Click the poster for full size options via Flickr.

Back in November 2009, I was contacted by a friend who wanted to know if I was interested in helping create a few posters for the Institute of Physics in the UK. The problem – one that the US shares – was that the hard sciences in general and physics in particular were seeing declining interest in the population of school children. Part of the problem, it was postulated, was that UK kids were not exposed to the interesting side of what physics is at a young enough age; by the time physics becomes a school course option, most kids have already relegated physics to the ‘boring’ category, and go on to pursue their degree in macrame interpretive dance. But even as an artist, I can say, this is not so! Physics is without a doubt one of the most far-thinking, philosophical fields out there; I’ve been a dilettante about the subject in general for years, and while I can’t claim to speak about it with anything approaching coherence, the fact that I could do anything for The Cause made me kinda pumped, something akin to what the Ghost Army must have felt when landing in France. (Was that too arrogant?)

Click the poster for full size options via Flickr.

Additionally, I had the great fortune to be able to work with Rich Seymour for the initial conception part of the project, which was great fun, and was inspiring to say the least. Meeting someone who has made a career for themselves by brooking no infringement on their creative vision and ideas, and sticking to their guns, even when it meant losing a job – that’s a kind of hard-assery that you can’t buy, you can just learn by spending years figuring out you’re the smartest mother-effer in the room.

Click the poster for full size options via Flickr.

As per Rich’s idea, we waded into some of the more far-out printing processes, ending up with two photo-luminescent posters, and one printed with thermal inks, that reveal ink underneath when one applies heat, with your hand or a flame-thrower or whatever. The design implications, challenges, and opportunities brought about using their rather esoteric printing techniques were eye-opening for me, and terrific fun.

The posters will be placed in classrooms all across the UK. In a few months, the impressional young eyes of UK youth will all be transfixed by this weirdness, which I feel pretty good about. I’m still in talks with the IOP people, trying to convince them to set up a purchase option for these posters, because I think a lot of nerds might be into these, but we’ll see. Don’t forget to click through the posters to see them full-size, via Flickr options.

I’m extremely pleased to announce that my comic story We Wuz Robbed is in the newest German comic anthology, Mogo Mobo. The latest anthology is titled ‘Nacktscanner’, which, in the words of editor Thomas Gronle-Legron,

loosely translates into “Moga Mobos Body Scanner” (Body Scanners are the “Nude” scanners at airports). The theme of the book is the safety of our personal data, especially, but not only, on the internet.

I met Thomas when we were both invited to speak at the Seoul International Comics and Animation Festival, and he’s an incredible artist, animator, and game designer. You can see some of his rad stuff here, here, and at his website (be sure to check out his microfiche game in the animation section.) He also knows a bunch of amazing European, Japanese, and yes, American artists that make up the Mogo Mobo crew. I’m really proud to be a part of it now.

Moga Mobo’s Nacktscanner will be released at the German Comic Book Fair, the “Comicsalon Erlangen” , 3-6. June 2010. After that, it’s available all over Germany. Go! Pick one up! Now! I’ll wait.

]]> http://joealterio.com/2010/06/moga-mobo-mojo/feed/ 0 http://joealterio.com/2010/04/out-like-a-lamb/ http://joealterio.com/2010/04/out-like-a-lamb/#comments Sun, 11 Apr 2010 04:02:14 +0000 Joe http://joealterio.com/?p=612

So I thought I’d give a quick run down of March, now that it’s gone, because it was SO FREAKING crazy.

My show, the aforementioned Landscapes of Quarantine show, was a rousing success, I would say almost too much so; the place was so rammed with tight-clothed young people that the art was definitely secondary to the scene. Which isn’t to say that’s a totally bad thing; I suspect the copious amount of FREE BEER might have had something to do with it, but all in all, a fantastic time was had. You can check out the photos of the event here. The rest of night after the opening was a blur, but I do know at once point, we closed down a Cuban restaurant in Soho, after which the very nice waitress flicked the lights on and off so we would leave. Sorry, mystery waitress! I had like 37 whiskeys, my bad.

You can see the full 8 pieces, generously published on HiLoBrow here.

In other totally amazing news, the show actually got written up as a Critic Pick in Art Forum, with yours truly being name dropped. Oh, dang!

I awoke the next morning after the show, hangover in tow, to find that I had a bunch of work to do for a freelance job, in between which I packed, spent some time with my lovely and patient wife, and then HIT THE ROAD to Austin the next morning.

South by Southwest was a blast, and the panel was a raging success, judging by the tweet feed that was the result.

Best comment: “Best panel ever.”
Worst comment: “Disappointed by #incol panel – too unfocussed! ”

Make what you will of that.

You can see images of the panel and SXSW here, which is kind of a condensed version of the full photo album I have. Friends and relatives, check out my personal blog for whole shebang.

