Archives for April 2010
music : april 2010
30 April 2010 | music | 1 comment
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(m)alice in culture kiosque
30 April 2010 | alice, tb | 3 comments
feature by cb liddell in this arts webzine
alice in t h no.42
26 April 2010 | alice, doll, tb | 2 comments
a four page spread in the new issue of talking heads magazine in japan - a couple of pages re yuriko yamayoshi’s dolls (this is a “dollholic” themed issue) and a couple re my alice book
the game kat
25 April 2010 | game | 3 comments
ranpo panorama
22 April 2010 | art, book, comix | 1 comment
went to the suehiro maruo exhibition at span art gallery - a collection of recent colour illustrations - altho early on the first day several had already sold - but unsurprising as prices are relatively inexpensive - i settled for a poster and book (both signed - yay!) - posters published by span and a snip at ¥1000 - four designs available, i went for the imo-mushi one - the book softcover A4 size, 50 or so colour works, plus a 28 page “graphic novel” - and speaking of “graphic”: a few of the colour pieces have been censored in a quite pointless/incomprehensible way - despite that, a “must-buy” for maruo fans
trevor brown x hippie coco collaboration
15 April 2010 | tb, toys | 15 comments
my scrappy doodle blueprint below and konomi’s finished doll above
s/he’s in need of a name …?
related posts/pix:
bagsy the golly
victimisation complex baby art fan : addendum
neko nurse
trevor brown x hippie coco collaboration 2001
alice exhibition - the last day
12 April 2010 | alice, tb | 22 comments
in the end, ten paintings sold - and around 500 books, so forget what i said previously about books not selling well - the exhibition widely blogged, twittered and mixi-ed in glowing terms (as far as i can ascertain from google translations) - i’d love it to go on forever - but the glare of the headlights does actually get tiring and i’m glad it’s over
i went to the gallery for the final couple of hours - enough time to meet an interesting selection of people:
my uk-expat buddy luke/lucifer?/noisegirl/chaosroyale with his envious coterie of femmes - altho i guess i had no shortage of pretty female admirers myself - sitting in nervous awe opposite me while getting their books rubber-stamped
i got to see again my favourite girl from the rubber doll exhibition, miss kaori, this time presenting me with a white rose (i must paint red) - altho we’ve met a number of times now i always fail to recognise her at first - because she always looks so very different - but always looks spectacular
also memorable, among assorted other “strange girls”, was a liver-obsessed girl (yes, the body organ!) - whatever turns you on i suppose… :-S
a bone-fide crazy old man - interspersed with haranguing me, he closely inspected each painting tracing every detail with his finger - altho “undesirable” he seemed harmless and actually very comical, at one point saying “don’t call the police” - i guess a regular customer of the gallery as the staff were all rolling their eyes and apologising to me - (tho i’m kinda used to it - because i look somewhat different, i attract weirdoes like a magnet in japan)
a girl requesting “kira” to be added to the “this book belongs to” dedication - “as in deathnote?” - she gave me her business card after and i learnt she was imai kira, a very popular gothic lolita artist in the western world, if not japan?
people embarrassingly referring to me as “trevor-sensei” (sensei is a term of reverence for a master or teacher, usually reserved for the like of kuniyoshi or maruo) - and likewise uncomfortableness with takato yamamoto casting a critical eye over my inferior drawing ability - well, perhaps he wasn’t but we never got a chance to talk - on a similar note, i missed seeing hajime sorayama - so i escaped his usual good-natured but teacherly scolding criticism of the technical aspects and realistic detail of my work (i usually answer that it doesn’t matter, the idea conveyed is more important)
finally, meeting yokotan and temma of urbangarde was a nice surprise - we share a certain affinity i think - in fact one of their song titles, 女の子戦争 (onnanoko sensou) is the inspiration/theme for my next book (maybe?) - we asked if okay and they were delighted
big thank you to mr yasukawa!
photos added to my exhibitions page - larger versions also posted on flickr
an informal little “interview” re alice posted on cb liddell’s blogspot here - it’s unedited/uncut. altho afterwards i mentioned this ironic addendum to my little girls vs malice in wonderland story: the nine-year-old daughter of the guy who bought a couple of the paintings in the show, actually wanted him to buy THAT painting (her favourite)! - naturally he refused - …i wonder if they understand what’s depicted? - “malice” is also one of the more “ambiguous” paintings - widely open to interpretations…
oh, a pic of a couple more happy little “underaged” “tb girls” here
“…it’s over, i guess - for now?…”
10 April 2010 | art, crime | 4 comments
graham ovenden’s retrial came up this week and was promptly dismissed by the judge(!) - seems that the officers who raided graham’s home, pc’s tapper and lemon (stop giggling at the back there!), were awol (either retired, on round-the-world cruises or moved with no known forwarding address!) - the judge rightfully deemed this as jeopardising the case and threw it out:
In my judgement he [Mr Ovenden] cannot receive a fair trial and in those circumstances the indictment is stayed and the defendant discharged.
a news report here - and my man on the spot adds that the judge said the prosection’s case, which has been mired in quicksand, has now sunk irretrievably in the same - and:
I’m actually looking at some of the evidence in the case and it’s mind-boggling what they consider potential ‘indecent’. In fact, it’s completely absurd. Sheer paranoia and idiocy.
all of which corroborates the stink of victimisation - expect the full exposé on the not the tate site (….while the prosecution consider an appeal?!)
related posts:
graham ovenden on trial
not the tate
underground illustrations
8 April 2010 | art, tb | 2 comments
slightly surprised to find myself on the cover of the first issue of this magazine forthcoming from artism (publishers of alamode) - a collection of gothic lolita appeal art headed by nicoletta ceccoli, nori and tama, among many others - they did actually ask if i’d like to be on the cover and i said okay, and gave them my wife’s email so they could discuss the details easier - but seems konomi is also confused and knows nothing about this - communication breakdown? - i suppose, in this instance, i can forgive the lapse in correct ethical protocol in the use of my work, as it does look quite nice and obviously favourable to me - comes out next month
alice diy pop-up kit
8 April 2010 | alice, tb | 5 comments
i kinda suspect everyone who’s buying the special edition alice book will consider it too precious to cut up - so, in the interests of science, i attacked my copy with scissors, to see if it is actually possible to construct the pop-up thingy - it took me two days (!) but here are the results! - it IS really tricky and not helped by the unclear instructions …so maybe not something to tackle if you don’t have much confidence - but of course it is satisfying to complete and more exciting than looking at a bunch of abstract shapes printed on sheets of card - needless t’say, use a craft knife not scissors! - and i used doublesided-tape to “glue” it together (provides a less fiddly immediate bond but no slip’n’slide adjustment for error) - also i ran a black marker over the edges, which makes it look neater - mounting the completed construction into the book cover was the most stressful part (it can stick out the bottom when folded flat so mount it high) - finally, there’s a box where you can sign and date your masterpiece when finished : )
