The Fisgard Mural

The Olio Artists & Workers Cooperative are pleased to announce the development of the Fisgard Mural Concern, an initiative to transform the exterior of 614 Fisgard st. into downtown Victoria’s largest mural and contemporary art piece.

At roughly 3700ft2, the exterior wall of the Lee’s Benevolent Ass’n building will accommodate a piece larger than the whale wall and 100% whale-free.

The collaborative initiative will invoke Victoria artists Luke Ramsey, Shawn O’Keefe, Ryan Thompson, Joey MacDonald, Calvin Coles and Renny McClure, among others, to reflect on their hometown through positive, accessible themes and imagery. The resulting artwork will be honed into a single scene through consensus before being rendered onto the sizeable south facing Fisgard site in May. The result will be an invaluable addition to – and departure from – public art in Victoria.

Olio have set up a fund to produce the mural and are actively seeking capable volunteers and generous donations to make the project possible.

Project Outline (english – 183kb)

Support

This will be one of 2010’s largest visual arts projects and will need a healthy amount of public support.  Please support a positive direction in public art and make donation to see it happen.  The Olio Cooperative have established a fund to raise the 10 000$ needed to produce the mural – please make a one-time or ongoing donation to the development of the mural using the Paypal link below.

Seeing Colour

Miguel Neiva is a designer from Portugal who has created a system which helps people who are colour blind to decipher colour.

When beginning his thesis dissertation in design and marketing at the University of Minho, Miguel Neiva was initially focused solely on the textile industry. Upon further research, Miguel realised that little is done in this industry to alleviate the constraints of colourblind individuals.

He then decided then to further explore the concept of ‘inclusion’ beyond his thesis and develop a complete coding system for the colourblind. Now the first fully licensed design of its kind, ColorAdd¬Æ has become a challenging and motivating project for the designer, who is currently working with a multidisciplinary team in Portugal to expand its reach.

About colour blindness

A colour vision deficiency, colour blindness is the inability to perceive differences between some of the colours that other can distinguish. Colour blindness is an inherited deficiency with no cure.

There are several types of colorblindness, the rarest being Monochromacy, which affects the perception of every color, resulting in a black and white or grey shaded vision. The most common type of color blindness is Trichromacy, which results in skewed interpretation of different shades of color. While a person with a normal vision may see up to 30000 colors, a colourblind person has his or her visual capability limited to 500 to 800 colours.

The vast majority of colourblind people have normal vision. However, this deficiency makes it impossible for those affected to perform certain everyday social and professional tasks.

Project background

Based on the notion of ‘inclusion’, ColorAdd¬Æ is a monochromatic graphic code that allows colourblind users¬† – representing about 10% of the world’s population – to identify colors in situations where it is the determining factor in the decision-making, without dependence on third parties nor the discomfort of uncertainty.

The first phase of Miguel’s project required much bibliographic research to define and understand colour blindness, its varieties and all the visual consequences of those affected. Furthermore, he approached medical experts to ulitise their experience in this field.

A study was conducted on a sample of colourblind people to identify their main difficulties concerning their colour blindness and the ways and methods used by them to lessen and overcome these obstacles. The results of the survey of 146 individuals showed the necessity of such a colour identification tool. 90% of the colorblind are forced to request assistance when buying clothes, more than 40% have felt a level of difficulty in social integration, and almost have 50% felt the embarrassment of choosing clothing that may not be the best. It is hard to imagine the psychological discomfort experienced upon a wrong interpretation of colors.

Colour is a key tool used healthcare, educational, transportation, computer and directional systems worldwide. Considering this, it is clear that a design brief, developed not for designers but for society in general, is indeed a significant contribution to social inclusion.

The colour code

The message of other coded systems, such as road signs, is easily read by colourblind and non-colourblind individuals alike. Thus, form was used to constitute the basis and support the construction of the representation of colour.

