Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with artist

NYC Artist in NYC during 9/11 - Looking for a name

inquisitrix — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:27:26 -0800

I am looking for the name of an artist that had a studio in NYC during 9/11. Their paintings were huge (7 to 10 feet high min) with a planet or part of a planet with great surface detail and high contrast - black or very dark background. The works were stunning. I saw the artist profiled on a network television news report - I believe the artist is male. He was interviewed about the effects of the events of 9/11 on the economy, their community, their work, etc. I can google with the best of them, but cannot find any artists whose work fits this description. I would love to know the artist's name - Thanks to all that might have any pointers.

How can I loop audio in realtime?

supyo — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:09:14 -0800

What software should I use to replicate the delay/looping effect that this video employs? I would need a metronome monitor separate from the input mix. It would be amazing to tweak the length of the decay too. http://vimeo.com/7722804 I looked at the Vimeo comments and found some helpful information. But I would like to hear of any other software suggestions people have. I do not have access to Ableton Live. I'm a classical musician wanting to experiment with realtime looping.

Quoted from the Vimeo comments:
"I had a laptop in a bag over my shoulder with Ableton Live running, but it's just a long delay with feedback set to 90% so it dies out and allows for development rather than looping into a noisy blur!"
"this is pingpong delay right?"

Advice about moving to Montreal for artists

cotesdurhone — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:21:39 -0800

Advice about moving to Montreal (for artists)? I've decided I want to move to Montreal. I've been doing a lot of research, including looking through old Metafilter posts, but do not have a clear sense yet of what my chances are or the best channels to pursue.

Please help me find out:
-- Whether I stand a chance (only reasonable, empirically-based responses, please)
-- And, if yes, suggestions on how to best go about it

Some pertinent information:

I am 30, a writer (of literature), live in Boston. Was educated at a 'good liberal arts college,' and had a semester at Oxford studying creative writing.

My English is excellent, and I also have a high level of fluency in Russian. I do not speak French, but if I had the opportunity to move to Montreal, would straightway try to take the French classes sponsored by the government.

(By the way, does anyone have any information about this?-- Apparently, the Quebec government, in order to 'Francify' new residents and improve their chances of finding employment, will provide them with free French classes and a living stipend while taking them. One person seemed to indicate that they could be arranged as part of the Visa process, but, as I research, the catch-22 seems to be that one needs to obtain a Visa beforehand.)

For the last five years or so, I've been working part-time at office manager-type jobs while simultaneously working on my writing. I have also made money occasionally as a freelance editor, Russian translator, and illustrator (though no official degrees to prove I have these skills).

In Montreal, my plan would be to continue working part-time, also possibly freelancing in editing and illustration, and working on my writings the rest of the time.

I was thinking that, if it would be helpful and possible-- which it probably isn't--, I could also provide a 'resume' and attachments of publications and writings as a sort of appendix to the Visa application.

For more specific information, please see a previous post.
(Yes, I realize they are similar-- but this is one is specifically about Montreal.)

Thanks!

What would I do without you guys, really?

Bageena — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:31:30 -0800

My friends and I are starting an artist collective in Phoenix, Arizona and we desperately need help thinking of a name. Can you help? Short explanation; I myself am an artist with, you know, the paper and the pencil and occasionally, some ink or acrylic or something. I have three friends that are photographers, another friend who's a painter, two friends who are musicians, and a few others who might also join. What we've decided we'd like to do is start a community blog where we all write individually what we're doing to try and break into the mainstream or just get our work seen. The main site will show all of our posts, broken down by individual members, along with a sort of swarm cloud that shows how often each artist works with the others.
Anyways, we've got a ton of great ideas already and we're excited to get a move on it, but we're stuck at what seems to be the first effing step! We need a name for our little community. We don't have a lot in common except that we all work normal 9-5 jobs outside of our passions for our individual work, we are all artists of one sort or another, and we all live in Phoenix, Arizona. I'm trying to think of names that are reminiscent of the desert or of Phoenix. I sort of like the idea of something ancient and awesome sounding. Really though, we're open to anything. I'd list the links to our websites so you could actually see our styles and who we 'are', so to speak, but I think that'd be a little too self-linky for me. So yeah - if your really that curious, you can look in my bio and I think there's a link there to my personal work.
So yes, I leave it once again to the most clever people I know to help me hop a hurdle in my life. Thanks Mefites!

