Art
Topic archive / 245 posts
Everyone please continue making colorful geometric confections and I will continue admiring them. thisiscolossal.com/2018/02/lauren…
Links: January 2018
Hello, dear reader!
January is gone, but its links remain.
In my little corner of the internet, I posted a roundup of my favorite stuff from 2017 (including a look ahead at plans for 2018). As a subscriber, you may be especially interested in the stats I compiled about the 299 links I shared last year.
I released my first open source software project, Column Setter, a Sass tool for building custom responsive grids that… See more →
That Was 2017
The highlights of what I took in and put out
Projects
Since 2011, working with A Book Apart was my way of contributing to the design community while my own direction as a designer was uncertain. Over the course of 2016, as my new job at ProPublica restored my enthusiasm for design, I wanted to get back to working on my own projects and sharing what I learned in the process. Making time for that meant something had to give, so after producing the paperback/PDF… See more →
Everyone please continue making colorful geometric confections and I will continue admiring them. thisiscolossal.com/2018/01/comple…
A 10th anniversary air guitar performance. A personal concert diary website. Animations and prints inspired by Sol Lewitt and Steve Reich. twitter.com/anildash/statu…
Links: December 2017
Happy New Year, dear reader!
December is gone, but its links remain.
I did some more film writing this month, most notably on The Disaster Artist and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and I also published a collection of all the shorter film reviews I wrote in 2017.
This month’s links are a good mix of the topical (net neutrality, sexism, the new tax bill), year-end reflections, inspiring art and design, and more. I hope… See more →
Links: November 2017
Hello, dear reader!
November is gone, but its links remain.
Most of my writing energy this month went toward a post about the typography and spatial relationships underpinning my site’s recent redesign. I also wrote a handful of film reviews, the most substantial of which outlines my disappointment with the ambitious Loving Vincent, an animated film made from thousands of oil paintings.
Unsurprisingly, a fair amount of this month’s links are devoted to thinking through… See more →
brb
Links: August 2017
Why Hollywood Is Trying to Turn Everything Into Movies — Even Mindless Games Like ‘Fruit Ninja’
Vinson then realized that he was faced with a formidable predicament. There are no protagonists or antagonists in Fruit Ninja.
Goldner says the key to making movies from board games and toys is to “focus on understanding the universal truth about the brand.”
The film’s director and co-writer, Tony Leondis, told me that “The Emoji Movie” actually began with… See more →
“[A]nimals we most abhor are often the ones most capable of thriving within a human-made environment.” thisiscolossal.com/2017/08/biodiv…
Livin’ right with two days in a row of my man Sol Lewitt, at @DiaArtFndn and @MASS_MoCA.
Links: June 2017
Animated Subway Maps Compared to Their Actual Geography
These are a wonderfully concise look at design thinking.
How G.O.P. Leaders Came to View Climate Change as Fake Science
Murray Energy — despite its enormous clout with Mr. Trump and his top environmental official — boasts a payroll with only 6,000 employees. The coal industry nationwide is responsible for about 160,000 jobs, with just 65,000 directly in mining, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
By… See more →
Links: May 2017
Toronto’s New Flag
I’m a big fan of Kenzie Ryder’s concept.
Key to Improving Subway Service in New York? Modern Signals
Over the years, the authority has kept pushing back the timeline for replacing signals. In 1997, officials said that every line would be computerized by this year. By 2005, they had pushed the deadline to 2045, and now even that target seems unrealistic.
London has moved more quickly on signals because officials completed the work… See more →
Best thing I’ve read this month: @KevinLFerguson on art as continuum. hyperallergic.com/308436/to-cite…
I am a believer in art of, by, and for the people. I am baffled by the economics and social mechanics of the art market’s upper echelons. twitter.com/nytimes/status…
Loving my man @mSutters’s new book of comics. If you’re looking for something different, this is it. Here’s a taste. lulu.com/shop/matt-sutt…
You had me at “miniature retro papercraft synthesizers.” thisiscolossal.com/2017/03/miniat…
Art is about the artist. Design is not about the designer.
Links: January 2017
Rob Weychert’s Year in Review
My personal movie-watching stats for 2016, provided by the always delightful Letterboxd.
Why Classic Rock Isn’t What It Used To Be
But do radio stations rely at all on the institutional knowledge of their DJs to decide what to play?
