series close-ups

Presenting spindle’s work, Zellandine’s denouement.  Up close and personal.

For y’all’s joy and art-ness.

Okay, I know that I showed y’all an installation image, but meh, wouldn’t y’all like to see them closer?

spindle's work, Zellandine's denouement: the moss from Allerleirauh's tree
Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame
2012
mixed fiber art batt from Hello Purl (spun by me)

spindle's work, Zellandine's denouement: first born
Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame
2012
commercial yarn, plastic-covered electronics wire

spindle's work, Zellandine's denouement:
100 years in the tower
Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame
2012
copper wire, wood sphere, spray paint, carded (by me) fleece, yarn from Interlacements

spindle's work, Zellandine's denouement: Midas' beanstalk
Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame
2012
commercial yarn, spray paint, recycled tin can, wood sphere, carded (by me) fleece

spindle's work, Zellandine's denouement: mermaid's garden
Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame
2012
commercial yarn, yarn from Interlacements, recycled cardboard cones, spray paint, spray glitter

spindle's work, Zellandine's denouement: Oyster emotions
Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame
2012
recycled bottle caps, recycled (and gutted) lightbulbs, carded (by me) fleece, spray paint, spray glitter

spindle's work, Zellandine's denouement: from straw to gold
Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame
2012
spray paint, recycled cardboard yarn cones

spindle's work, Zellandine's denouement:
ambulatory mushroom forest (detail)
Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame
2012
yarn (dyed and spun by me), copper wire, plastic-covered electronics wire, wooden sphere, spray paint, silk/stainless steel yarn from Habu

Here’s the full piece:

spindle's work, Zellandine's denouement:
ambulatory mushroom forest
Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame
2012
yarn (dyed and spun by me), copper wire, plastic-covered electronics wire, wooden sphere, spray paint, silk/stainless steel yarn from Habu

So, yeah, that’s the series so far.  There’s more pieces coming, probably for the next quarter at the ARTgarage.

Oh, also, I build a knitty knotty today out of PVC pipe. <–Melissa from Hellp Purl has one; that’s where I got the idea.

And, if y’all are looking for something to do this Friday:

Come to Circus Nerve.  You know you want to. *wriggles fingers tentacles hypnotically*

Courage.

*flops down in a ball of tentacles*

Okay, I totally have a magnificent post about things I did this weekend and my 2nd Quarter Exhibit at the ARTgarage and the upcoming Circus Nerve show, but y’all, I am completely knackered and don’t have the energy to sort all those thoughts out into something other than squee-splosions.

Even the pot of tea sitting next to me is not helping that much:  it got me through the other two blogs (Gluten-Free Squid and Cecaelia Daily–Tumblr and WordPress) that I’m keeping, but happy!squid has run out of happy.

Therefore, tomorrow, my doves.

I leave y’all with this really craptastic picture of my exhibit.

The quirky image has to do with another artist having been in the way after having touched my art with neither permission nor respect.  *CRANKY*

Tomorrow, there shall be POST!

Courage and cake.

Today is Manifesto Day! The happiest of all days!

Okay, I don’t know about it being the happiest of all days—that’s probably still Danish Day—but Manifesto Day is still pretty exciting.

So, I’m been working on a PowerPoint presentation for Gnome’s (The Husband) Humanities class, and while I was wandering about the interwebs looking for a last few images, I decided I wanted to have Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto on hand so that I could quote from it.

…

That lead me to wanting Tzara’s Dadaist Manifesto (or one of them at any rate).

…

It was like Indiana Jones running from the giant boulder.  For real.  Now, I have several manifestos for Gnome to copy for the kidlets.  \o/ for the interwebs!

Here are the ones that I grabbed:

• The Futurist Manifesto
• Dadaist Manifesto (Dada Excites Everything)
• Dadaist Manifesto (Berlin)
• Dadaist Manifest (1918, Tzara) <–The long version is here.
• Dada Manifesto (1916, Ball)
• And this 2011 neo-Dadaist Manifesto

There are tons and tons more on the interwebs; these were just the ones that I grabbed today.  <3

Additionally, there’s this really interesting article on Hyperallergic about Sebastian Errazuriz and his Occupy Chair series.

Totally neat, don’t ya think?

I was also really enjoying Haute Macabre‘s really intriguing post entitled “Magical Thinking.”

Each of the images is very different, but they each of have an Asian sensibility of motion, flow, and space (as well as visually referring to Asian icons like the Chinese dragon).

