Last Saturday night I saw one of the most exciting live audio-visual shows I've ever seen. The one-off show at the Camden Roundhouse was a collaboration between groundbreaking music producer Flying Lotus and audio visual specialists the Anti VJs.
The show was dominated by large-scale projection-mapped animations, constantly playing and evolving whilse Fling Lotus went to work to provide the soundtrack. Leading the audience through an interstellar journey, past galaxies, meteors and strange worlds – all the while only using a limited palette of black, white and grey to increase the visual impact.
I can't stress how impressive it was to see projection mapping live with such an experimental soundtrack. I'd recommend catching the show live, although unfortunately it's only going to be performed twice more, once in Paris and once in LA!
Flying Lotus and the Anti VJs
James Gilmore
BLAB 8 talk
Rob Coke
Ian and I ventured to Manchester to speak at Northern Digitals' fabulous BLAB night on Thursday 18th August. Warming up the crowd for talented director Ian Wharton, we spoke long into the night and drunk even longer. Check out the (very) full-length video of the talk here, courtesy of BLAB organiser Matt Booth.
Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera at Pallant House, Chichester
Dan Moore
A little south coast trip last week to the outlaws reintroduced me to the gem of West Sussex that is Chichester's Pallant House Gallery. Currently showing (and only on until 9th October) is a joint exhibition of the Mexican artists Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera.
The small gallery where this joint exhibition is housed never seems quite big enough (as when I last went to the Patrick Caulfield retrospective) but this time round the pieces selected seem to be all of a similar scale, which really helps.
Rivera's work doesn't fare quite as well as Kahlo's in this environment (as you really want to be experiencing the epic grandeur of his famous murals, such as the one at National Palace in Mexico City), but his Calla Lily Vendors was a real stand-out - graphic, semi-abstract and all-enveloping.
Kahlo's paintings were interspersed with various archive photos and sketches which help to uncover a little about her and Rivera's 'open' lifestyle.
What really grabbed me though were her paintings, and the poise and consistency inherent in them all. Seeing them all together reminds me of the stillness of Dutch painting, yet the vibrancy and colour has more of a fantastical quality to it. Reading the stories about her and the work uncovers a lot of influences - her mix of indigenous American, Mexican and European heritage, her early semi-paralysis and her active place in the bohemian Mexican middle-class.
All in all, well worth a day trip, and while you're there try and take in the beautiful village of Bosham and the Cass Foundation sculpture park at Goodwood.
Graduate Showcase
Workshop 2011
Dan Moore
Once again I have been invited by the folks at Computer Arts to take part in their annual Graduate Showcase, on Thursday 8th September, at Shillington College in London.
This time around it takes the form of a series of small workshops, hosted by myself, She Says and Eskimo. I'll be giving attendees the chance to learn a bit about the way that Studio Output thinks and creates, through revisiting one of our popular Ministry of Sound projects.
Tickets are available through the (newly relaunched and great looking!) Computer Arts website here. Numbers are limited and there's only a few tickets left, so get in there quick.
Sun, sea, shots and ham
Becky Johnson
For the past few months we've been lucky enough to work with mega man-band Il Divo on a new look and brand refresh, ready for the release of their fifth studio album. The new 'brand Il Divo' was revealed on the launch of the website which quickly became the most popular site across the whole of Sony music; revealing the updated logo, new type and editorial design – and refreshing, more intimate images of the band.
Following this we recently went to the sunny island of Mallorca to art direct a photo shoot with the guys. This will cover all upcoming press, the album launch and a very exciting piece of print which we can't really tell you about just yet.
The glorious weather meant it was a really high-spirited (if a bit sweaty) shoot, and we found some great venues in and around Palma. All our hard work was rewarded with some great Spanish cuisine. A sneak peek here, watch this space for more 'popera' excitement!
Jaume Plensa at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
James Gilmore
On Saturday, having never been before, I decided to head up to Yorkshire Sculpture Park to have a look at the new Jaume Plensa exhibition, as well as some of the resident works.
The park itself sits in 500 acres of grounds, once a stately estate and now mainly home to a few sheep and rabbits.