Above: Road signs can be understood even if colourblind

Given the universality of the colour system, with primary colours and secondary colours, this concept was adopted as the basis for the ColorAdd¬Æ system. Using primary colours, represented through simple symbols, the system was constructed through a process of logical association and direct comprehension. This makes understanding it very easy and allows a quick integration into the ‘visual vocabulary’ of the user, without having to memorise the symbols individually.

Its form allows the individual to simply connect the colours and their subsequent divisions with other colours through mixing simple forms combined with elementary chromatic combinations.

The system uses primary colours (CMYK), rather than the light colours (RGB) as the basis of the system. Each primary colour is associated to three forms representing blue (cyan), yellow and red (magenta).

Above: Codes for blue (cyan), yellow and red (magenta)

The secondary colours can be formed using the basic forms as if ‘mixing’ the primary pigments themselves, making their perception and subsequently the composition of a colour pallet easy.

Above: Secondary colour codes

Two additional forms are added, representing black and white. Together with the elements they represent lighter or darker tones of the colours.

Above: Icons for the full colour spectrum

Given the simple characteristics of the system, its application requires an insignificant cost, and its adoption by various industries and society can improve the satisfaction and wellbeing of a group of individuals whose particular characteristics deprive them of a fully independent every-day experience.

Continue reading the full article at ICOGRADA

Smoke Signal is a free all-comics newspaper published by the great Desert Island in Brooklyn, New York.  Anteism hopes to be distributing the papers throughout Victoria and possibly Vancouver this Fall.

The paper is open to artwork submissions, the guidelines are as follows.

*Click the following links to expand/close info

What’s BOKAY?

Bokay (Bokeh from the Japanese boke ぼけ, “blur”) is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens. The Bokay PhotoGiving Project aims to focus on photographers and their work while allowing the opportunity to share the artwork with our peers. It’s easy to overlook photography as a fine art. We are inundated with photographic images daily through advertisement and other media. Photos are so common we may overlook and neglect their importance as art. This project strives to showcase photography as a Fine Art and to help give some white space around the work of talented photographers.

How Does The Project Work?

Here‚Äôs how the project works: Anteism scours the earth for impressive and inspirational photography. We highlight the work of one of these photographers. The photographer’s artwork is displayed on the Anteism website along with an interview and a limited number of prints for sale. The prints will be limited to an edition of 25. These prints can be purchased for yourself or sent as a BOKAY to anyone. Think of the BOKAY like a traditional Bokay of flowers. It’s sent to a loved one, a friend or anyone you would like to thank. We will personalize the certificate and mail the photo BOKAY off to your recipient. The BOKAY contains an 8√ó10 photo print of your chosen photo + an ornate numbered certificate. These certificates state who has sent the print along with a description about the project and edition information. Example of a BOKAY certificate. *Text from certificate. ‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî‚Äî Bokay – PhotoGiving Project Bokay or Bokeh comes from the Japanese boke „ź„Åë, ‚Äúblur‚Äù) and is a photographic term referring to the appearance of out-of-focus areas in an image produced by a camera lens. The Bokay PhotoGiving Project aims to focus on photographers and their work, while sharing this artwork with the people important to us. It‚Äôs easy to overlook photography as being an art. We are inundated with photographic images daily through advertisement and other media. Photos are so common we may overlook and neglect their importance as art. This project aims to bring focus to photography as a Fine Art and to help give some white space around the work of talented photographers. It is also a dedication to the people of importance in our lives. This Bokay is dedicated to you. This Bokay has been sent by ___________ on April 1st 2008. This photograph is # 01 in an edition of 25.‚Äù

Purchase a BOKAY

Send a Bokay to a friend, loved one or yourself. • View the BOKAY catalog of photographers • View our catalog of available BOKAYS (Prints for sale)

#001 – Ryan Thompson

“Spread Eagle”- Rats with wings. Shit hawks. Angels.