The SXSW trip was amazing and fun, I saw all sorts of cool stuff, as expected, and there’s plenty of great places to check it all out. It was also rather watershed for me, though, and for something that concerns SXSW – or the trip at all – only tangentally. After the end of the panel, halfway into my second beer, I started to feel very ill; unnamed, nice bizdev woman taking to me, I apologize for abruptly leaving midway through our conversation, I had to run and upchuck in the bathroom. The rest of the afternoon was a blur, and it was only through the generosity of my friends and fellow panelists that I got home to where I was staying. and promptly passed out for the rest of the day and evening.

There’s a lot of prosaic explanations for this sort of thing – food poisoning, 24-hour-bug, or what have you. However, in my traditional fashion, I like to ascribe it to a more goof-ball reason: I think my body was telling me I was spread too thin and pursuing things in wrong fashion. Over the past nine months, I have been involved in a workshop with peer crit reviews every week, running Robots + Monsters, planning for the SXSW panel, acting as Creative Director for a small boutique web firm, and handling all of my big illustration projects. I think it’s time I pare down, and focus on the one big thing that I’ve been avoiding forever.

That’s right: building my Death Ray. Finally!

Page 3. Click for larger size.

I’m very excited to extend the invite to anyone in the area to the opening night of the group show I’m a part of, Landscapes of Quarantine. From the press release:

NEW YORK CITY – February 17, 2010 – On Tuesday, March 9, 2010, Landscapes of Quarantine, a group exhibition exploring the spatial implications of quarantine, will open at New York’s landmark Storefront for Art and Architecture. The exhibition consists of new works by a multi-disciplinary group of eighteen artists, designers, and architects, each of whom was inspired by one or more of the physical, biological, ethical, architectural, social, political, temporal, and even astronomical dimensions of quarantine. Curated by Nicola Twilley and Geoff Manaugh of Future Plural, the exhibition will be on view at Storefront until April 17, 2010. Entrance to the exhibition is free; the launch event on March 9 is open to the public and will showcase a one-night-only, inflatable quarantine prosthesis attached to Storefront’s façade, designed by architects Jeffrey Inaba and Joseph Grima, as well as a range of beers generously donated by Brooklyn Brewery.

This was a bit of an adventure for me, and, I suspect, several other participants, since we had 10 solid weeks of inspection of the subject matter, group idea sharing, peer crit, and a final group review with a stellar cast of all-star critics. As an illustrator by trade, and often a web-enabled artist by choice, I don’t usually have the luxury of ruminating on a project an entire season before putting it together. Often times when, late at night, I’m reading the working practices of famous artists I admire (as I’m wont to do, whiskey in hand), I’m envious of a time when artists were able to chin-scratch for years on one project, painting, or attempt. Maybe I’m romanticizing it, but from a pure economics point of view, unless you’re a really famous artist, what someone might get from selling a piece of work hasn’t kept up with cost of living increases, to say the least, so more work is demanded in a shorter amount of time. But maybe it’s also personal. I’m a type-A guy who’s also impatient. Regardless of the reason, the length of time was a breath of fresh air. To be able to share that with a select group of amazing artists who gave some un-sugar-coated honest critique almost felt like I was being greedy.

Detail from Page 1

My particular piece, titled Pages 179-187 is a result I came to after studying both the roots of quarantine in the modern age, as well as the plague epidemics of early times. As we were introduced to the historical material, I became fascinated with the power imbued in the  Powers That Be to make very real decisions of life and death, sometimes with very little real information at hand. The idea of The Word From On High, for the good of all, became, in my mind, inextricably linked with the power structure behind a quarantine, and the nearly-imperialist power that implies, on top of how that word was distributed to the masses. I quickly found a relation between what the elder times placed their faith in (God), and what our more modern forebearers trusted (technology), and came up with a kind of ‘lost fable’, told in a form that was a consciously reminiscent of both 19th century etchings and cartoons, and both Italian and Byzantine illuminated manuscripts. My hope is that the result is 8 pages that are nearly ahistorical, so universal are both the themes and the images.

My initial plan was to get these pages binded in a leather tome, but after some teeth gnashing and rending of clothes, I ended up abandoning the plan, due to both a logistical flaw: how do I get every page to be shown without asking the audience to touch the pages?), and a thematic one (isn’t that a little Epcot-y?). My final framing choice I think you’ll find both subtle and really cool and appropriate.

I’ll be posting all the pages, eventually, but if you’re in the area, please do come down and pull me aside to say hello at the opening on March 9th,  at the Storefront for Art and Architecture. It should be a blast, and not only can you see my pieces in person, you can see all the other fantastic stuff on display. See you there!

Download the original press release here.

I’m very excited to announce that I’ve been invited to participate in the “Landscapes of Quarantine” salon, cohosted by BLDGBLOG and Edible Geography. From the description:

“…an eight-week, intensive, independent design studio to be hosted this autumn in New York City; its brief is to create original and thought-provoking design projects that explore the spatial implications of quarantine. The results of the studio will then be the subject of an exhibition at Storefront for Art and Architecture in spring 2010.”

