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Mad man Harry Partridge is a UK based animator, writer, voice actor and musician who started his one man show of making cartoons for the web at 16. Since then he has directed shorts for the BBC, Playboy and Nintendo among others and has racked up over 50 million views on his youtube channel alone.
Happy Harry Partridge
Kung Tae Ted vs. the World by Harry
His satirical short “Saturday Morning Watchmen” has garnered it’s own entry on Wikipedia. He is self employed and currently works from home on whatever new animated project takes his fancy. His ambitions lie in animated and live action features.
Harry joined me for a great talk about his independent animation adventures!
Enjoy the show.
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What is art? While its boundaries are hard to encompass, Webster’s defines art as:
- Skill acquired by experience, study, or observation.
- An occupation requiring knowledge or skill.
- The conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects.
This vague nature of the definition has made it possible for all types of twisted abominations to be labeled as art and sold at ridiculously inflated prices.
As a result those who want all the perks of being an artist but don’t want to do all of the work have taken a shortcut. Rather than dedicate themselves to enriching art they have chosen to be smart asses at art’s expense. They become Conceptual and or Appropriation Artists. They remind me of that butt-hole Samurai in Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo who carried a gun around thinking he was hot shit in a champagne glass. In reality he was cold diarrhea in a Styrofoam cup.
Conceptual Art
The term Conceptual Art came out in the late 1960′s to describe types of art that no longer took the form of a conventional art object. Conceptual artists do not set out to create drawings, paintings, or sculptures to fit their ideas into an existing form. Tut tut! Instead they think “beyond the limits” of retards capable of only using traditional media. These modern Art Gods transcend primitive techniques and work out their concept with whatever materials that pop into their head. They give the concept priority over tradition, skill, and discipline. Like an NBA team of midgets that can’t dribble or dunk and refuses to follow the rules.
An important difference between conceptual art and real art boils down to the question of artistic skill. The sad truth is that skill plays absolutely no role in conceptual art. All you need is hostility toward tradition and the poker face to take your own bullshit conceptual art seriously.
Appropriation Art
Appropriation Art is the direct taking over into a work of art a real object or even an existing work of art. The practice can be tracked back to the Cubist collages and constructions of Picasso made from 1912 on, in which real objects such as newspapers were included to represent themselves. Appropriation was developed much further in the “pieces” created by the French artist Marcel Duchamp around 1915. His most infamous piece ” Fountain” was a men’s urinal signed, titled, and presented on a pedestal.
"Fountain" by Duchamp 1917
Later, Surrealism began to make extensive use of appropriation in collages and objects like as Salvador Dalis and his Lobster Telephone. In the late 1950s appropriated images and objects begin appearing extensively in the work of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. However, the term seems to have come into use specifically in relation to certain American artists in the 1980s, like Sherrie Levine and the artists of the Neo-Geo group particularly Jeff Koons. Sherrie Levine reproduced as her own work other works of art, including paintings by Claude Monet and Kasimir Malevich and a remake of Duchamp’s “Fountain”. Her aim was to create a new situation, and therefore a new meaning or set of meanings, for a familiar image.
"Flag Encaustic" Jasper Johns oil and collage on fabric mounted on plywood,1954-55
Robert Rauschenberg's untitled 'combine', 1963. Oil, silkscreened ink, metal, and plastic on canvas, 82 x 48 in.. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
"Fountain" 1991 Sherrie Levine bronze urinal, modeled after Marcel Duchamp's 1917 Fountain.
Balloon dog sculpture by Jeff Koons
Then came Damien Hirst. El Diablo
- Damien Hirst. Evil Asshole. This guy really lives up to the name “DAMIEN”
British artist Damien Hirst is a conceptual appropriation artist. He’s also a total douche. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists, who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990′s. He is is reportedly the world’s richest living artist, with his wealth valued $430m in 2010.
Yet he can’t draw, paint. sculpt, sketch, anything even remotely interesting and anything he does create is bullshit appropriation.
For the Love of God is a “sculpture” by Hirst is a cast of an actual human skull he purchased at a Gothmart in England. The cast is made entirely of pure platinum.
Hirst covered the skull with 8,601 diamonds obviously because a solid platinum human skull just wasn’t pimped enough. To his credit Damien made sure the diamonds were legitimate source and not conflict diamonds so he could sleep at night when he sold the the finished piece for $100 million. This is the highest price ever paid for a single work by a living artist.