Can I hire someone to create a Paper Source-like image?

semacd — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:00:10 -0800

I want to copy the Paper Source feel for my wedding font and motif. How can I do that? A few related questions here. #1. I like the font the Paper Source uses in their own ads and informational materials. Can anyone suggest where I could download a similar font? (Bonus points for free.) I've been searching but don't even really know what category of fonts that would fall under. #2. I want to pay an artist to make me a custom motif that has the feel of the paper source dragonfly (but ours would be a totally different image) in the sense that it looks sort of rough and imperfect like a stamp or maybe a woodcutting. I want to be able to use that little custom motif on my invitations, program, website, welcome packet, etc. So (a) where should I advertise for that project and (b) how much should I pay and (c) how should I describe it? I already hired one graphic artist but he has been creating pretty/cutesy obviously computer-generated motifs that remind me of clipart and it's really not the look I'm after.

finding an NPR segment

Jody Tresidder — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:41:30 -0800

I heard part of a feature about this eccentric artist's extraordinary technique on NPR just this weekend - so why can't I find any reference to him/it anywhere? This was definitely on NPR & I thought I'd easily caught enough information to track down the right segment. But I'm not even getting warm. It was an interview with a documentary maker, I think, and her subject was an obsessive visionary eccentric artist who had spent years on one (life sized?) portrait done with ludicrously microscopic pencil strokes. She talked about her overwhelming shivery physical reaction the first time she examined his work closely, and said it was NOT pointillism. I thought she said the portrait was of Marilyn Monroe and that the artist was trying to attract David Hockney's interest in his unique technical achievement? (I only heard what seemed to be the middle of this feature so I guess it's possible I got totally the wrong end of the stick?)

Identify Artist

cheechman85 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:39:12 -0800

Can anybody identify this artist? http://tinyurl.com/yfmybfj I have found a bunch of pictures just like this and have been curious as to who is pictured in them!

Cosmetology for dead people.

MaryDellamorte — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:45:58 -0800

Are you a mortuary makeup artist or know someone that is? I'm not trying to hastily make a job change, but I've always been interested in this and wanted to know more about it. What kind of schooling is necessary? How much does the schooling cost? How much do they make? What's the proper title for a mortuary makeup artist? I read an interview here which was somewhat informative but I want to know more.

Can't find White Wedding Cover Info

JeremiahBritt — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:30:35 -0800

Used a program to fix my mp3 tags and file names, now I can't find the real musician behind a "White Wedding" cover I'm 90% sure I got on MeFi Music. Singer is male, pace is slow, introspective, guitar, banjo tambourine. Since I'm not 100% I got it here, I don't want to post a link to it. Also, if it was removed for a reason, I don't want to re-upload it and anger the musician.

Debated putting this in talk, but since it may be from somewhere else, I thought I'd give this a go.

To squat or not?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:09:06 -0800

I am considering renting out an artist's studio space and squatting in it temporarily, does anyone have any experience in this? Good idea, bad idea? So, I have been staying at a friends place in Chicago for the past few months and am ready to move out. Only problem is finding a good roommate/apartment combination hasn't quite happened yet. Because of this I am considering getting artist's studio space to move all of my stuff into and sleep in while I keep looking for a proper apartment. This could really be an ideal situation for me, because having studio space is really more of a concern to me than having a swanky apartment and most of the time I would actually use the space for art making etc. I figure in the future, if I find a better apartment situation I can just share my studio space with someone else to help offset the cost.

