Seeking cross-medium (music/literature/art/film) creativity

February 25, 2004 7:50 PM

Artfilter - seeking cross-medium (music/literature/art/film) creativity. More inside. Of course.

I've recently become enamoured with the wonder that is Crispin Hellion Glover and was wondering who your favorite artists are that produce in more than one medium. For example, Crispin acts, writes and sings.

I'm sure I'm missing out on some good talent here...who else is as insane creatively vomitous?

posted by amandaudoff to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

Not quite the same thing as Crispin (very different, in fact), but Alexandra Gapihan definitely qualifies as cross cultural. African by birth, she split her childhood between the Ivory Coast and Brittany, France. She studies and works in the US and produces some of the most incredible art I have seen, and I am surrounded by artists. Of course, I'm biased, she's my lover and future spouse. The works on the site are a sampling and there's another batch that's almost ready to go up, this will include more three dimensional works. Sorry for the blatant promotion, but I think you will enjoy what you see.
posted by Grod at 8:00 PM on February 25, 2004

Mick Karn is a musician and artist (he's mainly a sculptor - I prefer his music), and actor Jeff Bridges is a pretty nifty photographer (he's also a musician, although I haven't heard any of his music).
posted by biscotti at 9:26 PM on February 25, 2004

John Lurie (musician/actor), John Huston (actor/painter/director/writer), Tom Waits (actor/musician),

Oh, and Crispin also directs. His directorial debut (What Is It?) was definitely one of the strangest movies I've ever seen in my life.
posted by dobbs at 9:53 PM on February 25, 2004

Tom Green. No, really. His shoddy movie career notwithstanding, his show on MTV (and on Canada's CTV before) were fairly innovative, in a low-budget fashion. The myriad, artful ways in which he publically humiliated his parents were awe-inspiring, from the "Where's My Dinner, Bitch?" statue to the lesbian love scene airbrushed onto the hood of his father's car.

Before he entered the world of television, however, he was a founding member of Canadian hip-hop group Organized Rhyme, whose first (and only) album, "Huh!? Stiffenin Against The Wall" was well-received and earned them a Juno nomination. It's honestly quite a good album, and manages to incorporate Green's humor in several spots.
posted by Danelope at 10:31 PM on February 25, 2004

I've always liked Ann Magnuson, who's had success as a performance artist, songwriter/vocalist (also as the singer with Bongwater -- I love her dream recitations), actress, playwright, party-starter, and writer. I love that she can simultaneously be a credible downtown-NYC avant-gardist and costar with Mariah Carey in "Glitter." She's cool.
posted by lisa g at 12:06 AM on February 26, 2004

Steve Martin: writer, actor, stand-up comedian, banjo maniac.

I won't call Woody Allen an actor, but doesn't he also play a mean clarinet or something like that?
posted by scarabic at 2:58 AM on February 26, 2004

I second the Steve Martin suggestion - I enjoy his writing (plays and books) even more than his acting I think.
posted by soplerfo at 4:41 AM on February 26, 2004

I'll third the Steve Martin pick. He really is amazing. I didn't take him seriously until I read Shopgirl.
posted by yoga at 5:34 AM on February 26, 2004

Voltaire is a singer/ songwriter who also draws comics and does (and teaches!) stop-motion animation.
posted by Jeanne at 5:44 AM on February 26, 2004

Leonardo da Vinci - painter, sculptor, inventor, architect, scientist. A real renaissance man.
posted by FreezBoy at 7:57 AM on February 26, 2004

I haven't read 'im, but Ethan Hawke. So many actor/singers that it doesn't even really count.
posted by callmejay at 8:55 AM on February 26, 2004

Do you have 10 bucks? Spend it here.
posted by 111 at 9:09 AM on February 26, 2004

Lyle Lovett's a not-bad actor, and I bet he'd be a hell of a writer. (The profile in the current New Yorker mentions that he has a journalism degree from Texas A & M.)
posted by Vidiot at 1:20 PM on February 26, 2004

There's this guy named Brian Eno...
posted by soyjoy at 1:45 PM on February 26, 2004