b-uncut

Hired? Absolut-ly!

// September 28th, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired, b-legendary, b-scene, featured

I think it’s fairly safe to say that everyone who has ever had a job interview will always remember THAT question.  And by this I mean the one that induces the sweating/stuttering/speechlessness resulting from the thought, ‘I really have no idea how to answer this’.

For me, this question was, ‘If you could hire any brand to represent you, which would it be and why?’ and my answer constituted a great deal of mumbling, several ‘ums’ and a fair few ‘ahhs’, before I came to the swift realisation that I would have to settle with a defeated smile and an attempt at some form of light-hearted humour.

If I were to be asked the question again now of course I would reply – with an air of smug self-satisfaction – that the brand would be Absolut Vodka (and no, it’s not because I am a university student and have a particular fondness for the product…)  

Why?

Absolut is…CREATIVE

As the tagline states, ‘It all starts with an Absolut Blank’ – but it is clear that Absolut’s newest marketing campaign did not stay that way for long.  Launched in July 2011, and comprising of 18 artist collaborations from a variety of different specialities including drawing, painting, print-making, film-making, sculpting and digital art, the Absolut Blank campaign seeks to ‘inspire artists all over the world by turning their iconic bottle into a blank canvas to be filled with creativity’.  Among the artworks are collage imagery by Mario Wagner, light installations by UVA, colourful graphic design by Aesthetic Apparatus, paintings by Dave Kinsey and mural work by Good Wives and Warriors.  Adam Boita, Marketing Manager at Pernod Ricard UK stated, ‘We brought together artist collaborators from a variety of disciplines and watched the journey from pure white canvas to exceptional pieces of art. The result depicts how artists and creativity are inspired through Absolut’. Watch the TV advert here.

Absolut is…INNOVATIVE

Last week, the company launched its free Absolut Blank app for iPhone 3GS, 4 and iPad2.  Using the camera and microphone, the app creates images and sounds inspired by the content that it has been fed with by the user – to produce an evolving piece of art.  The creation can then be uploaded to the Absolut Blank App Gallery and shared with friends on Facebook.  As Mark Hamilton, Global Marketing Director at Absolut, asserted, ‘The Absolut Blank app is both highly innovative and very addictive, it really changes your surroundings’. Want to see for yourself? Download it here and let us know what you think!

Absolut is…COMMITTED

This is not the first time Absolut has turned to artists when it comes to marketing campaigns. The company has a long history of dedication to contemporary art, with Andy Warhol (a teetotaller, he allegedly used Absolut as cologne!) being one of the first artists to paint for the brand in 1985.  According to Anna Malmhake, Vice President of Global Marketing, ‘It’s not about temporarily sponsoring something for one year, it’s 30 years of history’.  And, as a way of demonstrating this long-term commitment to creativity, the Absolut Art Award has been in existence since 2009.  Malmhake described the annual €30,000 prize as a small way for Absolut Vodka to show their gratitude to the world of contemporary art, presented to ‘an artist that we think is doing something really new and exciting and pushing the boundaries’.

It is at this point, of course, that I’m given a pat on the back by my interviewer for giving an excellent answer to such a tricky question.  Either that or I’m showed to the door and sent in the direction of Stockholm, the location of Absolut’s head office…

Looking for original artwork for your latest campaign like Absolut?  Submit a brief to the Creative Services Exchange today!

Reduced, reused and up-cycled art

// July 14th, 2011 // View Comments // b-Crowd, b-inspired

With climate change as an issue looming over our heads, it’s becoming increasingly important for all sectors to find ways to become more sustainable.  This change applies to the creative industry as well. Green art is emerging as a movement to counteract this growing concern and to focus our attention back on the environment and how we use everyday materials. This practice, referred to as ‘up-cycling’, is a method to convert castoff materials or useless products into something of a higher environmental value: a work of art.

Chun Kwang Young

Contemporary Korean designer Chun Kwang Young uses a few found objects – paper, natural dues and small amounts of foam – to build ‘freestanding’ artworks. Young sculpts these installations by hand, creating something that looks like a living, breathing creature.  In an interview in 2008, Young exclaimed that his artwork is an expression of his “anger and criticism toward modern society and how it is destroying environment.”

