dim

Sunday, August 17, 2008

press three

it's been quite a while since i've made any stickers. but the burn is merely days away, and i'm getting so excited! a couple weeks ago, i had an idea for a project to do for the burn. i set to work and created numerous foreclosure, condemned, for sale and bank repo signs, which i plan to post on various camps and art installations. today i went to kinkos and printed 20 eviction notices. all this tom-foolery got my mind spinning, and alas, press three is on it's way. it's a collection of ideas that have been churning for a while, along with some new ideas inspired by this years theme. there will be some original designs, some unique, one-of-a-kind stickers, and probably some recycled ones from previous pressings. plus, there's a new banner featuring the new dim icon ;) and some new labels for the bags!!

the lowdown...
the collage stickers were made from various scraps and images that i've collected from newspapers and a couple of different books. one of them was "isaac asimov's book of science and nature quotations" edited by asimov and shulman. i can't remember the name of the other book i used, but i picked these up for a dollar each, and quickly chopped up the other one for parts. but each one of these stickers is unique, so you better put it some place cool, dammit! (i just hope they work...)
**collage stickers are done as of friday afternoon!!

i also made some stickers from quotes that i liked that were contained in the book "do it! let's get off our buts" by john-roger & peter mcwilliams. those ones came out kinda funny for some reason. but one of the quotes was by salvador dali, which said, "have no fear of perfection; you'll never get there." so i think i'll just be happy with imperfection.

today i also printed the following designs. i'm not sure if i'll pass these out, but instead plan to put them up around the city. i especially like the recycling one, although the quality of the images i spliced were a bit off. oh well...

and just in time, i finished the inkblot stickers with out messing up my kitchen too badly. each sticker has a symbol which represents "p'u" or the "uncarved wooden block." it's a concept from taoism which i was recently acquainted with when i read "the tao of pooh." you should check it out. there are two versions of the symbol, simplified chinese and traditional chinese. i found it to be a nice coincidence with the olympic games (go usa!). anyway, these stickers inspired all sorts of thoughts and tangents, like the interpretation in the classic psychological inkblot test. and also allowing the ink to take it's own shape. blah blah blah. they look cool.

so, i hope that everyone has a wonderful, cathartic, mind-blowing, inspiring, beautiful, exciting, adjective, burn this year. or rather, now that your reading it, i hope that your burn could be described by the above description. it's late. see you on the playa. or if i did, it was nice to see you on the playa. when time becomes a loop, when time becomes a loop, when time becomes a loop, when time becomes a time becomes a loop, then...

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

press two

distributed at moontribe for the spring equinox. these images were inspired by the approaching holiday and by the community with which i celebrated. image sources are as follows:

1. snake & egg from www.timboucher.com
2. rabbit www.jwhenn.com
3. buddha www.jupiterimages.com
4. zen circle http://www.happy-buddha.co.uk/images/zencircle.gif
5. hare from alice in wonderland http://xahlee.org/p/alice/tenniel.html
6. Quetzacoatl/Ouroboros http://www.redicecreations.com/specialreports/2006/09sep/godDNA.html
7. tripping cactus cropped from the drawing belle cactus at www.nikohenrichon.com
8. flower photograph by imogen cunningham at www. heritagegraphicsintl.com
9. cactus www.designpreference.com
10. turn on tune in drop out original design, sorta
11. sex, drugs, & techno original
12. robot sound original

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

press one

press one was distributed at interface 22 by droid behavior, on march 1st 2008.
i can't remember where i got some of the images. there was a bird skeleton, a microphone feedback loop, a strange geometric design, and a guy safely viewing the solar eclipse by putting a box on his head. if you really want to know where they came from, i could put in the effort to find 'em. otherwise, i'm feeling pretty lazy. the robot thinking of sound waves and sex, drugs, & techno were original designs. loud as fuck came from a saying used in droid behavior's newletter. get on their mailing list if you haven't already.

the what the fuck.

when i'm out walking, i love to see artwork and ideas left by other people -- political stencils on the sidewalk, graffiti on the sides of passing train cars, a child's drawing in chalk, rock stacks, wind chimes, even corporate stickers slapped onto road signs in the median. there are so many places in our everyday environments that could be used for human expression. so i say take advantage of it. fill your environment with you, share yourself, and rejoice for those around you.

this project was inspired by mass manufacturing, limited resources due to an extremely small budget, wasting time on meaningless crap yet insisting on attaching some importance to it, and the need to continually create and share it with others. i hope you enjoy these stickers and i hope they do some small part to clutter up your environment.

how to make stickers.

i got the recipe for these stickers from "the guerilla art kit" by keri smith. if you come across a copy of this book, it's certainly worth picking up.

these stickers are relatively inexpensive to make. they are, however, fairly temporary. they will work best in a location that receives little abrasion or weathering. but, if at anytime you want to remove a sticker, just use soap and water.

instructions:
1. create your image and cover it with clear packaging tape to give it that nice coating.
2. mix equal parts of school glue and white vinegar (actually, i think a thicker consistency works better, so start with 1:1 and add some more glue). i've mostly been using the crayola brand of glue, but elmer's seems to hold a little better.
3. use a brush to smear the glue mixture on the back side and apply liberally.
4. allow to dry overnight -- but make sure the edges don't curl under. next, trim them up and cover the world!

to apply stickers:
firstly, lightly wet the back side with some water (unfortunately, saliva doesn't work very well. but i'll be trying out a lick-n-stick recipe soon). next, press and rub firmly onto a smooth, hard surface of your choosing. then, go do something else.

so, please share your images with me!! you're welcome to use any of my designs to make your own stickers. i'll try to remember to upload them from time to time...