfectly complement Dreijer Andersson's eerie soundscapes.

Inflicting Our 'Art' On The World Since 1986