Archive for the ‘art’ Category
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
:: check out this superb 3D animation by Neocha.com-user ZP686 titled Fatman & Moto. It was nominated for awards at the University Animation Festival and by the Beijing Film Academy’s Animation Institute. In his infinite modesty, ZP6986 told me that he’s actually in the process of redoing Fatman & Moto because he doesn’t think it’s very good. At any rate, enjoy – I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say it’s excellent. To view the video on VIMEO, link here. Below the video I’ve also shared a slideshow of “making of” photos – it’s very interesting to see the process of the character coming alive.
ZP686 is originally from Baotou, Inner Mongolia. He graduated from the Beijing Fashion Institute’s new media and animation school in 2008. Although trained as an illustrator and animator, he is currently employed in Beijing by the American special effects company Base FX as a concept art designer. // AjS
[full disclosure: fifty 5 is a partner at Neocha.com]
Posted in art, beijing, china, creativity | innovation, neocha.com, video, youth | creative culture | Tags: 3d, animation, base fx, beijing, beijing film academy, fatman & moto, illustration, inner mongolia, neocha.com, new media, zp686 | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
:: this is just so amazingly good. See below for a short film titled Deadline. Deadline was directed / edited by Bang-yao Liu, a Taiwanese student at Savannah College of Art and Design, and shot by Jay Tseng. The film was Liu’s senior project, and it creatively tells the story of everyone’s fight against deadlines and keeping up with post-it / to-do notes. The interaction between the actor and the pixel-like post-it notes is flawless. Production on the film took three months of planning, four days of shooting, and over 6000 post-it notes. This video was just a week and a half ago and now has nearly one million views. is equally as interesting. Bravo, well done. // AjS
Posted in art, china, cool hunting, creativity | innovation, things well done, video, youth | creative culture | Tags: bang-yao liu, deadline, jay tseng, notes, post-it, savannah college of art and design, stop motion, stop-action, taiwan, video | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 12th, 2009
:: there is a great exhibition opening in Shanghai at Art Labor this weekend, running through July 10. Link here for more details. See below for some sample pieces from the artist, 26 year old Xian-based Ying Yefu (also know as Kodyo and Ren Qianyi). // AjS
Posted in art, china, cool hunting, culture, events, shanghai, youth | creative culture | Tags: art, art labor, events, exhibition, kodyo, ren qianyi, shanghai, xian, ying yefu | 2 Comments »
Friday, June 12th, 2009
:: recent work by Shenzhen-based Neocha.com-user Kim227. Provocative abstract images with collages of lips, eyes, nipples, vaginas, and penises. I think these images are part of a single larger piece. Link here to see more from this series. // AjS
[full disclosure: 56minus1 is a partner at Neocha.com]
Posted in art, china, cool hunting, neocha.com, youth | creative culture | Tags: abstract, china, collage, eyes, images, Kim, kim227, lips, neocha, neocha.com, nipples, penises, Provocative, shenzhen, vaginas | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
:: the work of Austin, Texas-based artist Scott Wade, link here for more. // AjS
Posted in art, cool hunting, people, urban, youth | creative culture | Tags: art, austin, car, dirty, mud, scott wade, texas | No Comments »
Monday, June 8th, 2009
:: a special thanks to Danwei for helping me learn that this image is actually an Ai Weiwei photograph. I honestly had no idea. For the longest time I thought it was just a Zuo Xiao Zu Zhuo (左小祖咒) album cover, which, incidentally, hung framed on the the wall of my Beijing apartment from 2003 to 2006. Does anyone know where I can find more information about this photo? // AjS
Posted in art, beijing, china, cool hunting, culture, people, photography, urban, youth | creative culture | Tags: ai weiwei, album, beijing, cover, danwei, panties, photograph, square, tiananmen, zuo xiao zu zhuo, 左小祖咒, 艾未未 | 4 Comments »
Monday, June 8th, 2009
:: a slideshow of sketches by Neocha.com-user Kim227. Kim is also the artist behind the superb I Wanna Be animation short posted on Fifty 5 a couple months ago. // AjS
[full disclosure: Fifty 5 is a partner at Neocha.com]
Posted in art, china, cool hunting, creativity | innovation, neocha.com, youth | creative culture | Tags: animation, I WANNA BE, Kim, kim227, neocha, neocha.com, sketchbook, sketches, slideshow | 1 Comment »
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
:: taken at the home of Shanghai-based illustrator Nial O’Connor while filming part 2 of a video project that introduces characters from his comic Jing Squared (晶²). The first character introduced was Jing Jing, the character below is Xiao Bao. In a couple weeks we’ll be releasing the Xiao Bao video, stay tuned. // AjS