(L) "For the Love of God" by Damien Hirst (R) Collage by Cartrain
In 2008, a 16 year old London Graffiti Artist calling himself Cartrain created a collage using an image of Hirst’s skull and was selling prints online. Hirst sent his lawyers in and had the collages removed from the online gallery and had the remaining artwork inventory sent to him. Not only that, Hirst then demanded Cartrain pay him for any of the sales of the collage. Remember Cartrain is 16 years old and Hirst is worth over 400 million dollars.
The story gets better. The kid wasn’t going to take it lying down.
In July 2009, Cartrain walked into Tate Britain and jacked a box of Faber Castell 1990 Mongol 482 series pencils from Damien Hirst’s installation, Pharmacy. Cartrain then made a ransom demand.
- “For the safe return of Damien Hirsts pencils I would like my artworks back that Hirst took off me in November. Its not a large demand he can have his pencils back when I get my artwork back. Hirst has until the end of this month to resolve this or on 31st of July the pencils will be sharpened. He has been warned.”
Cartrain was subsequently arrested for $100,000 worth of theft and faced charges for what would be the biggest art theft in British history. Hirst wanted the kid’s balls nailed to wall. But strangely in December 2009 The Metropolitan police dropped all charges against Cartrain.
Cartrain now uses the pilfered pencils to sign his print edition artwork and is a personal hero to those of us here at Man vs. Art.
Listen to the podcast for where I go “DEEP into the rabbit hole” about this whole affair.
- “Pharmacy” Installaton by Damien Hirst
Were Cartrain jacked the pencils from.
The million dollar box of pencils Hirst and Scotland Yard were crapping themselves over.
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Get your ART ON!
Hola Minions!
Today’s podcast has a bunch of really cool things going on!
So put down that weak little salad dish, grab that big honkin’ plate and belly up to the Man vs. Art Buffet!
Minion Opinion
I shared some Man vs. Art Minion Opinion by reading emails sent in by a few of you awesome listeners.
Hi Raul,
I started listening to your podcast few months ago and wanted to say thanks. I recently ‘rediscovered’ art/drawing after spending most of my life playing music (and a few other eclectic forms of making a living) and find your podcast to be informative, inspiring and freakin’ hilarious. As soon as I started listening to you I felt a sort of kinship since I’m from So Cal and can relate to your point of view on many things, but the thing that made me have to email you was the Halloween episode when you and Geo talked about Mad Monster Party! That is one of my favorite movies and like you talked about, I remember waiting for it to come on once a year on channel 5 when I was a kid. Now, the movie is required watching for me and the kids during the Halloween season, and for days afterward we’ll imitate the voices of the characters and talk about how brilliant the movie was for its time (and still a timeless movie classic in my book). Anyway, enough about my geekin’ out, I know you’re busy and just wanted to take a minute of your time to say thank you for the podcast, and thank you for giving back by sharing your knowledge and experience.
Thanks and respect,
Tony De La Rosa
Tony De La Rosa
Well congratulations Raul!
You’ve just acquired yourself a new subscriber and follower! I basically was looking for a podcast, that can help and keep me motivated to drawing and improving it. So, I bumped into your podcast on iTunes and said WTH..I might as well listen to what he’s saying and I’ve fell in love since then.
I’m 20 years old and I’m currently going to a local community college to major in fine arts for 2 years. After that, I plan on going to an art school in Houston, Texas to start my career and basically get on my own two feet!
I intend to become a graphic artist/illustrator. I’m improving my drawings so I can work with Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator to create digital art. I don’t know if you’re quite found of this software, but I would love for you to talk on Adobe Software.
Special Thanks from “Royal T”
Pantheon of Awesomeness!
Listener Shawn Encarnacion nominates Rod Serling into the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness!
“What is this so called Pantheon” you ask?
Think of it as the Hall of Fame but for Artists. The nomination process is open to all! The rules can be found here.
Art and words by Shawn.
Raul,
I am a brand new fan of your podcast, having just now discovered it! I love your show and I am catching up on past episodes. I am a full-time freelance cartoonist with no art education, and so listening to your podcast is like drinking water in a desert of questions and concerns about how to do I do what I do.
I am sure I will be writing you with some questions soon. But for now, I wanted to send you this. Attached is my artwork for my nomination into your Pantheon of Awesomeness. Here is my paragraph explaining why I nominate Rod Serling:
Submitted for your approval....
