I guess sometimes yay for corporate overlords?

When I first ran across this on Jay-Z’s Life and Times site, I was both drawn to the concept of immortalizing such an apparatus of music history and also thinking “Don’t all boom boxes look the same though?” I may have been born in the 80s, but started paying attention in the 90s; so I’m of the walkman era and boom boxes just weren’t an everyday occurrence.

Having looked through a few pages and the video below tis crazy some of the styles that were put out back in the day; and that for most part they are just going to go to waste. So shout outs are in order for Lyle Owerko for his collection and putting together this fantastic book.

Interview by @bjones21 for @social8gency

I came across Sagaki Keita’s work and thought it was some of the most amazingly psychedelic art I’d seen in some time.  The precision on the macro scale down to the seemingly haphazard and spontaneous nature of the micro is amazing.  I’m always a bit taken a back that he doesn’t lose his way when creating these pieces.

The interview was done via email.  Sagaki speaks little english and thus the text has some hiccups here and there.  I’ve kept it as is, with little alteration as not to misconstrue or misrepresent Mr. Keita’s words.

Mr. Keita where are you originally from?

I‘m from Japan. I was born in the place called Ishikawa. I lived in Fukushima to18-24 years old. I live in Tokyo now

Has your location and how you grew up influenced your work at all?

I do not think that the location influences my work.
But, as child, I was affected by one thing; it was Mandara. Mandara is the religious painting of the esoteric Buddhism that I was very interested in at first.

At the age of 10 years old, I was with by father and saw a mandara. It is very minute, richly colored, and psychedelic. And it expresses a human being and the universe that they are both the whole and the part. I was strongly charmed by Mandara.
In addition, comics were the most imminent thing since I was young. I wrote/drew comics from my younger years.

“It is my roots.”

What can you say about your style?

I draw a picture to a concept in both the part and the whole of the art. My work is made with a pen mainly. I draw a picture of the macro image and spend most time on the minute mainly. My works is comprised of accumulation of many characters. It may look like a masterpiece and a city or a monster from a distance. However, it is really the accumulation of the picture such as comics and strange motifs.

What are the characters that you draw? There is seemingly a usual style to them, but always a few changes to each?

I do not understand it well myself.  I draw the thing which flashes, impromptu.
They are my other self and are a part of the world and the space at the same time.
I think that characters are continually changing.

Were there any artists that inspired your work?

One that I was performed inspire of is a mandara as expressed earlier.
In addition, the favorite painter is Hieronymus Bosch.

Do you work in any other mediums, or purely pen & ink?

The art supplies are ball-point pens (Gel ink 0.38mm) mainly.
In addition, the gray tone draws India ink with the thing which I weakened with water.

Where did you develop your style?

This style came out naturally.
My style drawing little by little from the corner. This style fits me. Then gradually erode over the whole canvas.

I don’t draw a draft. I draw it in pen from the beginning.
The style to repeat several levels like oil painting, and make a screen, this is not suitable to me. The place where I drew on doesn’t want to be touched anymore.

Where did you go to school?

I went to the Fukushima University graduate school.
Fukushima University is not University of Arts, It is a pedagogic university.
I majored in art in the education.

Fukushima is a prefecture with a nuclear power plant becoming the problem in the world now, and of course, it is the land which there was for very heavy damage by an earthquake.

What was the experience for you during the earthquake?

It is a difficult question.
My feelings probably have not yet come, it is difficult to regard it with objectivity.
Probably I think that outwardly the picture [myself] has not changed immediately. However, I may be unconsciously changed by this earthquake.

“I was able to reconfirm that I will draw a picture all the time from now on.”

Fukushima has a lot of friends and acquaintances. I worried very much.
There was not much room to think about oneself.
However, I make use of this experience and think that it is necessary to change it into a positive thing from now on.

“One way is through art.”

Where were you at the time?

I was in Tokyo. It was just the day of the graduation ceremony of the high school where I work. Tokyo shook very much, too. I remember that I was very much surprised.

Is art our full time job?

I draw, work, and sell.
I work as a teacher of the art in a high school

I don’t post much electronic on here, I don’t know why not, but just haven’t I’m definitely a fan of the genre. One of the guys who always wow me with each successive album is Amon Tobin (I even went on a purchase spree to fill gaps in my catalog). Found sound paired with his ingenuity behind the boards makes an Amon Tobin something else to experience.

