“Comics are the only thing in my life I’ve spent 32 years practicing,” Adrian Tomine told a crowd at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. “It’s not something you can take a class on how to do. It’s an accumulation of a lot of attempts and a lot of failure.” Despite his view that one cannot [...]
Art
Stories about art and the artists who make it
Art Spiegelman Wants a Blood Test
December 9, 2008
The acclaimed comic artist was once banned from Robert Crumb’s house, loves chicken fat and hates the term “graphic novel”. He also takes very little pleasure from drawing. The full story at INTELLIGENT LIFE. (Image by Austin Kleon: http://www.austinkleon.com)
Sad, Beautiful Losers. In Boots.
October 29, 2008
Watching the film “Beautiful Losers” at the 52nd annual London International Film Festival last week felt like a time warp. The film documents a group of artists, film makers, musicians, skateboarders, and outsiders that documented their lives through art; creativity that helped define, articulate, and give an identity to an entire generation of DIY youth [...]
Hit It Big With Your Art at Burning Man?
August 26, 2008
A year ago, in the middle of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, Brooklyn artist Mike Ross achieved rock-star status at Burning Man. He and his volunteer crew, after months of preparation, hoisted two 18-wheel fuel trucks into the air—welded together with 50,000 pounds of steel—and rigged them vertically into a base plate in the ground. The [...]
LA Punk Has a Sense of Humor, Too
November 15, 2007
Mr. T’s Bowl is where I’ve seen bands like the Mormons, who wear short-sleeved, white, button-up shirts with black ties, bicycle helmets and backpacks, and go berserk on stage while playing a hybrid of punk and hardcore. The band recently performed at Coachella (Southern California’s annual music festival) by meandering through the crowd with a [...]
The War’s for Sale, and There are Plenty of Buyers
August 15, 2007
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers profiles individuals and families affected by private companies that have acquired huge military contracts in Iraq. Read my full review on Mother Jones’ The Riff blog.
Classically-Trained Hipsters
July 27, 2007
You get the feeling that Pink Martini prides itself in its high-brow splendor, as if they’re winking at you in between choruses and loving every cheeky minute of it. They probably are, but who cares? Their music—and their globetrotting—make for a damn good time. They are the first band in a long time to give [...]
Free Chocolate’s Bitter Journey
February 15, 2007
“I’m traveling, and I’m interested in chocolate,” is how April Banks introduced herself to folks during a three-month trip to cocoa farms in Africa and Cuba. She had no press credentials, and no agenda. She traveled alone. Her full story is at POP AND POLITICS and also continues here, after the jump.
