02-04-14

Flying Lotus :: Until The Quiet Comes

Cannot stop watching this short film by Kahlil Joseph. The story..the music…the execution..everything about it is so beautifully powerful. I love the feeling he’s created with the 35mm…absolute perfection with the nostalgic rawness of LA. Makes me think of all the LA gang movies from the 80s and 90s. Excited to check out some of WHAT MATTERS MOST’s other videos as soon as I’m done drooling over this one.

01-05-14

Oz Magazine

Oz was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963 and 1969 in Sydney, Australia, and, in its second and better known incarnation, became a “psychedelic hippy” magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London. Strongly identified as part of the underground press, it was the subject of two celebrated obscenity trials, one in Australia in 1964 and the other in the United Kingdom in 1971. On both occasions the magazine’s editors were acquitted on appeal after initially being found guilty and sentenced to harsh jail terms.

11-03-13

drum and bass in the usa

Life on the road of SE Asia has been incredible, but there are things I do miss about the United States of Usah. Music, and more specifically live music, being one of the things I miss most. It’s possible to go out and find somewhat similar music here, but there is absolutely no matching the atmosphere of shows in the US. I haven’t been to Europe or Israel (I heard kids in Tel Aviv party like there’s no tomorrow), but I would put my money that the live music scene in America is pretty far out there. One of the most advanced countries in the world, riding the wave of downfall the past decade or so. People seek to forget about responsibility, negativity and just let go. I came across this incredible mix that I closed my eyes to and instantly transported back to those late night lazer lights of the frenzy-fueled clubs and music halls of the states. Can’t wait to get back there just for nights like these. Enjoy the mix

08-31-13

Eye of the Shaman

Inspired from our road trip across the states and deep into the southwest.

04-04-13

Matthew Shlian :: Apophenia

When staring at a new piece of artwork, I always wonder if the artist had a super clear vision or mental rendering of what the final piece would look like before they starting on it. The thing I found most interesting about paper artist and engineer Matthew Shlian is that his art derives solely upon curiosity.

“Alot of times i’ll have an idea for a piece, but I can’t see what it will look like finished. And that’s important. If I can see what it looks like in it’s final stage, then I really don’t want to make it. Because then it would just be like filling out a form.”

Apophenia

Shlian’s newest series to be released to the Ghostly Store, is presented in four distinct moments– like snapshots in the process of pattern creation.

“There is a term called apophenia, which means seeing patterns where none exist. I think I may have it. This series was made using patterns, but specifically patterns that are dissected and subsequently reconstructed–it is neither an aperiodic nor an asymmetrical tile. It is not completely chaotic–there are moments where the underlying structure is visible–but overall the pattern would be non repeating in the whole, thus non fractal based.” – Shlian

Shlian was kind enough to asnwer of few questions I sent over, giving some insight into his inspiration and life behind his incredible work.

NA :: Do any artist(s) in particular come to mind as being a recurring source of inspiration?

Shlian :: Brian Eno, Matthew Goulish and Goat Island, El-P, Daniel Libeskind, Dondi White, Christian Marclay, Ren Weschler, Buckminster Fuller, George Hrycun, Edward R. Tufte, Charles and Ray Eames, Marian Bantjes, Thea Augustina Eck.

NA :: Do you remember what made you become so drawn towards working with paper?

Shlian :: Paper is not an intimidating medium, it is not precious and there is an immediacy to it. You just take a sheet and begin folding or cutting. I’ve always had an affinity for geometry and using paper pushed me to think dimensionally in new ways.

NA :: Can you provide any insight as to what type of paper you usually work with?

Shlian :: I use a lot of different papers in my work depending on the project. I have been using an acid free archival paper from Neenah paper called Fox River Coronado. I use 100# text and 10pt cover weights. I use a lot of Tyvek in my work as well. You can get it in various weights and it is super durable.

NA :: Is there one project in particular that sticks out among the others? Which one are you most proud of?

Shlian :: I am working with a team of Scientists on a National Science Foundation Grant at the University of Michigan. We fold things on the micro and Nano scale. We are beginning to publish papers on our research and I’m beyond excited to share the things we’ve been building. There is so much potential for what we can do with folding.

Matthew Shlian

NA :: What’s the most inspiring thing you’ve seen recently?

Shlian :: I got to hold a meteorite a few days ago and that was pretty inspiring.

NA :: What other forms of art do you find yourself getting lost in?

Shlian :: I’ve been a drummer all my life- I grew up playing in bands. I can easily see the connection between sound and the visual arts. At the Ghostly Show at the ADC last year I was talking with Mike Cina, Andy Gilmore and Sougwen Chung and it turned out we all were involved in music besides doing visual art. Sougwen had Sepalcure, Mike Dj’ed and I think Andy played Banjo or mandolin or something. I suggested that we should start a band together and try to get ghostly to put out our album…Probably not going to happen.

Matthew Shlian

03-24-13

Octo Octa :: I’m Trying

03-18-13

SXSW 2013

Had a blast with the film camera during SXSW this year. Here are some of my favorite shots from the weekend.

03-06-13

A Deep Listening Mixtape for Handsome Clothing

Kanoa Zimmerman

Photo via Kanoa Zimmerman

“Deep Listening is a philosophy and practice developed by Pauline Oliveros that distinguishes the difference between the involuntary nature of hearing and the voluntary selective nature of listening. The result of the practice cultivates appreciation of sounds on a heightened level, expanding the potential for connection and interaction with one’s environment, technology and performance with others in music and related arts.”

via http://deeplistening.org/site/content/about

“This mixtape is a collection of some of my favourite instrumental and ambient music that I’ve come across in the past few years. I usually reserve a lot of this stuff for periods when I’m feeling especially stressed and strung out. As I’m sure is the case with a lot of people who enjoy this kind of music, I always find that binging on ambient music helps me to relax and retreat into my own mind and process whatever thoughts that I have endlessly rattling around in my head. I also tried to sequence all these songs in way that would work best for the kind of music that it is and the kind of energy each song has as to not be completely boring. I hope you enjoy these recordings as much as I do and attach your own memories and meaning to each of them.”

I rolled into this mix tape while streaming Foxes in Fiction’s Soundcloud. I was sunk deep in about 7 minutes into it, and as soon as I heard the Balam Acab track at 33:00, I knew I had to share right away. The mix is so wonderfully healing. Enjoy.

1. Memoryhouse – Minor White
2. RxRy – Baulkn Slihts
3. Bradford Cox & Locket Pundt – Urbana Library of Electronic Music
4. Gas – Untitled #4
5. Casino Versus Japan – Untitled
6. Foxes in Fiction – Static Cults
7. Benoit Pioulard – I Emptied My Lungs Into The Dirigible.
8. Balam Acab – Big Boy
9. The Sight Below – Dour
10. K.C. Accidental – Residential Love Song