Leaving you with a sense of awe, a moment where the surreal holds your breath hostage as it surgically peels away the deeper layers of the human condition, it is clear that the Twilight Zone is much more than sixties science fiction. Though the technology and the terrors of that TV era may now seem kitsch to some, the messages Mr. Serling shared are as timeless as infinity. Challenging not only the morality of ever present issues such as censorship, war, racism, sexism and greed, he also challenged us as his fellow human beings to recognize the motivation of these issues as well.
Motivation, it seemed to him, was something that every human from every place and time, would discover to be the deeper stairwell that leads us all down to the pit of our fears, and upwards to the summit of our knowledge. Never too heavy handed for humor, and always willing to shake up the status quo, this great man’s art came ahead of his time and blazed a path for future thinkers to follow in. Rod Serling made us laugh and lament, stand and squirm, and most of all, think. In the halls of the Pantheon of Awesomeness, where boxes are not even allowed for jumping out of, I offer my nomination, the great Rod Serling for inspiring me to think, and more importantly, to have fun while doing it.
I am a big fan. Thank you for doing this podcast.
Marylin Monroe by Shawn Encarnacion
Thank you all for the kind words and for taking the time to write!
30 Characters in 30 days challenge!
Tyler James runs the 30 Character Challenge. It’s a really fun project where cartoonists from all over the world try to design 30 characters in 30 days and post them individually on the main site blog. I jumped all over it and am keeping up by creating a menagerie of cartoon misfits straight out of my sketchbook. 15 of them at last count. I’m trying to create interesting, appealing characters in many different styles. From wacky cartoony to more realistically proportioned comic book hero types as well as horror and animation character designs!
Like I said it’s really fun, but also demanding. I put a lot of thought and time into each one of my characters. I even bust out a cool little bio for them. I want to do classical cartoon archetypical characters but with a little “Raul” twist. Or put extra salsa on the tacos as I like to say.
Check out this collage of all of my entries thus far.
Click the collage to see all of my characters in more detail!
Independent Comic Book Creators At Large!
Grasiela Rodriguez
My good friend and colleauge Grasiela Rodriguez just released her newest self published independent comic book Spadra No. 1
Meet Billy Rubottom, the founder of Spadra and then take a
ride with the Bride in the Stagecoach! Ghostly Appropriations Of
A Town That Time Forgot.
I highly recommend this book people. The story is really good and wonderfully creepy as well. That coupled with Grasiela’s uniquely surreal and pretty style gives the book a very unsettling vibe that is PERFECT for a ghost story. This is only her second book, but by the looks of it she has her technique nailed down. Ask any comic book creator out there and they will all agree that attempting a Western Comic is ambitious as hell! Horses and cowboy hats are tough to draw son!
Grasiela succeeded in pulling off a western book that is elegant in its simplicity.
Grasiela Rodriguez
click the pic to see Grasiela's blog and purchase a copy of her book.
Javier Hernandez
Book Release and Signing of his latest book The Coma!
Supa Pirate Booty Hunt
Kickstarter Campaign!
Steve Seivers and Dahveed are the creators Supa Pirate Booty Hunt the wacky independent animated webseries that chronicles the hilarious adventures of Captain Zack Stevers, a wannabe rock ‘n roll pirate, and his lovable sidekick Daniel the turtle as they search the seven seas for what else, booty.
Dahveed and Steve
The upcoming episode promises to reach new heights and for that we need the help of our friends at Kickstarter! Their upcoming episode “Metal In My Shell” will feature Dave Mustaine of Megedeath who will face off against Zack and Daniel in a rock-off that will warp the boundaries of time and space!!
Supa Pirate Booty Hunt Kickstarter Page
Why do Steve and Dahveed Need Your Support?
Animation is a highly skilled and very time consuming endeavor. As an independent studio they have no backing and everyone has been putting in their time for free. They hope to eventually bring the show to television but first need to build up a large audience. To do that Steve and Dahveed need to produce episodes independently and offer them for free online but that can only be done with the support of generous backers. Although they have come very far they still have a long way to go. Even if you choose not to back the project please check out the past episodes and give your feedback.
Check out the collection of episodes at SupaPirateBootyHunt.com. The latest episode won 6 awards at the 2011 Burbank International Film Festival.