Of the many things I love about Geoff Manaugh’s BLDGBLOG, his healthy respect for intellectualized science-fiction is at the top of the list. Too often disregarded as nerd-stuff by the low culture and child’s play by the high-brows, (though it’s neither,) science fiction is exactly what we will be examining in this workshop – what the future will bring to us from prevalent current trends, and how we will adapt. I can’t think of anything less akin to child’s play. But okay, maybe it’s a little nerdy.

The list of participants is both amazing and a little intimidating: I hope I can keep up! I look forward to seeing what we all come up with, and thanks tons to Geoff for the invite.

…and we’re back.

Lots of changes to jabber on about, the primary one of which that we’ve relocated to the New York area for Molly to attend law school. So, besides playing the good husband, I now get to reorient myself to entirely new climate, work network, subway system and quality of sandwich meats available in the supermarket. (on this last point: I’ve been away for so long.)

It’s great to be here, and strange, too: I have spent the last 13 years on the West Coast, after growing up in the Boston area, and the shift is one both subtle and profound. I obviously visited quite a bit while away, but one always keeps an area at arm’s length when one is visiting. Too many obligations and distractions to let a city settle into your bones. The first thing that strikes me is just the truly different feeling the streets present to you, a combination of weather, architecture, and presence, if you will; the East coast is more immediate. It demands you pay tribute to it’s grubby walls and soaring pretense. The West Coast keeps everything at an arms length– one can take your SUV from your planned suburb out to the coast, and pretend no one is around. There is no fooling oneself about your fellow travelers here, and, at this point in my life at least, I think that’s probably a good thing.

I shan’t bore anyone with my personal rankings of cities, locales, places, foods: each place is exactly right for what it is. But I feel very, very good to be here right now. It is an awe-inspiring and knee-bending thing to be in the orbit of Manhattan. It is a cliched piece of garbage, but my god, it is true. Take a stroll and peer up above you at the windows that blanket the faces of the neoclassical buildings like a mosquito net to keep out the riffraff; behind each one is a potential lifetime. There is no weed strewn lot someone doesn’t have plans for, no tiny dive bar that isn’t someone’s favorite. But unlike other places, in which those of the hipper persuasion try to find the place unfound, there is a certain welcoming charm to this place like no other, an assurance that everything is already found. Everyone is a New Yorker, immediately. I’m sure this is the good old days for this city, and I would get a different answer if this were the 1970s. But for now, it is the prom queen who everyone wants to be seen with, and my, is she lovely.

Relevant stuff:

+ The new Robots and Monsters site is at near-launch. It’s been a slog, mostly because I’ve asked Glaser, my partner at Squonk, to do it when he doesn’t have time for anything else, and fortunately, that’s not too often. But it will be launched within a month or so, and included there will be the new ordering system, making the ordering process MUCH easier, on both ends. The above graphic is the smaller size of what will be the background. Check out the *HUGE* version to see the details, and that you can use as a background, too.

+ For the past two months, I’ve been working on fun tools for the new Photoshop.com site. Adobe asked me to concept and execute a bunch of fun add-ons to personal photos to jazz them up, and it’s been a blast. Check out the first wave here.

+ I’m one of the featured illustrators on Workbook.com this week, showcasing my new portfolio I’ve got up there: Check it out.

+ This guy is too fucking awesome. Someone needs to kill him. Ben Newman: thy work pierces my heart with the bitter-tipped arrow of jealousy. Nice work.

+ Got invited to a few sweet salons in Manhattan that I’ll be blogging about later. The upshot it that I’ll definitely be back showing some work in a gallery before too long, which makes me exceedingly happy.

+ I can’t believe that actually sell prosciutto and capicola at the deli here, to be sliced. In-bleeping-credible. I’ll trade the avocados for that.

That’s all for now. Mo’ later.

…according to TeeJunkie.com, anyway. Hooray! Thanks to everyone for voting and throwing me to the top of the list. Yay!

I would just like to thank Jesus, Mohammed, Vishnu, Yaweh, Santa, and the Noodle Monster for their infinite widsom in directing votes my way. The others guys were formidible competition, but at the end of the day, we just wanted it more than the other team. We stuck to the game plan, and our guys gave 110% out there. I’d also like to thank my Momma.

Anyway. You can buy a version of the teeshirt here. Thanks again, everyone!

The Thames 1,2,3 Comic, on the inside cover of the new BLDGBLOG book.

The new BLDGBLOG book, with comics by yours truly, is to be released soon. Sweet!

I got an email this morning informing me that I’ve been nominated as teeshirt designer of the year by Tee Junkie. I’m really thrilled, considering the other folks nominated, so it really is an honor just to be a part of it. Then again, you are on my site, so do me a solid and go vote for me in the post of the contest. I’m about halfway down. Winners will be announced in April. Woot!

My buddy Steve Lohse, impresario, gourmet chef, Master and Commander, Alaskan fisherman, championship drinker, and last but not least, writer and playwright, just landed his first piece in McSweeny’s lit. journal, which is a huge coup. Nice one, boy-o.

Now take that damn smirk off your face, and go take out the trash. Goddammit.