Cassandra Tondro

Some artists, such as Los Angeles-based painter Cassandra Tondro, transform traditional forms of artwork using re-engineered materials.  Tondro uses discarded house paint to create her vibrant and unique abstract paintings.  Most of her work uses re-purposed acrylic latex paint (also known as the leftover house paint in your garage) that she rescues and ‘upcycles’ in her artwork.

Bonnie Meltzer

Almost any found object can be transformed into a work of art.  You can up-cycle bottle caps, plastic containers, beer bottles, scraps of woods and old batteries – the possibilities are endless. Portland, Oregon artist Bonnie Meltzer uses various materials to build her mixed media abstract constructions.  Meltzer specialises in using everyday objects, from crocheted wire, to pieces on word and photographs to infuse her work with a commentary on contemporary culture.  The artist often takes wires from discarded computers to ‘weave’ complicated designs.  The artworks are re-used refuse of contemporary culture’s obsession with the latest gadgets and gizmos – objects that can only be used for a few years before they are traded for the latest model.  By drawing attention to the waste of the modern ‘wired’ culture, Meltzer through exploring themes such as global warming, economics and personal discovery.

So next time you think of tossing your Kindle for the iPad 2, stop and think how you could turn this into a work of art.

Need help with your creative campaign?  Submit a brief and get started today!

Venice Biennale: bringing tapestry art into the 21st century

// July 6th, 2011 // View Comments // Uncategorized, b-inspired, b-scene

Today I wanted to focus on tapestries.  I know that at the mention of this ancient form of artwork, that some of you are yawning and others are thinking, ‘do they still make tapestries?’  This ancient art is often under-appreciated and sidelined to the corners of museums.  However, some contemporary artists  are using the advances of modern technology reinvigorate  this dying art.

The Venice  Biennale unveiled an unique exhibition, appropriately titled, Penelope’s Labour: Weaving Words and Images, at the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore Exhibition Centre.

Throughout the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, Europe saw a boom in artists working in tapestry, fine embroidered fabrics and carpet weaving.  Tapestries attracted the tastes of the bourgeoisie and only the wealthiest houses could commission them.  However, tastes in art changed, and sculpture works and paintings became more desirable to the aristocracy.  Now, tapestries are fading pieces that are only seen in the dusty wings of art museums, unappreciated and poorly understood.

The curators of the Penelope’s Labour exhibition, Adam Lowe and Jerry Brotton, wanted to showcase tapestry art throughout the ages, but also show how contemporary artists have been rediscovering and reinterpreting this ancient form of artwork.

Contemporary artists have gone back to creating tapestries because of this medium’s ability to display the interplay of words and images.  The exhibition has a wide-range of styles and eras, ranging from the late-15th-century works that tell the story of the sack of Jerusalem, to Azra Aksamija’s ‘collective weaving’ of the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia-Herzegovina and also more contemporary works such as Marc Quinn’s flowers of our manipulated natural world.

Marc Quinn. Penelopes Labour - Weaving Words and Images. Group Exhibition. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice

Contemporary artists have traded looms and complicated patterns for photography and state-of-the-art technologies that allow them to ‘weave’ intricate designs into a tapestry.  Some of the contemporary works are ‘manipulated’, fusing the styles of the 16th century with the present day artistic movements.  Marc Quinn describes how tapestry art is “a medium which joings two worlds – the medieval and ours”.

Quinn’s work juxtapostes oversized and exotic-looking flowers over a border of foliage and fruits, motifs produced in Flanders during the mid-16th century.

Still think tapestries are boring?

Do you need artwork for your project? Submit a brief and get diverse options from artists from around the globe.

'The Library of Babel/In and Out of Place': The Treasures of the Zabludowicz Collection

// April 21st, 2010 // View Comments // b-scene

A treasure trove of contemporary art in a Methodist chapel right in the heart of Chalk Farm, just around the corner from my flat… who knew?

I walked in without the highest expectations of the 200 works on display from the Zabludowicz Collection, curated by Anna-Catharina Gebbers, but left praising the collection and Gebbers’ curatorial finesse. It was not just the big names that impressed me; in fact, I was more impressed with some dozens of works by emerging artists that I have never come across in galleries, museums or the auction world. Who I am sure will be huge names in the next 5 years.

