MOVING

Hey everyone,

We've moved on to greener pastures...more control and better design.

Update your links to www.ofuncool.com and subscribe to the rss feed to get the new stuff. It is going to be better than ever. I PROMISE.

Thanks!

Walk for Walk

Please do yourself a favor and check out this animation by Amy Lockheart.

Then poke around on her blog!

Expozine 2008

This past weekend was Expozine in Montreal, and it was a good time. It seemed like there was more people than last year, but I'm not sure, totally packed house. I picked up a few things and got gifted some things by friends. Here is a few photos of things that caught my eye.

walter scott
rick trembles
lisa czech

Meichen Waxer

There is more up on my flickr.

Cody Cochrane

Kristina: When did you start painting? What got you started?

Cody: Well, I suppose I've always been painting/drawing/doing something with my hands. I think I was always pretty aware that I would end up doing something visual arts related, but I had to test out the waters with a few different things before deciding that painting/illustration was the way to go for me, and not something like clothing design, which I also toyed with for a while.

You went to OCAD (Ontario College of Art & Design)after high school. How was that?

I pretty much hated art school. That Daniel Clowes graphic novel Art School Confidential sums up pretty well why I disliked it so much. Honestly though, I probably didn’t like it simply because I was so directionless and I knew I needed to be doing something, but I wasn’t sure what just yet. I would have appreciated it a lot more if I went now for instance. I have a better idea of what I need to do in life to make me ultimately happy, so it would just be a far more useful tool now. I really like having full use of the printmaking facilities though. That was rad. So instead of finishing art school, I ran away to Scotland. That ended up being a more educational experience anyways.

What kind of tools and methods do you use? Any things you couldn't live without?

In the past year I've been working primarily in gouache, watercolour and ink. Mainly on wood and paper.

I sort of apply the same principals to my drawings and paintings that I would use in printmaking. I have an image in my mind to start with, and then I build up layers of color in some kind of strategic way, until I have something that resembles the image I started with in my mind. Gouache is such a great medium, mainly because the colors come out so flat and opaque, its hard not to love it, although it can be a pain in the ass sometimes. I think the material I couldn’t live without would have to be the Pentel pocket brush pen, which is totally amazing. And then maybe Turner acryl gouache would be a close second.

How often do you work on your art? What is your routine?

I draw or paint every day. On days when I don’t do something, I feel very weird, and bummed, and then have to lie down. It makes me feel gross. So lately my routine is pretty consistent, I get up, usually go for a run, and then try to spend anywhere from 3-7 hours working on either drawings or paintings, depending on how much other stuff I end up distracting myself with.

How would you describe your paintings?

I can say that I hope other people would describe my paintings as funny, although I'm not totally sure how I might try and describe them. They’re meant to be tongue-in-cheek for the most part, so it makes me happy when someone laughs at my work. I think the subject matter can be a bit dark, but that doesn't necessarily make it morbid, its just dark humor. Not to be taken too literally. I would say there's a fair bit of symbolism in there too, so its just a matter of what it means to the viewer. Like a song, maybe one person hears it and cries, and another hears it and feels nothing. Its all personal, I guess.

You used to make show posters when you lived in Glasgow, as part of the design duo Whitehaus. What's happening on that front? Do you think you'll make any more posters or do zines?

Yeah, I've been doing printmaking for about 6 years now, I guess. I love doing it, and making posters in Glasgow was a total dream. When I was living there, there happened to be a scarce number of poster design companies doing what we were doing, so it was pretty rad. We got to do posters for some great bands that I really admire, like Arab Strap, Low, Idlewild and Midlake. I had intended to pick it up fairly quickly after coming back to Toronto, but it's taken me this long to get the studio situation sorted out. Hopefully in the new year, I should have a new studio and I can get back into it. I would love to do a zine, I've been thinking about it for a while. But I would want to hand-print it, because I work better in color, so I will have to wait until I have a print studio set up.

Who or what inspires you?

It sounds pretty lame, but everything inspires me. The day-to-day stuff I see every day is what I thrive on. Being miserable inspires me too. When I'm bummed, that’s when I really throw myself into painting. And I usually get some pretty cool imagery out of it too. But adversely, I also love humor and seeing the funny side to sad situations. I guess on a whole, I just love contrasting emotions. I'm into experiencing the whole spectrum of emotions. That the only way to be, all or nothing!

Does music inspire you when you paint?

Totally! I've basically got two painting/drawing modes; one where I need to listen to a story, in which case I will usually listen to This American Life, or a forensic science show while I'm working. The other mode is music mode. These days I listen to lots of Smog, Bonnie Prince Billy, Micah p. Hinson, The Magnetic Fields, anything kind of reflective. The most recent Timber Timbre album is amazing! And then when I'm more hyper maybe the Misfits, Animal Collective, BBQ, King Khan and the Shrines, Black Lips, Quest for Fire….. I could go on here, but I think that’ll do.

Any artists you think people should check out?

