Christopher Conte’s artwork is full of surprises. While many of the elements in his sculptures are machined, cast or carved by him, he also incorporates parts of familiar machinery that, if you’re paying close enough attention, you will recognize. Antique watch movements, sewing machine feet and other old cogs and gears give his sculptures a retro steampunk flavor, while other elements like iPod cameras push his work into the future evoking some of the greatest of scifi stories.
Dermabot (Skin Crawler) | steel, bronze, and brass with working onboard miniature tattoo machine
Christopher’s sculptures indeed capture the attention of a steampunk audience, but also the Transhumanist movement, which revels in the power of biomechanics for promoting human advancement and explores the dangers that such enhancements might cause, has taken a great liking to his work. Wired Magazine, a publication which has some of its tentacles entwined in the movement, has published multiple interviews and articles on him, and many Maker Faire enthusiasts, scientists and medical professionals who support it collect his work.
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We hope everyone had a great Christmas break, and have some money left over as 1xrun just dropped an amazing new print. Slippery Removal by Charlie Immer is 22″ x 17″ on cotton rag paper, signed and numbered in a max edition of 60. The fans also have the option of ordering the print framed, so the hard work is done and the print is shipped in a black frame with uv-blocking glass, archival backing, and ready to hang.
Get it here: 1xrun.com
Many of you know Ms. JL Schnabel for the writing she does for Hi Fructose Magazine. She has a great eye for art and writes beautifully. In her other life, which you may also be aware of, she creates fascinating jewelry in a line she calls Blood Milk, the elements of which are crystals, claws, feathers, bones, planchets and other mystical symbols and objects.
In alchemical fashion, this fall she teamed up with photographer Christina Brown and artist Paul Romano to create Blood Milk‘s first look book. The result, a collection of beautifully designed graphic work and photographs entitled The Conjurer is mysterious and filled with witchery.
Note that the text in the images below are a bit out of sequence from the narrative in the book. You can see the whole thing (and download it as a pdf) on the new Blood Milk website here. You can also purchase limited edition prints of some of the images and pieces from her jewelry line from the Bloodmilk Etsy shop. And don’t forget to read the wonderful interview about JL Schnabel’s creative spirit on Ghosts in the Garden.
I’m very excited to have recently purchased one of her Crystal Tomb necklaces! I am convinced that it will have mystical powers.
Saw this over at OMGposters.com and had to share. Mondotees will be releasing 4 new prints today, December 23rd, at a random time as always. The first three are by Ken Taylor, who did a Gremlins poster with two colorways, 24″ x 36″ limited to 370, variant limited to 115. Next Ken made this amazing screenprinted, jointed Gremlin spider, with 20 points of articulation. The spider is printed by Moon Editions, and is limited to 175. The final print is by Phantom City Creative, and is based on Gremlins 2. The print is also 24″ x 36″, signed and numbered in an edition of 320.
Get em here: Mondotees
On December 3rd at Spoke Art in San Francisco, the latest solo show from Serge Gay Jr entitled Absolute Happiness opened. The same night this show opened I was at the reception of Dan Harding and Joanne Augustine’s I See You See Show (reviewed), so of course I had to check out the show a few days later. I was surprised to see that even though the reception was past by a few days, the gallery had a good amount of people inside, one of which was the artist himself. I not only grabbed some photos, but was also able to talk to Serge a bit about his working process and inspirations.
Von Scaramouche has recently added to two new prints by photographer/digital artist Jeffery Scott. The prints A Modern Day Sagittarian (shown) and A Modern Day Love Affair, are both 16″ x 22″ image size on 18″ x 24″ paper using Ultrachrome HDR inks, signed and numbered in editions of 40. Each print also comes with the certificate of authenticity.
Get em here: Von Scaramouche
I’m sure I have stated this before, but just for the record I am a huge fan of Johnny Crap’s work. Whether it is inks or oils, he consistently creates work that is not only unique, but looks amazing. Recently he added an ink drawing to his online shop entitled Darth Calavera, the work has sold but there is now an oil painting of Darth Calavera available in his shop. If you haven’t check out Johnny’s Twitter, Tumblr, Society6, or Website make sure you do that now to keep updated with new art.
Check out his shop here: Johnny Crap Online Shop
One of the most amazing about the internet, is the ability to connect with people from all over the world. After just a few short years, I was blown away to learn the Creep Machine is visited by people from over 130 countries around the world. Quite an amazing feat by someone who at one time knew nothing about websites, and how to gain a wider audience. The power of the internet was that someone, like myself, was able to start a website and share what inspired me, in this case art. I try to keep politics away from this site, as they are often depressing to no end, and I like the idea that the Creep can be a place to enjoy art and share the creations of others. Every year some politician creates a bill that threatens the freedom of the internet, the most recent one is something I feel I needed to share.
