A covering Worn on the Face to Conceal One’s Identity November 10, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in 3-D work, Handmade, Surreal.Tags: mask collection, Masks
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A mask…got your attention…that’s what they do.
(above) a carved wooden Greenman or Wild Man mask from Germany(Austria?) . For “Fasnacht” a carnival held in Bavaria, Switzerland and Austria similar to Mardi-gras.
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A great gallery collection of masks amassed by someone over the last 20 years.
The Maskatorium,
Pinoke Exhibit September 2, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in 3-D work, Art History, Pinocchio, Political and Social Art, Summer Reading Project.add a comment
Pinocchio
The Illustration Department’s 2009 Summer Reading Project
Each year, a book is selected that all illustration students read over the course of the summer break. When students return in the fall they have a common cultural experience that can be shared and discussed and that assignments are based on in class. This year’s book is Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
Collodi, whose real name was Carlo Lorenzini, was a politically active writer of novels, pieces in political newspapers and satire as well as children’s literature in 19th century Italy. At 23 he founded Il Lampione (The Lamp), a satirical magazine that published for a year before being shut down by the government (it resumed publishing in 1860), From this social and political environment Pinocchio’s adventures (or misadventures) were born in 1881 as weekly installments in Il Giornale per i Bambini (an Italian children’s newspaper).
Collodi didn’t think much of his offspring. Originally he had ended the story with Pinocchio’s lynching. He eventually was persuaded to write further chapters.
Despite a ambivalent father, Pinocchio went on to great success (unfortunately after Collodi’s death in 1890). Pinocchio’s adventures are; fantastic, absurd, moralistic, entertaining, allegorical, satiric, in short all the things that make up a good story, and inspire great art.
By 1937 Pinocchio’s adventures were being published in 80 different editions including translations into Swahili, Gaelic and Esperanto. Pinocchio was a popular character before the 1940 premiere of Disney’s full length animated feature. Disney’s use of the story coincides with Collodi’s copyright expiring. As frightening as some of the scenes in the Disney movie can seem, catch Lampwick’s transformation into a donkey, the original story by Collodi is grimmer. Feet are burned off, Pinocchio is hung, chained up, there are funeral processions, huge sharks…a lot to scare a child into good behavior.
Disney’s version of Pinocchio certainly seems to dominate the visual landscape, but not everywhere. Travel to Italy or other continents than America and Pinocchio’s look can be quite unfamiliar…until we see the iconic long nose.
One hundred and twenty six years after his debut Pinocchio is very much a cultural icon. He is a metaphor for lying and bad behavior in politicians as well as a symbol of a character’s quest for humanity. Frankenstein, Astro Boy, David from Stanley Kuberick/Stephen Spielberg’s A.I., Edward Scissorhands, are all cousins of Pinocchio.
A Pinocchio exhibit is up on the 8th floor to peak your interest in the little wooden icon. Below is a key to what’s in the showcase.
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Key
- Hanging Pinocchio 1944 –by Italian illustrator Giovanni Manca.
- Fables, 2002 (comic book) covers by illustrator James Jean. Geppetto and Pinocchio figure prominently in the story line of the characters from well known Fables in exile.
- Pinocchio shadow puppet
- Woodpeckers whittle down Pinocchio’s nose, from Italian children’s book illustrator Attilio Cassinelli’s 1981 Pinocchio book re’entititled “Once I was a piece of wood”.
- Fold out cover of the August 1972, (No. 29) National Lampoon. Nixon as Pinocchio with Henry Kissinger as Jiminy Cricket. Illustration by Robert Grossman.
- The Chicago Tribune offered a fold-up version of Illinois state Senator Roland Burris as Pinocchio. Burris was accused of offering a bribe in exchange for Obama’s Senate seat.
- “Pinocchio is caught by the gendarmes” by Attilio Mussino 1911.
- Pinocchio by Winshluss 2009
- Assorted Disney Pinocchio books , a bank . Pinocchio was Disney’s 2nd feature length animated film debuting in 1940.
- Pop-up Adventures of Pinocchio- J. Pavlin – G. Seda, (Czech, English version 1974)
- Cover of an Egyptian edition of Pinocchio.
- Zombie Pinocchio Tattoo (courtesy of BMEzine.com) and Jiminy cricket tattoo by Mark of High Voltage Tattoos.
- Astro Boy – a Japanese manga character by Osamu Tezuka , centering around a robot boy.
- By Italian illustrator and humorist Benito Jacovitti (1977?/ reissue 2001).