The Jaume Plensa exhibition in the main gallery spaces is an amazing mix of giant sculpture and interactive pieces, including a room full of giant alabaster heads whose warped perspective gave them a look of a hologram. Other pieces included a 'curtain' of poetry made entirely of individual metal letters, designed to be moved and disturbed so they create a sound similar to a wind chime. The theme of the personal, and interacting with the work, runs strong through the exhibition, creating a body of work which is both visually arresting and inviting.
For anyone who hasn't been up to the YSP I thoroughly recommend this as a reason to go.
Angus Hyland ‘Symbol’ lecture
Rob Coke
On Wednesday, Dan & I attended a CR lecture by Angus Hyland – timed to coincide with the publication of his new book, Symbol. As well as hearing Angus share his knowledge of identity design, it gave us a chance to nose around the Pentagram offices. They're as classy as you'd expect; not only do they have their own road name, the ubiquitous Ikea Expedit bookcase was nowhere to be seen.
After a brief word from the sponsor, Angus talked us through ten instantly recognisable symbols and trade marks – from Apple to British Rail. As well as the history of the marks and the people behind them, he gave us some insight into their development – for example the use of 'modal perception' in the World Wildlife Fund logo, where the outline isn't drawn but the brain allows the eye to complete it. We also learned how to create a real-life mobius strip in the style of the woolmark and that the CND symbol uses the semaphore for 'N' and 'D' to represent nuclear disarmament – although other interpretations were raised during the following questions!
It was a response to one of these questions that was most enlightening. Asked whether symbols with personality would survive in a digital age, Angus replied: "If you go through the wind tunnel you will never end up with your quirky Pirelli logos – everything becomes anodyne … quirkiness comes about through a combination of client naivety and budget."
‘The Studio’ Launch: final line-up
Ian Hambleton
It’s now just 1 week away from our next Glug @ Village Underground and we’ve yet more additions to the lineup for this. I'm afraid tickets are now sold out, but if you are already coming along here's what we've got in store for you:
LIVE ART
On the night we'll have live art from some of the artists involved in The Studio project. They will be bringing their work to life in a different, more analogue way.
Rexbox
Bob London
MegaMunden
Studio Output (Shahnaz Ahmed)
EXHIBITION
All around the venue will be an exhibition of some of the work from other artists involved in The Studio, as well as the opportunity to try them out and see them in action on a Sony PlayStation 3. Work on the night will include:
eBoy (GER/CAN)
Jon Burgerman
Johnathan Zawada (AUS)
Pete Fowler
Serial Cut (ESP)
Tom Hingston Studio
Craig Redman (AUS/USA)
Maharishi
Jody Barton
Hydro 74 (USA)
Happy Lovers Town (ITA)
Blind Salida (FRA)
Mr Jago
Andrew McAttee
Richard Woods
Cherry (ARG)
Sicksystems (RUS)
Magnus Voll Mathiassen MVM (NOR)
Kristian Hammerstad (NOR)
Madsberg (DEN)
Skwak (FRA)
Matthew Green
Check Morris (FRA)
Koa (FRA)
123Klan (CAN)
Cody Hudson (USA)
Bob London
Velvet Spectrum (AUS)
MegaMunden
Tom Sewell
Plus of course there will be the work from our speakers:
Jasper Goodall
Tomato
Anthony Burrill
Mr Bingo
Rex Box
And us!
The Studio: Mr Jago vs. Andrew McAttee
Dan Moore
Here's a sneak preview of The Studio - a new project we've been working on with Sony PlayStation. As part of the launch of this project (which we'll be telling you about in the next few weeks) we commissioned Mr Jago and Andrew McAttee to produce this 'versus' piece for Sony's headquarters in Central London.
Ministry of Sound 20:20
Dan Moore
This month saw the launch of an exhibition at Ministry of Sound to commemorate 20 years of the biggest name in clubland. The exhibition itself was dotted throughout the Club and included everything from the original analogue mixer and first branded bomber jacket, right through to the latest artwork from yours truly. For an in-depth review take a look over at Ministry's newly revamped site.
For us it's nice to have a look down memory lane at some of the work we've done for the club over the past 6 years, and even further back I found a few relics from my pre-Studio Output days too!
We're looking forward to adding to this vast legacy of work as we continue to look after the London club's artwork. For those of you who can't make the exhibition be sure to check out this timeline.
Glug