This week the SOPA or Stop Online Piracy Act is making its way around and could very well be passed. The intention of this bill is to curb the amount of online piracy that is going on. I personally believe this specific issue would entail coming up with new ideas of how to share digital information, and even consider that many forms of entertainment are simply too expensive, and the the temptation is too high to resist sometimes. It’s only recently that may labels have begun to reduce the price of cd’s, even though the price of the technology has gone down considerably. With SOPA, any site that features copy-written material could be shut down. Now I am all for the idea of protecting the copyright of art, music, and film, however this includes sites like Youtube in which a group of youngsters uses a famous song to dance to, or an up and coming artist covers a famous song. Even closer to home, what if a big name artist or gallery decides they don’t like an art blog sharing images from a recent exhibition. There is no conclusive proof that things could go this way, but the threat is real enough that companies like Google, Microsoft, and even Wikipedia are fighting it. Wikipedia is even considering a blackout that would shut the site down for a day or so (source), and considering the site gets more than 2.7 billion views per month it’s a big message.
When recordable tapes came along the music industry cried the sky was falling down, it didn’t. It also didn’t come crashing down when recordable cd’s or the mp3 player and mp3′s as whole came around. Piracy will always be there, but it can be curbed. The more important question is if this is the right way to do it. If you think this is the wrong way to go about it, and that the way we see and view the internet is being threatened, make your voice known. Boing-Boing recently posted some more information on the bill with some ways you can help, and there is even a dedicated forum over at Reddit.com that will give you more information and steps to take (here). Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian even posted a video talking about how Reddit, a site that gets more than 30 million unique visitors per month, could never have been created with SOPA in place (here).
New ideas and solutions will bring us forward. As Albert Einstein once said “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
Photo illustration by Aurich Lawson
This Thursday, December 15th at 1PM PST, Mia Araujo will be releasing her first print entitled “Sleeping Sickness”. The print will come in two sizes, 16″ x 24″ in a signed and numbered edition of 25, and a mini-print 8″ x 12″ signed and numbered in an edition of 75. The best part, aside from a beautiful print, is the fan appreciation component. Every 5 orders Mia will choose a random number and that order will receive a free mini-sketch (roughly 3 1/2″ x 4 1/2″, graphite and white pencil on toned paper). There is 20 sketches in total, and the print sale is limited to 2 per customer, so there is a really good chance you can score a free sketch from Mia. Keep your eye on the site tomorrow, and you can also follow Mia on Facebook and Twitter, as she will be sending out reminders.
I would like to introduce a new sponsor to the site, artist Bjorn Bauer. An artist working out of Oklahoma, Bjorn is also an art teacher at a high school. His art is inspired by life and world we live in, and all the feeling associated. Bjorn works in a variety of mediums, oils, acrylics, screen prints, and has a shop filled with prints that have been a good amount of attention lately. Head on over to Bjorn’s homepage to see more work as well as the work available in the shop.
The site rarely takes on sponsors, but the sponsorship allows for me to hold contests and giveaway art. I appreciate all of my readers and hope the next few years will become even more exciting here on the Creep Machine. If you haven’t done so, head on over to the Facebook Group (scroll down) to enter a current contest we have going, a print by Chris Peters is up for grabs.
One of the shows I was really looking forward to seeing as the end of the year drew closer, was a new solo exhibition by Dan Harding — and the best part was that this show was going to be in San Francisco. The shows theme changed and in an exciting turn, also featured the work of Joanne Augustine, with the idea that the two artists would work off each other. Entitled “I See You See” this show features photography by Joanne of various nature scenes, Dan then took these images as inspiration for new paintings. The reception was December 3rd at the Articulated Gallery, and the show will be up until the end of the month. If your in the area please stop by. Not only can you check out the Loved To Death store, but head up to the gallery and see photography and paintings by two very talented artists. I made sure I was at the reception and took some photos and have a review as well.
There’s not yet been much critical writing published about this century’s newly prevalent Urban Art. Yet. The genre has been gaining respect in recent years because its most important artists do much much more than tag walls and cars, and cannot be dismissed as being simplistic mark-makers. With their work they are tackling social, political and environmental issues in the very backyards of those places that they hope to change, and they are doing it with intelligence and powerful imagery that has always made waves in the arts.
One such artist is Stephan Doitschinoff (aka Calma) whose work is rife with symbols and text that explore the depths of the human condition in a multitude of ways. Stephan’s art concepts originate from his explorations of religion and faith, and address sociopolitical issues that are not only prevalent in his home base of Brazil, but in the world-wide. He indeed paints much of his work on city walls, however his installations in existing or specially-created religious structures transcend the American definition of simple Urban or Street Art by addressing society from its spiritual nodes.
If you will be in New York this month, his newest works will be on view at Jonathan Levine Gallery starting tonight, December 10th, 2011, in an exhibit entitled Novo Asceticismo (New Asceticsm). To quote the gallery’s press release:
In Novo Asceticismo (New Asceticsm), [Stephan Doitschinoff] reflects on the sacrifice and deprivation necessary for modern man to live purely, without feeling alienated or falling into vices, mental traps and social conditioning of contemporary society. He explores concepts constituting new forms of practicing austerity in regards to self-discipline in manners of sexuality and the body as well as contemporary Shamanism. The work is permeated by themes of Asceticsm, redefined to reflect political issues of our times.
While Calma’s art works well in any environment, I’m a little skeptical that its impact will be the same in a commercial white box as on the streets of Brazil. That’s not to say that I won’t be moved by this exhibition. Don’t miss it!