I have an older friend who has managed to squat in her studio in NYC for years and years, even after getting married for a while, so it seems like something I could manage. What I am more curious about are peoples experiences trying to do this in Chicago, and what the worst legal ramifications would be if I was found out. How do landlords even check for this or prove it if they are suspicious?

Thanks in advance.

Total Crud Face Universe and Galaxy

Juliet Banana — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:13:39 -0800

I am obsessed with artist&writer Lynda Barry, and don't believe she has any peer or equal in the world of comics. Prove me wrong; who else would I love? I like how the art is appealing but from a totally different planet than the enviable mechanical precision of, say, Chris Ware.

Her work represents how my youth actually was; instead of a bland suburban innocence that doesn't really exist, she depicts the bloody skinned knees and lack of parental supervision and messy school assignments and gnawing anxiety and fear and destructive crushes and cruel teachers and wild neighborhood dogs and bittersweet memories of childhood.

Reading her work is having the feeling "I had no idea anyone else felt like that!" over and over. She manages to be nostalgic without kitschiness or saccarine sugar overload.

The closest I've found is Rebecca Kraatz's House of Sugar. I know I'm totally slacking by not having read any Ariel Schrag. Your suggestions don't have to be female, or even comic book artists, if you feel the feeling fits.

I know bonus questions are frowned upon, but how many Ask theads about Lynda Barry can I possibly start? I want to know how many more Lynda Barry books I need to buy before I have a reasonably complete collection of all the Marlys-Maybonne-Freddy-Arna-Arnold stories. I currently own Down the Street, It's So Magic, The Freddy Stories, and The Best of Marlys (which collects a lot of the strips, but not all). I still need My Perfect Life, Come Over Come Over, and The Fun House, I know. Do any of her other books contain Marlys-Maybonne-Freddy-Arna-Arnold stories?

A creator's art versus a creator themselves

frankly mister — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:59:36 -0800

Inspired by Kanye: When you like the artist's art but not the artist... So surely you're familiar with Kanye's recent act of staggering brashness and insensitivity at the VMAs. Well, it got me thinking about a dilemma I've struggled with for a long time -- when you like an artist's art but not the artist.

I often find that I really like a artist's music, but upon watching interviews of them or reading about them, I realize that they're really not the best people. I realize I really wouldn't care to be friends with them. For instance, they might be incredibly egotistical assholes (like Kanye), stupid, immature hipsters, amoral junkies, or various other unpleasant things. Now, you might want to say, "Hey man, it's rock and roll. It's supposed to come with all the depravity and arrogance and imperfections and shit." But I'd respond that the music I like is something very dear to me, something that affects me deeply; and knowing that a bunch of bastards are responsible for that doesn't sit well with me.

So I'd love to hear what you guys think about this. I've only talked about music, simply because that's all I really know, but my question is meant to be as broad as possible -- to include all art: film, literature, painting, and so forth. Do you feel conflicted when you realize an artist whose stuff you like is actually a shitty person? Do you like their stuff any less? Should this even be a concern? I'd love to hear what you think.

Who are the artistic examples of the up and coming model of promotion and distribution?

nanojath — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:16:35 -0800

Working on a list: looking for examples of artist types who are forging a livable career through unconventional methods of self-promotion and/or distribution. Slightly vague, but I think it is a reasonably definitive category: in the old model, successful writers get a deal with a major publisher, successful musicians sign a deal with a major label. People like Wil Wheaton, Cory Doctorow, Jonathan Coulton are making a mark leveraging this new media thingy we've got going online. Not too interested in whether you think they suck or not. If they're making a living and eschewing the road more traveled to success, I want your examples. Bonus points if they have a regular online presence I can feed into via Google Reader.

Website suggestions for starving artist

sharkhunt — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 10:09:28 -0800

What is the best, affordable D.I.Y. start up website programs or services for an artist? I am mostly looking for a program to display pictures/ paintings and brief write up of artist and artwork. Also a way to seel the artwork from the sight or link a way to do this.
I'd like something with multiple application options so I can pick & choose the design layout. I've looked into Foliolink and Vista Print to start up, but was also looking for any other suggestions or experiances (pros/cons) you might have. I would also like to keep it relatively cheap, but will spend if I think it's worth it. Thanks for any experience you can bring to the table.