- Pinocchio float for the 1930 Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade.
- Pinocchio by Keith Haring
- A background from Disney’s Pinocchio 1940. Painted by Claude Coats
- Pinocchio by Attilio Mussino English 1911 edition. 18a. Character sketches for the 1940 Disney movie
- Pinocchio red wine by Dievole.
- A Polish poster for Disney’s Pinocchio.
- The Adventures of Pinocchio 1988 by Roberto Innocenti
- George Bush Coin
- The Adventures of Pinocchio (Italy) 1935 illustrated by Peiro Bernardini
- The New Adventures of Pinocchio, Dell Comic book 1963
- Pinocchio, the Boy, illustrated by Lane Smith 2002
- Luigi and Maria Augusta Cavalieri 1924.
- Pinocchio info to come
- Cut out nose from PinocchioPolititics.com (Behind 28) “Pinocchio is visited by the doctors” by Luigi and Maria Augusta Cavalieri 1924
- Pinocchio by Gianbattista Galizzi 1957
Pinocchio Cover Gallery July 29, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in Books, Pinocchio, Puppets, Summer Reading Project.1 comment so far
A sampling of Pinocchio books:
1. Lane Smith (2003) 2. Mauro Evangelista (2006) 3. Gus Grimly(2009) 4. Sara Fanelli (book with slipcase 2003) 5. J.J. Menet (France 1945) 6. Lois Lenski (1940)
7. Tony Sarg (1940) 8. Sergio Rizzato (1963) 9. Jim Dine (2006) 10. Art Seiden (1954) 11. Benito Jacovitti (Italy 2001) 12. Winshluss (2009)
13. Matthias Griebler (German 2007) 14. Lorenzo Mattotti (Italy 1991) 15. TK (Japan 1997)
16., 17. James Jean (2008)
18. J. Pavlin – G. Seda, (Czech, English version 1974)
Skewered by a Nose: Pinnochio and Politics July 15, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in 3-D work, Analogy, Pinocchio, Political and Social Art, Toys.Tags: Analogy, political Pinocchio, political satire, Politics and art
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Pinocchio and politics are not strange bedfellows. Carlo Collodi (the pen name of Carlo Lorenzini) was very much a a product of tumultuous political times in 19th century Italy when he wrote Pinnocchio in 1881. Situations that occur in The Adventures of Pinocchio in many ways reflect Italy’s social policy towards children at the time (see Carl Ipsen’s book ” Italy in the Age of Pinocchio: Children and Danger in the Liberal Era“). Over the years the image of a visibly growing nose to illustrate political lying has become as iconic (and sometimes cliché) as pinoke himself.
(above) Fold out cover of the August 1972, (No. 29) National Lampoon. Nixon as Pinocchio with Henry Kissinger as Jiminy Cricket. Illustration by Robert Grossman
(above) President George Bush as Pinocchio in Germany, Feb. 2004. (Photo by Ina Fassbender)
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(above) The Chicago Tribune offered a fold-up version of Illinois state Senator Roland Burris as Pinocchio.
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(above) Protesters wearing (german politican) Roland Koch-pinocchio masks in Frankfurt January 2008.
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Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives everyone lies at some point or another (At least so the other side claims). Death isn’t the great equalizer, Pinocchio is. In some cases all you need is some basic photoshop skills and you too can perform a political rhinoplasty.
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(above) G8 leaders
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(above) “Bianocchio” or Politichio, A comment on Taiwanese politician and former President of the Republic of China, Chen Shui Bian. by Taiwan’s Phalanx Studio
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Pinocchio/The Dark Side June 30, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in 3-D work, Pinocchio, Puppets, Summer Reading Project.Tags: dark side, death, mask, Pinocchio, Pinocchio tattoo, Skeleton, Vampire Slayer
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“Number 3 Chris Slipknot mask is an official licensed mask from Morbid Industries. … (the) mask is a bondage style Pinocchio latex mask, … The nose on this slipknot mask is approximately 4.5 inches long“
A Giant (Pinocchio?) skeleton at The Palazzo Reale in Milan by artist Gino De Dominicus titled “Calamita Cosmica”
Pinocchio’s death- an installation at the Guggenheim Museum in New York (2008) by artist Maurizio Cattelan, (titled Daddy Daddy)
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(above) Zombie Pinocchio Tattoo ( courtesy of BMEzine.com)
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(above) Pinocchio’s Revenge , the 1996 horror film. “…..Evil comes with strings attached”. You can’t beat that as a tagline.