Yes! Jay Dart does pretty rad illustrations, and I just saw Andrew Wilson’s solo show here in Toronto, which was pretty outstanding. Andre Ethier is an amazing painter that everyone should know about, and incidentally, an amazing singer too. Seth Scriver, Tony Romano and Jeff Garcia are all great. And in terms of non-Canadians, I'm always up for some Richard Colman action, as well as Maya Hayuk. We both love drawing hairy legs, so I feel a special kinship with her.

Any dream goals for the future?

To eat copious amounts of pie and ice cream. And maybe also to have a few more solo shows in the new year. I think I would also love to do a residency of six months or so somewhere cool like Paris, Copenhagen, or even New York at some point. That would be pretty nice.

Last words?

No, I think I’m good.

To see more of Cody's work, check out her website.

Sweet n' Low

There is an art show tonight at Canteen Gallery(238 Dalhousie) here in Ottawa tonight. I happen to be showing some paintings, but you should come check out everyone's stuff if you're around!

* Clare J. Bowers
* Lindsay Campbell
* Guen Douglas
* Duane Hosein
* Jennilee Murray
* Hsinping Pan
* Pierre Richardson

Reception: Friday, November 7th / 7:00 - 10:00pm

Sweet n' Low runs November 7-30.

Fez Gland

There is a new issue of The Ganzfeld, and sadly it will be the last. It seems like Dan Nadel pulled out all the stops to make this one stick out through. With 288 pages filled with work by Brian Gibson, Lauren Weinstein, Taylor McKimens, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Jessica Ciocci, Chris Ware, Mat Brinkman & Joe Grillo (24 pages of collabs), Erin Rosenthal, Keith McCulloch, Peter Blegvad, Joe Buzzell, Jon Vermilyea, C.F., Eddie Martinez, Chuck Webster, Mike Reddy and more. The spotlight also shines on Marc Smeets, Joanne Greenbaum, Heinz Edelmann and Pshaw.

And it comes with sweet extras like Paper Rad's Problem Solvers DVD.


Pick it up!

Little and Big

The Little Big Show is going down this Thursday October 16th at the the brand new Canteen Gallery at 238 Dalhousie, sandwiched between Victoire and Milk in Ottawa. The show is a benefit for the Boys and Girls Club and is totally stacked with worldwide talent.

Including:

Amy Alice Thompson
Andrew McKay
Andrew Neyer
APAK
Betsy Walton
Bonnie Durham
Brandi Strickland
Bruno Souliere
Camilla D'Errico
Christopher Bettig
Christopher Bonnette
Clare Cupcake
David O'Connor
Denise Ann Simon
Deth P. Sun
Diane Barcelowsky
Ella Collier
Erik Otto
Evah Fan
Fernanda Cohen
Francis Vallejo
Fred Free
Gretchen Wagoner
Guen Douglas
Hannah Stouffer
Hayden Menzies
Herman Lee
James Blagden
James Gulliver Hancock
Jan Avendano
Jennilee Murray
Jesse Olanday
Jesse Reno
Jimmy Gobeil
Jo Dery
Jonathan Lam
Julia Sonmi Heglund
Julianna Swaney
Justin Richel
Kelly Packer
Kevin Christy
Liam Oscar Thurston
Lindsay Campbell
Lis Timpone
Lisa Marie Godfrey
Lisa Solomon
Liza Corbett
Lizz Hickey
Marysol Foucault
Michael Deforge
Nick Deakin
Nik Dudukovic
Oliver Hibert
Pamela Henderson
Patrick Gildersleeves
Pierre Richardson
Rachel Hauer
Rachel Salomon
Ray Sohn
Rob Mars
Santos Shelton
Sarajo Frieden
Shannon Rankin
Shawn Eisenach
Stefan Grambart
Steven Weissman
Theodor Pelmus
Yarek Waszul
+ more!!

Come check it out and support the BGC!

Facebook Event

Erasing the Past

Here is a cool video of Robert Rauschenberg talking about the de Kooning drawing that he erased in 1953. Here is a 3 page story about it taken from de Kooning: An American Master, by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan.

alicia nauta runs the ocad zine library in toronto and she reviews zines on her blog,

http://zinesforlunch.blogspot.com/

the twist is she doesn't even like zines. it's pretty funny + she posts really rad zines.

go to the zine library and see

or read her blog

i dont care

-jesjit gill

New Antoine Bernard Book

Bookmaking/Designers/Screenprinters Bongout have published an awesome book chock full of Bernard's drawings. This thing looks awesome. You can buy it at their website.
If you speak German, you can read the interview Vice did with him here.

The Archive

A wonderfully shot mini-doc on Paul Mawhinney's massive record collection, consisting of one million albums and one and a half million singles. It could all be yours for $3000000.

Pushead vs. Danzig

Here's the audio from a 3-hour long interview with Danzig being interrogated by
Pushead. Pure Evil.

Learn your ABCs

An awesome alphabet poster by Winston Hacking (and modeled by Cody Cochrane), a filmmaker based out of Toronto that runs a film screening night called Film Fort.
Check it out!

Lose the Beauty

John Olson's Paintings

John Olson recently started selling some paintings online. Swirling messes of paint and collage, partly disturbing, partly pleasing, but totally incredible.