Spread Eagle is a photo series about the common seagull. A romantic look at the flight of the seagull in between gorging. After reading Richard Bach’s best-selling book “Jonathon Livingston Seagull” photographer Ryan Thompson wanted to capture the potential and character of the average seagull. Livingston wrote “For most gulls, it’s not flying that matters, but eating.” It’s this potential of doing great things to accomplish the mundane that Thompson finds most interesting. He believes that Seagulls gained the ability to fly because of their burning desire for food. They may not recognize all they have accomplished because of their never ending hunger.

Info/Purchase “Spread Eagle” Print #1

Info/Purchase “Spread Eagle” Print #2

Info/Purchase “Spread Eagle” Print #3

Info/Purchase “Spread Eagle” Print #4

Info/Purchase “Spread Eagle” Print #5

Info/Purchase “Spread Eagle” Print #6

The Don’t Panic Pack is a unique free publication found in carefully selected independent shops, bars, universities and art spaces. Also distributed outside alternative music events and launch parties, it contains all sorts of arts and culture goodies and information for cities all around the world with the emphasis on design and the future of our planet. (Unfortunately there are no distributors in North America.)

At the heart of the pack find the Don’t Panic Poster where a rotation of established and unknown, up and coming artists design around an issue that affects culture across the world. On this site find an interactive online magazine to further explore the issue raised on the poster where you can contribute to the debate with text, graphic design, illustration, photography, animation, music and film for all to see.

Check out the previous issues posters or submit your design to the current competition.

There are some gems throughout the 186+ posters on the site. Some well know artists/designers such as Banksy, Pentagram, Jamie Reid and Jermyville have created posters.

This magazine is a benefit for Sarah to raise the money for her second ear surgery.

100 artists from around the world contributed an artwork to this A5, 96-page magazine – fullcolour cover and black/magenta/white insides, threadless bound – to help out raising money for Sarah’s operation.

Sarah was born almost deaf and recently got a cochlear implant in her right ear, which helps her hear sounds she never realized existed. The second implant in her left ear has been scheduled for 2009, but since medical insurance will only cover one operation, she’ll have to pay the full 25.000 euro bill all by herself…

To help her out, 100 artists join forces to realize a publication and donate the full proceeds to her operation.For more information on Sarah and her situation please write us on sarah_magazine@hotmail.com. To order your copy NOW for 15 euros (worldwide postage included), check the details in the blog “How to order”.

Magazine contributions by Apetown (BE), Astrid Yskout (BE), Atsuko Ishii (JP), Babs Decruyenaere (BE), Bam Bam Ink (AR), Bert Lezy (BE), Bfree (NL), Bitches In Control (NL), Boris Servais (BE), Brecht Vandenbroucke (BE), Brendan Monroe (US), Bruno Savona (IT), B√ºro/Atelier (NL), Carakter Atypik (FR), Craig Atkinson (UK), Danielle Lemaire (NL), Daxodiva (DE), De Klup (BE), Dennis Tyfus (BE), Duudle (DK), Elisabeth Noels (BE), Ephameron (BE), Evah Fan (US), Eyeformation (US), Fanny Garcia (FR), Federica Ubaldo (IT), Fichtre (CH), Francesca Iurilli (CH), Gemma Correll (UK), Guillaume Jolly (FR), Havec (FR), herr sommerferien (BE), Inge Cornil (BE), Izja Rutten (BE), Jack Usine (FR), Jan Van Den Dobbelsteen (NL), Jiem (FR), John Bobaxx (FR), Julien Kedryna (FR), K (FR), Kati Heck (DE), Kiki (NL), Korneel Detailleur (BE), Kris Delacourt (BE), Lamelos (NL), Leen Van Hulst (BE), Lennard Schuurmans (NL), Lieven Segers (BE), LLCoolJo (FR), Logan Hicks (US), Louis Reith (NL), Luke Ramsey (CA), M!CH Decruyenaere (BE), Marcus Oakley (UK), Marie Rosen (BE), Marilou (FR), Matthew Feyld (CA), Max-o-matic (AR), Mehdi (FR), Mentary (CH), Mich√®le Matyn (BE), Mike Swaney (CA), Miruki Tusko (BE), Miss Lotion (DK), Morcky (IT), Nazario Graziano (IT), Neasden Control Centre (UK), N’Roll (FR), Oles (NL), Pacolli (BR), Philip Paquet (BE), Pinda! (BE), Prutpuss (BE), Rachel Agnew (BE), Rim (BR), Robert Rebotti (IT), Sarah Vanbelle (BE), Sebastiaan Van Doninck (BE), Seldon Hunt (US), Sighn (US), Specio (FR), Sumo (LU), Swoon (US), Tastest (CH), Thomas Mazzarella (BE), Tina Scott (DE), Tom Gauld (UK), Tommi Musturi (FI), Tony Papin (FR), Vaast Colson (BE), Ward Zwart (BE), Wayne Horse (DE), Yoko Nono (FR), ZBK (PL) and Zeroten (UK)…