As I stepped in the door, I was given a guide listing 217 works that were displayed throughout the central nave of the church, the back rooms and the upstairs pews.  Having forgotten a pen, I over-eagerly checked off 20 works by impressive artists I had never heard of before with lip pencil. I was particularly fascinated by the work of Amie Dicke, Friecrich Kunath, Larry Clark, Dan Shaw-Town, Melissa McGill, Steve Bishop, and Brian Griffiths (I could go on…)

And of course, I was also impressed by the works of artists I DO know; particularly an erotic and haunting photograph by Cindy Sherman, two paintings by the up and coming expressionist painter Tomory Dodge, a recent Mat Collishaw photograph taking the idea of the lightbox installation from Jeff Wall yet creating a cinematic atmosphere vastly different from Wall’s, and of course to complete a contemporary collection there must be a work by Terrance Koh.

The exhibition’s theme was convincing – a cohesive insight into our acquisition of meaning and how we relate and connect to what we see. The title, ‘A Library of Babel’, is based on a short story by Jorge Luis Borges who portrays the world as a library that people wander through trying to create meaningful sequences amongst the books.

Walking through the exhibition I found myself trying to piece together each room and find meaning through the juxtaposition of two pieces of the exhibition. And I did piece together some consistent themes between artists and works dealing with gender, race and sexuality, eroticism, the intersection of language and art, and the body. The curator said ‘The sheer number of works forces the visitor to chose which works will receive attention.’ You got my list of favourites, now go see which ones will grab your attention! Don’t miss this exhibition, on until 23 May 2010.

b-loud! Jeanette Luchese's Abstract & Emphatic Dreams

// April 7th, 2010 // View Comments // b-loud

“A sensory dialogue of inner vibrations embracing joy in creation and a freedom in speech.”

Jeanette Luchese‘s artwork is an empathic tussle revealing our common inner conflicts.  Jeanette explores many media including painting, jewellery, sculpture and glass work. Thick paint is puttied, scraped and brushed over surfaces. Her abstractions ring with a dynamic range of internal echoes and every song sung tells a story to the heart. She organised the online  project
‘A View From Your Window‘ at b-uncut.net where she is a consistent supporter of her fellow artists.
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What was your very first artwork?
I have always loved to draw, and only have memories of  drawing as a young child. I didn’t play with dolls, although, I enjoyed sports, I just liked to draw, I considered it playing. One day, I got tired of taping pieces of paper together to make larger drawings and decided to draw all over my bedroom wall, I hid it ingeniously for months, until the day I heard my mother scream… “Come get this artwork off the wall”.
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Describe the piece you love the most—why?
I think the piece I love most, is the piece that disturbs me the most, “What day is it”. In reflection the piece speaks to the inner struggle that unites us all. It seems to align itself to Freud’s structure of mind, the ID, SuperEgo, and the Ego. It was born out of a time I was questioning my identity, within aspects of authenticity, and much I considered “real”.
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What are your methods? Your inspirations?
My methods are very simple, I invite the experience of creation, a state that I feel gives me the freedom to “speak”, and I am inspired by everything and nothing. All intrigues me.  The pondering of the serendipity in life, the impulses that lead, the journey, and nature itself, the cycle of decay and rebirth: I gain inspiration from these acts or states of transformation. In looking at my art, I see an orchestration of opposing aspects that conflict and must find a commonality, a balance, a way to rise above. I think the negative, or what some deem “dark” translates to conviction, and is as much a necessity to expose as is the strength in spiritual up-lifting of the “light”, which I hope all can sense in my art.

