Kaleidoscope Diversions

I’m still working on the part 2 of the FOUND Photobooth series so I thought instead I would post some photos I took through a kaleidoscope. As far as pass-times and procrastination strategies go this is far more entertaining than watching online videos. Here are three collages of objects I photographed, to the right is a television and below are a wooden basket and a piano. I think next I’ll do some self-portraits!

FOUND Photobooth

FOUND Photobooth is a new 10 week series showcasing my favourites from my photobooth collection along with my narrative interpretation of them. I’ll update the blog every Sunday. Feel welcome to leave comments of your own observations!

I found this strip of photos on the floor of a photobooth in West Edmonton Mall in the summer of 2010. This is what I see:

The girl, Jenny, is 17 years old and tries to maintain a sunny disposition. Her t-shirt that reads “Dream of Sunshine” is not unique in her wardrobe. Jenny and Tom, the boy, have been friends since childhood. Their mother’s met at church when they were toddlers and arranged many play dates. Jenny and Tom grew up as close friends but the dynamic of their friendship changed when they began at the same high school. She is in jazz band and taking two foreign language classes. He is an amateur smoker but still does not consider himself too cool for school dances. They only nod or smile at each other in the hallways but still spend the occasional weekend or evening together.

As their grade 11 year was coming to a close, one night Tom kissed Jenny in his basement. He also touched her breasts a little. They never spoke of the moment but they both thought of it often. This created a quickly escalating awkward tension. After the incident, whenever Tom caught himself saying something flirtatious to Jenny, he ‘corrected’ it by then saying something hurtful, which was easy with his knowledge of her insecurities.

When Jenny saw the photobooth in the mall she imagined tucking her half of the photos in the frame of her mirror, this delighted her. She inserted the coins before they had negotiated the seating arrangement. Tom felt it was only appropriate that she sit on his lap. Jenny interpreted his insistence not as a romantic gesture but as a mockery of her weight. Once the photos were developed, made upset by the reality they presented, Jenny discarded them to the booth floor. Tom followed her as she walked off.


(click strip to view detail)

Two Hands Two Crowns Contest Winner!

Jack from the United Kingdom is the contest winner! I like his stream of consciousness approach to list writing and I also want to personally try some of his suggestions. His list is posted below (for the North American readers, in the UK candy often comes in paper or plastic tubes.) Jack picked the lion button for his prize.


ways to make art in everyday life

-Put sweety tubes on your pets legs for an interactive "robot" installation
-While waiting in a ticketed que imagine you are playing the national lottery (to increase chances of winning take many tickets)
-Video the suffering from a hangover and edit it into an "Exorcist remake"
-frame used loo-roll as expressionist painting
-Cut holes in the crotches of your trousers to make effective and fasionable jumpers.
-Speak at half your normal speed, hey presto a David Lynch eerie dialogue
-Talk to a stranger
-Be very, very messy when applying mustard and ketchup to things
-Walk slowly backwards with a video camera then watch it rewind to create the effect of walking forwards.
-Walk forwards with a video camera then watch it in rewind to give the impression of walking quickly backwards
-When using skype on an Ipad put it to your ear and pretend you are a midget with an Iphone
-Pretend you are a giant by treating your Iphone as an Ipad


Thanks to everyone who contributed a list, more contests to come in the Spring!

Writing Right: One Month Mark!

I’ve been practicing writing and drawing with my right hand for one month now! One of the things I’m doing to measure progress is recording a video of myself drawing the Two Hands Two Crowns logo on the first day of the month. The new video is up, check it out! Also here are some lists related to my new pass-time.

AMBIDEXTROUS OBSERVATIONS:

1. It is surprisingly fun, I look forward to my lesson every day!
2. When I practice in a waiting room or on a bus, people can’t help but stare and formulate ideas. I assume they assume I grew up in the wild and just enrolled in elementary school.
3. Cursive is easier than printing because you don’t have to lift the pen, however is doesn’t look as neat.
4. Its very annoying to write while wearing a watch, I’ve started removing it before each lesson.
5. When drawing with both hands, even if my brain can send two messages to my hands, I still only have one set of eyes.
6. I hold pens differently in my left hand than I do in my right, soon as a let my right hand hold a pen the way it wanted to, things got easier.
7. When using both hands simultaneously, drawing is easier if the hands are mirroring each other, however, when writing it is easier if the hands are doing the same action.
8. I’m mildly better at basic mental math, perhaps this is because of my left brain is more simulated.
9. It’s not hard to make your printing look perfect, but very difficult to make it look perfect while writing at a reasonable speed.
10. On February 9th, CBC’s radio program Q featured Gwendolyn Bounds, a specialist who talked about the benefits of handwriting on the brain. This made me feel infinitely superior to the average person.

NEW EXERCISES FOR THIS MONTH:

1. Designating one day every week where I only write with my right hand.
2. More simultaneous exercises, both mirrored and identical motions.
3. Start making the switch from pencil to pen.

The image above is of a simultaneous lettering, when I did it I kept my eyes mostly on the right sheet, trusting my left hand to know what it was doing. Normally (when writing with just one hand at a time) my penmanship is at least twice as good as what you see there. It seems by ordering my brain to do two tasks at once, each task is executed at half its normal quality. Interesting!