Possible jail time for this mail art?

Is mailing something like this a crime? Does it make sense to face a sentence of three years jail time and fines over $100,000 USD? Why is the image of a naked woman a criminal offense? After viewing a couple images of Pissier’s artwork I can see why his artwork would offend some. The limited images on the net that I’ve seen include bondage and could be considered violent. I understand the idea of mail art, but is it ok for an artist to force a delivery person to deliver something they don’t agree with? Ask yourselves these questions, and keep them in mind when reading about the Philip Pissier.

Here are his words translated from French:

” As you probably know, I am currently enmeshed in a legal situation where I am at risk of three years of jail time and a fine of 75,000 euros for a misunderstood creative project.

To summarize, in May or June 2008 I sent four postcards intended for an exposure of Mail Art entitled “Erotic Moments” curated by Mr Mark Falkant (Sodener Str. 20 / 65779 Kelkheim / Allemagne). The artworks are collages made from postcards of the pastoral village of Castelnau-Montratier (in Southern France), and old photographs of a girlfriend, taken around 1991-92, with two to three clothespins on her nipples.

I sent them, without adding them in an envelope, as is the norm, for purists of “postal art”. After having participated and showing my erotic Mail Art for the past 25 years, I didn’t think that they could pose problem.

Of course, there was a problem. The Postal Director of my village informed me one day that the Director of the Sorting office of Cahors had been “extremely moved” by the postcard. I know well that I’m not a terrible erotic photographer, but it was seemingly good that the work moved him.

I paid little attention to this business, although from then on I had the telephone number of the Director. I do not have time to confer with him on the issue, I was working for nine months developing the First International Festival of Email-Art of my village: The famous «Rencontres de l’Art Postal» (blog : http://montratier.canalblog.com).

A few days before the inauguration of this festival, I received an notice insisting I present myself to the Gendarmerie of Castelnau-Montratier because of a “file related to me”. I go there, and they end up interviewing me, within the framework of a preliminary investigation, on the behalf of people who do not have the decency, to introduce themselves (I later learned I was summoned by the “Brigade of Search of the Gendarmerie of Cahors”.). First, they asked me questions about my professional life, they showed my postcards (under court seal) and tell me that someone filed a complaint against me using the article 227-24 of the New Penal code, which stipulates that Рthe simple act of making, traveling with or transporting, and promoting by any ways a message with a violent or pornographic content or with the intention of hurting human dignity can be punishable with 3 years in jail and 500 000 euros when the message can be seen by an underage person.”

I answered : “the mailbox is managed by an adult, the postman and the other employees are also Рand the same goes for the recipient.”

And my interrogator countered with: “Yes, but imagine that the postman has your cards in his hand, that they happen to fall, and then suddenly a minor appears who happens upon them. This is likely to happen.”

I was genuinely speechless.

In the same context, imagine a flying saucer full of aliens flying above the mailbox to take the postcard and send it to a kindergarten. It seems just as likely.