And, that’s all I have for thinky-ness today; my brain is kinda thinky-ed out after the PowerPoint, but I found you pretty pictures!  And, here’s some of my newest pieces!

the Nothing (ooze) by Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame

This piece is part of my the Nothing(s) series of which I don’t have very many of them photographed/scanned yet; this particular piece is acrylic paint, ink, and spray paint.

I have written a really ramble-y artist statement for it:

These sorts of organic forms keep showing up in my work, but they’re evolving too.  And, they’re showing up in really strange places.

At first, the taxonomic structures were kind of a butterfly/dragonfly/cell(ular) structure reference that was decorative, organic, and often monstrous as well as a base for the chimerae.

Now?  It’s just kinda—imposing itself everywhere.

It’s creepy.

The other day, on a whim to create one of these on plex (which I’ve done before but not recently), I was drawing it on top of a discarded atlas page (so that I could see what I was doing and not mark all over my new ginormous self-healing matte), and I had this super-imposed image of a flowing, engulfing nothingness.  <–Okay, this could be a resurgence of my interest economic theory but seriously?

But, The Nothing is in slime and ooze and cancerous egg sacs spewing destruction.

So, it’s a happy Nothing.  *blech*

‘Though, the egg sac thing is kinda contradictory—except for all of the entire Aliens references.

*waves hand*  The cancer-thing is definitely an influence, literarily, from The Witches of Eastwick (novel)…

So, yeah, The Nothing.

I’ve also talked about the inspirations for the Nothing(s) here and here.

spindle's work, zellandine's denouement: 100 years in the tower by Katrina ('Trie) Blasingame

It’s made of handspun yarn (spun by me; the roving is from Interlacements), copper wire, roving I carded myself, wood bead, and spray paint.

There’s that spray paint again.

“100 years in the tower” is the fourth in the spindle’s work, zellandine’s denouement series; there’s even an artist statement to accompany it:

This fiber series, which is composed of scrumbled pieces (largely made up of yarn spun by me and some dyed by me) that are abstracted forms obliquely referencing aspects of fairytales, explores the idea of “woman’s work” in concert with the portrayal of Femininity in fairytales as well as the contemporary flourishing of Granny Arts in the (post)postmodern world.

So, yeah, I’m done for the night.

Courage.

Once upon a time…

I stopped watching Once Upon a Time because it was sooooooooooooooooooooooo freaking slow.

For some reason, I decided to give it another chance tonight, and it’s gotten so. Much. Better! \o/

It’s the little things that surprise and delight.

Courage.

Watch me stop procrastinating.

Or we could just sing “Happy, Happy Turkey Day!”

 

…

 

Again, I swear, very little caffeine is involved today. Oh, in a random bit of information that nobody but me really needs to know about, the cup that was involved in the case of the caffeine-spins a couple of weeks ago? It was 21 oz. That means that I ingested 63 oz. of squid-strength coffee.

 

My dad was military; he taught me well.

 

So, fairytales.

 

I’ve been promising this for-ev-er; I am naughty and bad and–naughty.

 

*revels in naughtiness*

 

Of course, I’m also ridiculously tired and not feeling complete coherent.

 

Okay, fairytales, and by fairytales, I’m referring to fairytales, mythology, popular culture products that are either re-interpret/re-work fairytales, mythology, and so on or create new stories that work with similar archetypes.

 

Although, there is a World of Quibble about what popular culture products fall within this definition.

 

…

 

I totally vote for Doctor Who, Torchwood, Warehouse 13, Haven, Eureka, Sherlock, Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, Firelfy, and about zillion other not-directly-not-obviously-fairytale products.

 

And don’t forget things like Grimm.

 

Bruno Bettelheim wrote this really–in-depth–called The uses of enchantment: The meaning and importance of fairy tales, which is really a text about the importance and value of fairy tales for children.

 

Just call me a kid. *bleeeeeets*

 

But Bettelheim (1977) wrote that “As with all great art, the fairy tale’s deepest meaning will be different for each person, and different for the same person at various moments in life” (p. 12).

 

Bettelheim also wrote that “fairy tales carry important messages to the conscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious mind, on whatever level each is functioning at the time. By dealing with universal human problems, particularly those which preoccupy the child’s mind, these stories speak to his budding ego and encourage its development, while at the same time relieving preconscious and unconscious pressures” (p. 6).

 

So, basically, fairytales are a way by which we (really, whether we’re kidlets or not) are able to negotiate and interpret the world as well as act as a common semiotic language by which can communicate across language barriers.

 

They’re also morality tales, but that’s not really at the top of my not-argument.

 

So, like I was saying last time we were all in Squid”s Meditation on Fairytales Land, fairytales in all their forms are part of my art-making process to the point that I create pieces based off of fairytales and have been creating fairytales of my own through my unnamed friends series. I also have a tendency towards fairytales being a research focus too.