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(above) Pinocchio Vampire Slayer A graphic novel coming September 2009 drawn by Dustin Higgins and written by Van Jensen. Pinoke uses his nose as a wooden stake to kill the undead. If you look closely at the bottom right hand panel the vampire is saying with his dying breath ” Killed by a nose…how humiliating”.
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(above) Geppetto from the DC/Vertigo comic book Fables. The story as written by Bill Willingham paints Pinocchio’s father as an deluded, tyrannical despot. I’ll save you the details of what has befallen the Blue Fairy at the hands of this monster.
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(above) Pinocchio: The Story of a Boy By Ausonia
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Where do I begin? The maggots on the cover should be a tip off of how dark this version of Pinocchio is. Here the story of our hero is turned upside down. The world is inhabited by wooden people , Gepetto is a butcher who sews together a creature that loosely resembles a bag of meat.
I first saw mention of this book on frankensteinia, a wonderful blog of all things related to Frankenstein. Which does raise an interesting point. In many ways Pinocchio and Frankenstein are cousins. Two beings invested with life, yet not quite whole. They both search for their humanity and as they do so provide a sometimes terrible reflection of what and how humanity can act towards the different and outsider. Ausonia tackles these themes with beautifully drawn art, the imagery is shocking and graphic. Ausionia’s site for this particular book of his offers sketches, and finished art with the authors thoughts on pinocchio. The pages can be translated fromm the Italian through your browser. www.ausonia-pinocchio.com/
Another book that explores the connection between Pinoke and Frank (also written up in frankensteinia) is The Cobbler’s Monster by Jeff Amano (writer), Craig Rousseau (pencils) and Wayne Faucher (Inks). This book is more of a blending of the two stories.
Pinocchio-1001 Uses June 30, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in 3-D work, Industrial Design, Pinocchio.1 comment so far
Possibly it’s the material aspect of Pinocchio that has inspired designers to turn our iconic wooden friend into something utilitarian. His nose seems particularly handy for a number of things. I suppose form really does follow function.
A Pinocchio tape measure (Kim and Jason’s Lemonade Stand)
The copy reads: “Add a colorful touch to your bathroom with Pinocchio Toilet Brush. Any kid young or old would like this naughty brush in their bathroom. Cute and practical, Pinocchio’s nose substitutes the handle, while the brush is Pinocchio’s smiling face and his cap is the brush stand. Poor Pinocchio has to do the toilet cleaning also for all the lies he said.” (Gizmodiva.com)
From Italy a plastic Pinoke funnel (by Alessi)
A set of cards available to teachers to be used as measuring exercises in elementary school.
A clothes line by industrial designer Francesco Castiglione Morelli (Outlook Design Italia)
A toothpick dipenser created by David Tsai (davidtsai.net)
Pinocchio…”I’ll be back” May 11, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in Comics, Graphic Novels, Pinocchio, Puppets, Summer Reading Project, Visually Cool & Relevant.Tags: Pinocchio, Vincent Parannaud, Winshluss
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Like the Terminator he seems to reference, Pinocchio is back, this time channeled through well known French comix artist Winshluss. His retelling of the classic children’s story was awarded the Fauve d’or (best comic book prize/ Gold Fauvre) at the 37th Angoulême International Comics Festival in France this year. Winshluss, is the pen name of Vincent Parannaud who might also be familiar to some as co-director with Marjane Satrapi on her animated film Persepolis.
Winshluss has created a wonderfully dark, comic noir interpretation of Carlo Collodi’s classic children’s story. The artwork is primarily done in pen and ink, and watercolor but switches to paint for larger splash panels. He references a terrific range of illustrative styles and history in the story from late 18th century pen and ink, to early French film pioneer Georges Méliès , through early Disney (don’t ask what indignities Snow White endures within these pages), and underground comix.
Disney’s 1940 animated Pinoccho seems to have become the definitive version here in the U.S., Winshluss work is much closer to Collodi than Disney in spirit. Like Collodi’s originally serialized story of the wooden marionette, Winshluss updated version was first published as serialized chapters in Ferraille Illustré, a French comics journal. Winshluss’ graphic novel is an adult noir movie that at times is both comedy and tragedy. The narrative begins with a shooting, and then flashes back to Pinocchio’s creation (he is now a robot like android) and his subsequent adventures. Collodi’s original story, which is also darker (Pinocchio is hung, Jiminy Cricket is killed…) than Disney’s version and was first intended as an adult story. Both versions portray Pinocchio going from one manipulative situation to another. Winshluss has also injected politics into his story which also played a part in Collodi’s original.