Two Hands Two Crowns Giveaway to Best List!

My new website is up and I feel FANTASTIC. I owe many thanks to talented web designer Scott Borys for putting up with me for a second time (Scott also programed my first website.) Designing it and setting up my Etsy shop occupied so much space in my brain for so long that I feel very exhilarated to move on to new projects. Firstly I’m helping with the new online photobooth art gallery, Fotomaton.org. Secondly, I’m doing the illustrations and cover art for a new book. And thirdly I’m designing the t-shirts, posters and a mural for an improv festival happening this spring. (More on these as they unfold.)

And for the next three months I’m going to do a new weekly series on the blog. Each Sunday I’ll showcase a photobooth strip I’ve found along with a narrative I’ve fabricated. Stay tuned for what I think are riveting photos!

And now the CONTEST DETAILS!

In celebration of my new website and the Two Hands Two Crowns shop on Etsy I’m giving away a Beast Button (of the winner’s choice) to the Best List. The list must be original and related to Art, Design or Craft in some way. Post it below in the comment box. There’s no maximum number of entries per person and the “judging” will close on Wednesday March 2nd at midnight EST time. I’ll be judging the entries with my experience as a self-proclaimed list-connoisseur but there is no rubric. Be creative, have fun and good luck!

Design Philosophy

Recently my cousin asked me to help her design her bedroom. I don’t have any training in interior design but I’ve always made my bedrooms shrines to my interests at the time. It definitely started as a teen when I needed a safe haven to escape my large and loud (and loveable) family. When I was 15 I asked my sister to drive me to the paint store so I could secretly paint my room while my parents were camping with my brothers. Since then I’ve helped friends and siblings out with their rooms and tried to make the most out of less than desirable living situations while I was a student. Here are snapshots of four of my bedrooms over time. The last one is my current room, which is a work in progress.

Here’s the list of things I wrote for my cousin and another list of things that have been occupying my mind as of late.

INTERIOR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
-Your living space is a reflection of your head space
-Space should be clearly divided into the functions it serves; don’t apply your make up in the same spot you do your homework
-To avoid things getting messy and unorganized, make sure everything has a designated place
-The bed should only serve one (or two) functions; don’t eat in bed, don’t work on your laptop in bed, don’t use your bed as a laundry hamper
-Think in clusters and be mindful of composition
-A good palette should have two or three neutrals to ground things but don’t be afraid to have several catching accent colours
-Search for one of a kind items in junk stores, you will love it more if you restored it or it has a story behind it
-Big box stores are fine for finding your furniture but your decorations should be personal to you
-Hang photographs and fill the room with personal touches, like art work from friends
-Have multiple lighting arrangements so you can change the mood when your room is serving a different function
-You don’t need to invest a lot of money in a nice nest but you will need to invest a lot of time

THINGS I WILL HAVE WHEN I’M A REAL ADULT
-A different pair of prescription glasses for every day of the week
-A library in my house, with a sliding ladder
-Either so many children or so many cats
-Someone to do my taxes for me
-Investment property somewhere far away
-Beautiful tattoos on my arms
-A studio/ office in my home that nobody but I (and maybe my cats) are allowed in
-A photobooth

Stay tuned to the blog, my website will be ready this week and I’ll be announcing a Two Hands Two Crowns product giveaway!

Writing Right: Practicing Pangrams

I’ve been having a surprisingly fun time working on my ambidextral skills. I’ve been at it for less than a week but I already see an improvement. For my lesson today I looked up some pangrams, sentences that have every letter of the alphabet. Some of these sentences are just fantastic and I would love to find a way to make them relevant in everyday conversation. Any of your suggestions as how to do so would be appreciated. (To read them click to enlarge the image.)

I think my progress has been good though I currently have the death grip on the pen. So aside from teaching my hand to move smoother and steadier my next goal is relax my hand more. My next lessons will be some drawings of things in nature and hopefully that will get the hand relaxed and flowing.

Writing Right: Lesson #1

A few weeks ago I was sitting in a coffee shop sketching variations of the Two Hands Two Crowns logo. The logo is mostly symmetrical and so I decided to pick-up a pencil with both hands and have at it. I’m left-handed but my right hand has always been useful with a pair of scissors, a computer mouse and a crochet hook. The right half of my drawings looked like they had melted but I felt like a superstar. A really cool ambidextrous superstar.

For years now I’ve dreamt of being ambidextrous and you know what? 2011 is gonna be the year. I searched Halifax high and low for Hilroy Exercise Notebooks (the ones with the dotted lines in the middle) and starting today I practiced my alphabet in uppercase and lowercase letters and in cursive. I will come up with exciting variations of the lesson plan every day. To track the progress of my drawing abilities I’ll also practice the THTC logo and make a video at the first of every month. I’m committing to occasionally posting updates of my progress as an incentive to keep with it.

Here are today’s sheets and here is a link to a video of the first drawing (which I didn’t have time to edit or put music to and is consequently a very dry 4 minutes of footage.)

Also, you may have noticed a new look to the blog. The website is days away from being ready and this is the new look. The Two Hands Two Crowns logo can be found on the ribbon in the header.