Something Smells Fishy...

Ichthyosapien 61912
Digital Painting
2012

Lately, I've been working on a project that I have been thinking about for a long time. Originally, the project was a series of essays connecting classic movie monsters with fears and phobias. Though I may return to the lengthy written discourse the project originated as sometime in the future, for the time being, the project lives as a series of portraits called Social Monsters.

The first portait, Zombie 5412, actually marked the first time I made an artistic rendition of the walking dead, as I wrote about previously. Originally, it was created for a friend, but the enjoyment it brought encouraged me to complete and entire series of related portraits. Icthyosapien 61912, as seen above, is the third portrait of the series and one of the more challenging pieces I have ever completed. In fact, the image seen above is the second version of the piece. The first was much more heavily inspired by Creature From the Black Lagoon.

The goal is to complete the series in time for Halloween. If I feel inspired, I may write the full essays to accompany each image explaining what fears and phobias each monster represents and why. For now, I'm content just making the images. What are your thoughts?

The 8-Bit Arts

Mega Man

Sense memory is an amazing thing. A single, errant scent, sound, or taste, and a person can be thrown back decades in time to relive experiences long forgotten. For anyone who invested hours of their childhood playing the NES, the modern art scenes inspired by 8-Bit acts as a bridge to worlds familiar yet foreign.

Blip Festival NYC 2012 just concluded. Had I access to a TARDIS, I would definitely check it out. Lacking said technology, I'm left basking in they afterglow remotely.

Moleman 2 - Demoscene - The Art of Algorithms has been released for a few months, but since it is a documentary about an art scene that is still generally unknown by the general public, it felt important to showcase.

Loved is an example of what I hope for more of in the future of video games. If you have a couple minutes, I highly recommend that you play it. The game is relatively short, and worth more than a few plays.

There is still an incredible amount of 8-Bit inspired arts out there. What are your favorites? Also, Happy Memorial Day!

Sun Flowers

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it."

 -Mark Twain

My mother has given me so much over the course of her life, but the one gift I have valued over all others is the gift of imagination. Through it, she has given me the heavens and the earth as well as a light to guide me through the brightest days and darkest nights.

This year, to say thanks, I reached up and stole a piece of the sun to create these "sun" flowers especially for her as a small token of appreciation and a symbol of the light and love she has always provided.

How I Learned to Stop Bashing and Love the Zombie

Zombie 5412
Digital Painting
2012

For years, I've avoided zombies. They are far from my favorite monster. I'm much more of a werewolf guy myself. However, as a first, I feel this zombie portrait turned out alright. I may even try another in the future. Any opinions?

The Journey Towards Cloud Consciousness

There will come a day when iPhone level tech become so pervasive that every child will be given a device upon birth. The device will then track the child's educational growth and adapt in both programming and hardware to match the child's maturity level. The data that the device records will follow the child into adulthood, acting as a lifetime resume, giving employers metrics regarding the individuals learning curve that will influence the hiring process.

The device will follow the individual into old age, acting as a companion and a caretaker, tracking things as common as an inventory of paper towels or toilet paper and automatically reordering before the individual runs out, to as specialized as mental and physical acuity, scheduling trips to the doctor when necessary.  Eventually, the device will act as the AI necessary to keep the individual's consciousness alive by transmitting all the knowledge the individual collected as well as patterns of curiousity and creativity based on algorithms into the ethereal web, forming a Cloud Consciousness, and allowing the next generation of DaVinci and Einstein to collaborate with the living over the course of centuries.

Toys like this are only the first step towards that future, and it will be beautiful. :)

8 Bit Bonanza

Yesterday, I crafted a font called 8BitBonanza. The font is based on memories of old videogames, specifically the hand-held variety. Feel free to download and use it for whatever you like. If you do something cool with it, let me know in the comments!

Enjoy!

Project Glass and Three Visions for the Future of Art

Back in 2003, I wrote a story involving a pair of glasses called ASpects, or Augmented Spectacles. It was a silly name, containing the anachronistic duality of a conceptual item. Having to wear glasses myself, the idea of turning my physical hindrance into a technological advantage had been a dream since being introduced to Geordi LaForge. Now, in 2012, Google introduces Project: Glass. For some, it sounds like hi-sci-fi, with the harshest critics claiming vaporware. For hopeful futurists, it is like being told Santa Claus is real and is bringing you cyborg vision.



Google itself has done a fantastic job describing some of the prospective everyday uses for the technology, but what about more specific applications? Certainly it will bring a new level of discourse to business, providing stock traders with up-to-the-second tickers available right within their field of vision. Should a sports model be available, it would surely be outlawed on the professional field of play, as applications could theoretically be developed that would allow batters to determine the speed of a pitch, and providing them signals regarding whether to swing or not. What applications could the art world develop for use of this prospective new technology?

I propose three options. Not the last word in any sense, but examples of possible uses:

1 - Use in Development

Painting a canvas is messy, especially when you lack a steady hand. Even an artist with dedicated focus can pull back and find they have added an arc instead of a line to the portrait. An obvious option involves the use of a straight edge to guide the brush, but then we run back into the dilemma of mess. Projecting a line or shape onto the canvas is another option, but then you still have to factor in shadows.

With AR glasses, an artist could establish some of the more difficult lines and arcs and synch a virtual screen over the breadth of the canvas, giving the artist a guide to follow that doesn’t smudge the paint or place the artist in uncomfortable positions while trying to keep out of the light.

Hanging the piece would also become simpler, as an onscreen level would show how far left or right you need to nudge the piece to be parallel to the ground. 


2 - Use in Media

What will be most interesting is the use of AR glasses as a medium itself. The lines between traditional and digital media will blur to the point of indistinguishable from one another as artists begin coding their canvas to synch with what the viewer sees. A landscape painting will suddenly become a haven for a pre-programmed imaginary friend living in the Cloud.

Portrait without AR Glasses

Portrait with AR Glasses

3 - Use in Collection

You’re seated in a coffee shop, reading a magazine, when you view one of the most gorgeous sculptures you have ever seen. The AR glasses scan the tag that accompanies the image and discovers that the piece is being exhibited at a gallery across the city, is for sale, and has received five-star ranking from countless critics within the city. With the bat of an eye, you have purchased the piece remotely and are given directions to the gallery so you may pick it up in person, as well as browse what else they may have in their collection that is similar to the sculpture.

As I mentioned before, there are countless other possibilities, and I’m sure we won’t even uncover a small sampling of them until the glasses are available and within the hands of the public. What other uses can you envision for AR glasses in the art world?