The Angoulême site described the book as an “Opera”, which it is in it’s visual lushness and drama. For the most part the book is wordless, with multiple character’s points of view all adding to the sum of Pinocchio’s story. Jiminy Cafard (Cafard translates as cockaroach as well as hypocrite and a feeling of severe depression), Pinochio’s companion provides the most talking in the book which seems appropriate, and provides comic relief.
Most of his appearances are rendered in black and white. As of now Winshluss’ Pinocchio is only available in French (which won’t stop you from enjoying it even if you’re not a French speaker) and through overseas online merchants . Hopefully it will be distributed in the states in the near future.
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All images © Winshluss and or Les Requins Marteaux
Raiders of the Lost Arcimboldo March 21, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in 3-D work, Art History, Public art, Student Post, Surreal.Tags: Alex Iezzi, Arcimboldo, assemblage, Aurel Schmidt, Dali, Joel-Peter Witkin, Octavio Ocampo, Vik Muniz
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by Alex Iezzi
The 15th century, Italian painter, Giuseppe Arcimboldo is one of the most instantly recognizable artists in western art. From Milan, Arcimboldo worked as a court painter, as well as court decorator, and fashion designer, painting the Royalty, in Prague. And he painted them as fruit, and other objects.
(above left) Vertumnus (portrait of Emperor Rudolf II)c. 1590 (middle) Winter c. 1563 (right) Win
Arcimboldo had an uncanny ability to look at a human figure and turn it into still life observational-plant-matter-mosaic of sorts. Arcimboldo can be seen as the grandfather of this style; influencing A number of artists historically, and in contemporary art in techniques, and mediums.
His influence on artists of the 20th century can be seen in the work of the Surreal and Dada artists. The artists of these movements were influenced by the bizarre quality of Arcimboldo’s work. Salvador Dali, a surrealist, oftentimes created hidden images within images, although doing it much more abstractly and stranger than Arcimboldo.
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(above) Dali’s landscape with hidden face.
Since the 1970’s, Mexican painter Octavio Ocampo has been creating images influenced by Arcimboldo. His subject matter usually deals with religious, and traditional Mexican imagery. Ocampo’s portraits are comprised of juxtaposed historical images, painted and composed in such a way as to create very interesting allusions relating to a superimposed likeness. I would not quite call it pop art.
(above) Ocampo’s portrait of Don Quixote.
Moving to our contemporaries, a very large body of work has been created in the style of Guiseppe Arcimboldo, even in mediums other than painting. Joel-Peter Witkin has referenced Arcimboldo, and with his influence created horrifying photographic works. Witkin credits the witnessing of woman’s decapitation during his childhood to be the source of his own aesthetic sensibilities. Like Acrimboldo, he arranges organic and man-made material into portraits. Witkin’s portraits can seem disgusting and be of confusing scenes, whose purpose is to leave a deep, and sick impression in the viewer. Here for more: www.edelmangallery.com/witkin.htm.
(above) Joel-Peter Witkin’s photographs obviously are influenced by the work of the late Arcimboldo.
Vik Muniz is another artist who uses this material-assemblage technique and then photographs the result. Muniz uses junk in a junkyard setting and rearranges it in order to create images, which can only be captured by a camera hung from a crane far overhead. The images are copies of some great master paintings, including Caravaggio, Guido Reni, Correggio, and Goya. Despite the use of a simmilar assemblage style Muniz does recreate a Arcimboldo. The similarities are interesting to note. Here for more: www.vikmuniz.net/
(above) Muniz’s rendition of Goya’s Saturn Devouring One of His Sons.
A younger generation has also picked up on the style of Arcimboldo and worked in a very grand scale, much like Vik Muniz. Blu, an Italian mural artist most famous for his moving graffiti animations www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuGaqLT-gO4 , has exhibited influence in Arcimboldo. This can be seen in his 2007 Berlin work. Here for more www.blublu.org
(above) Blu’s mural.
The last artist we look at is my personal favorite of the group, the young (25), Aurel Schmidt. Her drawings of the grotesque and deranged can also show Arcimboldo’s influence. She has a modern twist however, using her own collections of trash to mold monsters out of them. Her drawings are incredibly detailed, every inch is completely rendered, and should be seen in person to get the true effect. Not only is Schmidt a master of capturing minute detail in her drawings, but she masterfully lays them down into chilling compositions that Arcimboldo would surely be proud of! Here for more: www.tinyvices.com/Aurel_Schmidt.html
(above) Aurel Schmidt’s beautifully intricate drawings.