I hang it on my wall...

bunny hugger — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:56:55 -0800

I have a piece of art and I’m trying to find out what to call it (print, reprint, etching, lithograph)? Hope me? It is by an Italian artist named Ignazio Sclopis and it looks like this, but isn't the original. Original was painted in the 1700s. However, my piece is on very thick paper and has a raised symbol of a paintbrush next to the artist's signature, who is not Sclopis. Basically, it looks very old and legit, but I know it's not the original. What is it?

What's your favorite place to buy artists' canvas in NYC?

aquafortis — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:01:16 -0800

What's your favorite place to buy artists' canvas in NYC? I was just wondering if anyone has any tips on where to buy relatively good-quality, inexpensive artists' canvas in the New York City area for acrylic/mixed media painting. Any hole-in-the-wall places with fantastic deals I need to know about? Can I do better than Pearl on Canal Street? Thanks!

Art sleuth needed

B-squared — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 07:26:51 -0800

Do you recognize the photographer/artist whose work is hanging in this dining room?

Help Me Find This Photo Exhibit!!

aabbbiee — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:41:46 -0800

Help me find this online photo exhibit from a few years ago- photographs of people who define themselves as members of subcultures through dress. A few years ago (probably around 2005), I saw an online exhibit of photos (or it may have been a selection of photos online that were part of an exhibit elsewhere) that I have been thinking about ever since. However, I didn't bookmark it at the time. Repeated attempts at Googling have turned up nothing.

The photographer was focused on how different subcultures of people dress alike, and photos of people in each of a variety of subcultures. One, for instance, had a title of "Urban Dad", where each photo was of a fit, toned, possibly silvery gray-haired man wearing expensive sporty casual wear, and a brightly colored Baby Bjorn with a child in it. It was as if they'd all chosen their clothes from the same page in some Urban Dad catalog, but in fact each person in the project had been pulled off the street and photographed separately.

There were multiple arrays with titles, and all had 6-8 photos (or more, possibly). Another might have been Young Rocker Dude, where they were all wearing beat-up jeans over black motorcycle boots. None of the people were too costume-y. All of the people clearly defined themselves as outside the mainstream through dress, either by being very trendy or cool or goth or twee or something.

Part of the message was that people recognize each other as members of their unique subculture and dress to be identified as part of that subculture, like I Am A Young Hip Williamsburg Mother.

The photographs were not taken on the street. They were taken with studio lighting and a white background. Most of the people were wearing very trendy clothes for the time, which was probably 2004, but no earlier than 2002 and no later than 2006.

I want to say that the artist was Dutch, that she was female or it was an artist couple working together. And I want to say that they did the photographs in New York City. Some of that might be right or nearly right, or maybe all of that is wrong and I am completely off the mark.

Anyway, this was not terribly obscure at the time. I am sure I saw it in the arts section of the New York Times or another major news source, but it resonated and I'd love to find it again (and email it to people who've had to sit through my awkward descriptions for the past 3-5 years). I have looked for it several times and cannot even come close to a reference.

Can you help me?

Where to begin?

papayaninja — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:48:16 -0800

If I want to start listening to [insert artist here] and don't know where to start, is there a website or resource I can use? Where do I start with Frank Zappa? Sonic Youth? David Byrne (post-Talking-Heads)? Nina Simone?

These questions come up all the time, but it's a waste of an AskMe question, and it seems like there ought to be a website devoted to discussion of where to start with each artist. Is there? Metacritic or a bunch of Wikipedia tabs can come up with answers sometimes, but other times it's harder (like right now with Townes Van Zandt.) Does such a site exist somewhere?

High-end baby boutiques in the DC Metro area? Selling handmade?

