Creative Camera quote...because someone had to write about it...

· “The photograph alone among art forms can convincingly appear to portray the world legitimately…and at the same time, evoke associations and meanings which dispel any particulars of time, place or object…This photographic belief system holds that the world is studded with potential symbols; the artist needs skill to render or capture experiences, but he must also perceive the symbolic associations. This is a question of insight and vision and dreams.” – Lois Fishman, Creative Camera, 1977.

Face value: a rose is going to have particular connotations no matter what, and it's gonna take more than just your word to convince the random viewer that roses represent the unconditional love of your dog Skippy, and only the unconditional love of your dog Skippy.

But if we're going to proceed as imagemakers assuming that every little thing on this planet means something, and that every item means the same thing to every single person ever, I think we're denying ourselves as artists the possibility to expand on those possible symbolic associations. Sure, there are certain items that are so cliched they probably shouldn't even be touched. It doesn't mean we can't try to subvert them to represent something else, or use these symbols to create an alternate truth (or at least mock the cliche). So yes, everything can potentially represent something, but we can invent what a lot of these things mean. So while a work about your ferocious Rottweiler Skippy chewing up roses will most likely represent LOSS OF INNOCENCE OMG* because roses and Rottweilers have very familiar connotations, there's opportunity there with a little creativity and imagination to add other, more interesting details and symbols to make it about something completely different...or you can throw in a teddy bear and a bunch of soft pastel color and drive the cliche home.

That's what I took away from visiting Trenton's studio: as an artist, you have the freedom to make up your own language. As artists, we should exploit this right as much as possible.

*all caps because this is one of the most cliched themes ever

Deborah Stratman lecture

I was reluctant to go to her lecture at first. The video work of hers that we've seen in class didn't particularly interest me at all, I'm afraid to admit..."The BLVD" just rambled on and on and on...and there was a car wreck, and more rambling.

So why we couldn't have talked about her sound experiments in class? Sonic Warfare in particular looks really cool. I really want to see that work in person, though I believe that all the sounds would overwhelm me pretty quickly. (That toddler seemed like he was having a ball, though.) And the hollowed out horses in Marfa...the concept itself fascinates me. I'm still in disbelief that the installation was based on an actual spy technique (Wikipedia says it actually happened, so it must be true!). I really want to hang out in one of those fake horses for a while...plus the idea of a hollow horse broadcasting polka music makes me smile.

I especially love the concept of the horse picking up border control radio signals. Having a spy horse set up to overhear where border police are and what they're up to (and, theorecticaly, warn potential illegal immigrants) is conceptually brilliant.

Stratman talks giddyly about EVERYTHING-she discussed everything in her lecture with a slight hint of excitement. This may be why "The BLVD" didn't really do anything for me: the car wreck near the end was just as interesting as that one guy's bad jokes, and the filmmaking reflects that.

One last thing: apparently Dario Robleto was part of the same Marfa project Stratman was in (it's an ongoing series of installation pieces). Can we have a mass field trip to Marfa next year? Please? :D

Produced by the Topps Trading Company, originally released in 1985 and designed to parody the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls created by Xavier Roberts and was originally created by Art Spiegelman and Topps executives under the original name wacky packages later changed.

with all the popularity of the cards they were always shrouded in controversy they were banned in schools and they were being sued for copy right infringement by the makers of Cabbage Patch Kids.

Megan Rath - The Driller Killer by Abel Ferrara

So, The Driller Killer is an independent film about a "starving artist" struggling to make his work and pay the bills. He eventually snaps and starts to go insane (sounds like us during midterms and finals right?) and he starts randomly staking out people and killing them with a power drill. David, you must have known this was right up my alley lol. If anyone has seen American Psycho or Terror Firmer, I am somewhat reminded of those films. We should all watch this when we get stressed for critique.

Robert Crumb

Robert Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry. One of his most recognized works is the "Keep on Truckin'" comic, which became a widely distributed fixture of pop culture in the 1970s. Others are the characters Devil Girl, Fritz the Cat, and Mr. Natural.
n 2009, he published his illustrated graphic novel version of the Book of Genesis.^[8][9][10] The book includes annotations explaining his reactions to Biblical stories. It was reported onNPR in October 2009, that it was a four-year effort and does not rewrite any part of the text. Crumb did extensive research in the earlier language versions of the text to support the interpretations. It contains all 50 chapters of Genesis and comes with a warning on its cover: "Adult Supervision Recommended for Minors."
He was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1991.
He has a unique style that one critic has described as "not knowing if he was old drawing young, or young drawing old." Another thing I found interested was that he cited LSD use as a contributing factor to his style. He is hailed as a genius by some comic book talents. He also collaborates with his wife at times.
His use of biblical stories and his interpretation reminded me of Trenton Doyle Hancock's mythical method of storytelling .

(Sources: Robert Crumb official website, Wikipedia, and arttattler.com)

James Ensor

James Ensor was a late 19th early 20th century painter and print maker. His paintings were originally deemed scandalous, yet he continued to exhibit his work and eventually became accepted by the community. He has been a heavy influence on expressionism and surrealism.

His paintings often feature skeletons, which he painted from life. He would set up the skeletons in his studio and dress them up in masks similar to the ones his mother sold for carnivals. He was particularly interested in the masks' forms, colors, and psychological impact which allowed him a true freedom to paint whatever came to mind.

Fun tidbits: in 1929 he was named a Baron by King Albert. He was also the subject of the Belgian composure Flor Alpaerts's "James Ensor Suite."

The last image, titled Christ's Entry Into Brussels, which was exhibited in 1889 was particularly scandalous and caused quite an uproar throughout the community.

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His work reminds me of Trenton Doyle Hancock's, or rather the other way around. The line work, distorted figures, and even subject matter (especially the skeletons and mask-like faces) particularly remind me of one another. The first two images, I feel, show the strongest influence or parallels to Trenton's work, with their fast and slightly sloppy sketch-like quality, as well as the decision to add color to only a few key areas.

*All of the facts were retrieved from wikipedia.

Vanessa Godden- Herbie Popnecker

Herbie Popnecker first appeared in Forbidden Worlds #73 in December 1958, published by ACG, American Comics Group. It was the introduction of the antithesis of a hero -- short, fat, young -- but this unlikely hero was one of the most powerful and best known beings in history. Deriving some of his powers from genetics and some from magical lollipops from the Unknown, Herbie could talk to animals (who knew him by name), fly (by walking on air), become invisible, and when he got his own comic, travel through time.

In Forbidden Worlds Herbie made several appearances (#73, #94, #110, #114, and #116, the final two with Herbie featured on the cover), during which his character developed: emotionless, terse, irresistible to women, consulted by world leaders, and more powerful than the Devil. Herbie's parents were unaware of his great powers and fame, and his father repeatedly referred to him as a "little fat nothing". Herbie's dad, Pincus Popnecker, was a financial failure with one poorly-conceived scheme after another, but Herbie would bail him out every time and his dad would take the credit for being a business genius.

Herbie also made cameo appearance, albeit very much out of character, in Unknown Worlds #20 published in 1961.

Herbie received his own title in April 1964. The series ran for twenty-three issues until February 1967, shortly before the demise of ACG. The stories were written by Shane O'Shea, one of several pseudonyms of the ACG editor, Richard E. Hughes, with artwork was by Ogden Whitney. Comics writer Alan Moore has called Herbie his favorite superhero.

http://perlypalms.com/herbie/herbalog.htm

http://livingbetweenwednesdays.com/?p=3221

http://www.epic-randomness.com/tag/herbie-popnecker/