Search results (tags) for: "lineland"

Camera Obscura: Found Footage Mashups with Lineland

2009-08-07T17:12:00-05:00

Malcolm Felder, the talent behind the one man band Lineland, just completed a month long tour with partner in crime Animal Hospital. I was lucky enough to see Lineland live at Monkeytown in Brooklyn, NY. For the shows, Malcolm created six unique experimental music videos, which he projected and played along to. Monkeytown's venue is basically a large square room with four white walls, which Malcom used for four simultaneous projections. Seated in the center of this room, Malcolm played drums, Kevin Micka played guitar, and they had a digital track playing from a laptop. The lights dimmed and melodious rhythms filled the room. On all four walls, hypnotic visions of vintage cartoons, snippets of Bollywood films and 1950s appliance commercials danced in time with the music. The whole event was completely mesmerizing.

You might recognize some of Lineland's tunes from Etsy's Handmade Portraits video series, such as the Woodmouse, Bruce Metcalf and Built By Wendy videos. I also used Lineland's music in the There's No Place Like Here webisode featuring Made with Love by Hannah. All the music I used was from Malcolm's excellent albums Logos For Love and Pavillion. For me, his music is directly connected to the Etsy videos. (Anyone who has edited video knows how the soundtrack seeps in and stays locked to footage forever!) But when I saw his found footage animations with the live music, I was utterly captivated by the atmosphere he created. The night I saw these videos live at Monkeytown was a truly inspiring experience. The above video player from the Internet Archive includes six music videos all well worth watching.

Here's a bit more from Malcolm about the process behind Lineland:

"I approached each video differently so it would be hard to summarize the inspiration. I guess it was handled a lot like I handle my music... bringing attention to the bizarreness of certain moments and exploiting them till they become hypnotic in some way. I used a lot of old stock footage because it seems more eerie and timeless."

(Lineland at Monekytown, photo by Saverio Truglia.)

Malcolm's experimental videos are formed from bits and pieces of found footage. These montages at times have a visual narrative thread and at others times feel like random free association. The Etsy items that I've chosen for this post were inspired by impressions and visions that I took away from his work. I hope you find his music and films as inspiring as I have!

I've been a fan of these felt synthesizers for some time now. Malcolm's enthralling music utilizes lots of samples and loops. He's a master at the synthesizer and various analog musical equipment.

Roland synthesizers by pulsewidth, $75.

In the video for Planet Igreja, Malcolm used footage from Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves, which is one of my favorite Popeye cartoons. Popeye saves Olive from doing endless laundry for Abu Hassan's forty thieves.

These cute masks from 1962 would make a nice addition to any collage or could be hung on the wall as decorative art.

Popeye and Gang Paper Masks from soule, $42.

In the Lineland video for "Amtrak-Emerald Board," Malcolm used beautiful found footage of time lapsed clouds, vintage suitcases and images of analog audio equipment to evoke a weird retro travel atmosphere for the catchy tune.

At home, I use vintage suitcases to hold all of my old photos and important papers.

Vintage suitcase from cutfromthesamecloth, $58.

In the videos "Amtrak-Emerald Board" and "Victoria New Worst," Malcolm used old Bollywood footage of women dancing. The loops of footage are a perfect match for Lineland's sampling and repetitive beats.

This purse made from sari material reminds me of the beautiful costumes in Bollywood films. It would make a lovely accessory for your next formal event or a night out to see Lineland live.

Blue Indian Sari Handbag by tweedylane, $89.

This moody canvas digital print looks like a still from a WWII movie. It fits right into Lineland's aesthetic of using found footage to impart an ageless yet unsettling feel.

The Planes One by JeanMichelB, $220.

What Etsy items remind you of Lineland's videos? Leave a link in the comments!

Vintage Suitcases | More Camera Obscura Posts | Music Category

Do you make videos or animations? Enter Etsy's Handmade Moment contest!

Process: Handmade Soap with BeyondThePicketFence

2009-05-22T16:07:00-05:00

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(music by Lineland)

Gwen Neucall of BeyondThePicketFence is not just a soaper, she's her own scientist and R&D lab. One might go as far as to call her a bathmatician. Well, I would anyway, after visiting Middletown, New York, where Gwen lives with her husband and two dogs and whips up soap from scratch in her home studio.

