Issue 8 Cover Moodboard

Top [ Left: John Singer Sargent - Daughters of Edward Darley Boit | Right: Diego Velazquez - Las Meninas ]
Bottom [ Left: Rodarte for Lula | Center: Louis Vuitton S/S 2012 Collection // Siri Tollerød | Right: Siri Tollerød for Lula ]

Strength in Numbers

Very first Prisma collaboration between Nom Kinnear King and Kaspian

Lady Orlandodreams Devils cup

Hier and There necklace Lilly Piri

sketch by Rod Luff

Today I went to the blog of Michael Shapcott, a painter whose work interests me like. I thought I'd like to do a blog post specifically about his work, but what I saw on the blog inspired me to alter the topic slightly. Atop his blog is a post about the formation of the PRISMA artist collective. I looked through the list of 25 and saw some names I was happy to recognize, and others I'm sure I'll be happy to learn about. The work above is a taste of what can be found on their newly launched blog, which can be found here.

It seems obvious to me, as it clearly does to many others, that collaboration is becoming and will continue to be an integral part of art and design in the future. To give an easy example, Dress Me was started as a collaborative effort between Mariel and me. To push that example a bit further, there is no way that we could put the magazine together without all of the help of our contributing editors. Collaboration allows us to do things that never would have been possible on our own. While there may be a certain pride that comes from working "alone", one really must consider what exactly that means. Nobody creates in a bubble, we are formed in part by the environments that surround us, it is inescapable. With this in mind, why not simply admit all of our work fits within the larger context of the worlds that we are a part of and attempt to engage them directly during the process, so as to create a finished piece with a better understanding of its surroundings? In addition, I feel that a collaborative work allows a creative to truly find what is important in what they specifically bring to their work as it requires a direct conversation that does not happen on the same level when work is completed before it is shown to others.

Lerning to Relax

Well, yesterday was an interesting day with a fair amount of stress. This morning Mariel and I awoke to discover that last night I cracked the screen of her macbook while we were cleaning up her apartment. This meant that our workflow was disrupted, which is particularly annoying given that we have to present our work to our thesis adviser tomorrow.
When things can become a bit overwhelming, I've always enjoyed looking at abstract painting. Its easily accesible human emotions always seem to help me sort out my head and get a new perspective on everything going on. I came across these paintings from Derek Lerner's Asvirus series a little while ago and found myself revisiting and enjoying them today.
When I look at abstract art, for an instant I usually have a knee jerk reaction worrying "am I reading this right?" Ultimately though, from my perpective, whatever message I take away is what I have, and no artist's statement can alter that. This isn't to say that I think the will of the artist should be entirely ignored, clearly the painter has something to say and wants to be heard, but I just don't think its worth getting caught up in attempting to decypher a coded message to the point where I lose sight of the original work, and its meaning to me.

Sam Stuff I Found on the Weber

Antigone

Travesties

Parfumerie

Glengarry Glen Ross

The Gaurdsman

Loot

This is a series of illustrations to be used in posters that Brooklyn artist Sam Weber produced for Toronto's Soulpepper Theater.  Each of the posters has a rich layered texture at times appearing to be anything from airbrush to pencil to watercolor.  The theater is dedicated to the production of classic plays and the posters nicely reflect that antiqued feel without referencing it too literally.  See Sam Weber's portfolio

Maurizio Bongiovanni: For the Birds

I've been seeing the works of Maurizio Bongiovanni for some time without having a name to attach to the work. We're taking a little sidestep from our usual photographic content to take a look at some paintings today. I've always loved the combination of naturalistic painting and abstraction, and this is an example of it done well. You can see more work at Maurizio Bongiovanni's flickr.