Find out what inspires the talented artists at Nice Shoes by following our blog. This will be updated with audio, video, images, links and anything else we find interesting, exciting, or especially creative!
William Basinski, an ambient musician who has been composing and playing for over 25 years, woke up one day and decided to digitize his old analogue tapes. These tapes contained music he had made at the beginning of his career. Back then, William would look for found analogue tape, ranging from old classical stuff to Muzak. He would then literally cut out sections and tape them back together to create these endless ethereal, abstract loops. These ambient pieces of music are sublime in their own right where the music itself creates a space, audible to the ear but visual within the mind, while the looped phrasing does not change over time.
William was digitizing these pieces and he stepped away for a minute with his analogue tape playing over and over while it was being transcoded onto a CD. When he returned, the music had changed. At first he didn’t know what was going on and then after listening for a few minutes, he figured it out. The tape itself was so old, the iron oxide powder glued onto the tape was beginning to shed each time the tape passed through the reader head. His loops were actually disintegrating before him as iron oxide dust gathered in the air and fell to the floor. Listening to the resulting digital recordings, of these pieces of music dying before your very ears, never to be heard from again in their original form is romantically tragic. On NPR’s Radiolab William elegantly comments, “I was recording the life and death of a melody, it made me think of human beings, and how we die.” The loops become like our own lives, beautiful and present for only the briefest of time.
The time has come. The ghouls, the ghosts and the beasts abound. Seemed like the perfect time for a horror movie appreciation blog.
Horror movies have changed so much over the decades. Much of it, I believe, has to do with the introduction of color into the landscape. In some ways this was a good thing, but in others…….
Now an explanation
Before the introduction of color, we had films like Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolfman. Of course, these films had very limited “special effects”, makeup and the most rudimentary camera tricks. Yet, these films were quite Eerie. Even after the introduction of color into the genre, Horror gave us incredible films like The Fly, Psycho (Hitchcock opted for black and white) and my personal favorite Night of the Living Dead (“They’re coming for you, Barbara”) My oldest son is 10 and I would not dream of letting him watch any of these films. Nightmares would soon ensue. These films were based on an incredible story. I absolutely believe that they retain the “scare” factor despite the technical limitations of their age.
Then came an influx of color in horror films of the 70s and 80s. The Exorcist, The Omen, The Amityville Horror and Poltergeist were all terrifying, all great because the story was still the primary factor. Of course there were many flops, but there were enough that the genre was not in crisis. The effect capabilities were now better, but not a crutch rely upon to sell the film.
We even had films that eventually made fantastic use of color to enhance the story. In Se7en and Sleepy Hollow color was a tool for ambiance used very effectively.
Unfortunately these days the crutches are out. Color and effects are relied on too much. Color not relied upon to enhance, just shock. How much blood and gore can we put in here? The first Saw was very creative and macabre. Followed by SIX sequels. These were all about Shock Value and Gore. We now have FIVE Final Destinations. We don’t have enough 6th Sense. Hopefully some creativity will resurface, and I pray it is not in the home movie amateur footage style. Unfortunately, these days, if it’s decent, it’s probably a remake.
One of the nicest surprises at the Motion 11 conference was Erica Hu’s gorgeous thesis film Seasons. Hand painted textures, seamless transitions and unexpected landscapes make up a lush world of beauty that is easy to lose yourself in. Check it out here.
Have you ever thought about what you would grab from your house if it was on fire? Check out The Burning House Project done by Robert Holden. If you like the 1st one be sure to check out Part 2 as well. Enjoy!
“The Burning House project by Robert Holden is one of the most intriguing compilations that we’ve covered over the past few years. The series focuses on the precious items you would escape with if your house was suddenly engulfed in flames. The hypothetical situation makes us instantly realize just how important some objects really are to us.” – My Modern Met
We have been having the best time creating this – The Design, Interactive and Vfx wings of Nice Shoes have been immersing themselves in creating films for our “Kick Summer to the Curb” event at Pier 59 this thursday.
These interactive films will be shown throughout performances by poets including Grand Slam Champion poet Rico Frederick and with musical performances by Elliot LaRue and Mr.Boyd. DJ AK will be providing more aural pleasures.
At certain times, members of the audience will be able to “hijack” ipads to control the visuals for themselves.
Here’s stills from only two of the films.
From “People Vs Babylon”
From “Joe Jackson”
“Art as expression — Not as market campaigns, will still capture our imaginations. Given the same State of integrity”- N. Peart
Every work of art is an orchestration of elements. On one hand you have the medium: The canvas, the paint, the clay, the stone in which the sculptor can visualize their art internally, when others see a chunk of rock. But which element is the key to the culmination of these raw materials? It is the artist. Through their devotion and care the art becomes an expression of themselves. They are trying to convey something. Something which will leave an impression and, of course retention.
In this day of shrinking budgets and tight turnarounds, it is often tempting to find the shortcut, the most cost effective way to finish the project. What suffers here is the notability and retention.
