Secret Still

As a long-time listener of Metal and enjoyer of all things associated with its evil, there wasn’t even a question about whether or not I would like Florian Bertmer’s sinister mastery of ink and graphite. It was a foregone conclusion. The guy made his own evil Ouija board for fuck’s sake, and called it the Hexenbrett. The detail of every piece literally makes my mind boggle; I can feel it boggling right now. It’s not pleasant. I tell you this more in the way of warning, because you’re going to want to see his work, and when you realize how many fine lines there are, how small he gets, and how well considered everything is, your mind will boggle. At the very least. If you’re on the bus, you will probably hurl on your seatmates. So the warning is more for them than it is for you. Gird your loins for evil in its most righteous, put a little Dimmu Borgir on the stereo, and click that little guy down there. Prepare for boggling.

Florian Bertmer

All Yesterday’s Parties

This Remarkable Thing

Nature by Numbers

Canon Pixma: Bringing Color to Life

The Hourglass

Apache

The Mountain

James Blake - Limit to Your Love

The Cinematic Orchestra - Lilac Wine

Shorn.

HK Honey

Symmetry

Cloud - Lay the Fare

Look At Me Now

Fracking: Things Find A Way

Experience Human Flight

Concept Camera: The WVIL

Superchunk - Crossed Wires

Deerhunter - Primitive

I could’ve sworn a blood oath that I had mentioned Kilian Eng on here before, but none of my searches turn him up. Possibly I’m more devious than I thought? Either way I’m just glad I don’t have to fight myself to the death now, because I would’ve seriously kicked my ass. And then you would all miss out on seeing the dark disco-revival that is the work of Kilian Eng. The geometry, the blur, the colors, it’s all reminiscent of the only HBO original programming intro that I remember from my childhood, this one:

God, it’s beautifully stupid. They’re taking you to space, for fuck’s sake, because they’re content is so out of this world awesome. If there was a knock-down, drag-out brawl between that intro, Daft Punk, and The Knife, then Kilian Eng is the one they would pick to illustrate the fight for whatever crazy French magazine covered it. I know the 80’s revival is pretty big right now, and mostly with people who weren’t alive in the 80’s, but trust me when I say that most of the 80’s really, really sucked ass. Especially in America. But Kilian Eng manages to take the few grains of things that were pretty great and distill them into an original style of visual art. That’s some serious fucking alchemy if you ask me.

Kilian Eng

I don’t normally talk about other people’s reports, but Juxtapoz, right this very minute, has some fantastic coverage of the Street Market created by Espo, Reas, and Barry Mcgee at MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” exhibit (which is dope, and you should see it if you can). I remember seeing photos of the original installation 10+ years ago and having my mind blown, but the new version is something beyond that entirely. The level of detail is amazing, as well as the sheer volume of amazing work that had to be produced in order to create this gigantic installation. I won’t say a lot more, because it will be redundant when you read the Jux article. In fact, I’m done talking, just go.

Juxtapoz: Street Market at MOCA’s “Art in the Streets”

These days there are 3 year-olds who can tag there name in various “Wild Styles” blindfolded. I’m not saying that it’s played out, because, when done well, it still blows my mind, but there are so many other styles to explore and so many beautiful things you can create with them. This isn’t your mom’s graffiti. Take someone like neli0, using bright colors and a mix of geometric and organic shapes. If Mondrian and Picasso ate some mescaline together, this is probably what they would come up with. And damn if that doesn’t get me right in the pleasure center of my big, wet brain. With some spillover into all those little neurons that fire when I have ideas. The really great stuff gets my mind working overtime, and if the lights were off right now you’d see my grey matter lit up like a fucking Christmas tree.

neli0

Clean, considered, and prolific. I don’t know why I haven’t heard of him before, but Andreas Neophytou is a damn fine graphic designer. Well played, sir.

Andreas Neophytou

There is a tendency in art to paint idealized forms. Even when the artist goes counter to this idea to express decay or something awry, the form itself is idealized, albeit negatively. The reality is always something much stranger. Animals for instance, which are the bread and butter of George Boorujy. Animals are rarely ever painted as they actually are. A deer in real life has matted fur in places, flys around it’s head, weird veins, and an assortment of other trappings that come from being a living, breathing, pissing creature. Boorujy paints them more like they really are, a weird collection of meat and tubes running programming too advanced to comprehend on a mission of self-preservation. He captures the life that prevails, sometimes more abstract, sometimes not, but always with a reality that is a message all its own. The best map is the thing itself.

George Boorujy

Spatula is a really weird word.

Quaked

Bjork - Innocence

Best of a Normal Day

Tim Minchin’s The Storm

FROM STEEL: The Making of a Soulcraft

Corduroi - Always

Wild Beasts - Albatross

Handmade Portraits: Kiva Ford

Draplin’s Show and Tell

Screenprinted, jagged, psychotropic-fueled Fauvist paintings that make my mouth want to be eating sour candy. Maybe it’s synesthesia from a stroke or something, but this art definitely tastes like sour candy. Lemonheads. And possibly Hawaiian Punch. Don’t bother thinking, just taste it.

Raphael Urwiller found via Booooooom