Coraline, The Biggest Smallest Movie Ever March 1, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in 3-D work, Puppets, Student Post.Tags: Behind the scenes, Coraline, Jenel Lawson, Movies
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By Jenel Lawson
You may have seen the new movie Coraline about a young girl who walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers a fun alternate version of her life, until it turns dark and deadly. If you look past the movie’s story there is a far more amazing world to be found. The whole movie was created with rigged puppets and small miniatures. 450 people put hard work and dedication into bringing the story to life. One crew member was hired specifically to knit miniature sweaters and other clothing for the puppet characters, using knitting needles as thin as human hair.
When you watch how the world of Coraline was put together it’s hard to fathom. Each character has millions of little parts to make it come to life. Thousands of hands and halves of faces for expression, millions of individual strands of hair imbedded into the dolls scalps, and the skillfully put together set which transforms from the area where the house stands into a crazy garden in the shape of Coraline’s face that lights up. The process to get the movie together in my opinion was way more impressive than the actual story the movie portrays.
The art for the movie is also wonderful with its quant vintage feel and erie presence in the background of every somewhat wholesome picture. My favorite artwork for the movie being the Coraline Alphabet cards. To promote the launch, Focus Features set up 26 Coraline “Alphabet Cards” which feature individual letters with ties to the movie on 26 separate websites, to get them all you would have had to go around and find each card on each promotional site. All 26 images will be produced as trading cards in time.
The cards were located at:
A is for ADVENTURES @ Ain’t it Cool News
B is for BOBINSKI @ Bullz Eye
C is for CORALINE @ Collider
D is for DAD @ Dread Central
E is for ENTRANCE @ Eclipse
F is for FORCIBLE @ Fearnet
G is for GHOST CHILDREN @ Geeks of Doom
H is for HANDS @ Happy News
I is for IMPOSTER @ IGN
J is for JUMP @ JoBlo
K is for KNOWLEDGE@ KOL
L is for LADIES @ Latino Review
M is for MUSIC @ MTV (Splashpage)
N is for NEEDLE @ Neil Gaiman
O is for OTHERWORLD @ Obsessed with Film
P is for PALACE @ Premiere (smallest image posted!)
Q is for QUICK @ Quick Stop Entertainment
R is for RAGDOLLS @ Rotten Tomatoes
S is for SPINK @ Scifi.com
T is for TOYS @ Twitch Film
U is for UP @ UGO
V is for VEHICLE @ VFX World
W is for WYBIE @ Worst Previews
X is the Spot @ X-Realms
Y is for YUM! @ Yahoo! Movies
Z is for ZANZIBAR @ Zap2It
A few of my favorite leters were:
Toys and Tootsie Pops! February 20, 2009
Posted by leskanturek in 3-D work, Student Post, Toys.Tags: Naomi Koffman, Tootsie Pops, Toy Fair
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by Naomi L. Koffman
On Sunday February 15, 2009, I attended the American International Toy Fair. The fair was in Manhattan at the Javits Center. The show was packed with all sorts of new playthings for little kids and big kids alike. I was especially drawn to the section for Designer Art Toys. There I found a product that really caught my eye.
Do you remember the old Tootsie Roll Pop commercials that asked, “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?” Well, a company by the name of Super Rad Toys remembers and is releasing vinyl figures based on the characters in the commercial. The figures being produced include the boy, the turtle and the owl. I always enjoyed the illustrations of these characters and I was so glad to see someone reproducing them as figures. These characters are a real piece of pop-culture nostalgia.
I believe there could be a very large market for these toys. People like to hold on to pieces of their past, and remember the pleasant moments in their youth or childhood. Tootsie Roll Pop commercials could very well be one of those happy memories for many young and old adults.
According to vinylpulse.com, the figures will be sold in sets of two. Each set will include the boy with either Mr. Owl or Mr. Turtle. The estimated retail price for a two-figure set is between $30 and $40. That seems to be a rather affordable price point.
I couldn’t get too much information about the Tootsie Roll line at the Toy Fair but I did find an article about them at http://www.wizarduniverse.com/050708tootsie.html that explains the concept and the figures in much more detail.
The website for Super Rad Toys is currently under construction, however they do have a myspace page that displays their illustrative toys. (http://www.myspace.com/superradtoys)
Images courtesy of www.wizarduniverse.com
