Get excited! The opening of the University of Oklahoma Senior Capstone Art Show will be this Sunday, (May 3, 2009) from 2-4pm in the Art School. If you can’t make it to the opening, the show will be up for a week or so. The above photo is Tate casting away last years poster and getting crunk about the new show!
Jared is one of the hardest working artists I know. What’s scary is that he is also so talented. His band Gentle Ghost is probably one of my favorite locals acts. They were one of three bands that I got to see at Norman Music Fest, and they tore it up, as expected.
Where are you from?
918!
What do you do?
Well, I like to make things. Specifically lately wood cut prints, figurative work. Low brow?
Who or what do you use for inspiration?
The internet is a crazy clusterfuck of cool shit. So much amazing cutting edge work especially street art can be seen on it… it really propels me to constantly set my personal bar higher and higher. My professors and peers in the school really are a wonderful source of motivation. Imagery wise, my inspiration comes from the younger kids, mainly those who are really just carving their own ways and just doing creative things (skateboarding alot) because just getting by isn’t enough to them. I recently started using the mono-char ‘useless’ because allot of my work is dealing with things that are widely viewed as bullshit or waist of time but to the ones doing it, it means the world and is a path to personal salvation from the boredom of suburbia, midwest, whatever.
What artists do you respect right now?
Ed Timpleton, Denis Mcnett, Chris Johanson, Berry Mcgee, Marc Gonzales, Armsrok, Swoon. I’m really respecting the hell out of Joseph Valesques for the opportunities and support he’s given me, not to mention the motivation.
What are you sick of?
The idea that alright is good enough.
What music are you listening to recently?
An embarrassing amount of Mogwai, The Locust, Earth…
What is your first creative memory?
Figuring out that you can draw a pretty cool figure with two circles and 4 lines.
What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
Food: the Earth. Drinks: Pepe’s for reading, blu for big groups and cheap drinks.
Anything else?
Yeah, just do something that you love and you’ll be alright.
Jason Munn is a master illustrator/designer/screen printer working under the studio name The Small Stakes. His illustrations for his posters are fresh, subtle, and clean. Not to mention he gets commissions from some of the greatest and most relevant bands of our time. Check out his design and check out the bands in his posters. You won’t regret it.
On a side note, if you’re looking for fresh new music, look no further than KEXP’s podcast “Music That Matters.” KEXP is a radio station based out of Seattle that consistently produces a playlist with new music that you will be hard pressed to find on any other radio station.
Wes Stringer is a senior in our visual communications program. Unfortunately, he only has a flickr, even though we are required to design our own portfolio websites junior year. Not sure how he pulled that off. His photos are beautiful, nonetheless.
I have some reservations about posting this, because it is meant to be viewed from multiple angles and this photo really doesn’t give you the whole experience. Also, its about a year old. . . but what the hell. I posted a preview of this a couple weeks back before the student show started, so I guess I’ve gotta show you the real deal.
I printed it on five canvases that stretch about five and a half feet in either direction. It was an experiment in optical recognition, kind of like a Magic Eye. If you stand within about fifteen feet, it is just a bunch of tiny Oklahoma shapes, but when you move farther away, your eye sees something else. You can kind of get the idea if you move away from your computer screen.
Surprisingly, it won the “Excellence in Printmaking” award at the show; which is funny to me, because the print quality is actually pretty terrible.
Photos by Wesley “Whiskers” Stringer.
Last Thursday, world famous graphic designer Chip Kidd came and lectured at The University of Oklahoma. I must say he was one of the most interesting and entertaining speakers I have seen at OU. He showed us his newest project involving Japanese Batman, a glimpse into his process, and his newest music video. After his lecture, he joined us for dinner at Karen Thumann’s house. We loved hanging out with Chip and I hope he enjoyed his short time in Norman.
Author, journalist, and social critic Chuck Klosterman is speaking at the old U of O next week, and everyone is sooo excited. I’m going to use that as an excuse to talk about Paul Sahre, who designs Klosterman’s book covers, which are great even though they are all in Helvetica. Sahre would definitely qualify as one of my favorite designers, if I had a competition. He’s one of those guys I would love to hang out with and talk about design for as long as he would let me. His design work is extensive, and his work ethic is just ridiculous. He does a ton of stuff pro bono and has inspiring ideas about ethical design problems.
“When you stop learning, you die.” Paul Sahre
Today is the day we have long been waiting for. Design superhero Chip Kidd comes to the University of Oklahoma to impart his design knowledge upon our feeble minds. His lecture begins at 3:30 in the Fred Jones Jr Museum. If you’re lucky, Chip might write a creepy little message on your favorite novel or poster.
Stay tuned, little babies.
Just ran across some really solid stuff from Richard Perez. He’s fresh out of college, and his website features some impressive student work, including this logo for Capital Records.
Respect.