Check them out, they are great deals.

The Burdon of the Humanities

I was forwarded this very interesting essay by my girlfriend about the pursuit of the humanities as a life choice. It is quite long but is definitely rewarding read. Check it out!

Neptune

I was lucky enough to get to see Neptune from Boston play a few nights ago in Montreal as part of the Suoni Per Il Popolo festival. Their handmade instruments, which pushed the limits way beyond the traditional synths and noise boxes, into new territory like guitars and amazing electric thumb pianos were a sight to behold. Be sure to check it out if you get the chance.

Pettibon

A really nice gallery of Raymond Pettibon work from the summer of 2003.

Jon Edwards

How did you get into photography? How long have you been shooting?
Something caused by the absence of feeling. Preserving life because I don't know how to feel. I had the idea that I might one day be able to if I spend the time looking. I want to call it still recent. Some years if it's my third. I'm not sure.

Can you describe what it was like seeing your first prints?

It's nice to go back into moments I forgot about and imagine that there is something to feel. When I moved on to Polaroid it was amazing and magical to see the prints exist so soon with as much feeling as other film or more. I played games and pretended that the pictures already existed inside the camera and I would just have to find the spot to release them. Now I'm trying to find what's in my head and it might take a few tries before it appears. It's getting steadier.

Whats your process like? What equipment do you use?

Relies heavily on estimation and chance. I want to say I'm instinctive. I get ideas just from past observations and there's always very much I want to try. Sometimes when I have a moment I like to make it into a picture, and for whatever reason I feel inclined to share. I mostly like to be on my own. I've found that self-portraiture is one of the most convenient ways I can convey an idea. I always use a spectra system and build up a confident relationship with the camera before the picture can be ready to release. I try to complete the image before this release and disfavor the use of any subsequent alterations unless it's the stove. Double exposure is my favourite choice. I use a digital projector and a mirror to help me. I'm interested in assemblages and unification. I hate to be straightforward.

How long has it taken you to get where you are visually?

I was born and then I had to find out how to be like this. I couldn't say I've arrived. Where am I now?

Is there anything you'd like to experiment with? Other cameras or different mediums altogether?

I look forward to the time I can spend drawing. I want to work with fabrics and also build what I won't call sculptures. I'll use other cameras again but I make polaroids most comfortably. I am very emotionally crushed by the thought of not being able to do this forever.

Who is making stuff that inspires you these days?
I don't know how to answer this.

Favourite painters, musicians, photographers, fashion designers,
writers, lawyers, doctors?
For now I only love sea monsters.

Do you have any collections?

I'm sad that I have so few at this time. Recently thecray parts were littered along the bike path again but I didn't have the time to gather as many as I need. It's sometimes sad to hold onto them because I have to see the colour fade away. I found the most magnificent blues that I would want as my skin. They grow greyer with each look. Last year's collection is especially depressing to see now exhumed from a closet. I also collect bones but have too few to be proud of. The skull of one cat from a friend and a collected dove that we could not take care of. There are some others.

What does your average day consist of?

For the whole day I frown because these months have not passed.

Your images are always very layered eerie and vibrant. Did it take a lot of experimentation to get to where you are now?

They don't exist sitting there on their own. People think of double exposure as such a random process but it makes sense if you really understand how it works. I think I have a good understanding and I've come up with techniques to achieve specific results. Most notably I took pictures for 150 days but who cares. I see flaws. There's not much I'm entirely satisfied with at this point.

What ideas are you trying to get across to the viewer?

I strive for a certain degree of ambiguity. I offer fragments of ideas and don't often complete the sentences. That's to say I think there is a lot to be gathered. I hope to at least provide a gripping force. Sleep loss theme exists in all present images. Grown from moods if I had any.

Do you have a hard time sleeping?

But I'm in high school still and all of this couldn't ever agree with me. I could always stay asleep if not woken by this schedule. Too much to do or I just avoid it because I know my sleep efforts will regardlessly be unsuccessful. When I go to sleep I think about the most unfortunate awakenings I inevitably face and as the stress builds it becomes a horrid task. It hurts to know what I'll feel when I see that there are so few hours I can spend sleeping and it's so devastating that I stay awake for hours more. The thought of how bad I'll feel the next day is of course less painful than what really hits me. When I get the chance to lie in a bed all I want to do is think.

Somehow in childhood I came to think of sleep as a weakness. Always said with pride that I'm never tired. There's that vulnerability associated with sleeping. I still fear it.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I'll take some walks.

Do you have any dream projects you'd like to put together in the future?

I hope that I'll soon have the power to tell stories and build some new scenes. Things being decorated and not so recognizable as a human form. More water. If I can find some areas and people I want to have in my life I should have what I can't imagine now.

I think your style would translate well with video. Is that something you've explored or wish to?

It's a long-term adjustment. When I can control time I'll see what I can do.

Any last words?
I haven't been paying attention.

You can see more of Jon's work on his flickr.

And The Winner Is!

Jamie Hardy has won the contest with a whopping 750! way to go Jamie!