Things and stuff that I do to help me make art

• Hang out in my studio
• Write creatively
• Write random thoughts
• Write about old pieces
• Write about things I read
• Write about things that make me mad
• Read
• Go on the internets
• Examine/ familiarize myself with the practices of my mentors and peers
• Photograph things that I see
• Draw things that I see
• Write on things that I read
• Talk to people about things that I read and see
• Write down smart stuff that people say
• Make lists
• Collect things
• Categorize things
• Make things
• Make things out of materials that are cool
• Make things through processes that I enjoy
• Make things for no reason
• Make things for other people
• Make functional things
• Hang things on my walls so I can look at them in a different way
• Learn new processes/ techniques
• Look at art
• Look at peoples house, how they decorate and at all their things
• Go to stores that are full of things that I like so that I can figure out why I like them or what I don’t like.
• Make impulsive decisions
• Make critical decisions
• Cut stuff up and break stuff
• Fix stuff
• Tinker
• Put tape on things
• Put disparate things together
• Think critically about my habits and routines
• Show my art to other people
• Bring stuff from my house to my studio
• Bring stuff from my studio to my house
• Call all the things in my studio art
• Call all the things in my studio space ‘messing around’

Justin Bieber talks about abortion, sex, and politics in new Rolling Stone

This post comes as a good follow-up on my post concerning the Justin Bieber “Pray” video.  I think the headlines and the articles below speak for themselves:

Justin Bieber Talks Sex, Politics, Music and Puberty In New ‘Rolling Stone’ Cover Story

Tween evangelist? Justin Bieber film packed with prayer

Justin Bieber Says He’s Pro-Life on Abortion, Wait for Sex: Apparently he wasn’t quite assertive enough for the pro-lifer’s.

A question of empathy: Justin Bieber and the difference between anti-abortion and anti-choice.

While I do think that a clear political agenda is beginning to emerge with force from the Bieber icon, a view presented in the second article, I was swayed by the last article in the Huffington Post to be slightly more understanding and read further into the situation.  Maybe Bieber, still only 16, is just trying to do and say what he thinks it right.

Never the less, the structures of sentimentality surrounding his pop empire and agenda deserve a critical engagement.

Re: Sign building research

Here is a screenshot of a shop I passed this weekend.  I thought it was a perceptive use of font and signage to reflect on.

Link to the website of the store

Sign-building research: Signs, Fonts, and Politics

In trying to decide the aesthetics of a sign project I am working on, I came across an inspiriing and curious video posted by some Ron Paul supporters:

“This a sign that freedom built,” remarks one of the builders at the end.  Literally how to build the sign, the geographical politics of its placement, and the belief in the candidate’s ideals overlap in weird ways.  What are the politics behind sign building (not just for outwardly political campaigns)?  How do the aesthetics of the sign politicize it accordingly?

While it might be less confusing to look to something besides political campaigns as a model, it is a very well analyzed, clear example.  Below I have linked some of the articles I found useful.  One of the author’s put the issue quite clearly when he said “Type is language made visible” (Collins).  How did the candidates craft a language that convinced the public they were sincere?  What are the implications of this assumed sincerity?

So after all this, I think my sign will be white with royal blue, serif font, maybe Baskerville…

 

Links:

To the Letter Born

What font says ‘Change’?