GardenGal — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:09:07 -0800

Where are the fancy stores that might help me sell my handmade baby clothes? I've recently opened up an Etsy store of baby carriers and handmade baby clothes in poppy, modern prints. I think I'd like to take these same clothes and carriers around to local stores to see if they'd like to stock them - they're cute enough that I think they would sell.

Trouble is, I'm not the kind of person that shops at high-end children's boutiques, so I don't know of any around here. Can anyone point me to some expensive kids' stores in the DC Metro area, where people might shop specifically for handmade items (ie are not looking for the cheapest they can get)?

Also if anyone has experience taking stuff around to stores like this, I'd really appreciate any tips.

Best Art Residency Programs

tusharj — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:42:11 -0800

Which are the best artist residency/studio programs around the world? I am looking for programs which are innovative and are multi-disciplinary.

Who drew these????!?

ostranenie — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:00:48 -0800

Redux: I'm looking for the name of an artist who drew for Commodore Magazine in the 80s. Now with examples and a name (Baxter). His artwork was outrageous, intense, distorted, usually three- or four-distinctive-colored (example: black, blue, white) postmodern depictions of games or concepts. (The one that stands out in my mind was an article called "The Roar of the Grease, the Smell of the Crowd." I think it was a racing game you type in the code for to be able to play.) He did various other pieces around the magazine as filler pieces. Lots of high-contrast hard edges, jumps-off-the-page drop shadows, spirals, lightning bolts, implied movement/vibration and other frantic things.

I've never seen anything like it before or since. The closest thing would probably be Run Wrake's earlier stuff (the Gang of Four video and the FSOL video) but this Baxter's work made much less use of color and more out-of-control motion and general chaos in his technique. He also used a lot of patterns instead of colors.

But all that aside I love his work and if he's still drawing, I want to at least tell him that. I'm also looking for other artists that use similar techniques or even a name for this style.

The signature looks like "Baxter."

Thanks!

Sculptor / artist who creates lifelike horror / alien scenes?

FuckingAwesome — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:49:30 -0800

Sculptor / artist who creates lifelike horror / alien scenes? I have seen extremely realistic images by a certain artist online before depicting people running in terror from some kind of monster/alien. One in particular I remember I think was set in a school canteen. If anyone can help me out as to who this is I'd be very grateful!!!

Which 19th/20th c. artists painted house interiors?

cupcakeninja — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:28:08 -0800

Can you recall the names of any artists, especially 19th or 20th century, who covered the entire interiors of one or more houses with murals? Once upon a time, an art history professor made casual mention of this in a class, and it faded into the morass of stew recipes, D&D attack tables, and verb conjugations at the bottom of my brain. This past week I was working on a short story and wanted to create an analogy between a mural in a factory and "one of those houses painted by [artist]." And now, for the life of me, I can't remember who the artist(s) was/were.

I've poked around on Google, Wikipedia, etc. I've also consulted an art historian colleague (though this isn't her specialty), and she thought maybe Goya, but that doesn't seem to have been who I was thinking of. Note: I am actually a reference librarian, but before embarking on an exhaustive search, I thought I'd see if anyone out there happened to know it off the top of their head. Thanks in advance.

Desperately seeking Representation

Anonymous — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:47:22 -0800

I'm an aspiring screenwriter and I need help finding an agent or manager. Askme, please help! So I've been writing scripts for several years. I've written ten scripts, seven of which I would show people. I've won some honors (a Gold award in one contest, semifinalist in several others), have had producers interested in one script (They actually met with me, had me do a rewrite, on spec of course, but didn't want to proceed because I didn't have an agent) but I've yet to find an agent. I've also yet to do the big push to find someone (i.e. sending out 300 query letters)

What are your suggestions for finding one? Should I just get the Hollywood Representation Directory and e-mail everyone? Should I mention one script? A few? All of them? I actually put together a "writing resume" which lists the scripts, with a logline, the honors I've won and my screenwriting education. Should I send this out to agents?

There are also many "services" that claim to do this for you, such as Scriptblaster, for example. Are they worthwhile?

Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.