BIG THINGS AHEAD: VICTOR

you know how you sit around with your friends and dream up some awesome, ironic idea that you're sure no one else has had and you all get into character and screw around for awhile with silly voices and dances and maybe you even bust out some costumes. then you're all, "duuuude, we should totally record this shit!" and everyone agrees that you could make a killing selling your raver version of lambchop and friends. then you probably pass out and forget all about it. well victor solomon is the friend that actually writes that shit down, shoots and directs it while you're busy ordering another pizza.



the valentine sainsbury series is probably my favorite. featuring victor himself as 80s-inspired charlie-rose style talk-show host, valentine sainsbury, various "intellectuals" muse on their work and the state of the arts with ironically upturned noses. these shorts are a good example of victor's style-- dry, mocking, and hilarious. his most recent project, life of leopold, is a mockumentary peek into the world of LOLcats. plus cat puppets!!!!! april also just told me that she plays a big role in the movie, as beatrice, leopold's assistant! life of leopold premieres this sunday, september 12th at viz cinema, the new underground theater in japantown's new people shopping/art/entertainment destination.

check out victor's website for more of his work; his collection of vanity license plates (NO H8TN, DOGS RLE, etc.); his podcast radio show; and uplifting ghetto e-greeting card.

Name: victor solomon

Age: 29

Hometown: San Francisco by way of Boston.

Where are you right now? I’m in my office. It’s 2am and I want to go to bed.





What do you do? Film-maker, anecdotalist, silly-idea-haver.

Where are you going? Somewhere good I hope!

What will you be doing when you get there? Making new things every day.

How did you decide to go in this direction? Because everything else is boring!

Do you have any expectations? I generally don’t have expectations, but am simultaneously completely unaware of failure. I’m almost always in a perfectly ignorant state of forward momentum because I don’t care much how things turn out.

Are you excited? Nervous? Terrified? Thrilled? The first one and the last one.

What are you looking forward to? I’m looking forward to finding financing for my projects so I can shoot every day.







What are you scared of? I have a phobia of bridges and vomiting.

What happens if it doesn’t work out? What?

What is the worst thing that could happen? That nothing happens.

What is the best thing that could happen? That everything happens!

Did you ever think you’d be where you are now? It never occurred to me. “where you are” only exists to me in retrospect. I can look back and say, “hey, look where I was”, but I never think of it in the present.



Have you ever felt like this before? This tired? Often.

What are you leaving behind? Nothing I regret.

What will you miss? Nothing I’ll miss.

What did your friends say when you told them? Only the best things.

ARE YOU READY? YES!

BIG THINGS AHEAD: KELLY

kelly tunstall comes into metier every so often to say hello, usually with adorable, squirming, blue-eyed baby brixton in tow. i'm always impressed by her sweetness and positive energy considering her busy artist/mom schedule. when she mentioned she was working on some new paintings for a show at giant robot in new york, i thought she would be a perfect candidate for BIG THINGS AHEAD.

the ladies in kelly’s paintings are long limbed, well-dressed, and always emanate a certain magical mysteriousness. painted with dainty strokes, opaque layers and delicate textures, each woman is intriguing, her giant eyes and mona-lisa-smile masking a rich history right beneath the surface. for this show, kelly employed snapshots of friends wearing necklaces as inspiration and painted portraits in her signature style. tracy and i were even included in the show!!



she’s also been working quite a bit with husband, ferris plock, whose bolder lines and goofy characters add another narrative dimension to her portraits. together they create wacky worlds in which kelly's wispy dames and ferris' toothy dudes go on adventures and morph together into hybrid mermaids and monsters. but their greatest collaboration to date (in the "real world") is baby brixton! it's hard to be an artist and arguably harder to be a mom, but to do both and still maintain some kind of normalcy is really impressive. the whole family went to tokyo early this year for a show at ftc tokyo and both are in the upcoming fecal face 10 year anniversary show. big things are definitely ahead for kelly and clan, and we can't wait to see what happens next in their world. out and about, indeed!!!

see more of kelly's work here, ferris' here, and their joint efforts here. and don't miss kelly's show at giant robot in new york, this friday, september 4th!





Name: kelly tunstall
Age: 30
Hometown: Tualatin, Oregon

Where are you right now? My studio/house

What do you do? I am an artist, designer, wife, mother, and daughter.

Where are you going? We’ll find out! But in the short term, New York.



What will you be doing when you get there? Showing my artwork at giant robot’s gallery. The work is focused on ladies that I like that I run into in daily life. Most with great necklaces. I think I am going to do a self portrait too.

How did you decide to go in this direction? I needed a show to think about after having our baby. I asked giant robot, and they obliged.

What led you to make this decision? Well, I was feeling a little –um- just lacking a sense of where I fit into the bigger picture. I just needed to place myself in a context.


Do you have any expectations? Mmm. Not really. Showing up and bringing great work. My work has always been about painting imagined archetypes or family stories or personal ones. This is just a small stretch from that. I hope to expand from whatever I do for this show wherever it takes me.

Are you excited? Nervous? Terrified? Thrilled? I’m at a crossroads of those things, but not terrified. I know everything will be ok. I’m more introspective than anything. I just took my son who is not a year old yet to my home town, to the house I grew up in and we spent a little time there. My mom has a bunch of my art from many different times in the house, so I couldn’t help but compare and contrast and see how far I’ve come but also how I started. So much support from my family and my husband, so I’m pretty humbled, but I feel good.