 

That was/is one of the joys of Art Education, because of Visual Culture pedagogy, I can legitimately watch TV, play video games, go to comic/anime conventions as research. And, that all feeds into my art.

 

It’s a happy, happy vicious-little-circle. \o/

 

 

Morgan by Sarah Moon.

 

 

Esmeralda from the Who Killed Bambi? post “Twisted Princesses”.

 

SyFy’s Alice, which was just really, really good and really interesting as an interpretation.

 

 

 

The meeting of Alice of Legend and Hatter.

 

Remember how I mentioned that Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was the first time ever that I wanted a love story because the plot wasn’t doing it for me (mostly)? I blame Alice.

 

Alice and Hatter are one of the few intended-couples and love stories that I enjoy, and Alice was one of the few times that I wasn’t screaming that the movie was fantastic until they decided that there needed to be a love story in it.

 

Alice in Wonderland was pretty though.

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of shots from SyFy’s Tin Man; although, my favorite is this image.

 

 

And my favorite part of Tin Man is here at 1:33 and again at 3:20.  I <3 Glitch.

 

 

Okay, I’ve probably pic-spammed y’all enough for one day.

 

And, I still haven’t watched Neverland yet. *is bad*

 

Courage.

Oh, prettiness.

So, I’m still ridiculously exhausted after all of the holiday shenanigans (with a couple more *waves tentacle* things before the year’s over); therefore, y’all shall receive prettiness to tide y’all over until after the new year.

 

Sometimes, just being a little fluffy-headed and relaxed is good, yeah?

 

‘Cause I’d never be fluffy-headed.  Or relaxed.  *whistles*

 

Basically, I’m teaser-trailer-ing y’all in preparation for the actual thinky-thoughts about modern fairytale interpretations and meta-fairytales.

 

 

 

 

 

And, remember there’s a ton of new Snow-White-centric movies coming out (and tv series like Once Upon a Time and Grimm) that are totally part of this glut of revisioning.

 

And, if this were all not enough, I leave y’all with a fandom cultural mash-up: “Zydrate Anatomy” meets all things Harry Potter.

 

 

…that all sounded kinda threat-y, didn’t it?

 

I THREATEN Y’ALL WITH FAIRYTALES AND VISUAL CULTURE!!!

 

I swear that there has been very little caffeine today.

 

…

 

Really. Honest. Squid’s honor.

 

I’m sure there is some question about why these kinds of visual culture are so important to me. Briefly (’cause I don’t want to completely spoil the actual thinky post), they are part of my art-making process; they are also part of my research interests.

 

More importantly, for people not-me, tv and movies are our fairytales, and when traditional fairytales are adapted back into the modern parlance, mores the better.

 

Plus, it’s just friggin’ cool most of the time.

 

Except the Alice in Wonderland movie with Johnny Depp, poor man. I think that was the first time I have ever actually wanted a love story to make up for the idiocy of the planned plot.

 

*SIGHS*

 

*tra lala la la*

 

Happy New Year, y’all, in case I don’t “see” y’all before them.

 

Courage.

less of a drive-by…even if it is a half-a-day later than I promised *is eeeeeevil*

Remember, this is all pre-coffee (it’s burble-burble-burbling in the background all siren-call-y *looooooooooooongs for it like a bungalow*), so if I’m not making sense (yet, ever, always), I apologize up-front.

 

*jazz hands*

 

So, I have all sorts of links that I’ve been reading from this week. Some of them are even art-related so that I’m not a complete hack!  But, I’ve also been thinking about fairy-tale reinterpretations (i.e., Alice, Tin Man, and Neverland <–I haven’t seen Neverland yet; it’s on the DVR patiently waiting for me. *loves the DVR with an unholy love*

 

To begin, Pikaland: The Illustrated Life had an interesting thinky-post recently about “Why artists & illustrators should get a job.” <–Not meant in a snotty-snarky way.  Basically, the old caveat that if we can’t make a living on our art yet, we need to subsidize it.

 

The only problem is how do we still find time to make art when there’s job things to do.  This is a question that I’ve been asking myself since my fellow art-conspirator ‘Lain is now gainfully employeed (and is too exhausted to do much more than drag herself into bed), and I have an interview next week for a job that I really want but will eat up a lot of time.

 

Now, for me, the answer is easy:  use my insomnia powers for evil good.  Plus, I’m actually more productive when I’m super-busy because I feel like I have to be productive in the short amount of time I have.

 

…it’s probably a left-over from undergrad.