They keep questioning me, over and over again. They want to know everything about my private life and my girlfriends. They ask me if I’m sane and they also asked me if I’m a freemason who has attained “perfect self-control”.

Then, they left me with a “democratic” choice between going to jail or a search warrant.

I choose the search warrant for two reasons. First: we are July 3rd. Our festival starts July 15th and I’m right in the middle of finishing the last important details. I don’t want to waste any time. Secondly, even though I appreciate BDSM, I don’t really want to spend the night with these good men.

What a mistake! After messing up my apartment, they took my computer, my loyal iMac, all my professional contacts – all ready to inflate their case against me.

Life goes on. I succeeded in organizing the festival, thanks to the unexpectedly kind assistance of the many villagers and their neighbors. My sincere thanks to those kind people, but the challenges have been driving me to take sedatives.

The Festival’s schedule, the list of arts, the guest list (among them guests from as far away as Belgrade), everything is in the seized computer.

On the morning of the 15, twenty minutes before the opening of the festival, two local police came to visit the show (without buying a ticket), to undoubtedly check the morality of this one.

Despite all these adventures, the event took place and had a degree of success. One could only imagine what could have been the real success without these obstacles and distractions. But my organization, the RGBD (“Rue des Graphismes et de la Bande Dessinée”), will not lose money.

The festival closed on July 20th, and after that I relaxed a little. On August 26th, I saw my laywer Maître Baduel of the Bar of Paris, We decided on a system of defense, and the counter-attack was launched.

It is clear that all the procedures of the local police were completely abusive and illegal. Everything in this business is ludicrous: abusive use of an article of the New Penal code (originally the article wasn’t created for this purpose), abusive procedure, and violations of my private life. Moreover, the state answered to journalists that “the investigation continues”. But an investigation on what? The complaint was deposited against me using the article 227-24, the authorities have the postcards, they know the context (german show) and the culprit (me). Or, there is an investigation on something else, the abuses I received, maybe?

Step by step, the story was broadcast, first in the local press (thanks to Florian Moutafian from the French newspaper “La dépêche du midi”), regionally (“L’echo”), nationally with the articles of L.L de Mars in “CQFD” and Agnes Giard (blog of the newspaper “Liberation”). The international press followed (“the New Yorker”, “El Universal” in Mexico, etc). “France Info” will interview us little later. A blog of artistic support, penned by various political cartoonists was also created (in French : http://soutienpissier.canalblog.com/).

That’s the present situation.

I don’t believe it’s necessary to give up, even if the situation seems incredible in a “so-called” democracy. And sometimes I wonder how they can even call our system democratic

A Committee of Support has been started for those interested :

Comité de Soutien à Philippe Pissier,

c/o Libraithèque

« Le Droit à la Paresse »

68 rue Saint-James,
46000 Cahors, France.

Phone. 05.65.22.01.51.

Contact : Michel Guillaumin,

06.79.89.13.18.

miguillaumin@wanadoo.fr

Presently, we need to bring the maximum amount of attention to this story in the sincere hope that with enough voices behind us, this case may be dismissed.

Thank you for support and for reading this lengthy story!

Philippe Pissier, october 2008. “

In the early evening on Sunday, September 7th, seven hand made boats, or more precisely, seven floating sculptures by Swoon,  docked in front of Deitch Studios on the East River in Long Island City. Their arrival at Deitch Studios was the final stop on a three-week journey down the Hudson River and around the tip of Manhattan. The seven boats, built by Swoon and her friends from scrap wood and other discarded materials, begin their sail down the Hudson River on August 15th in Troy, New York, stopping along the way for musical and theatrical performances. Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea is a two-part exhibition merging Swoon’s recent portraits, found objects of urban decay and a floating sculptural city. One part of the exhibition is on the water. The other is in the gallery. As the seven boats dock in front of Deitch Studios, they will be tethered by ropes to the skirts of a twenty-five foot high paper sculpture of two sisters embracing, the central image of the indoor portion of the show. The image of the Switchback Sisters came to Swoon in a dream when she was worried about the rising waters when her first set of boats was floating down the Mississippi River two years ago. She envisioned a woman who would gather the boats into a safe haven under her skirts.