Check out his track by track commentary on ISAM here.

I’m a bit of an inforgraphic nut, so when these came on my radar I knew I had to repost these.  These must have been a painstaking endeavor to complete, but they turned out better than the creator could have hoped.  To see more head over to Pattern Matters.

About Pattern Matters:

AUGMENTING THE ROLE OF PATTERN IN GRAPHIC DESIGN THROUGH TACTILE EXPLORATION
Pattern Matters is a graphic design-based project inquiring on possible ways to augment the role of pattern by looking into the design process and tactile exploration through pattern making. It demonstrates the way of how this design element of pattern can be adopted differently on various platforms in graphic design. The main objective of this project is to inspire designers to look at pattern in every possible angles. Pattern Matters also aims to demonstrate that pattern is a crucial form of design element in graphic design which eventually evident that pattern is not merely a decorating tool.

by @bjones21

Found at Creative Review

Stanley Donwood, who has been at the helm of every Radiohead cover to date, linked up with @creativereview to explain the art and concepts behind Radiohead’s latest King Of Limbs Newspaper Album.  I’ve provided some choice pieces and quotes; you can grab the full piece here.

The artwork is designed in the guise of a Sunday newspaper, complete with plastic packaging printed with the album name and imagery. It contains two 10-inch clear vinyl records in a sleeve, a CD of the album, a perforated blotting-sheet artwork, and a newspaper containing art and texts by Donwood.

The newspaper was printed in the US, and uses a standard US newspaper format, which conveniently folds down to approximately album size.

“In Rainbows was a great big, solid cardboard thing, if you were determined you could probably kill somebody with it, it was very heavy, and almost like a definitive statement,”

The King Of Limbs artwork is to be in complete contrast to that of In Rainbows, a figure that’s not rigid and finalized just as the news is; as Donwood says:

“It’s not like the news stops when a newspaper comes out,” he continues. “It’s just ‘this is what’s happening today’. So this is released into the world on this day, and this is where this band are right now… it is a continuing thing.”

Donwood on the CD Packaging: ”If it could have been any worse, it would have been . . .” Meanwhile the vinyl sleeve is made up of a series of oil paintings by Donwood and the band.

Head to Creative Review for more pics & info.

When I ran across this dude’s work, my mind was blown. Sagaki Keita‘s work is some sort of intricate mess. The attention to detail on the macro and micro scale is outstanding, but its made up of these wayward figures of animals, factories, villages, protozoa, flowers, and John Lennon.

Candy Chang about her “Before I Die . . . ” Installation:

One month and seven hours of intense stenciling later and it’s up! With a lot of support from old and new friends, I turned the side of an abandoned house in my neighborhood into a giant chalkboard where residents can write on the wall and remember what is important to them. Before I Die transforms neglected spaces into constructive ones where we can learn the hopes and aspirations of the people around us. It turns out this entire process (including obtaining official approval from many entities) has been a great lesson, experience, and project in itself – more on that later. If you’re in New Orleans, stop by the corner of Marigny and Burgundy (900 Marigny Street) to add your thoughts to the wall and see what matters most to your neighbors

If you’re in N.O. you have as of this publishing 2 days to see it before its gone.

Head to Candy’s page, here, for more photos and discussion of the “Before I Die . . . ” Installation.

I ran across Scott Campbell’s work and thought it was definitely worth sharing.  The intricacies of the work and the steady hand it must have taken to create them is astounding.

Head to Scott Campbell’s official page for more awesome work.  Would love to get him in for an interview.

Found @StupidDope

The surrealistic art of Tetsuya Ishida always makes me pleasantly disturbed.  His style mixes soft tones with striking and incongruous imagery, that combines the drudgery of everyday life in Japan with his own interpretation of his place in it.

The dour if not expressionless figure in his work are actually of the artist himself.  Tetsuya portrays himself throughout his work as both man and machine in what are often depressing and torturous situations.

Striking work, sadly the Tetsuya was killed when he was hit by a train; many believe it was suicide.

Found @PinkTentacle