Nope. The role of the song-picking DJ is dead. “I know there are some stations and some companies where if you change a song it’s a fireable offense,” Wellman said,… See more →
“[T]argeting waste like @NEAarts and @NEHgov would be a good first step…” 🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻 thehill.com/policy/finance…
Gorgeous portraits whose vivid, kinetic impasto strikes a fine balance between abstract and representational. thisiscolossal.com/2016/12/enormo…
Links: December 2016
What’s Your Ideal Community? The Answer Is Political
It’s conceivable that people who live in cities come to value more active government. Or they’re more receptive to investing in welfare because they pass the homeless every day. Or they appreciate immigration because their cab rides and lunch depend on immigrants. This argument is partly about the people we’re exposed to in cities (the poor, foreigners), and partly about the logistics of living there.
The suburbs… See more →
The bizarre story of a man being sued for denying that he created a work of art. nytimes.com/2016/08/09/art…
Art historians won’t tell you this, but David’s contrapposto is the result of an incident with a parking meter.
Jack Davis is high on the list of @MADmagazine contributors who made me want to make art and make people laugh. RIP. twitter.com/MADmagazine/st…
Links: February 2016
The NYPD Is Kicking People Out of Their Homes, Even If They Haven’t Committed a Crime
“It’s an action about a place. It’s not about people,” says the NYPD, as it evicts innocent people from their homes.
The Lives and Lies of a Professional Impostor
“I think he doesn’t know where the lies stop and the truth starts anymore.”
Everyone Hates Martin Shkreli. Everyone Is Missing the Point
Last fall, Derek Lowe, a chemist and… See more →
My talented buddy @bearskinrug walks us through his illustration process and philosophy on @whyy. whyy.org/cms/articulate…
The stained glass Oderus Urungus @iancorey made for me is pretty much the best thing I own.
“Portrait of Gerard Schaep van Cortenhoeff” attributed to Bartholomeus Eggers (1637–before 1692)
“Portrait of Johannes Munter” by Bartholomeus Eggers (1637–before 1692)
“Portrait of Andries de Graeff” by Artus Quellinus (1609–1668)
“Portrait of Johan de Witt” by Artus Quellinus I (1609–1668)
“How awful to see society embrace art that… makes you think only about the vast chasm between you and everyone else.” nytimes.com/2015/09/10/mag…
A consultancy for retrofitting “low” art with pseudo-intellectual artist statements once it catches the eye of the critical establishment.
Updated my @gimmebar with a lengthy backlog of assorted visual stunners, most of which come from @Colossal. gimmebar.com/loves/robweych…
Stripped
Comic strips were what made me want to be an artist. There’s no straight line to be drawn between them and my graphic design career, but few people have influenced me creatively as much as Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) and Gary Larson (The Far Side) did in my formative years. So I had hoped that Stripped, a documentary about comic strips and the people who make them, would give me a new angle from… See more →
Katerina Kamprani’s wonderful “The Uncomfortable” recalls Christian Marclay’s “Impossible Instruments.” (via @kottke) kkstudio.gr/#the-uncomfort…
Beauty Is Embarrassing
It’s hard not to be inspired by Wayne White’s restless creative spirit and whimsical, hand-crafted artworks across an array of media, and his cheerfully acerbic raconteur skills make the story of his journey as an artist that much more entertaining.
Today I have discovered the work of Sol LeWitt, which is essentially the apotheosis of all of my most obsessive creative impulses.
Egg
Eggs
Eggs
Obstruction by Design
We always talk about design getting out of the way, but does it ever make sense for design to get in the way?
I have an information retention problem. I absorb a lot of it, all of which is presumably stored somewhere, but not nearly as much of it remains available for unassisted recall as I would like. Not surprisingly, the stuff that is best remembered has been reinforced, usually through some kind of repeated application or extensive immersion. In other words, if something is retained in my long-term memory, I probably had to work for it. Fair… See more →
It is my great honor to have co-written @bearskinrug’s 100th @birthdaystreet comic: birthdaystreet.com/2012/10/screen…
Loving @evalottchen’s sketch notes from @brooklynbeta: flic.kr/p/djpyuq
Chris Ware’s Building Stories has arrived. I’ll need to schedule a weekend for this.
Outsourcing
The audience-generated promise of Beck’s Song Reader.
Last month, I expressed some concerns about remix culture and the questionable value of much of its output. Shortly thereafter, as if in response, the juggernaut of skewed pop music known as Beck revealed that his next album, Song Reader, will be released exclusively as sheet music.
The songs here are as unfailingly exciting as you’d expect from their author, but if you want to hear “Do We? We Do,” or “Don’t Act Like Your Heart… See more →