摸魚～ Fumbling for Fish. IV

    Digital manipulation tools like Adobe Photoshop are best used to cosmetically modify or efficiently emulate physical alterations existing practically-made works. Over-reliance on computer-generated effects as a primary source of displaying imagination reflects the disposable consumerist attitude that followed a culture once proud of its ability to manufacture and produce abundant national products for worldwide dispersal. By not adapting the citizenship to raise native standards with better early education and improved family resources, it comes as no surprise that a formerly industrious populace neither living within its means nor evolving to meet new definitions would also result in a shrunken middle-class growing more desperate to secure a perch on the economic ladder.

Bottle on 4990. (click to enlarge)

Bottle on 4990. (click to enlarge)

Bottle on 4990. (click to enlarge)

    When a nation's citizens grow increasingly ignorant of their own productive capabilities and are insidiously steered toward developing insatiable appetites for image-oriented mirages designed by visual media conglomerates for individual rather than communal profit, the financial gaps in society will eventually become ravenous abysses the likes of which only few can traverse. It's been said that fortune favors the brave, while perpetuating various irrational fears among an uneducated people has proved historically accurate and customarily advantageous to the slave trade.

    "You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis."
- Tyler Durden, Fight Club (1999)




    Note: All images are *not* created with digital manipulation software (i.e. Adobe Photoshop) for composition and content.

摸魚～ Fumbling for Fish. III

    Recently there was a bit of furor over an Instagram picture being on the front page of the New York Times that triggered concerns whether traditional photography had become obsolete.

    The fact of the matter is that modern views of representative imaging have now become adopted by a media outlet of bygone eras in order to reinvigorate its cultural relevancy. The instantaneous social-sharing feature of wireless digital information is a logical business adaptation for this faded major player to regain the attention of future generations; commercial radio still flourishes despite the dominance of cable television, pedigree racehorses are more profitable investments than personal automobiles, and steakhouses take opposite floorspace at malls while McDonald's huddles away in the food court.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

    By trying to connect to less-discerning audiences via integration of mass appeal imagery, the "hipster" generation has something to possibly latch onto and give the New York Times some viably consumable reputation.

    In the meantime, it seems hard pressed to find photographic evidence of similar work on Google Image Search for this type of scanography.

 
    Note: All images are *not* created with digital manipulation software (i.e. Adobe Photoshop) for composition and content.

E Airness Unum: Free Money

In appreciation of all the supporters throughout these years, G. Tso Money is giving away T-shirts! Each black or gray shirt is hand-stenciled and features the logo (see this blog's background graphic) on the front. To have one of your own, send a message with your name, shipping address and shirt size (Small through XL currently available).

While supplies last, Money back guarantee. (click to enlarge)

Thanks again to everybody and keep those horns up!


Peace, love, air guitar~

G. Tso Money

AppetiteForCreationZ: You Could Be Mayan

    With the Museum of Modern Art having announced its intention to include digital interactive entertainment to the permanent collection, there is no question that physical manipulation of material substances remains a prominent component of the definition of art in this space age of human history. Prophecy or not, the stasis of this current civilization beyond the next few weeks is still in flux.

    There are far more tangible clues to explain and identify the past than creative leaps of faith (which are in themselves not entirely a laughing matter, of course) - telltale remnants from preceding societies have endured until future generations discover and attempt to comprehend their meanings. Art, when done well, is capable of capturing incidentals and fundamentals that reflect the creator's environment.

08-12-12: Union Square station, NYC.

08-12-12: Union Square station, NYC.

08-12-12: Union Square station, NYC.

11-22-12: Fernbank Museum of Natural History, GA.

11-22-12: Fernbank Museum of Natural History, GA.

11-22-12: Fernbank Museum of Natural History, GA.

    Like any reasonably organic resource, fixed technology has its own life cycle that, when imaginatively explored and utilized, runs the course until tomorrow simply leaves everything behind. Making art means letting everybody know what's on your mind, so it's good that someone like Leonardo da Vinci didn't become a shoe cobbler instead.


    Note: The above images are taken from a Samsung SCH-u540 camera/phone.

Appetite for Creation Part 11: Reaping the Faith

    "Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide whether it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they're deciding, make even more art."

    - Andy Warhol

03-12-12: LaGuardia CC in LIC, NY (click to enlarge)

03-13-12: Archway in Sunnyside, NYC (click to enlarge)

03-13-12: Archway in Sunnyside, NYC (click to enlarge)

03-18-12: Billboard in Astoria, NYC (click to enlarge)

04-06-12: Rooftops in Jackson Heights, NYC (click to enlarge)

 

04-15-12: Manhattan Bridge in NYC (click to enlarge)

04-15-12: Manhattan Bridge in NYC (click to enlarge)

    Note: The above images are taken directly from a Samsung SCH-u540 camera/phone with no post-capture manipulation.

Appetite for Creation Part 10: Just Flaws

        "An ancient tenet in Chinese painting holds that the Master paints not the created thing, but the forces that created it."
        - Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking 

    One great thing about making art is how the results never lie to the creator - by evaluating the techniques, ideas and materials of a finished piece, success and/or failure is transparently evident for the viewer to perceive. Being one's own worst critic can be a tricky strategy: since no piece of art or body of work can ever be perfect, this reality can cause the artist to either abandon such futile pursuits or lose sight what "perfection" may actually be.

        "Ansel Adams, never one to mistake precision for perfection, often recalled the old adage that 'perfection is the enemy of the good', his point being that if he waited for everything in the scene to be exactly right, he'd probably never make a photograph."
        - Art and Fear

    While many elements are far beyond the control of the artist, it is the familiarity of techniques, knowledge of materials and detail of ideas that one must bring to bear with as much certainty as possible in order to best capture the time, place and mindset when a piece of art achieves not perfection, but authenticity and truth.

03-10-12: Skywalk in Rego Park, NY (click to enlarge)

03-10-12: Skywalk in Rego Park, NY (click to enlarge)

03-11-12: Parking Lot Lamp in Flushing, NY (click to enlarge)

03-11-12: Windmill in Flushing, NY (click to enlarge)

03-11-12: Windmill in Flushing, NY (click to enlarge)

03-11-12: Windmill in Flushing, NY (click to enlarge)

    Doing the best we can with what we have should be no less than the world comes to expect from artists of every stripe.

    Note: The above images are taken directly from a Samsung SCH-u540 camera/phone with no processing or manipulation.