What are you looking forward to? Painting!

What are you scared of? Uh. See above.



What happens if it doesn’t work out? Failure is not an option. It’s just to what degree I succeed and whether I embarrass myself. I just don’t want to disappoint!

What is the worst thing that could happen? Nothing.

What is the best thing that could happen? I like leaving that one up to the future to decide. I just hope the pieces end up in good homes.

Did you ever think you’d be where you are now? Hm. No, I had an inkling I’d be at the very least a creative of some sort.




What did your friends say when you told them? I’m always doing stuff- but I think it’s been fun to share some of the progress with the ladies that I’ve chosen to paint. And I think I surprised a few…

Have you ever felt like this before? Nope. Every day is fresh. Looking forward to the next, not that that’s unusual but things keep unfolding and now I’m seeing the bigger patterns. I know I’m not that old, but I feel great about getting older. Things feel so rich. This series has helped me enjoy the beautiful things and people around me.

What are you leaving behind? I think Ferris and Brixton will stay at home.

What will you miss? See above.



all images courtesy kelly! portrait of kelly by howard cao!

waterlogged

don't miss this article on caitlin and the crew's floating art space, the LABRADOR PROJECT, up in portland! do it!!!

penduluminations

courtney and i are working on graphics for some BIG THINGS and she sent me to find more about emma kunz - swiss healer and artist! emma used her telepathic inclinations and a pendulum to create her geometric drawings and to help cure patients in the 1940s. she also discovered the healing stone, AION A, at a quarry in switzerland with the help of her pendulum! get healed at the emma kunz zentrum!





images via little verses

BIG THINGS AHEAD: AMELIE

while in vienna, i had the pleasure of meeting amelie and helping her prepare an incredible multi-dish persian meal for a grateful group of friends. but her talents don't only reside in the kitchen. her photography work is tinged with nostalgia, longing, mystery and an exploration of the self and the search for it (itself!) and it's place. when i found out she was heading to new york to do some research for her thesis and needed a place to stay, i hooked her up with nico, who helped introduce her to the wild world of nyc. it was her first time in the city and definitely worthy of a pre-trip BIG THINGS AHEAD interview. amelie, i hope new york was everything you hoped and more! next time we'll see you in san francisco!




Name: Amelie Zadeh
Age: 24
Hometown: Vienna

Where are you right now? In particular:7.31, sitting in my bed, sipping coffee and counting flowers on my favorite duvet (from my grandma).
In general: somewhere in between. Yeah, let’s call it vacuum- no directions, no coordinates, but also no weight.

What do you do? Looking for something that captures me, a face, a smell, a certain sound, a word. Maybe that’s why I do pictures- having the possibility to save these very individual and intimate moments, when something moves you deeply- no matter if it’s positive or negative (haha, photographic metaphors droppin’ ;-))



Where are you going? Although I do like Vienna and it’s cosiness, it is time to get some new input. So I decided to go to NY for a couple of weeks- getting lost, being found, and probably tons of ideas.

What will you be doing when you get there? I am now finishing my thesis in film studies- I know if I don’t finish it this summer, I’ll never do it. I love avant garde-film. In NY is the biggest archive for that topic (anthology film archives)- and here we go! But aside from digging and writing like hell I’ll get my camera. And let me drift by the crazy rhythm of NY.




How did you decide to go in this direction? I’m always in between theory and practice- the constant questioning of what I am doing with my camera -and mostly important- with the people in front of it, is very essential. Photography in my opinion is the most ambiguous medium, pushing the boundaries of memory, past and presence within a single moment.

What led you to make this decision? I just don’t wanna stick to the very old-fashioned stupid distinction of theory or art practice. I think in images. And words. That’s why I do both, I guess it is as simple as that.



Do you have any expectations? Mhh. Getting to know interesting people, places, whatever. I guess I’m too excited to have any clue what’s gonna happening in the next few months...

Are you excited? Nervous? Terrified? Thrilled? Take all of them, shake them, put some whipped cream, a cherry and a mint leave on top- and voilá- that`s the current amelie-ny-mood-mode.



What are you looking forward to? No matter what will be happening, it is all worth an experience. There is nothing do be disappointed- even if things don’t work out that well- it is an experience, which takes me one step further. Not having the same perspective, but different and completely new point of views, that’s what I’m really looking forward to!!!

What are you scared of? Too much delicious food, and that I don’t wanna come back…

Did you ever think you’d be where you are now? No. thought I’d be a biologist. Watching flocks of birds. (ok, still love watching birds.)




Have you ever felt like this before? No, it’s like walking on thin ice…somehow…in summer.

What are you leaving behind? Summer-blues Vienna (which is always a visit worth by the way) and my dogs. Oh no, my dogs…

What will you miss? My people around me…and my dogs. And my flower duvet.



What did your friends say when you told them? High five. All of them.

ARE YOU READY? Please choose the right answer: Yes/no/maybe

I guess I even don’t have a pen to tick the right one ;-)

work work work

i'm working on moving out of my place right now and am looking at a postcard that nico always had up in the room by legendary illustrator/printer, david weidman. the simple statement, "WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER" is my mantra right now. here's a look at some of his other work- great colors and layers! saw some pretty cool pillows with his prints at urban outfitters in chicago. they also did a neat little interview with him about his past work as an animator, ceramicist,