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What did it take to make it to where you are now?
In all honesty, a persistent unrelenting inner spirit that refused to lay dormant, and a total disregard for all consequences, and a passion to believe all things are possible.
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Do you make a living from your artwork?
Well if you consider graphic design artwork, which I do, then yes, if you consider visual art only artwork then no, not yet, but soon.
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Who has helped you along the way?
Actually, everyone… My art is impacted by my journey – good or bad, and although perhaps not easily seen at the time, all have played a part, even now with b-uncut. Although, to point to moments in time and accredit a person, or persons, that played a huge role, I would first have to go back to an art teacher I had in high school, Maria Kertesz, she so believed in me that she pushed me past what I was willing to do. More recently, I would have to accredit Ted Fullerton, Stu Oxley, Arron Rose, Marlene Hilton Moore, and so many more of the faculty of Georgian College, Barrie: their acceptance of my crazed expressions of visual ramblings opened the door I had closed. [I felt haunted by things I left undone and decided to complete a road I first set out on and enrolled in a visual arts program, and am currently two classes away from completing a Bachelor of Fine Art Degree]. My son Joshua inspires me through the pursuit of his own dreams, and my husband who although is very confused in the “why of it all” is supportive.
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What 5 artists (DOA) would you invite for the ultimate dinner party?
Leonardo Da Vinci – his genius is astounding, from his painting to his robotics and his constant search for answers/understanding, just would love the opportunity to listen to him. Picasso, just because, Motherwell for an affinity to the blank canvas as a portal, David Smith for his movements in steel, Duchamp for a conversation on the toilet, and if someone could not make it, I would really love to substitute Greenberg to clarify a view things.

b-Quick!
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Your favourite curse?
I don’t have one, primarily phobic and I don’t want the bad karma.
Qualities a man needs to seduce you and the flaws that will repel you?
A willingness to listen and an ability to “hear.” The flaw, pretending to listen, and being incapable of “hearing.”
Your biggest (albeit endearing) flaw?
Uncontrollable enthusiasm… I am told it is annoying.
Your parents advice you should have followed, but didn’t?
Watch your pennies.
The power you wish you had?
Other than, the power to grant world peace, end starvation and strive; the power to fly, how wondrous to physically do what I can only accomplish in my dreams.
Who would you choose to rule the world?
That crazy mouse in the cartoon that wanted to take over the world…I think his name was “Brain”… lets give him a go.
Favourite ice-cream?
Pralines and Cream
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b-Honest!

Where do you see yourself in…..

One month? Pondering, making, showing, sharing, selling.
One year? I have never had the opportunity to travel and there are so many places I dream of experiencing, I hope in a years time I will have made this dream a reality, imagine going around the world, pondering, making, showing, sharing, selling.
One decade? In a villa in Italy, inspired by the surroundings comfortable and happily pondering, making, showing, sharing, selling.

Oddball Art Fusion: Animal Collective and Danny Perez Create Visual Music with ODDSAC

// April 6th, 2010 // View Comments // b-scene

The other night I attended the LA premiere of Animal Collective’s “visual album” ODDSAC.  Like the rest of the world, based on the 26 second trailer and after 4 years of making, I had no idea what to expect.


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Most bands would stay clear of creating audible appeal harmonised with visuals.  However these guys certainly have the artistic integrity to give it a shot and they got an extra boost with the help of their friend artist/director Danny Perez.

The feature, while utterly bizarre and far from perfect, is entirely captivating and well worth the hour long ride for a peek into the band’s creative madness. It is bass-heavy and droning, filled with weird costumes, scary monsters and pleasing colour palates when the melodies kick in. Much like Animal Collective shows, there are very long kaleidoscopic interstitials of repetitive sound, serving as undulating provocations and exhalations between the more songy-songs.

Recently, on March 4, The New York’s Guggenheim hosted Animal Collective and Danny Perez on a site-specific performance piece that changed the museum’s rotunda into a kinetic, psychedelic environment called Transverse Temporal Gyrus — featuring original recorded music composed specifically for the event along with video projections, costumes, and props, rendering the band members and performers into intense, visual abstractions.  According to the band, this installation piece was the “physical form” that the film would take if it were to become an object.

Although ODDSAC is no masterpiece of new cinema, it definitely stretches the boundaries of logic, narrative and terror and is worth having a look at!

Easter Treats and The Last Supper

// April 1st, 2010 // View Comments // Eyes on the Crowd

Spring chicks, egg-hunts and chocolate-smudged faces, the last supper and a deep fried shoe.