Posted in art, china, cool hunting, people, shanghai, snaps, youth | creative culture | Tags: comic, illustration, illustrator, jing jing, jing squared, nial o'connor, shanghai, snaps, syrup comeks, video, xiao bao, 小宝, 晶² | No Comments »
Saturday, June 6th, 2009
:: I met up with Nial O’Connor today, a Shanghai-based artist who I’ve written about before on 56minus1 and have had the privileged of working with on a video production. While chatting, I learned of some stencil experiments he did in Shanghai with his comic character Jing Jing. The below photographs capture this work; taken last year in the pre-demolition abandoned neighborhood at the corner of Shimen Yi Rd. and Weihai Rd (just across the street from the Four Seasons hotel). That same neighborhood has since been leveled and is now being prepared for high-rise development. In the coming weeks I’ll be documenting more of Nial’s stencil work in Shanghai – watch this space. // AjS
Posted in art, china, cool hunting, graffiti, people, shanghai, urban, youth | creative culture | Tags: art, artist, china, illustrator, jing jing, nial, nial o'connor, shanghai, shimen yi rd., stencil, street art, urban, urban art, weihai rd. | No Comments »
Friday, June 5th, 2009
:: Garfield has always been one of my favorite Neocha.com users. Her work is always innovative, imaginative, and inspiring. See below for a few examples of her amazing illustrative creations. At the bottom of this post, I have also shared a slideshow that showcases all of her work on Neocha.com. // AjS
[full disclosure: 56minus1 is a partner at Neocha.com]
Posted in art, china, cool hunting, design, neocha.com, youth | creative culture | Tags: artist, creations, creative, garfield, illustration, neocha, neocha.com, slideshow | 2 Comments »
Friday, June 5th, 2009
:: a couple years ago I had dinner with a budding Beijing-based artist / illustrator Yan Wei and her now fiance (Blake Stonebanks). As I was poking around online today, I was re-introduced to Yan Wei via some of her latest work – all of which is superb. See below for some examples.
When I first saw Yan Wei’s work, I couldn’t help but recall my Garbage Pail Kid-dominated childhood. That same exaggerated / manga-esque style and “unnecessarily grotesque and disturbing images of children” aesthetic is definitely (probably unintentionally) apparent, and I think that’s great – such images were the cornerstone of my youth! See more of Yan Wei’s work on her blog, or here for older pieces. I have also uploaded these images to a Flickr album. Bravo, well done. // AjS
Posted in art, beijing, china, cool hunting, people, things well done, youth | creative culture | Tags: artist, beijing, children, disturbing, garbage pail kids, grotesque, illustration, painting, things well done, yan wei | No Comments »
Friday, June 5th, 2009
:: a slideshow of simple, cute illustrations from Neocha-user Yonghu. Notice the Caonima (alpaca / llama) right after the frog and before the dog. // AjS
[full disclosure: 56minus1 is a partner at Neocha.com]
Posted in art, china, cool hunting, internet | technology, neocha.com, youth | creative culture | Tags: caonima, illustration, neocha.com, slideshow, yonghu | No Comments »
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
:: I came across this music video for Minilogue’s song Animals done by Varelsen Animation Studio – it’s excellent. This is one of those videos that you bookmark and come come back to when you need a does of happy. The Twitter Fail Whale even makes an appearance! Link here for more of Varelsen’s work. // AjS
Posted in art, video, youth | creative culture | Tags: animals, animation, fail whale, happy, minilogue, music, mv, twitter, varelsen, video | No Comments »
Monday, June 1st, 2009
:: I just came across Chinese multimedia designer Ray Lei (雪磊)’s latest work, titled City Mobilization, via his blog. The piece was done as a promo for the 2009 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture, and, as with anything Ray produces, it’s superb. For more fifty 5 posts about Ray Lei‘s work, link here. Bravo, well done. // AjS
Posted in art, china, cool hunting, design, things well done, urban, video, youth | creative culture | Tags: 2d, animation, architecture, beinnale, bi-city, city mobilization, designer, hong kong, multimedia, ray lei, shenzhen, urbanism, 雪磊 | No Comments »
Sunday, May 31st, 2009
:: the Chinese government’s pet dissident and well-known conceptual artist / designer / all-around decent guy Ai Weiwei (艾未未) is now on and Fanfou (a China-market Twitter clone), and has just launched a new blog. In order to verify his identity to the netizen community, Ai Weiwei posted the below semi-nude / grotesque photographs of himself. Hmm…I’m still not convinced. Mr. Ai’s grand entrance into the China Twitter-sphere is likely a tipping point: Twitter will be blocked in China soon enough. // AjS
Posted in art, blogs | bloggers, china, design, internet | technology, people | Tags: ai weiwei, blog, conceptual artist, designer, dissident, fanfou, identity, naked, nude, photos, twitter, 艾未未 | 3 Comments »
