Nathan Jolly interviewed New York based artist and designer Saiman Chow: How’s life in New York City at the moment? ‘It’s great! I can’t complain. I just moved here six months ago and there is so much I haven’t done and seen yet. The city is so vibrant and full of energy compared to where I used to live. Though I have seriously gained twenty pounds since I moved. I’m too well fed and relaxed I think’. Any secret spots you like to go to for inspiration? ‘I haven’t found any secret spots yet, and it won’t be a secret if I tell you! Though that Chinese food in Chinatown is real good and cheap — a dollar for five dumplings. You can’t beat that. Also around the corner from where I live, you should order a Margarita to go. A summertime must have. When I hit that Margarita and head for the park, my weekend is over’. What was the first thing you can remember drawing and how did it turn out? ‘I used to be obsessed with Japanese comics. I would spend all my lunch money on comics every week. Collect the shit out of them. And I would try to intimate the style of the comic books I read. Especially Akira Toriyama works. Drawing talking poo, flying pig and round shiny eye in the class. I always thought my drawings were amazing when I was kid. People told me I had a gift for drawing talking poo’. Do you obsessively collect anything? ‘No, I don’t collect stuff anymore. I used to though — old Japanese toys. But since I’m such an ADD, I got tired of looking at them and I don’t see the point of having them collecting dust on my shelf. Yeah maybe that’s it. I collect dust. I’m horrible at cleaning’. What’s one work of modern art that always sends you weak at the knees? ‘I was never a fan of Van Gogh. I’ve never really understood it. One time I went to an exhibition and saw his painting for the first time. I felt like I was on an acid trip. Your eyes just go round and round in circles. That paint thinner must have been really strong back in the day’. [see also Dennis Juan Ma]
Also by ZOLTON
Maths explains the origin of superhero characters
I love the colours and simple reasoning in this clever series by Scottish illustrator Matt Cowen, which uses basic maths equations to explain how certain pop culture icons came to be. Read more
Star Wars Uncut: a fully crowdsourced version of Episode IV
The project of creative technologist, Casey Pugh, this full length version of the George Lucas masterpiece was created from multiple 15 second segments recreated from the original movie and submitted by thousands of Star Wars fans, which were then spliced together by editor Aaron Valdez to form the final product. Genius, as both a commentary on contemporary pop culture trends (there are references to LEGO, stop motion, memes and the like) and on the power of tapping your audience for quality material.
Filmmaker creates LEGO stop motion to propose to girlfriend
Now, this is one for the ages: back in 2010, Atlanta film-maker Walter Thompson created a jaw-dropping LEGO stop motion to propose to Nealey Dozier, his girlfriend of four years. The video took 22 hours of shooting and some 2,600 pictures to splice together, a small sacrifice to pay for years of happiness together. Right? Right! Oh, and she said yes. Bonus.
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Check out these crazy watercolor portraits of aliens, cyborg, and beasties. This weird but beautiful output is by A.E. Brown, aka MedusaWolf. These look like creatures from some distant planet, each with their own story and inner, um, demons. Read more
Book carvings are super. It takes me a frustrating lot of precision X-Acto knifing just to make a collage on a piece of notebook paper. I commend Guy Laramee for his patience in creating these unique works of art.
Micah P. Hinson is like every rustic, broken down, and pieced back together country great that’s ever been. Only hipper and slightly less sombre. This track, Diggin’ A Grave, is a button-up hoe down with a classic pop chorus and a jangly banjo accompaniment. Yup, some folk have all the fun.
This little Greenwich Village shop is a blast from the past for me. From 1985 to 1993, I lived in West London and have always missed British candy and special foods. Low and behold, Myers of Keswick has it all. Weetabix cereal, Quality Street candy, Scotch Eggs, PG Tips tea! It’s absolutely amazing. But it’s not all just imports, they make fresh food everyday that you wouldn’t find anywhere else.
For the obsessive compulsive among us, Things Organized Neatly is a daily fix of stuff that’s arranged in perfect right angles and tantalizing patterns Read more
Canada seems to be the land of amazing ambient metal duos. Montreal has Menace Ruine, and Toronto has Nadja, a formidable couple that churns out huge-sounding, bass and electronics-driven doom that draws your gaze up towards the stars just as old cathedral ceilings humble the faithful and make them think of the Almighty.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Yes, indeed they’re real horse and goat hooves! German artist Iris Schieferstein specialises in creating very flamboyant boots and shoes made from a combination of deceased animal parts and other materials. Read more
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Michelle Blade’s psychedelic artwork
Michelle Blade’s washed out paintings are deceptively simple, her washy acrylics creating psychedelic textures and conjuring ghostly figures from the past. Read more
A little infectious lollipop rock anyone? Feel free to embarrass yourself singing along at the stoplight. If the other drivers give you that look, roll down the windows and spread the love.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
Matthew Dear’s Black City album totem
Our friends at Ghostly International are releasing Matthew Dear’s Black City album as a limited edition ‘totem’. A what? A totem – a limited edition metal bar used to access a private music chamber. Cool! Read more
Here are a couple awesome pieces by Matt Leines that were recently on display in the Doubting Thomases exhibit at Nudashank gallery in Baltimore. Gives me ideas for Halloween. Read more
Too sweet for words, these beautiful hoop earrings by Sydney-based designer Carmel Taylor are a real touch of origami for your ears. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
FOLLOW US
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it's not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
