Monday, October 26, 2009

cute / macabre





Hi Everyone!


I have always been interested in art incorporating bones, taxidermy and other macabre materials, so when I came across Jessica Joslin's work, I thought it was really exciting. She uses animal bones, antique fabrics, metal pieces from instruments and other vintage items to create these creepy/adorable creatures. http://www.jessicajoslin.com/jessica/index.html

A friend sent me the link for artist Michael Paulus, who has taken popular cartoon characters and used his imagination to render their skeletal systems. It’s quite amusing and off-putting at the same time.
http://michaelpaulus.com/home.html

I came upon Fabio Viales work online and was blown away by his incredible marble creations. He makes paper planes, giant pieces of popcorn, even a workable motorboat, all out of marble. In some instances he uses recognizable art such as the Mona Lisa or Hirst’s Diamond Skull and renders them in marble but creates the illusion that they are made of Styrofoam. Craziness!
http://www.fabioviale.com/


7 comments:

  1. Of the three I am most impressed with Fabio Viales work...such a Herculean effort to work with marble, plus he was born in 1975..twenty years younger than me!.. I admire his ability to execute his work so simply on a massive scale.. its old and new all at once,on the other hand I am tired tired tired of poorly conceived cartoon art so much exists each time I see more of it lessens my feeling for all of it. There has got to be a source to involve your gifts rather a layer of this a layer of that..cliche, to beg the question "What does it mean?"...almost ditto for Jessica Josline,.. she does too much when a little would suffice, to me the idea is the prime directive the execution is in service to that. Like the much repeated line involving lip stick and pigs. is it merely decorative? Why?

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  2. Kiirk! i am so conflicted about this continuous debate you seem to alwaays bring up.

    is less always more???

    is there merit to such meticulous detail????

    i don't knoooowwwww!!! and it boggles my mind >_<

    especially considering that we all ( well, most of us) know which side of the fence me and simone are on.

    anyways!

    I loved Jessica's work. Although, I do admit that it's the same thing over and over... but she does it well.


    I agree though, Kirk, that Fabio's was the most interesting. I love the play on perception and stuffs.

    Thanks again, Simone, for the awesome post!

    * I also note that this was posted during work hours lol >_<*

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  3. Dickson and I have this conversation over and over on the abundance of cartoon art.... We agree just get over it, we can't change what people paint...
    Less is not always more "clarity" vs "ambiguity" may be, invention is paramount, Meticulous detail is not an issue. meaningless "noodling" is. John Coltrane can fire off endless inventive lines loaded with a myriad of notes at a break neck pace but there is a sense of purpose in his delivery not true of his imitators who often wander without direction. and Simone keep up the good work, keep posting.

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  4. The styrofoam skull won for me when I still thought it was styrofoam!
    Now that I know it's marble, I'm floored.
    Kudos to Fabio Viales!
    (and to Simone for bringing it to our collective attention)



    also posted during work hours...TeeHeeHee

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  5. wow i just got flashbacks of drawing Bubbles on my binder back in 6th grade. she was my favorite powerpuff. I love the skeletor green powerpuff. I dont know her name because i didnt like her. I love how the hands and feet are hooves since they dont have fingers or toes. so silly/creepy.

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  6. All of these artists created works of merit, yet it boils down to what work demonstrates the most innovative idea. For best concept, I'd say Fabio's skull takes an old idea and recaptures it using a new medium: the disposal, white styrofoam one finds in almost every packaged box. Michael does a great job of transforming a little powerpuff into a grotesque, sketetal critter, but the idea of deconstructing a cutsy cartoon character into something monstrous is kind of redundant. I really think Jessica's work is engaging with the use of different man-made and organic materials, though it could be considered more decorative than conceptual.

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  7. I may seem overly critical of the above but I really want to develop is to create a dialog where one needs to offer substantive support for their position. I like Liz's take on Jessica's work as being more decorative than conceptual, a point well taken. Decoration is not bad; it can be as challenging as any intellectual forum, in fact competition and challenges may be even more intense. Think about the fashion world...wow

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