Southern California Independent Animation Scene Upcoming Events
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Hola Minions!
On today’s show the subject is Poetry.
These days the word poetry has some lousy stigma attached to it. Most people think poetry is only for greeting cards and angsty teens who like to cut themselves. I happen to love poetry with a passion. A truly great poet can touch your soul, cram volumes of truth about the human experience into just a few lines, and make a you rethink your views of life. Let’s see a Hallmark card do that.
Christopher Luke Trevilla The Stand Up Philosopher
My guest today a very talented young poet named Christopher Luke Trevilla. Chris refers to himself as a ” Stand-Up Philosopher”. He was inspired by the great Mel Brooks and his line from History of the World Part I. Chris said “As a Stand-Up Philosopher I coalesce the vapors of human experience into a viable and logical comprehension. You know, a bullshit artist!”
I met Chris back in the summer of 2009 at the Nuvein Foundation West Covina Literature and Arts Festival. I was tabling at the event, selling prints, books, and doing portrait commissions. All of a sudden the DJ started spinning a Jamiroquai beat and this big shaggy haired kid in a red shirt started belting out a powerfully passionate poem called “Modern Living”. I was so moved and impressed by his belly fire that I busted out my easel and painted this sketch of Chris.
Chris by Raul
Christopher Luke Trevilla (aka ǣT) is a 31 year old artist residing in Whittier, CA who has been an active artist in the fields of poetry, prose, drama, and music from his youth. He has sung sessions with musicians, written short comedic sketches and dramas, organized artistic events, performed in theater productions, done stand up comedy, and continues to explore artistic opportunities all over Southern California.
His true passion is for the art of poetry. He has been working the poetry circles around Southern California for several years, participating in Open Mic readings and Poetry Jams across Los Angeles, Long Beach, Orange County, and the San Gabriel Valley. From 2005 to 2008 Chris maintained an active poetry and prose blog on Myspace where he enjoyed a considerable following and has been published in several anthologies over the years.
Christopher collaborates with various writer and poetry groups throughout Los Angeles and is a board member at the Nuvein Foundation for Literature and the Arts where serves as the head of the Literature, Letters, and Literacy Project or Nuvein 3LP. Their mission is to address illiteracy by creating opportunities throughout the San Gabriel Valley and beyond for children, youth, and adults to express themselves through words.
The focus of Christopher’s poetry has always been on the relationships between humanity, culture, modernity, and the mystical underpinnings of our existence. A theme he plans to explore in an upcoming poetry publication with the Nuvein Foundation due out the Summer of 2012.
Southern California Poetry resources (groups, gatherings, open mics, etc.)
Enjoy a sampling of Christopher’s works.
Dia De Los Muertos
By: Christopher Luke Trevilla
See the people, see their lights
The flickering flames in the wind of twilight
Shadows in the dark
They remember, they never forgot
those that built them up, tore them down, defined, refined them all
The crucible of living
Sounds of song emanate –
Como quisiera que tu volvieras
The minstrels in mariachi garb recite their poems
of lost loves,
of lost days,
of lost ones
the memory, the wound
ever fresh, ever present
a communion of souls
See the village, see their procession
The ordered cadence of life’s very heart beating
into the silence of the time
a moment to hold thoughts and tongue
for those who speak no more but haunt the memory
The minister cries aloud to the huddled masses-
De Polvo fuiste, De Polvo Seras –Kyrie Eleison
Pilgrims with gifts
arrayed in spectral colored regiments
defiant of the black sorrow on their mourning garbs
a procession of food and familia
a Feast of friends, kin, and foe alike
They gather under the ceiling celestial
nature’s temple to honor those gone
the community of saints and sinner alike
under the same moon
under the same stars
under the same sun
Dia de Los Muertos
I will always love you
my fallen one
my muertito
Asi como fue en el principio,
hoy,
manana,
y siempre sera
Amen
Man vs. Art
By: Christopher Luke Trevilla
I see
a world of colors
it challenges
my black and white mind
vision a prisoner
y hecho oscuro
by the cruel tyrannts
nature and nurture alike
hollow sights we call horizon
I struggle
to open my eyes
quiero ver para mirar
I hear
a sound unknown
removes my silent vigil
a music rising and harmony born
into the raucous, unstill air
my unfamiliar ears
desconocen tono y melodia
having been drowned out
by dissonant necessities of living
ears bleed
to manage
the lost art of listening
quisiera oir para escuchar
I touch
With numbed fingertips
Places, spaces, situations, circumstances
Things beyond my control
They rub against my own plans
Sanding my dreams down to nothing
As I try to build myself up
beyond a bump, a groove upon the earth
un grano nada mas rodando la superficie
yearning to rise up and be fruitful
reaching up to the sky
not kept low and bound by levity or gravity
to but only hold onto those things that last
as they fly rrom my own grasp
Quisiera tocar para retener
I taste and want
all things the same now
a bittersweet damnation
my preference
meaningless
long ago
I knew enjoyment and satisfaction
all I know
now is abatement and mitigation
instantly gratifying
has me constantly mortified
siempre queriendo mas y mas
never having enough
food, comforts, luxuries
quisiera probar para saborear
I make
then war upon myself
to let Art create of me within
un mundo nuevo
within this one
embracing
the necessary anxiety of inspiration
that new born thing
that kills an older part of me
eternamente luchando estaremos
Today tomorrow forever
Ahoy manana siempre
Man versus Nature
Man versus Man
Man versus God
Man versus Art
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Happy Halloween Minions!
