References to the abuse of pink and octopi, a nudie flip book sequence with an ode to spider webs voice over and a series of all-to-brief, intimate conversational excerpts found in the trailer for Eileen Yaghoobian’s doc about rock posters all leave me hoping it way to the states much sooner than later.

The film’s description and featured artist list from the site only serve to hammer the anticipation home. See for yourself:

Died Young, Stayed Pretty is a candid look at the underground poster culture in North America. This unique documentary examines the creative spirit that drives these indie graphic artists. They pick through the dregs of America’s schizophrenic culture and piece them back together…Yaghoobian shows these artists for what they are: the vivisectionists of America’s morbidly obese consumer culture.

Brian Chippendale • Art Chantry • Print Mafia • Andrew Bird • DMBQ • Clyde Jones • Ron Liberti • Tom Hazelmyer • Stephen McClellan • Bryce McCloud • Seripop • Ames Bros • Methane Studios • El Bado/William Ballard • Tyler Stout • Rob Jones • Jay Ryan • Mat Daly • Nick Butcher • Keith Herzik • Steve Walters • Shawn Wolfe • Noel Waggener • Jeff Kleinsmith • Mig Kokinda • Dale Flattum • Mike King • Dan Schlissel • Stainboy • Uncle Charlie • American Poster Institute

via: Eileen Yaghoobian / diedyoungstayedpretty.com

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The coordinated effort of reconnecting the mind to the eye to the hand is no easy task after clicking mice and clacking keyboards for far too long an interim. Upped a few recent scrawls to Flickr™ and sharing them here as a humbling incentive to keep the connections wide open.

Thanks to a grueling month of life-implosion, the drawing that served as the initial impetus made it to Cinders Gallery in New York too late for the opening of the show, Don’t Paint Your Teeth — yet another show the prolific artist/organizer and incentive-engine, Rich Jacobs (tixotioye) invited me to take part in.  Bummer too, considering the amazing company it would have shared the wall with. Next time.

I should mention that the drawing for the show is a tribute to Asobi Tsuchiya’s Long-Eyelash photo set, which has captivated and freaked me out for years.

via: MyFlickr (spiralstares) / Cinder’s Gallery / Don’t Paint Your Teeth: Opening Night, Drawings

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Update via Needles and Pens:

Feb. 13, 2008
The great hive of the internet is buzzing about over the Xerox on the Insides of Your Eyelids show, look onward: GSD’s blog over at Altamont, Roger Bridges’ Strange Beautiful, Bernie McGinn’s Of Skateboards + Copy Machines, Andy Jenkins’ Bend Press, and Epicly Trife

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I’ve been working on a post for this show since Rich Jacobs contacted me through Garry Davis to be a part of it. That post has become an epic tome documenting my experiences in the early 80’s skate zine phenomena that despite my best efforts, shows no sign of being finished any time soon and has evolved into something else altogether.

So — I’m keeping it on the back burner, simmering until done.

In the meantime, There is Xerox on the Insides of Your Eyelids opened last Saturday (2/9) at the Needles and Pens gallery in San Francisco. Billed as, “an art exhibition exploring the realm of 1980’s skate zines & xerox art from a small space in time (about 20 years ago), + what they do now.” and featuring “the zines & art of the original makers and xerox tweakers / stamp lickers / mail artists…”, the show was curated by artist/curator and zine maker, Rich Jacobs (Skate-Edge + Move). Though I remember Skate-Edge with uncertain clarity, I recently became (re)aquatinted with Rich via his posts on GSD’s myspace page and their semi-recentish zine collab, Be Quiet (Maybe You Should Try It).

Focused primarily on zines that merged skateboarding with art and blurred the lines between, the show documents a condensed sampling of a decade’s worth of xerox art spanning the early 80’s and 90’s.

Included in the show are a group of zine makers occasionally referred to (by ourselves) as the Circle. Individuals who found each other through skateboarding, stapled xerox, and a short-lived art collective called The Basement. Friends who’s postal connections were also documented in I Check the Mail Only When Certain It Has Arrived (Bend Press, 1994).

Interspersed with current works, the show displays evidence of twin obsessions that foreshadowed today’s movement in contemporary art and continues to drive our own lives on one level or another to this day.

Thanks Rich!

NEEDLES AND PENS / MOVE 15: “There is Xerox on the Insides of Your Eyelids”
Opening: SATURDAY FEB 9TH (6-10pm)
Curated by Rich Jacobs.
An art exhibition exploring the realm of 1980s Skate Zines & Xerox Art featuring the zines and art of the original makers with work from : Garry S. Davis (skate fate), Tod Swank (swank zine), Thomas Campbell (joke), Chris Johanson (karma boarder), Andy Jenkins (bend), Bernie McGinn (tiki), Kevin Wilkins (7 zine), John Dettman-Lytle (naughty nomads), Mark Waters (408), Rich Jacobs (skate-edge), Jocko Weyland (elk, revenge against boredom, author of: the answer is never), Dennis Remsing (rem zine), Dan Estabrook (contort), Tim Kerr (Big Boys), Chris Shary (burly obsession zine-uk), Ron Cameron (dope zine- a blockhead mag, and skate slate), Mofo (thrasher mag photographer ), Rodger Bridges (grim ripper, powerhouse, dancing skeleton zines) …and more!!

There is Xerox on the Insides of Your Eyelids
Opening photos: Bluno / Flickr (p: B.McGinn)
New Gallery! GSD Photos

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Not sure how I found Stephan Balleux’s archive of densely gobbed, skeletal and amorphous works. Probably FFFFound!… Wherever I sourced it, I’m certain it was one of his uniquely rendered skulls that initially caught my eye. Armed with paint thick enough to pass as sculpture, sculpture precisely rendered enough to be CG and with plenty of actual CG thrown in too, Balleux has amassed quite an intriguing and inspiring collection of low/high brow art. Intentionally synaesthetic stuff that’s both intimately personal and universal at once.

Stephan Balleux: Cipher, Bullet Proof’s Anatomy & PaintingPainting Project.

Speaking of skulls, no mention of them would be complete without pointing to the Skull-A-Day project. A repository of daily cranial content either found or created by it’s founders, Another Limited Rebellion, including a rad looking paper skull project with articulated jaw that’s just begging for customization. I also found an open dir full of rad S-A-D weirdness. Check it — Theme songs no less.

ALR / Skull-A-Day: Papercraft Skull (109kb, PDF)

And of course, no mention of paper projects (skulls or otherwise) would be complete without mentioning the Readymech series — which includes FWIS’s own downloadable take on brain-casings, readymade for print-and-fold DIY goodness.

FWIS / Readymech
Series 001: Skeletron (Black, 81.3kb, PDF)
Series 001: Skeletron (White, 80.2kb, PDF)
Series 002: Thunder Eater (589kb, PDF) & Headhunter (140kb, PDF)

via: Stephan Balleux / Skull-A-Day / FWIS / Readymech / FFFFOUND!

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Dan McPharlin’s miniature scaled, cardboard models of analog audio equipment have made the rounds, but they’re just too incredible not to re-up. His illustration work is equally impressive on display in all their Mobius-esque sci-fi splendor — taking me back to the pages of early-80s OMNI and HeavyMetal magazine, minus the fantasy T+A.

McPharlin’s Flickr portfolio also grants us a glimpse into his ultra-mod dwelling, where Eames, Grcic and Noguchi share the floor with analog effects pedals and his canine familiar, Old Girl. Have a look around.

via: CH / cpluv / danmcp

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