Video is a canvas. Art waiting to happen. Color grading moving image is not simply an attempt to balance differences in lighting, time of day and skin tones. It is an attempt to create something beautiful which stands out from the competition. Interpreting moods to be conveyed by clientele is an art unto itself. Does this spot make you feel happy, nostalgic, sympathetic, gloomy? Any image can convey feelings not simply through its content but by its approach to color.
N. Peart, (Aka Neil Peart) of Rush is still considered the #1 rock drummer of all time.
In 1958 when the St. Lawrence Lake was opened up to make the Seaway, several towns were evacuated, flooded and destroyed. On clear days, with aerial photography, you can still see remnants of a lock (now completely submerged), a dairy barn with octagonal silo, the downtown of Aultsville (Ontario) and even the ghostly oval of Connor’s Horse Race Track. More here…
Carli Davidson is an amazing, award winning, animal photographer based in Portland, Oregon. She’s been featured in magazines including Vanity Fair, The New York Times, BBC, The Daily Beast, and the Huffington Post. Having experience as an animal caretaker and trainer, she is able to capture animals in so many different lights; Davidson does not simply limit herself to taking pictures of people’s pets, but goes out in search of amazing creatures.
She did a sweet studio series of dogs and cats shaking water off of themselves that makes me laugh every time I see these pictures. She also did a series of animals such as a tiger during a surgery, where blind children came in to pet the domestic creature while it was under. In the series were also shots of a baboon appearing to have some teeth extracted. Many may also enjoy her photos of an elephant painting.
Although much of her work touches my heart and makes me smile, she also is able to capture real graphic images that may turn heads and stomachs. In her series titled “Bison Butchering” I can’t help but stare at the beautiful, yet graphic photos of the bison. On her website she explains how bison are pasture raised and butchered on sight to reduce the stress associated from transporting the animals from sight to sight.
Davidson really captures your heart with her work: wether you look at them and smile, giggle, or shed a tear, she is an astounding artist. She is said to spend much of her shoots “rolling on the ground with her subject, getting in their skin as much as possible and encouraging them to open up to the camera.” Click on the photos to check out Davidson’s website to see her many series and portfolio.
I know this website is soooo like two weeks ago, but I knew about it then and am blogging about it now, which is so uncool it makes it cool again.
Blog synth dreamcatcher banksy, american apparel bicycle rights mixtape leggings raw denim brooklyn wayfarers aesthetic fixie keytar echo park. Quinoa artisan next level iphone, locavore tofu cosby sweater mixtape. Sustainable chambray pitchfork quinoa cred tumblr, messenger bag biodiesel tattooed. Artisan butcher twee jean shorts craft beer, wayfarers whatever carles gluten-free raw denim pitchfork hoodie synth retro squid. Four loko vegan scenester food truck, pitchfork letterpress etsy. Mustache vegan craft beer photo booth, chambray aesthetic locavore yr. Iphone blog Austin wolf, vegan artisan gluten-free +1 high life organic bicycle rights fap raw denim keffiyeh wayfarers.
Fanny pack messenger bag artisan lomo thundercats. Squid mixtape shoreditch retro raw denim banksy. Williamsburg freegan carles, trust fund tattooed fanny pack marfa. Locavore high life 3 wolf moon, viral salvia yr irony twee tattooed you probably haven’t heard of them gluten-free banksy lo-fi vice iphone. Squid mcsweeney’s butcher ethical. Yr high life beard, tattooed lo-fi williamsburg aesthetic squid food truck photo booth cosby sweater DIY trust fund butcher iphone. Photo booth food truck you probably haven’t heard of them, banksy put a bird on it cosby sweater scenester hoodie fap iphone artisan single-origin coffee.
This is a Life sized typographical installation using thousands of pieces of paper folded and glued together to form the sentence that describes and illustrates the concept. The topographic shape transitions from the still nature of paper to the mountaneous organic structure, while keeping its geometric character.
From paper, to the computer, and back to paper, this still life is a statement on how both mediums can be essential to great design.
This project was lead and directed by Kyosuke Nishida, Brian Li, and Sean Yendrys.
Click photos to view full project on the website of Art Director Brian Li.
Check out these extremely entertaining videos by the group Ok Go! Below are just a few but be sure to click the link to see a complete list. 
Everyone from small businesses to worldwide brands has been obsessed with how they can utilize social media to make more money. They grapple over whether it’s interactions that matter or the number of fans. People write endless blogs and make money off of social media conferences, but really no one has the answer. Except maybe, that it’s all one big joke? That’s what seems to be the case when an entertaining novelty twitter account like the T-800 takes off.
Blogger “daitexas” writes about how a joke got him 10,000 followers in a week here.
Cool music video (as well as a making-of video) by Abbie Stephens on BOOOOOOOM!.
Click the image above for an awesome behind the scenes look at the massive set they constructed for the zero gravity fight sequence.
The hacker group Anonymous vows to take down Facebook November 5th, 2011 in Operation Facebook.
So remember remember the 5th of November!