Swoon’s indoor installation, in the large cathedral like space of Deitch Studios, is divided into two levels, above and below an imaginary flood line. She imagines that if the water of the East River were to rise, her boats could float into the shelter of the gallery space. The imagery on the walls is drawn from the sea and from the mangrove swamps that the artist explored in her Florida youth. She is inspired by the way the trees in the mangrove swamps send out huge networks of roots, both below and above the water, creating two parallel ecosystems. Above the imaginary waterline, Swoon has created the image of a city rising from the sea. The parallel narratives of the exhibition represent a convergence of her life on the river and her life as a street artist in New York City.

Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea is the result of a year of design and construction and the combined efforts of seventy- five collaborators, working under Swoon’s direction. A crew of forty people will sail the seven boats down the Hudson. During the summer of 2006, Swoon and the Miss Rockaway Armada launched a similar project on the Mississippi River. For this year’s project, Swoon designed and supervised the construction of all the boats herself and will culminate the journey with an ambitious exhibition of her large wooden and paper constructions and her large-scale prints.

Swoon celebrates with a bottle of champagne

Swoon is recognized as one of the most original street artists to emerge in New York during the past decade. Her imagery is both bold and intricate, a unique fusion of figurative and architectural elements. She creates portraits of people who she meets on her travels and inserts them into architectural settings both on the street and more recently in galleries. In her gallery installations, Swoon is able to build her own artistic world, inventing a landscape that intersects with urban decay. Inspired by German Expressionist prints, Indonesian shadow puppets, and dense Asian cityscapes, she uses cut paper to create conceptual explorations of the urban street.

Swoon’s collaborators on Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea include playwright Lisa D’Amour, circus composer Sxip Shirey, Kinetic Steam Works from San Francisco and the band Dark Dark Dark. Performances will take place as the boats dock during their journey down the Hudson River in August and in front of Deitch Studios during the second week of September.

Please see the website www.switchbacksea.org for tour dates and additional information.

The Horror is the alias of Daniel Cantrell. Daniel Cantrell was born in Gubabubbahubba, a small town in the north of England. He began drawing at a young age but he has never improved. He has a Degree and a Masters in subjects too boring to even write.

His pictures are done with simple pen on card. His drawings are usually about acceptance, violence, lust, fate and the dangers of dental hygiene. The characters are usually smiling which could mean either life is horror so all you can do is smile or people just grin and bear any hell they are given. He is not sure which one yet. He likes GOOD PUNK ROCK MUSIC.

Daniel is currently putting together a zine based on the theme of Man vs. Mescaline. Submissions should be 300dpi/Greyscale and sized for European A5 paper. For info about the  vs. zine series and submissions contact Daniel.

I just received a cool little accordian fold out book in the mail. I didn’t know who or where it came from. The text seems to be in German and Spanish with a few english tid-bits here and there. The illustrations were great so I continued to look through for clues as to what it was about. After going through the whole booklet I found that it was illustrated by Till Thomas. The illustrations were based on the written dreams of children in Berlin which had been collected by Roger Omar. The booklet was entitled God’s Birthday.

Here are some of the dreams recorded.

• SpongeBob came to my house and behaved like a savage. (Pelrick / 8 Years Old)

‚Ä¢ I dreamed I was the godfather. I robbed a bank, took Nazis as hostages and then woke up. I almost forgot… I had a Lamborghini. (Nikita / 8 Years Old)

There was a website listed in the book.
Elmonstruodecoloresnotieneboca.com

The website seems to be a interesting project where you can post your dreams.

una campaña que promueve la escritura (y registro en cualquier lenguaje) de sueños en el mundo. Рa campaign that promotes the writing (and recording in any language) in the world of dreams.

There is also a Flickr pagewith illustrated dreams