 

I’d love to hear how y’all balance job-duties and art-production; it’d be nice to hear other methods of coping!

 

If y’all have been reading Hyperallergic, you should be.  It’s like the cool-kids version of ARTNews or ARTFORUM <–Let’s face it, ARTFORUM hasn’t been much more than pretty pictures since the 80s.*  Oh, for the days of Clement Greenberg and the like writing fantastically wild things about Modernist Painting and Minimalism! *is all woe*

 

*Please remember that this is my opinion and that your opinion is totally allowed to be different.  As always, you mileage may vary, yeah?  Also, the online ARTFORUM is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less annoying than the physical iteration; it’s all super-annoyingly awkward.  *gets off of soapbox*

 

But, back to my original point, Hyperallergic is really awesome and cool-kids counter-point to the more-stayed and stogie art publications.  (Think Hi-Fructose, but about art news.)  They have a segment called “Required Reading” that’s a news-round-up for all things art-y.  Super-awesome, and in one convenient little place.

 

In this week’s edition of “Required Reading,” there was Somer Sherwood‘s meditation of “The True Cost of Handmade,” which, as y’all know, if a favorite rant subject of mine, and Flavorwire‘s collection of “20 Artworks Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street Movement.” <–If you’re not a supporter of Occupy Wall Street, that’s fine and dandy, dandy and fine, but this will not be the place to have that conversation.  This is an art/studio blog, not a political blog.

 

I like Some Sherwood’s hats.  They’re all anemone-barnacle-esque.

 

I’m also loving Who Killed Bambi?, but if y’all haven’t guessed by now, Neo-Pop-Surrealism is totally one of my favorite art forms.  And?  If it has a bit of the grotesque to it?  Mores-the-better! \o/

 

As usual, a lot of these sites were culled from the prodigious amounts of sites that my friend Susi posts.  I <3 her Facebook feed for this!  <3 <3 <3

 

Okay, I’m going to keep my other thoughts for next week (the total re-interpretation of fairy-tales as well as a meditation on Scrooge–yep, I said it, Scrooge.).

 

Courage.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

The last couple of days have been kind of an odd.

 

I stayed up extremely late (like 5 AM) last night because I had more of my unnamed friends decided that they had to escape from my head at that particular moment.

 

Pushy buggers.

 

(They haven’t been photographed yet.  My little revenge.  *cue mad scientist laughter*)

 

Therefore, productive =/=me today.

 

So sue me.

 

Also, yesterday, I did some updating of the images section of the blog.  It’s not remotely done yet, but there are a few things with connected concept.  Always a bonus.

 

Yamato Sakura

 

But!  I would like to share with y’all today one of my favorite artists of all time:  Aya Kato.  <–Why, yes, that is a Facebook page. \o/

 

Little Red Riding Hood: Encounter

Aya is a Japanese artist–arguably a superflat artist, but not because of the critical looking at consumerism or at sexual fetishism (although, some of her pieces definitely seem to have a fetishistic element to them).  I would consider Aya a superflat artist due to the way that she literally flattens surfaces to create depth and shallowness at the same time while combining traditional Japanese art (remember, manga has been around in Japan since the Edo period, and all Japanese superflat art inherently will connect back to that historical moment whether it wants to or not) with modern technology.  Darling (2001) writes in “Plumbing the depths of superflatness” that

 

“Yet in spite of its almost self-deprecating etymology, “Superflat” is far from unnuanced or superficial and has cracked open the discourse about contemporary Japanese culture and society. Its reverberations are now starting to be felt in Western cultural circles. Like a Japanese transformer toy, it has the capacity to move and bend to engage a wide range of issues: from proposing formal historical connections between classic Japanese art and the anime cartoons of today to a Pop Art-like cross-contamination of high and low to a social critique of contemporary mores and motivations. As such, “Superflat” requires exami nation from a number of different angles in order to be fully appreciated and understood, and the best place to start is with Murakami himself.”

 

New Japan: Learn a Lesson from the Past

Cinderella: Metamorphosis

 

If we look at Aya’s art, cultural contamination is everywhere from the meta-narrative ofher fairytale pieces to the highly conceptual constructions of her cityscapes.  The longing for childhood combats with sexual knowledge.  The traditional (and not-so-traditional) East confronts the West.

 

And, it’s all wrapped up in a candy colored awesomeness.

 

Puss in Boots

I think the only complaint I have is that, because she is so prolific, Aya culls some of the work from her online portfolio, and my favorite piece–Uma:  Puss in Boots–was taked down.  But!  I am a bad and stalkery internet denizen, and I have a copy of it from when it was still up.  <–I am very, very bad.