The wonder of Timmy B

A cold winter night in Melbourne was not sufficient to deter THESE YGTST clubbers from an en masse expedition to see the unparrelled genius of Timmy B.

Fuelled (to the arguable detriment of some in terms of subsequent artistic analysis) by free vodka shots courtesy of the Guildford Lane Gallery, we wandered into a truly mind boggling array of sketches, models, paintings, photos, costumes, puppets and movie shorts – many from Burton’s own personal collection!

The retrospective, first shown at MOMA in New York, paints a picture of a young man struggling to escape the drudgery of suburban life through to a stint at Disney and beyond. His talents, whilst recognised at Disney were not always appreciated – in fact Burton prepared a mammoth 200 concept drawings for the Black Cauldron and not-a-one was used!

The exhibition warrants a repeat visit in my humble opinion (sans vodka). There was no photography allowed (devastating!) but there was the opportunity to be inspired and try your own Burton style artwork piece. So we had no option but to sit down on the tiny chairs with the tiny people and to try to create our own crazy crazy worlds with crayon. If nothing else, Beetlejuice is getting a re-visit!

Two nightmarish concept drawings from YGTST members inspired by the Timmy B exhi;

Devil's Twister - by EmilyK

Enormohead - jocurtin

Play Me I’m Yours

I read about the exhibition Play Me I’m Yours a couple of weeks ago, and while it seemed interesting, I didn’t appreciate it until I walked past one of these pianos in Athens Park in Astoria, en route to brunch on Sunday.
There were a few people checking out the curious new addition to the park, and when I went back the next morning to take a pic, it had sadly been moved to another area of the city. Instead, a photograph from the website itself must suffice:

the Fonzie’s of animated film

If you can hark back to the gold ol’ days of 2003 (7 years is a long time) you will surely remember the beauty of The Triplets of Belleville.  Just the thought of this brilliant foreign ‘adventure animation’ is evoking old inspirational spirits and I have just discovered there will be a sequel, The Illusionist.  As a discovery post, I have also researched the Aussie release schedule and of course, Sydney Film Festival hosted the Australian Premiere early June.  I am betting all odds on MIFF rolling the same film for lovers of Jacques Tati, animation, mime and illustration in August.  Look out for it here.., oh look there it is, no date but soon to come I am sure.  Tix go on sale July 9th 2010.

I won’t even begin my rant on Toy Story 3!

Please “Exit Through The Giftshop”

When a Gallic gent with elaborate facial hair and a penchant for polyester started filming street artists eight years ago in L.A, he told his subjects he was making a documentary. The man, one Thierry Guetta, went everywhere the vandals did, filming hours and hours of footage while his subjects painted the town. His biggest catch was the elusive street artist Banksy, whom he followed, filmed and assisted on pranks that went variously aright and awry. The resulting doco “Exit through the gift shop”, is the fascinating tale of what happens when a Frenchman takes an interest.

Spoiler Alert…….

Astoria means street art

One fine day on my way to Astoria Park for an afternoon run, my friend Ryan directed me to something that is not usually synonymous with Astoria: street art. For alas and alack some crafty artists had descended upon our sleepy neighbourhood, creating such a stir of excitement! What really got people going for a brief while was a debate over whether one of the pieces was, in fact, a Banksy, and if so, why Astoria? True, the hipster invasion has definitely begun, but still…

Either way, it was truly awesome to behold such a sight, and as soon as I could I ran back, camera in hand to take a few snaps. My second visit also happened to correspond with an interview with one of the artists, though I didn’t really pick up any gems of insight.

the piece that sparked the debate

The streets are ALIVE

Sometimes someone is so creative it blows you away, literally. Take artist Joshua Allen Harris for example. He transforms rubbish bags and discarded plastic into sculptures by using the hot air blown up from New York’s subway vents to inflate his amazing creatures. The Loch Ness monster is a masterpiece.

Strike it off the birthday list

The opportunity to get some fair dinkum Street Art captured between the covers of a copy of the newly released Street | Studio book was too much for me last night.  Originally thinking I’d maybe mention to my folks that this would be a prize winning pressie come birthday-time in August, I deliberately didn’t pack a bag to give me the option of carrying the book home by bike.

Then there was the discussion.

Author Alison Young facilitated the chats with a double helping of artist-crush: the oily-haired, down-to-earth yet celestially spunky ghostpatrol and Miso, together with the awesomely cool Tom Civil, who’s one of the artists responsible for the 3CR mural (and other 3CR graphic design, including their awesome calendar).  There were other artists lingering in the wings too, including Ash Keating.

And didn’t we all feel like we were a part of something special?  Here we were, awkwardly bunched at the back of Readings in Carlton (I couldn’t see a THING and had to strain to hear), sharing the joy we feel when we discover a new piece.  We mused about the temporary nature of street art and how we build up a nostaligic delight in works we see every day which could, at any moment be painted over or ‘buffed’ by the building owner or local council.  We all smiled and nodded, agreeing that the artist truly gives us a gift by sharing their work with us passer-bys – and we end up feeling like the artwork BELONGS to us, personally and collectively.  We feel protective of it, but – aha! – can or should it be protected?  We got all socio-political too – how can we open up the conversation with local councils to promote rather than “manage” street art.  What can we do to help take Melbourne to the next level in the global street art scene?  I swear I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face!

So I had to buy the book then and there.  Partly ’cause I wanted to see what cute things the artists would sign in the front.  But really I wanted to get up close.  I wanted to tell them how much I enjoy their work.  I wanted them to know that when I see their artwork it makes me happy and proud to live in this city.  While I have trouble articulating it, I want them to know that they are Melbourne to me.  Gush gush gush!

And yet, after spending my dosh and queuing book-in-hand with a bunch of street art groupies, I lost it.  Despite all the inspiration in the previous hour, I couldn’t think of a single intelligent thing to say and didn’t even manage to tell them I love their work.  I might be exaggerating to say I made a fool of myself – I think I managed to keep my blush under control – but it really felt like all social interation rules disapperared from my brain.  I failed.  I couldn’t confess my feelings.  But I totally scored a great book with some cute scribblings:

My signed copy of Street Studio: The Place of Street Art in Melbourne

There endeth the cautionary tale of the artist crush (x2).

Lyon House Museum

copyright to Lyon House Museum

 

 Where have I been? I really wonder sometimes if I inhabit the underbelly of a rock and occassionally crawl out to breath followed quickly by further retreat?!  Maybe my creative ignoramus is a symptom of sensory overload, however, last week I emerged to discover the Lyon House Museum.  Yet to visit this private collection but if it’s good enough for the Guggenheim Advisory Board, it’s a must for You’ve Got To See This, my publicity train for an event in mid-November starts right now… 

Making of a Housemuseum Sunday, 14th November 2010 from 3.00pm – 5.15pm
Corbett Lyon will present an illustrated talk on the concept and development of the Housemuseum and the building of the Lyon Collection. Donation $38.00 (includes talk, self guided tour of Collection and afternoon tea). Bookings here.

Gotta love Thursdays

The first Thursday of the month in New York is traditionally exhibition opening night. Last night, instead of our lecture, our professor took us to a couple of different galleries, one being Sputnik Gallery in Chelsea. These are a few of my favs from the night (please forgive the poorly lit photos):

Cute project alert!

Hey funsters, check out this cute envelope project at Meet Me At Mikes (thanks to Jenny O’K for the tip).

I was sticking stickers on envelopes with my four-year-old nephew just the other day.  We write each other “letters” and give them to each other.  Maybe this will be a project we can do together.