It’s Halloween folks and you know what that means! It’s time to bring in La Cosa Nosferatu, the Dark one, Geo Brawn IV creator of the sexy horror comic series “The Untold Chronicles!”
Geo Brawn IV
If you are into Horror comics and Pin up Girls, then you gotta get your hands on Geo’s books. They are awesome! Film Director Guillermo Del Toro gave them the big thumbs up people!
click the pic to get to Geo's stuff!
My good friend Geo, besides being an extremely talented creator, knows his Horror FU! We have a lot of fun on today’s podcast!
Video Slideshow of Geo’s Paintings with artist commentary.
The Mad Monster Party!
Original Movie Poster by Frank Frazetta.
One of my favorite animated features of all time! Mad Monster Party was made by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass, the same people that brought us the Christmas classics Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This Rankin Bass’ 1967 stop motion animated feature is pure 1960′s Campy Horror Awesomeness! A killer cartoon featuring all of the classic movie monsters partying down at Dr. Baron Von Frankenstein’s pad in puppet form!
Promo One Sheet by Frank Frazetta! I Know!!!!!
I’m talking Dracula, The invisible man, The Mummy, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dr. Jekyll and Hyde, The Wolf-man, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, King Kong, Frankenstein’s Creature, The Bride, and an assorted mess of friggin’ zombies and skeletons! It gets better! The hysterical screenplay was written by the great Harvey Kurtzman and the characters were designed by the legendary Mad Artist Jack Davis!
Jack Davis Character Designs!
OMG!
Did I mention Boris Karloff is the voice of the Dr. Baron Von Frankenstein and Phyllis Diller plays the Bride of the Creature?
If this doesn’t sound wacky enough, Boris Karloff sings in this movie! I shit you not!
Dr. Baron Von Frankenstein and the lovely Franchesca. What a hottie! I mean the girl.
Bruce Timm Sketch of Franchesca and Dracula. Awesome with Awesome sauce amigos! WOW!
SWEEEEET!
Franchesca…..The first love of many geeks.
That is one sexy stop motion puppet!
Another Franchesca by Bruce Timm which I believe he referenced from the frame above. Bruce Timm can do know wrong.
The Japanese studio that animated this film did a bang up job! They called the stop motion puppet animation technique they were pioneering “Animagic” Is that cool or what? I’m geeking out man!
This little gem paved the way for films like Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare before Christmas” and the “Corpse Bride!”
The film has recently been released on DVD and I highly recommend it!
click the pic to go to Amazon.com to buy this DVD!
drawing by Don Duga the artist who storyboarded the film.
Scene Set up by Don Duga
Get a load of the trailer!
click to see The Opening Sequence
The Making of…..
H.H. Holmes Fiend and Serial Killer from Victorian Times.
The last segment of the podcast Geo and I got to talking about REAL monsters as opposed to fictional ones. I recently found out about H.H. Holmes. America’s First serial killer. During the Great Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 this sick twisted psycho used his custom built Murder Castle to kill an alleged 200 people!
This guy made Jack the Ripper look like a Pussy.
“I was born with the devil in me, I couldn’t help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing. And I was born with the Evil One standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world. He has been with me ever since.”
H.H. Holmes
Happy Halloween!
R.
