sweet and sour

First Taste was a video made especially for TEDxSydney 2013 by Saatchi & Saatchi in Sydney. It shows  in slow motion an assortment of young children experiencing their  first tastes of  some very strong flavoured foods.  The Music is Earthspan Panoramic from Paul Mottram
You will find a huge amount of TV ads on YouTube. For some old shockers see TV Ark

water paper scissors film

Nearly a year in the making and shot in a continuous take, Revolution follows the cyclical journey of a single water droplet.

Photography - Chris Turner
Paper Engineering - Helen Friel
Animation - Jess Deacon
Post Production - Neil Cunningham
Music - Joe Shetcliffe

 

The House of Illustration

Eric Carle 'What are you like?'

 

TheHouse of Illustration is the world’s first dedicated home for the art of illustration;  adverts, animation, picture books, political cartoons, scientific drawings, fashion design; they are a creative hub for emerging and established artists working in every aspect of illustration.

The House of Illustration put on exhibitions like their most recent UK-touring exhibition, What Are YouLike? on at Bath’s Holburne Museum until October 17^th.

Based on a Victorian parlour game, the exhibition invited 45 people in the public eye to create a self-revealing artwork by illustrating 8 of their favourite things from a list of 12: their favourite animal, book, item of clothing, comfort, food, pastime, place, possession, music, shoes, weather or pet aversion (the thing they love to hate!).

Past exhibitions are here

The House of Illustration  also run competitions and organise events with some of the country’s leading illustrators. They work in schools across London through the  PICTURE IT education programme.

They aim to eventuallycreate a permanent home to celebrate the past, present and future of illustration. Items in the shop go towards funding the dream....

 

 

Maurice Sendak

"Maurice Sendak, widely considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century, who wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche, died on Tuesday". This statement opens a very full article about Sendak  and his work  published in the New York Times . It goes on "Roundly praised, intermittently censored and occasionally eaten, Mr. Sendak’s books were essential ingredients of childhood for the generation born after 1960 or thereabouts, and in turn for their children. He was known in particular for more than a dozen picture books he wrote and illustrated himself, most famously “Where the Wild Things Are,” which was simultaneously genre-breaking and career-making when it was published by Harper & Row in 1963".

“Dear Mr. Sendak,” read a letter to Sendak  from an 8-year-old boy. “How much does it cost to get to where the wild things are? If it is not expensive, my sister and I would like to spend the summer there.”

Sendak’s work was the subject of critical studies and major exhibitions; in the second half of his career, he was also renowned as a designer of theatrical sets. He also illustrated other authors, including Hans Christian Andersen, Leo Tolstoy, Herman Melville, William Blake and Isaac Bashevis Singer.

His last story was about an orphaned pig who had never had a birthday party.

new link on Databases A-Z for Cardiff Met students and staff

A link has been added to Databases A-Z  (Electronic Library, Cardiff Met portal).
The new link is to the Carl Giles archive.
My dad used to get the Giles Annual every Christmas and laugh reading it. I used to like looking at the pictures especially those with Granny in , she was scarier than both my two nannas put together. The images now available to you in the archive will serve you well if you are after comments of a sardonic nature on social customs, political shennanigans and general atmospheric backround for life in Britain . They are illustrations for art historians and historians , arts and humanities students and just to puzzle over and/or  laugh at.
A Youtube video on the Giles archive is found here 

The CARL GILES archive is one part of the British Cartoon Archive.  Previously known as the Centre for the Study of Cartoons and Caricature, the BCA was established in 1973, as a research centre and picture library, based upon a unique archive of over 140,000 pieces of cartoon artwork supported by a reference library of newspaper cuttings, books, catalogues and magazines. The Archive is widely used by researchers, authors, teachers, the media and students and is to be found at the University of Kent at Canterbury

Robots and machines that make music

Last year I enjoyed Paul Granjon’s show at Oriel Davies in Newtown Powys

'Humorous and fun, Granjon’s practice triggers serious reflection upon our relationship with technology. In Oriel Factory he capitalises on the abundance of technological waste and creates an open space for playing, making, learning, thinking and sharing in a way that firmly belongs to the 21st century.'

 Paul has spoken of his  apprehension when regarding the gradual infiltration of machines into human experience. The machines  made for this show are not unnerving rather they are funny and endearing. In the show and workshops that made up ‘Oriel Factory’ Paul and his assistants transformed old machine parts into various musical and locomotive machines.

A documentary by Chris Keenan about the process of Paul Granjon's 'Oriel Factory' from start to finish can be viewed  here. The video takes you from an initial studio visit, to installation at Oriel Davies Gallery and performance by Paul Granjon at the opening event with commentary from Paul Granjon and the 'Factory Workers'.

On a related note here are two musical scanners made by a Youtube contributor posted here to welcome in the New Year with a smile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-1fkQcntTU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht96HJ01SE4