Bizarre trophies & traditions...

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I decided to look up what a shillelagh is. It's a walking stick traditionally made from blackthorn wood and it's used in Irish martial arts! Pretty sweet! To my surprise, there is actually a Jeweled Shillelagh. It is a weird college trophy that is given to the winner of the USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish game each year. If USC wins, they add a ruby-studded Trojan. If Notre Dame wins, an emerald studded shamrock is added. When trying to find a better photo, I came across a Sports Illustrated link that had tons of weird college trophies, check it out!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0811/cfb.unusual.trophies/content.4.html

Keith Loutit & Vincent Laforet

Keith Loutit's tilt-shift and time-lapse photography fools my eyes into thinking this is stop motion animation! The people look more like model figures with Keith's out of focus technique. While Keith's video's shine, I've also come across the photography of Vincent Laforet. Some of his work makes me do a double take...

Check out Keith's videos (the music is great too):
http://vimeo.com/channels/keithloutitssydney

Erick Scarecrow's Medusa: Can't help it, still want it

I know it's been awhile since the NYC Comic Con this year but I've still got Erick Scarecrow's Medusa on the brain. It's been a bit since I bought a vinyl piece and I'm on the look out for different colorways. I've got a Kissaki (original colorway) and she's just waiting for her sister to join her.....

James Jean

I'm an avid reader of Vinyl Pulse and last week there was a post about James Jean's Swan print for sale at Suru. I took a look at James' site and was hooked. His work is soft, beautiful and terrifying. A great combo for any artist. I'm a sucker for anything Asian influenced but it's hard not to like James' world of nymphs, dragons and other folkloric creatures. I don't know why, but I think of Neil Gaiman's world and Feric when I look at James' work.... http://www.jamesjean.com/

Ironically, only after visiting James' site did I see the Sally Jupiter illustration done for The Watchmen. There were posts about it last year but I managed to discover it only days before seeing the movie. It's in The Comedian's apartment...keep an eye out when you see The Watchmen!

Wrong by Depeche Mode

These guys still do great stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bsXOcK9_Cw

Photographer Fulvio Bonavia

I've seen Fulvio's work before but rediscovered him today. Take a look, I love his conceptual work. Being from Detroit and a fan of droogs, I'm partial to the car ad...but that raspberry purse is too cute!
http://fulviobonavia.com/

Greed: A fake perfume with fake commercials...but with real celebrities!

Heard about this on the radio today... great concept. I'd love to go see it but the exhibition is at the Gagosian Gallery in Rome until March 21, 2009. If only I were a rich girl! I could go to Rome and get some Greed for myself! I wonder if the artist actually paid the actors to be in these works of art....
Check it out: http://artobserved.com/go-see-greed-a-new-fragrance-by-francesco-vezzoli-at-gagosian-gallery-in-rome-through-march-21-2009/

Why Degoya?

For my first blog post, I figure it's appropriate to explain why I use the name Degoya as my email address. As a young, innocent 13 year old I had the amazing opportunity to go abroad with People to People Student Ambassadors. At that time in my life, I was still in love with Math (though the love affair was cooling off as Pre-Algebra hit) and liked to draw but didn't really understand art. My main exposure had been to Monet and the Impressionists. It was a strong enough reason to start my French studies, but that is another story.

In any case, when I was in Madrid we went to the Prado Museum. I saw many great works and two stuck with me: Las Meninas by Velazquez for it's sheer size and amazing detail and Saturn Devouring His Son by Francisco de Goya for it's unbelievable darkness and brutality. I had never seen a painting that caused a physical reaction in me before that day. A shiver went down my spine, I was sick to my stomach...and completely facinated! I couldn't look away. I had no idea that art could be so disturbing or that people in those times even allowed such a painting to exist! I figured they were burned at the stake, accused of witchcraft! There was a whole section of Goya's 'dark period' to marvel at. Needless to say, my world was rocked and I have thought of art differently ever since.

When it came time to create my first email address, the experience was still fresh in my mind and I chose 'degoya' since 'goya' was not available. It's a chilling reminder to myself that mankind is always walking that fine line between brillance and insanity...and that I'm not the only one dancing on it.