We love Mirko Credito’s deep-fried series. In the video we see Mirko’s unique take on a cookery show. There’s something extremely provocative about encasing objects in fat. This stiletto drips with consumerism, luxury, vices and crispy bad health. These can certainly become more visible over Easter when contemplation takes a stronger place in our minds.
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b-loud: Figurative Drawing: Sketching to the Bone: Andreja Repnik

// March 10th, 2010 // View Comments // b-loud

Slovenian artist Andreja Repnik brings a unique vision to the figure.
Seethingly torn and ripped limbs are reconstructed with fibre, wood and what could be coral. Her drawings arrest your attention and make you question the mutilation. At only 24 it’s clear what a promising future Andreja has ahead of her. Read on and you’ll learn how coherently her work exerts the way she sees the world.

b-Loud!

b-uncut: What did it take to make it to where you are now?

b-Quick!

b-uncut: Qualities a man needs to seduce you?

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b-Honest!

Graphic Art: Blotters, Posters and Teapots In the Belly of the Underdog

// March 9th, 2010 // View Comments // b-hind the scenes

Sammy Forway, 34 years old, started Underdog Art Company as an online gallery in early 2007 and opened the Underdog art gallery in London SE1 in mid 2008. Sammy discusses his gallery life, art he loves and the exhibitions held at this multi-media gallery on the Old Kent Road.

Why did you want to open a gallery?
I have always been interested in art since I was a small kid I always made art paintings drawings and was generally creative when I got older I realised I wanted to start my own business but didn’t know what yet, I only realised what it was when I started to see how difficult it was for new artists to get work seen and promoted and came up with the idea of the online gallery, since then its just progressed. We now have regular exhibitions and live events here at Underdog.

What kind of work do you love?

My Current show is called Rock around the Crockery! It’s a show of graphic art screen prints, stencil and digital work, oh and not to forget the Graffed up defaced and debouched Crockery! Tea sets, trays, coffee pots etc. Art should be fun too eh.

Very successful, I am a musician myself and know lots of bands so we have really good live music at our shows.

Raphael, he was the most productive of the old masters and he died at 37… Quids in! Only joking, I love Franz Ackermann’s work I would love to represent him. His work is very psychedelic, cerebral and visceral but still with something to say. I’d also like to have represented Von Dutch and Ed (Big Daddy) Roth. Because they were pioneers of graphic art and sure loved rock n roll.

Corrupted

// January 27th, 2010 // View Comments // b-scene

Walk into Willy Wonka’s factory and tickle your desires with an edible paradise. Fruits and flowers conjure temptations. Your eyes boggle and glands salivate uncontrollably. But hang on…there’s a clear box imprisoning these delights!

Welcome to the work of Rebecca Stevenson. A sculptor oozing with talent. You would normally expect such excitable ectoplasm in the edible creations of Ferran Adrià. Well for more than ten years Stevenson has been creating some of the most vivacious sculptures on the market. Marveling at her forbidden fruit is just the beginning of the journey. If you can peel your lust from these glistening joys a deeper narrative unfolds.

The first work on display, Folie en hiver features a bust embracing a lambs head. Your eye initially sees the glossy candy separate to the classical form. The bust in fact vanishes among this wild vibrancy. Fooled by sweet shop trickery you are lured in close. Only then, slapped with some sickly contortion. Realising the confectionery is bleeding from this serene and quiet figure. Spewing like fungus on a dead tree and dangling like flayed skin. These teasers suddenly take on a darker side…

There’s one other piece exhibited thats lurks around the corner in the Nettie Horn gallery. No less delightful and gross, Luxe Vert harmonises supreme beauty with its supremely ugly flaws. This time the Disney disease has consumed the carcass of a swan. Sweet plums and raspberries have swept through its core like burrowing worms leaving a gaping shell. This beauty contest between classical and the craze has stunningly ravaged a new elegance. While the details of her feathers are in tact and her neck and head stands proud, a flourishing fantasy world has formed throughout the body.

In these sculptures, Stevenson let’s natural beauty and a magpie’s fetish have a fling. She achieves a wondrous balance between beauties and horrors. Her work leads me to think how our modern aesthetic is more a series of hybrids than a set of fixed traditional values. That these long established pillars of perfection have been released from their limitations. I urge you to make a trip to Vyner Street and experience this sticky situation for yourself.

Showing until 21st Feb at the Nettie Horn Gallery.
Have a look at her website for more fantastical examples.