4.30.2012

Disused Room

2001


This was a room I found in the old, half-torn-down hospital on Fourteenth St. and LaFayette, I think, in St. Louis.


4.28.2012

Bryan & Mary

2002


These were made around the same time as the Strip Compositions that evolved from the Languid: 3 Days Later design. They displayed at my Evidence of the Human Annex show (2002).



Nonsense Chart

2002


This is the first of many such False-Function Designs that emerged that year and the next, mostly as Round Compositions on display at My New Art Show (2004) and elsewhere.



All That's Left

2001


If you were to sit me down and have me talk about my work for a while, the phrase, "All that's left..." would come up a lot, I think. So much of my work's been abandoned or destroyed or who-knows-what and the only one left to remember it is me, going , "all that's left is this photograph."

I have to admit I don't think the case with this piece is quite so dire or dramatic. I made this in Denver, CO during the Languid : 55 Clicks recording sessions mostly out of sheer boredom and because Denver in July yielded such nice trash to work with. But before I left the studios where this was made, I gave it to its owner and engineer, Dave (I think) and never saw it again. It felt like the right thing to do at the time but, today, I wish I'd kept it because, now, all that's left is this crappy photograph.

And that's not enough.


Worried/Well CD Design

2002


This project was commissioned by the artist, Brandy Johnson, for her first and only solo album. This was an intense and exhaustive job, as you can imagine but Rebecca Ryan and Brandy both helped out a bit and I remember it all now as a pretty good time.




Sabrina on the Beach

1983 / 2004


One day Sabrina, Dan, Ed and I went to Santa Monica Beach to get away from the dorms for a while. I brought my camera and shot this, among others, of her. Years later I unearthed the negatives and ended up using this image as the centerpiece to my Endless Summer mixed-media work on display at Mad Art in, I think, 2004. I saw Sabrina just a couple years ago in Chicago where she lives with her family. She is still beautiful and fun and, yeah, I still miss her sometimes.



4.27.2012

Ghetto Prenup Posters

2004


This design has plenty of problems, but I'll still keep a place in my heart for it.


Here's another design for Kevin Berry's group; a handbill or, wait, no, a magazine ad based on a piece by Joan Miro. I went through a phase with these guys where I thought it would be cool to represent them with classic modern art. I had another one based on a Mondrian painting, but I can't find it.

Here's a poster for another GP show. I remember Kevin didn't particularly like this one and I told him, "You better get to like it 'cause I ain't doing another one!" I was a little younger and full of arrogant stupidness then. I'd never respond that way now. On the other hand, the client rarely knows what's best for him. But on still another hand, neither do I. In any case, I don't think he used my services after this one.



Here. I found that Mondrian poster and below is the full color version of the Miro one.

CD Art

2002/2006/2007




Underwood Benefit Poster

2009

Not, like, the greatest poster in the world, but a pretty good use of some Letterhead Fonts. It was commissioned by Chris King to benefit Brett Underwood's... well, you can read. Real, serious St. Louis stuff.



4.22.2012

X Musetta Vander

2012

Selfish people usually insist on having things their own way at the expense of others. The need to impose getting one’s way over others is an unreal attitude and expectation that sets other people off against them. When the person with narcissistic tendencies doesn’t get what he or she wanted, he feels devalued. Since they cannot tolerate the feelings of fear, hurt, anxiety, helplessness and despair, they defend against them. They deny and rationalize their own contribution to the problems to preserve their own internal fantasy of being all good and right. People with narcissistic tendencies have errors in thinking which prevents them from seeing things how they are from both sides of the picture. Not wanting to feel bad inside, they build defenses such as denial, repression and a strong need to be right. When the person has severe traits, they can feel an increase in self-esteem when they get what they want and feel no remorse or justify their using others. John Masterson called this rigid type of thinking a “Swiss Cheese Brain” with holes in the brain and mind where good common sense and conscience should be. Some even get a sense of feeling superior when they get their way or make others feel bad. This is the dynamic underlying bullying. (See my video, It’s not Okay to Feel Good by Making Others Feel Bad at http://www.angriesout.com/ to understand this dynamic.) When hurting others becomes a hook into feelings self-satisfaction, the narcissism takes an ugly turn. There is a cost to this false sense of self-esteem. People who abuse and bully others end up being lonely because others do not want to be around them. People with narcissistic behavior cannot handle criticism in any way and feel that they are being made wrong. . They are supersensitive to criticism and either attack the other person or they leave the scene. This blaming the person who gives criticism helps the person with narcissistic defenses avoid feeling guilt, shame and depression but it also keeps them from taking responsibility for learning from their mistakes and ultimately from growing up. They can pout and give the silent treatment or hold grudges. This combination of these defenses that distort reality often set them up for failure in partnerships. When the narcissistic traits are too severe and causes havoc in the lives of others, there is a disorder. Narcissistic Personality Disorder happens when a person’s outlook is so distorted to the extent that they do not see reality as it is and cannot see the needs of other people. These people are the takers of the world leaving pain and destruction in their wake. If their behavior is left unchecked, they become con artists, manipulators, sociopaths and dictators. Without empathy for others, people with narcissistic personality disorders can irrationally justify and rationalize their hurtful and unlawful behaviors and may become sexual predators. Family members who have sex with children always have some element of narcissism seeing others as objects that are available for their own sexual satisfaction. High intelligence coupled with a lack of empathy and remorse for hurting others is a dangerous combination for family members. With extreme narcissistic behaviors, the diagnosis may be a sociopath personality disorder.