Brain And Brain

Tap Dancer in Power Plant

2011-06-29T15:27:00.001-07:00

Carolina Shout

2011-05-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

The latest in a series of 'antique music videos' is set to a 1921 composition by jazz pioneer James P. Johnson, an originator of the 'Harlem Stride' piano style. The animation reflects the multi-leveled, over-the-top delight and frantic silliness of this amazing musical performance. In bringing these old musical treasures to new audiences I hope to recreate in some small way the experience of hearing this music for the first time.

La Mono Nagra: An Analog Tale | from Massachusetts Review, Spring 2011 issue

2011-03-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

49th Ann Arbor Film Festival sponsor bumper

2011-03-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

Animation by me, with a little help from the Library of Congress (boxing footage) and an Edison Cylinder.

Robot Creature in Brooklyn, ca. 1990

2011-01-22T13:38:00.001-08:00

Blurry People

2011-01-18T12:54:00.001-08:00

For some reason, this image of Leonid Brezhnev swimming with a floaty noodle and bodyguards makes me smile every time I see it.

2011-01-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

4 Feet

2011-01-17T15:50:00.001-08:00

2 Faces

2011-01-17T15:49:00.002-08:00

Fish and Skulls Under Old Washington St. El, Boston, 1985

2011-01-17T15:49:00.000-08:00

Busiest People Ever: At The Airport

2011-01-15T13:44:00.001-08:00

Hobos in Sci-Fi Landscape

2011-01-13T13:58:00.001-08:00

Baby & Dog In Tunnel

2011-01-13T13:53:00.001-08:00

Woman In Doorway #2

2011-01-13T12:40:00.000-08:00

Woman In Doorway #1

2011-01-13T12:33:00.000-08:00

romance under the bridge

2011-01-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

Nixon roach

2011-01-02T19:46:00.000-08:00

parental pride

2010-12-27T14:09:00.000-08:00

the dogs are going UP.

2010-12-26T16:54:00.000-08:00

goodbye already.

2010-12-26T15:59:00.000-08:00

and don't forget your toothbrush.

today's dream: a 50 pound bag of photoshop

2010-12-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

and yes, I did make the image in photoshop

elevator final

2010-12-02T04:35:00.000-08:00

Animated loop presented in window of APE Gallery, Northampton, 12/2/2010 thru 12/8/2010

today's dream

2010-06-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

She's Leaving

2010-04-25T09:24:00.001-07:00

A new one!

If You Leave Me, I'll Go Crazy

2010-04-25T09:22:00.001-07:00

Another one from the archives.

The Last Lithographer

2010-04-25T09:19:00.001-07:00

An old one from the archives.

I've finally put my finger on it.

2010-04-11T20:46:00.001-07:00

Here's what has been bothering me for the last 25 years: Hungry Like The Wolf makes no sense. It makes it sound as if there's only one wolf. It should be Hungry Like _A_Wolf.

Actually, Hungry AS a wolf is better still. Or even more better still: AS hungry as a wolf.

Except wolves aren't hungry all the time, are they? I imagine they don't get to eat as often as they'd like to, but my point is that when they do eat, they probably don't stop until they're full, which is to say, no longer hungry.

Assuming there's enough food for all of them (because don't forget, there's more than one wolf).

So best of all would be something like this: I am as hungry as a wolf, when and if the wolf is hungry.

Now that I see it in print, I admit it's a little clunky. The whole concept could probably be put across a lot better with a diagram, or perhaps some simple graphical device like the kind in Ikea assembly instructions. In any case, I think we can all agree that utilizing an entire three-minute pop song in the service of this idea is just poor information design.

I trust that you will convey my observations to Mr. Duran next time you see him. Or, if you're on a first-name basis, you can address him simply as 'Duran'.

Today's Headline

2010-04-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

One From The Archive: Texas, 2007

2010-01-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

A sketch made during a trip to Huntsville, Texas in 2007, for a family wedding. Huntsville is home to a huge prison and it is where executions are carried out . A visit to the Texas Prison Museum, the death of KC & The Sunshine Band guitarist Jerome Smith in a bulldozer accident, and a general background note of Bush-era paranoia all contribute to the imagery.
Texas has executed 449 people since capital punishment was reinstated in the 1970's.

Big Room, Better Shadows

2010-01-21T05:03:00.000-08:00

New improved color palette, and look everyone - shadows! This is a piece of a film currently in progress.

Congratulations!

2010-01-18T12:24:00.001-08:00

Interior Landscape 1/10/2010

2010-01-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

Somewhat roughly rendered, but you get the idea. Yes, there is no audio!

Mailbox Cleaning Time.

2009-11-05T17:41:00.000-08:00

Before & After

2009-07-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Another one from the vault.

Fun With Folded Paper

2009-06-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

Folded paper digital style, that is. Illustrator shapes combined into 2.5-D objects in After Effects.

Face Ring!

2009-05-28T19:03:00.001-07:00

This is a loop. Of course, the Flash player won't let you display it as a loop, so you'll have to use your imagination. Either that, or tell me if you've found some way to display a looped video in a Blogger post.
Yes, I tried making it into an animated gif. Didn't work. Blogger turns everything into a .png.

Help Me Rid My House Of Richard Nixon

2009-04-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

VW Engine, Exploded View

2009-04-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

Old Elevator

2009-04-23T21:03:00.001-07:00

A particularly fine example of the elevator maker's craft.

Phrenology

2009-04-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

A scan from a real phrenology text I found at my excellent local library. Don't laugh, some day our textbooks will look like this.

Skeleton Funnies #1

2009-04-23T20:48:00.001-07:00

A Tube On A Train

2009-04-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, It Was 1997

2009-04-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

Remember when "online" looked like this?
Remember how incredibly solipsistic and Reader's Digest-like AOL was?
Perhaps this will refresh your memory.

Stand Beside Her, To Guide Her … Because She's Full Of Nitrous

2009-04-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

My Inner Landscape, Exhibit #393,734

2009-04-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

I can't talk now, because my brain is a labyrinth of 1920's-style steelwork. It looks a little bit like this.

Proposed Design for the US $7 Bill

2009-04-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

Swanky Typography, Golden Gate Bridge

2009-04-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

Won't someone please turn this into a font for me? It's quite gorgeous.