Devious Creations

Seeing Spots… Yayoi Kusama @ Tate Modern

Dan — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:10:41 +0000

Angela and I recently met up with friends to attend the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the Tate Modern. Famed for her repeating dot patterns, Kusama’s artistic passion has lead her from her roots in rural Japan to the New York art scene and back to Tokyo over the past nine decades. In that time, her work has involved an array of mixed media including painting, drawing, sculpture, film, performance and large-scale installations. Key works include her “Accumulations” sculptures, and large ‘Infinity Net’ paintings, made up of endless monotone brush-strokes built up to form textures. At her height in the 1960s, she befriended and influenced many artists, including Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, Joseph Cornell and Claes Oldenburg.

There is a clear focus on the obsessive in Kusama’s work. In 1977 she volunteered for psychiatric incarceration. Since then, she has worked from the ward, including her own ...

Inamo Design Contest – I’ve Reached The Final Four!

Dan — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:00:45 +0000

Inamo announced on their Facebook Page today that the final four entries for their “Digital Tablecloth Design Contest” had been chosen by the judges, and my entry is one of them! I’m particularly humbled, especially by this sound-bite from Co-Founder Noel Hunwick…

“It ties in to our Oriental fusion theme, is elegantly and creatively designed, he’s clearly thought about the template and layout too.”

The four remaining designs have been assembled and are open to voting by the public. The two designs with the most votes go through to the grand finale. If you like my design, you can vote on it by clicking here and “liking” the image in Inamo’s contest photo album. Many thanks in advance!

100 Days To Go… Get “A Hundred Days Off” For Free!

Dan — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:49:32 +0000

Earlier today, Underworld made an official announcement via Facebook that they were giving away their 2002 album “A Hundred Days Off” free via download on their website. The album includes the fantastic tracks “2 Months Off” and “Dinosaur Adventure 3D”.

“In celebration of Underworld being appointed Music Directors of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic games and with today marking 100 days to go, we would like to give you A Hundred Days Off (the album) for free.”

This album was quite a milestone for the band, and all eyes were on them as it was the first release after the departure of Darren Emerson in 2001. However, they proved they hadn’t missed a beat and the album received largely positive reviews (Metacritic gives it a 71/100). NME gave it 8/10, saying “Their best ...

Music Is My Savior

Dan — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 08:03:48 +0000

Sketching the Obscure: Meetup @ The Hunterian Museum

Dan — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:45:03 +0000

Last weekend, I “met up” with the Artists & Illustrators group at London’s Hunterian Museum.

Based at the Royal College of Surgeons, this incredible collection of preserved human and animal specimens was originally owned by John Hunter, but was bought by the Goverment in 1799 after his death. John Hunter is noted as being one of the founders of “Scientific Surgery”.

After learning under his brother William (an established physician and obstetrician) at his anatomy school, Hunter was commissioned as an army surgeon for three years from 1760 in France & Portugal. Whilst away from England he also began collecting specimens of lizards and other animals. When he returned he formed his own Practice, and his scientific work soon got him attention, earning him Fellow of The Royal Society in 1767. In 1768 he became Surgeon to St George’s Hospital, before moving ...

The Third Archetype..

Dan — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:12:36 +0000

Towards the end of last week, I found some time to continue The Archetypes Series, resulting in No.3…

The concept I came up for this project is to explore the relationship between different types of people, the roles they have and the places they are identified with (or more simply put, with buildings for heads). The RNLI or Royal National Lifeboat Institute is a charity which saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, and provide safe entries to harbours. I had initially planned to simply use a sailor or navy man for the piece, but this seemed somewhat a more justified combination.

I’ve a got a load of ideas for further entrants to the series, I just cant decide which to pick next! Guess you’ll have to wait and see. ...

The Archetypes Series

Dan — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:26:45 +0000

The Dark Knight Rises: T-Shirt Design Contest @ Design By Humans

Dan — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:07:05 +0000

Whilst we all await Christopher Nolan’s hotly anticipated third instalment in the Batman reboot, the guys at Design By Humans have launched a contest in conjunction with Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures to design an official T-shirt for the film.

Ten finalists will have their work judged by Nolan and Producer Emma Thomas, who will then decide the winners. This is a fantastic opportunity for any creative designer (and film lover!), and it also gets your work potential exposure with the Film’s Art Department.

The Prizes range from $1.500 for 5th place, up to $3,500 for 1st, plus 1st-5th place winners get 12 tees of their choice from the website’s store.

You must be 18 or over to enter, but all countries are eligible. The contest is open until Midnight PST April 11th, with the winners announced from April ...

Book Review: Keith Brooke’s The Accord

Dan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:08:39 +0000

As we as a species continue to advance and expand our understanding of ourselves and the world(s) around us, landmark breakthroughs in science and technology are often received with awe and praise. However the same achievements in medicine & more notably genetics can split the audience. One phrase comes up regularly. Are we “Playing God”, and more importantly, should we?

Keith Brooke’s lead protagonist Noah Barakh takes this.. well, a whole flight of steps further. And this time Technology is the means. He is the creator of an Artificial Heaven.

Noah is the Architect of The Accord. With his team, and government backing, they have created the opportunity for people to upload an “instance” of themselves into this virtual world which then activates when they pass away in the Real World. Retaining memories of their life up to ...

Inamo Tablecloth Design Contest

Dan — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 18:53:38 +0000