Gwen was gracious enough (and fast enough) to walk me through her entire process of making her signature Working Woman soap start to finish. Prior to this I knew very little about soap, but I left feeling like an expert. For those unfamiliar to the drill, soapmaking is a very involved and complex process — one where ingredients that are mixed together have to be carefully timed, as well as carefully planned in order to mix properly with one another. I had no idea the level of danger involved in making something that seems so soothing to skin, but there are times in a soap's early life when the soaper has to wear gloves in order to touch it. It takes a lot of research to dial in a great soap, and soap makers must really do their research as to what ingredients will mix well together and not fail. This results in not only a lot of reading, but also a great deal of hands-on trial and error.

For Gwen, it all started in 1996, when her mom — desperate to figure out what to do with a large sum of essential oils about to go bad — decided to try her hand at soap making. Gwen walked in on her with buckets of soap, and that was the birth of a mother-daughter business that her mother eventually left to Gwen to run on her own. But I won't steal her thunder, you can read more about that story in Gwen's Profile.

Bath and Beauty Showcase | Bath and Beauty Category

More Bath and Beauty Posts | SAFE Team

More Process Videos

There's No Place Like Here: Made with Love by Hannah

2009-04-22T15:24:00-05:00

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(music by Lineland, Barry London, animation by JuliaPott)

What's it like to live in a fantastical German chalet in the heart of downtown Los Angeles? Hannah Kopacz of Made With Love By Hannah has customized her colorful abode with twenty years' worth of knick knack and ric rac treasure hunting. Take a tour of her packed home, overflowing with vintage and handmade gnomes, figurines, mushrooms and veggie people.

For more on Hannah's projects, tchotchkes and gettin' shack wacky, check out her blog and Flickr stream. She even made her studio (which is a shed in her backyard) look like a huge cuckoo clock!

Open your door to Etsy's There's No Place Like Here series! If you have a beautiful space (studio, home, or boutique — not craft spaces), let us know. Add photos of your space or suggest photos to us through our new flickr pool. You never know, you might need to bust out the welcome wagon for the Etsy video crew!

Watch other Etsy videos | Decorating Posts | Get the Look series

Handmade Portraits: Woodmouse

2008-12-05T13:18:00-05:00

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(music by Lineland, Jukeboxer)

Toymaker Amber Dusick aka woodmouse has her wood shop in her garage in downtown Los Angeles. After the birth of her son, this one time farm girl from Wisconsin became nostalgic for the toys from her past: simple, natural toys that would inspire creativity and imaginative play, made from materials that wouldn't stick around in a landfill for thousands of years.

After years of silversmithing, throwing pottery and drawing with pen and ink, Amber finally found her medium in wood. Using sustainably harvested woods, non toxic paints and beeswax along with her wood burning tool, Amber was able to transfer the look and feel of her previous pen and ink drawings to wooden toys.

See more posts about the CPSIA issue!

Woodmouse, founder of the Natural Kids Team, is an ardent advocate of sustainable toys. The materials used are all natural and her toys are 100% compostable. Her imagery is reminiscent of of a child's crayon drawing come to life in wood.

Amber, like other Etsy toy makers and sellers of children's items, is fearful that as a sole proprietor she will not be able to afford the stricter regulations of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA); the cost of testing and certification is likely beyond her means. She told Etsy, “I'd be more than happy to have each of my toys tested, if it wasn't so cost prohibitive. It is the COST involved in testing that will shut us down, it isn't that anyone refuses to have their work tested." The CPSC recently proposed a 1 year delay of required testing and certification, in part because of artisans were able to get their voices heard. But this means we need to use the coming year to write to our Congresspeople. Click here to see the latest on the CPSIA & find out what you can do to prevent artisans from being put out of business.

Handmade Video Portraits | More on the Natural Kids Team

Handmade Kids Series | Baby Gift Guide | Children's Gift Guide

Handmade Portraits: Bruce Metcalf with Bonus Audio Podcast

2008-10-10T12:43:00-05:00

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(music by Lineland, photos by John White Wilson)

Bruce Metcalf has dedicated almost forty years of his life to the creation and historiography of American Studio Craft. He makes his exquisite jewelry with the utmost care and precision. On average most of the pieces take two months to create, whereas some take years before he perfects the final nuances.

After stints as sociology and architecture majors, Metcalf found himself transferring to the jewelry department during college in 1970. It was a bold move because the crafts weren't highly regarded within the fine art establishment at that time. However, the move felt right, and studio craft is where Metcalf has stayed ever since.

