Man vs. Art

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Hey Folks,

Today’s show is a collection of assorted tales about art and stuff.

First off I share the true story of  the time I disrupted a Jewel concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

In the second segment Minion Mike Garvey nominates the great  Terry Gilliam for the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness!

Terry Gilliam the Great Director!

Art and words by Mike Garvey!

Terry Gilliam by Mike Garvey

“I hereby nominate Terry Gilliam to the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness. As a visionary, lone wolf, maverick, and wise ass, he’s pretty tough to beat. He’s probably most strongly associated with the British comedy group, Monty Python, but started life as an American. Hailing from Medicine Lake, Minnesota to be exact. He studied Political Science at Occidental College in Los Angeles in the ’60′s  and it was during this time that events lead him to leave the country. This quote from and interview with Salman Rushdie sums it up best:

“I became terrified that I was going to be a full-time, bomb-throwing terrorist if I stayed [in the U.S.] because it was the beginning of really bad times in America. Every night I’d be hauled over by the cops. Up against the wall, and all this stuff. They had this monologue with me; it was never a dialogue. It was that I was a long-haired drug addict living off some rich guy’s foolish daughter. And I said, “No, I work in advertising. I make twice as much as you do.” Which is a stupid thing to say to a cop. And it was like an epiphany. I suddenly felt what it was like to be a black or Mexican kid living in L.A. Before that, I thought I knew what the world was like, I thought I knew what poor people were, and then suddenly it all changed because of that simple thing of being brutalized by cops. And I got more and more angry and I just felt, I’ve got to get out of here‚ I’m a better cartoonist than I am a bomb maker. That’s why so much of the U.S. is still standing.”

He held a duel citizenship (British and American) from 1968 until 2006 when he renounced his American citizenship as a protest against George Bush.

He describes his work as seeing the world in a million possible ways. He sees his films as trilogies. For example his “trilogy of imagination” is about escaping the craziness of ordered society as seen through a young boy in “Time Bandits”, and adult in “Brazil” and as an elderly man in “The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen”. I’ve always admired his work for the details of design, amazing sets, and costumes. The fact that he is married to a costume and makeup designer (Maggie Weston), I’m sure has something to do with it.

I could go on and on about why he’s one of my heroes, but I think this clip, especially what he does with the Christmas cards, is a perfect example of why he belongs in the Pantheon of Awesomeness:

Mike Garvey

Mike’s gallery

Mike’s Youtube Channel

In the third segment Minion Jim Richardson left a voice message on the Man vs. Art Minion Hotline.

Jim shares his thoughts on the 2011 CTN EXPO and on his quest to get hired by Disney. Jim opens up and goes deep into the rabbit hole on this one guys! You can’t miss this one!

Check out this animation by Jim

In the fourth segment I give some advice on things visual artists can do to sharpen their creativity.

The Final segment is a bit I wrote called “Every Artist’s Dream.”  It’s a tongue in cheek look at what we all fantasize about when we’re sitting at the coffee shop scribbling away in our sketchbooks!