We're Beautiful, apparently...

"And its exponents range from Banksy (the internationally acclaimed scourge of capitalism, whose works have sold for large sums) to Maire(a disaffected teen who lives on my street and, apparently, has a crush on someone named Ger)."

- Eoin Butler, Irish Times Magazine, Saturday, June 7, 2008

In recent months I've been noticing a rise in quality graffiti work around the Dublin city centre.

The recent publicity of Maser on a local level and international iconisation of Banksy do well to romanticise graffiti. Anonymous guerilla artists rebelling against current capitalist regimes under cover of night to press their own left wing propaganda.

However, I have become bored with these anti-capitalist rants. It's old. Too often I see anti-Bush or 'Shell to Sea' sentiment amongst other political criticisms pasted onto walls. Such activity can have a negative impact on a public viewer. Not only does the audience have to put up with the illegality of the graffiti, they don't enjoy any positive result. The stark contrast between this and the work I have posted above may lend itself to a different outcome.

The work was a bit of a riddle to me. There was no signature, no noticeable or recognisable style which made me, first, to think that it was a viral advertising campaign by some creative cosmetic company (I thought Dove). Research proved fruitless. Initial google results pointing me to a flickr page posted by a Dublin based photographer who believed the work was possibly by Maser. I later came across www.you-are-beautiful.com (How could I expect to find that?) and learned that it was indeed a viral campaign, but it was headed simply by a well to do consortium based in Chicago, Illinois. This 'You Are Beautiful' slogan can be seen in a number of different locations around Dublin. The two shots above were taken on Wicklow St (since removed) and Harcourt St respectively - I have also seen it printed on Palace St and by West Coast Coffee on Westland Row (yet to be photographed).

It's the positive words that make me warm to it. The same can be said for Maser's 'Maser Loves You' campaign. The all too infrequent positive sentiment makes a fresh change from the, while often intelligent, social criticisms. Such optimistic art work may help graffiti be seen in a more positive light...though for every good piece of work, there always seems to be an angsty 'Maire' publishing her woes...or that guy, 'Grift', for that matter...

Accompanying photographs are my own and are copyright 2008.

More Radiohead Freebies

After the release of Radiohead's 7th studio album, In_Rainbows, Yorke an co. have collaborated with director James Frost to shoot (or not shoot) their video for their latest single from In Rainbows, 'House of Cards'. The video is not shot with a single camera or light. Instead a system, comprised of 64 lasers rotating in 360 degrees at 900 times per minute, captured spacial data which could then be analysed and sorted to create 3 dimensional images of the objects it was shooting. 2 systems were used. Initially, for close up, detailed scanning (Thom Yorke's face), a system by the name of Geometric Informatics was used. For more distant objects (Los Angeles suburb), an advanced version of the system, Velodyne Lidar System, was put to use.

Radiohead then released the code that was created to create the effects for Processing and C++ files. This will allow Radiohead fans to augment the video and their own touches to it. There is a House of Cards youtube channel where the collaborators can post their new versions of the video.

We have seen a similar concept when Nine Inch Nails made various songs/sounds available for fans to mix and to generate their own songs. NIN would then release their favourite mix(es) on their record. Bands which have a strong cult following will look to benefit from these innovative marketing ploys. Both bands recently split from their major label deals (Radiohead -EMI and NIN - Interscope/Universal) and are personally responsible for the marketing, promotion and funding their own productions. I think these these creative techniques are sure to grab the attention they need.

House of Cards is a nice tune, too...

I am in the middle of playing around with a few effects of the Radiohead song and will post up the results...

http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/

http://www.youtube.com/group/houseofcards

GreenPix Zero Energy Media Wall, Beijing, China

'Architainment' - Coonan

I came across the GreenPix Zero Energy Media wall in the July/August Innovation Magazine (Clifford Coonan) in the Irish Times. The wall is a 20,000 square meter facade of 2,292 computer controlled LED lights, designed by Italian born, New York based Simone Giostra and Partners, engineering consultants Arup and China's solar technologists, Suntech.

Seen from over a kilometer away, the wall will cast flowing lighting patterns and video over one of China's most congested main roads, close to the main Olympic sites.

The remarkable thing about this display is that its completely self powered; utilising solar panels located in the individual glass panes (photovoltaics). The panels absorb and store energy from the sun during the day to spend it on lighting the dazzling visuals by night.  

The building itself is China's first venue dedicated to Digital Arts. This is an exciting moment as China bounds forward as both an economic force, but also an artistic one (Computer Arts, July 2008). Expect to see this venue mentioned in the same breath as Ars Electronica and MediaLab Prado.

My Final Year Project Demo...

This is an mpeg4 clip of my final year project demo. I wrote a plug in for Maya 2008 using xcode on Mac OS X. A .wav music input is analysed and the beat is extracted and the animation is then synchronised to this. The animation isn't real time, with the keyframes animated by a simple MEL script before the shot is rendered.

Massive Attack with Goldfrapp - Amsterdam, July 2008

After canceling their American tour dates in 2006 and having missed their tour date in Cork on July 2nd this year, I was finally able to pick up Massive Attack tickets for their tour date in Amsterdam's Cultuurpark on July 3rd.

Massive Attack were supported by a somewhat underwhelming Goldfrapp, whose setlist concentrated on their 'Seventh Tree' record - more similar to 'Felt Mountain' than the funkier 'Black Cherry' or 'Supernature', records responsible for rocketing Alison Goldfrapp to diva superstardom. Though melodic, the more modest set didn't seem to sit well with the crowd who, in return, failed to engage in the performance. It seemed, and myself included, that the crowd anticipated Goldfrapp's crunchier numbers like 'Strict Machine', 'Lovely To See you' and 'Twist', but they never surfaced. Supernature's 'Oh La La' got a more enthusiastic response, saving the biggest cheer for 'Train', which finished off their short set.

As the evening grew darker, the Cultuurpark finally began to resemble a full venue and, under a pink sky, witnessed its first rapturous applause as the extensive Massive Attack crew took to the stage.

Del Naja and Marshall welcomed Stephanie Dosen to look after 'Teardrop', of which she did a super job vocally. I just found her ditsy manner a bit irritating to look at. Yolanda Quartey was a regular on the stage. Massive Attack's 'Live at Albert Hall' ends with an incredible rendition of 'Unfinished Sympathy'. In that performance Shara Nelson dominates, showing both passion and incredible lung capacity to throw out, and hold, the 1991 single's higher notes. Though soulful throughout, and fantastic in 'All I Want', Yolanda fails to exhibit the vocal power that Nelson accomplishes so effortlessly, leaving me somewhat disappointed as their act came to a close. Horace Andy was responsible for the haunting vocals to 'Angel', a personal highlight as this song was my introduction to the band. This performance, I believe, was a stronger effort than that on the Albert Hall album, with a far better, distorted guitar execution.

The United Visual Artist's LED rig loomed behind the band, adding another dimension to the act. What was also impressive was the rig itself proved an impressive set piece as the lights placed behind took on various textures as it shone through the rig's slats. The simple geometric lines and ascii text were certainly products of the London based visual team. As with previous Massive Attack live tours, large political statements were printed and intertwined with the music. The lighting and graphics succeeded in complementing the musics tone - a particular early highlight was the synchronised strobe effect that spat out white, angry geometrics during the chorus of opener 'All I Want', which contrasted beautifully with the softer lighting that was cast through the rig during the bridge of the song. Both the BBC and Guardian seem to echo my sentiments, regarding the visuals as 'stunning' and 'impressive' respectively.

More photographs can be seen on my Flickr page.

Accompanying photograph is my own and is copyright 2008.