Because “fine artists” wrote about craft only as functional and not for display, Metcalf decided to set the story straight and represent himself. He began writing about craft history and theory. Currently, Metcalf is in the process of finishing up a text book on the history of American Studio Craft, the first of its kind.

Over the course of the last decade, the number of craft departments across the country has continued to dwindle. Although newer generations of artists embrace studio craft, academia still does not embrace its importance within the fine art establishment. Metcalf spends much of his time — when not producing work — talking to heads of art schools, academics and art critics about the importance of studio craft as part of formal fine art training. Although Metcalf acknowledges that many talented and successful artists are self taught (he himself is self trained in woodworking), he maintains that the best training still lies within a formal setting with a teacher as a mentor.

Metcalf has become an outspoken figure at the intersection of craft and fine art worlds, but recently at the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) conference, his comments led to another controversial role in the eyes of a new crowd. He sparked a dialogue between generations of crafters — his peers in the older, more established Studio Crafts/Craft as Fine Art generation, and the younger, technology-infused, DIYers of "Alt craft."

After the conference, crafter imogeneANDannie posted "Confessions" on her blog that, in a very personal way, focused in on Metcalf's remarks, and in doing so, unveiled the perceptions of the two disparate sides. Folks chimed in with their opinions, and in some cases the conversations were heated: the generations clashed over technology and the role of formal education, as well as the differences between spontaneous, punk rock craft for the masses vs. the carefully crafted, luxury pieces sold through dealers or galleries.

At the Connect/(Dis)connect talk at the American Craft Council, Metcalf discussed these matters with Chanel Kennebrew (you can get to the podcast through our Storque post). During the talk, Metcalf was in part amused, recalling his rebellious student days — and another part of him was willfully steadfast in his views on the social and economic differences in practices. History seemed to be repeating itself, as a younger generation with new tools and a shifted horizon line bucked "the way things are done."

In addition to this Handmade Video Portrait, we've produced an audio podcast with out-takes from the interview with Bruce Metcalf. His theories on the relevance and importance of craft have helped bring clarity to the discussion of studio craft's place within the art world. And because we just couldn't get enough of discussing the Alt vs. Studio craft debate, we invite you to listen in.

Watch our other Handmade Video Portraits and subscribe to our Youtube Channel!

See Bruce's website for more of his work: www.brucemetcalf.com

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Handmade Portraits: Built by Wendy

2008-07-18T14:00:00-05:00

MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes

(music by Jukeboxer, Lineland)

Without role models to guide her, self-taught fashion designer Wendy Mullin of Built By Wendy went from selling her handmade dresses in her front yard to owning four stores across the U.S., running a successful clothing label, collaborating on pattern designs for Simplicity and authoring the Sew U book series. As part of Etsy's Handmade Portrait series, Wendy took time out of her busy schedule to talk with us about how she's built her business from scratch. Her sense of style and process are rooted in making garments by hand, and though she's not an Etsy seller, Wendy's beginnings are similar to many handmade clothing makers getting their feet wet in businesses on Etsy. Her passion, hard work and drive got her where she is today.

Wendy did a lot of drawing, arts and crafts as a kid living in the Chicago suburbs. Her mom, a seamstress, saw that she had an artistic tendency and encouraged her to explore. In high school she focused her creative energy toward photography and video, but with a sewing room back at home, she always found herself making things. During college in Kansas in 1989, Wendy started selling her handmade clothing in record shops where she worked.

After moving to Manhattan and showing her work at Steven Alan's showroom, Wendy got quite a bit of press for her clothing and guitar straps. She now has shops in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and San Francisco. If you like clean lines with a bit of fun nostalgia, you should have a look at her collection at Built By Wendy.

You can watch more of our Handmade Video Portraits, and we'd be so thrilled if you'd subscribe to our free Etsy iTunes podcast.

If you're into how-to books, join us on Monday, July 21, 2008 in the Virtual Labs to meet Crafty Mama author Abby Pecoriello. More details here.

Handmade Portraits: Reiter8

2008-04-11T17:12:00-05:00

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Like all our videos, feel free to re-post and embed the video on your blog!

(music by Jukeboxer, Lineland)

Katherine Rasmussen of Reiter8 takes sailboat sails, that would otherwise sit the dump for thousands of years, and has created a line of bags and pillows with the upcycled materials. The idea came to Katherine during a trip to visit her family in Maine. She wound up collecting sails all along the east coast during her drive back to New York City.

Watch our other Handmade Video Portraits and subscribe to our Youtube Channel!

Please share your thoughts in the comments!